beyond best practice

beyond best practice: research-based innovation in learning and knowledge work
SSHRC INE Collaborative research grant (2002 - 2008)

Applicant: Marlene Scardamalia, OISE, U of T

Co-Applicants: Carl Bereiter, Chun Wei Choo, James Hewitt, Therese Laferriere, John Mylopoulos, Kevin O'Neill, Earl Woodruff

• Program Abstract
  Sustained innovation requires organization and it requires ideas. The organization behind this proposal is the recently created Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology (IKIT), which will serve as the hub for research-based innovation. Originating at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, IKIT is an international network of researchers and practitioners dedicated to extending the “limits of the possible” in education and knowledge work. The proposed collaborative project will enable Canadians to play a central role in this effort, while taking advantage of the contributions of a worldwide network of leading-edge researchers and practitioners. Practitioners and partners in the network come from various fields of education, professional development, and business, while the researchers represent a range of applied disciplines. Sustained, research-based innovation is the goal.

The research program has two parts. One part is foundational research, which includes theory construction, research on lifespan development of innovative capabilities, and the design of technology and instruments to aid research-based innovation. The second part of the program is actual creation and development of innovations. Although such work should be expected to lead in unexpected directions, the proposal presents five ideas that have already shown potential and that can accordingly be used as starters for lines of further innovation. ... These research strands are highly interrelated and all of them are expected to yield results that are helpful across the whole spectrum of education and knowledge management and that combine into a coherent effort to move “beyond best practice.”

• 2002 - 2008 • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Initiative on the New Economy (INE) Collaborative Research Initiative program. Title: Beyond best practice: Research - based innovation in learning and knowledge work. (Scardamalia, M.) • CAD $2,995,834

• Overview of Chun Wei's research projects in this program

• Simone Laughton and CW Choo presented "Sharing Knowledge Online" at IKIT Summer Institute 2003: https://web.archive.org/web/20160729085801/http://ikit.org/SummerInstitute2003/posters/laughton.html