This exploratory study describes how 2 classes of secondary 6 commerce students in Hong Kong have used a web-based collaborative tool, Knowledge Community (KC) to build a project called “Writing up a Business Plan” collaboratively. Using a number of 2-level scaffolds, students participated in the forum discussion to build business plan. The entire process unfolds how students, facilitated by scaffolds and teachers, brainstorm business idea and mission, decide on the type of product, plan production line and eventually formulate a business plan. The sample consisted of 41 students and 2 facilitators. Students’ participation in KC was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The strategies, suggestions and the feasibility of adopting KC for projects in schools will also be shared, along with the implications and key learning points of this project. Copyright © 2004 全球華人計算機教育應用學會.

There has been an increasing attention to integration of project-based learning into Asian school curricula. And the notion of learning community is a heated topic for learning to learn in knowledge-based societies. Yet the cognitive research on using web-based learning community for project-based learning is still under-developed in Asian contexts Based on literature review, some directions in collaborative learning strategies are suggested in web-based learning community or ecology. Through a scrutiny of basic functional tools of a web-based collaborative learning platform called Knowledge Community (KC), the paper endeavors to highlight the significance of four senses of scaffolding supports (in Vygotskian terminology) for knowledge co-construction and pedagogical facilitation in groups of primary and secondary (Grade 1-12) students in Hong Kong and Singapore. Copyright © 2004 全球華人計算機教育應用學會.