Finding the ties that bind: tools in support of a knowledge-building community

Traditionally, collaborative technologies are intended to directly support joint, collaborative activity, taking their cues from communication and media. Here, empirical findings are presented about the types of information needs associated with the formation of a knowledge-building community among professional learning technology researchers. Several issues are outlined in designing, facilitating, supporting, and measuring knowledge-building activity in such a community of practice. It is argued that, rather than communication tools, a knowledge-building community is better served by knowledge-networking tools that support individual information needs (both social and topical) relevant to participating in the community.