TOWARD A NEW KNOWLEDGE SHARING COMMUNITY: COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING THROUGH WEB-PORTAL-BASED QUESTION-ANSWER SERVICES

Abstract

How does collective intelligence play a role for learning in the context of the Internet? Internet is more than just a fun when people use it for sharing knowledge. The appearance of web-portal-based question-answer services as new knowledge sharing and learning tools is expected to provide Internet users effective learning community models in online environments. The contents of web-portal-based question-answer services are created by users, and consumed by the users themselves. This open web space allows users to share each other's knowledge and is the basis of where collective intelligence as a tool that can be used to empower people. The purpose of this paper is to present the role of question-answer services and informal knowledge sharing patterns through these services in terms of learning purposes. This thesis examines the power of collective intelligence on the Internet and people's perceptions of this collective intelligence. In order to identify the collective intelligence in the context of the Internet, web-portal-based question-answer services in Korea have been chosen to be examined. Using questionnaire surveys and data analysis, this thesis reaches a better understanding of how effective question-answer services play the role of providers of space where collective intelligence works for learning.