Re: [Fle3-users] Why is it good to use FLE?

[Tarmo Toikkanen]

> Sorry for the following question: Is FLE in construction of the knowledge
> very similar to a list of mail?. rather it is as the historical of a list of
> mail?, very similar to a discussion forum which comes included in a LMS.

As Teemu pointed out, you don't need Fle3 to do knowledge building.
You can do that in a classroom with pens and paper. But Fle3 makes it
easier to store all contributions to the process, and also makes it
possible to browse them afterwards - this reflection is very essential
in boosting the effectiveness of the learning process. When the
learners see what they thought originally and what they're ideas
developed into, they will better see the conceptual change (=learning)
that has occured.

With a mailing list people are bound to delete old mails, so this
reflection becomes impossible.

Fle3 also guides in writing the notes. Instead of just writing up
stuff, Fle3 encourages users to write specific problems, ideas or
looked up (authoritative) knowledge. This improves the focus of the
discussion and prevents topic drift (=the topic of the discussion
stays the same). Fle3 doesn't allow quoting, which forces people to
write others' thoughts in their own words, thus enhancing
comprehension and preventing communication errors.

Mailing lists promote excessive quoting, which makes writers lazy.
When just quoting a passage from another mail, you can't be sure
you've understood it correctly. But when you write it to your own mail
in your own words, everyone (including yourself) will see if you've
understood it or now.

In a mailing list the topic of the discussion also tends to drift and
jump uncontrollably. While this is good for some situations, intensive
knowledge building needs its participants to stay focused.

Fle3 also uses structural aides (the "Flea asks" box when writing
notes), which increase the quality of the notes. A mailing list does
not provide such help. Also the browsing of notes is more versatile in
Fle3 than in a mail client.

In summary: Yes, you can do knowledge building without Fle3. You can
use any tools and devices that allow people to communicate and record
ideas. But using Fle3 will probably give you better results, as it's
designed for this purpose specifically and tries to promote
constructive behaviour whenever possible, and makes it difficult to do
things "the wrong way".

  Having an axe to cut down trees and having a scalpel to do surgery
  probably give you better results than using a generic knife for all
  purposes.

> Could they mention me who this using this tool?, this to generate a bigger
> trust for their use.

There's a list of users at http://fle3.uiah.fi/users.html or at least
of those who have let us know they use Fle3. There's bound to be
countless others.

--
Tarmo Toikkanen
http://www.iki.fi/tarmo/
The Fle3 Team
http://fle3.uiah.fi