Welcome to Gnowledge Network!
Introduction
- This site is based on a simple idea that we
can build collaboratively a road map of knowledge by specifying the
prerequisites of concepts, activities, experiences and statements. The resulting road map can be used as a scaffolding to describe each node network by linking the node to other nodes in terms of relations and attributes.
- Look at this map to get an idea of a dependency map based on prerequisites.
- Look at this one to get an idea of how a node can be described as a map (Link required??).
- You will agree that such maps will be very useful to teachers and
students. Over a period of time, with your collaboration, we can build a
complete roadmap of all knowledge which will help to generate a non-linear curriculum framework.
- Read Help Document to begin contributing.
What you can do?
- You can specify the prerequisites for any concept or an activity
at this site. Or view the existing prerequisites that are already
defined by the community.
- We simply add a concept as a
node (if it does not exist already) and specify a semantic dependency
(meaning dependency) relation between one node and another.
- Ask yourself the following set of questions:
- To understand a concept what do you expect the learner must already know?
- To understand a concept what do you expect the learner must do?
- To impart a skill what what other activities the learner must do?
- To impart a skill what other concepts the learner must already know?
Answers to these questions can be specified in this community portal by establishing links between concepts and activities.
What we will get out of this?
- a globally useful resource for teachers and students to know the learning track (learning path) for any concept or skill.
- teachers and authors of textbooks can use these maps to prepare course materials or sequence their curriculum.
- students get to know what they need to know in order to learn something.
- researchers can use the data for analyzing the properties of knowledge structures.
- a network of concepts and activities that can be used, modified, published and shared by the entire community.
- a visual map of knowledge and a road map for learning and teaching.
- a knowledge base that can be used to profile different domains of knowledge.
- the
resulting map will show us, as it were, the 'cities' (on which we
depend on most), 'towns' (on which we depend but not as much as the
cities), 'villages' (on which we depend least), continents (domains that
contain inter-related cities, towns and villages), etc.
- a sequence to automatically guide learners in a machine guided online tutoring system, for example.
- a
network analysis linking the number of nodes and links, plots,
analyses, statistics, distribution properties etc. (very soon as the
data set increases, we will publish the results on this site. You can access the data dumps (sans privacy information) very soon, so that you can analyze the data yourself.)
- and we are sure it will have many other uses as well. If you foresee some please discuss with us in the list community@gnowledge.org. Or write or upload a document in the sandbox fodler (follow the link) and send us an email in the list.
Yes! You do not have to write essays here.
- We can get all the above mentioned goodies without writing any
essays or do so much of research. We do not define concepts either! Just
ask yourself the questions mentioned above and provide the answer if
you have them. We simply make the dependency relations explicit for all
concepts that all of us know. Soon we will be able to do this in all
languages of the world (Our software developers are working on this.).
So, how to get it going?
- Join as a member. Use the join link on the right corner of the site.
- Use the 'Login' link if you are already a member.
- Search for a concept or activity using the search form present on the right side of the header or the "view or edit"
link. (We started this site recently and data set is very small, so
don't be surprised if your favorite concepts and activities are not
found here.)
- Add a non-existing node. By default it will be
taken as a concept, but if you want it to be an activity, use the check
box. If a node already exists, you will see a message: "Object already
exists". Then you can visit that node and then decide what more you can
do.
- Then add appropriate dependency links. For adding
dependency link, click on the "Add" button below the relation names
"Depends on" or its inverse name "Required for".
- If you think
that the existing relation is not accurate, you can remove the link
using the "Delete" tab. Or discuss in the mailing list on the issue and
resolve the conflict.
- Remember! You cannot add a relation
unless a concept node already exists. So, if you don't find the node
you are looking for, add one and link it.
- Remember, all of
us are making only one single map collaboratively. All contributions
are recorded against your login name with date and time of contribution.
- Please see below the ownership and license information to know who owns the data made by you.
Spread the word around the world!
- Well! The site is meant for you. We made this simplest web
application so that the whole world gets the benefit. The outcome of
this simplest exercise will be a very useful semantic dependency map for
learning and teaching any topic. The knowledge base built on this site
is available for every one. For making the maps in other languages we
have to only add translations to each node. We will soon add this
function to have the map in all languages. However, if you want to add
concepts in your own language, you can build them right away, and may
add the translation links latter when the feature is made available.
License
The network and the content produced is published under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0
- What does this license imply?
- you have the freedom to use the maps for any purpose.
- you can make modifications to them.
- you
can distribute or publish or sell them provided you grant the same
freedoms to others as well, i.e., release them again under the terms of
the same license. Please write to us if you have any query on your rights to use them.
We are slowly adding more features!
After depMap (dependency map) we will soon have other kinds of maps as follows:
- typeMap (what is a type of what, what is a sub-type of what) for taxonomy
- partMap (what is a part of what, and what consists of what) for part-whole relation
- reactionMap (what is a product of what, and what is a reactant of what) for how matter changes
- causeMap (what is a cause of what, and what is an effect of what) for cause-effect map
- testsMap (what is a preTest and what is a postTest of each node in the map) for assessment
- and so on. If you have another good suggestion tell us, we will try to add that in future. So, write to us or upload your suggestion in the sandbox (you need to register to do this.).
Tell us if you have any feedback!
- We will make improvements to the user interface to make the
process easy. If you have good ideas you can tell us, or if you have
skills or willing to contribute you can collaborate in building the
software of this portal as well. If you know how to help us build the site, you are welcome. Send us
a patch and if it works and gels with the rest of the site your
contribution will be in.
join the room glab@conference.jabber.org to talk to other developers.
This site is made and maintained by the gnowledge.org lab of Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Educatioin, TIFR.
