The Kids’ Knowledge Base:
Connecting Junior Science to Society
Aldo de Moor
CommunitySense WWW.COMMUNITYSENSE.NL
Chi Sparks 2014 Conference, The Hague, April 3
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Science Hub Brabant: From (only) a
physical “Kids’ University”…
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to (also) an online
“Kids’ Knowledge Base” (KKB)
http://www.kinderkennisbank.nl
• Enthuse children for science
• Develop scientifically valid content for curious
children in primary school
• Enliven content through activating
conversational and work practices
• Support other science hub (physical) activities
with digital knowledge base
• Develop a community of stakeholders
→ towards a living kids’ knowledge base
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KKB objectives
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KKB architecture
• Scope: scientific discipline/area – E.g. Philosophy
• +/- 4 themes – E.g. Ethics
• +/- 4/5 topics – E.g. How do you become happy?
• 1 (WordPress) knowledge card per topic
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KKB introductory knowledge modules
What is?
Example
Research
Questions
Advanced
Learn more
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KKB teacher materials
Conversational practice: e.g. “dialogue”
Work practice: e.g. “question fire”
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Applying the KKB “in society”
B@ttleweters – scaling up use of KKB
Brabant
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KKB use growing
Page views in 2013
(March 10, 2014):
• Total page views: 54,272
• Max/day: 1,271
• Avg/day: 217
• New modules: Emotions; European Values
• New functionalities: interactive quizzes
• More social media: Facebook, Twitter
• More activities: B@ttleweters, primary school
workshops, ….
• More community: community of teachers
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Next steps
• Kids’ Knowledge Base becoming relevant
instrument for science education
• Approach: online content x
activities/applications x community/networks =
impact
• Technology is only small piece of the puzzle
• Different metrics and evaluation approaches
needed for societal human-computer interaction
• Key question: how to embed the tools in a
complex, evolving socio-technical system
driving use & evolution of the platform?
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Conclusions
Recommended
