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”

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B@ttleweters happening!

Source: Yvonne Kimman

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