Students from Mexico and Catalunya constructed a knowledge building community

Oscar Ernesto Hernandez Lopez, Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla, Mexico; Merce Bernaus, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; Angela Alejandra Durana Espinosa, Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla, Mexico.

We are currently living in the so-called era of knowledge in a society which has called itself "the information society". In this era and within this society, the great educational challenge is to develop students and citizens who have not only up to date knowledge but also who are able to participate in the creation of new knowledge as a normal part of their lives. Schools should be an active part of the knowledge society that has to produce and use knowledge. The challenge for educators consists in placing students in the path of development ranging from the inquisitive nature of children and young people to the disciplined and mature creativity of the researcher. Today, more than ever, knowledge in schools must be socially constructed through joint efforts which may occur between students of different cultures, and in this way communities of learning are creating which create knowledge, which are not confined to the physical space within a school but may encompass schools, far from each other, located in different countries. The Knowledge Forum has been established to assist in the structure of theory and to progress community knowledge. In this project the community that builds knowledge in the classroom is formed by students in two universities, the Universidad Iberoamericana de Puebla in Mexico and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. During the project which took place during the academic year 2008-2009 a personal learning process can be appreciated that is formed and enriched thanks to the contributions of the members of the community.

The work presented is theoretically based on the theory of building knowledge KB whose technological support is the KF. In this project it may be seen how the input of the students of the two universities has interwoven with the consequence that the community of learning forms a community of knowledge, a collective and a personal knowledge that it would be impossible to achieve individually.