Last week we have attended two
class activities (individual study and group study) which both require us to
find out the definition of Semantic Web and the possible applications of it in
Online Social Networks. These two class activities help us to understand the
epistemic cognition in both individual setting and online collaboration better.
In class activity one, firstly I just tried to find
out some main points in the article for answering the given question. At this
stage my epistemic aim is minimally justified belief because I was ‘copying’
other people’s knowledge. However, when I tried to do so, I find that I couldn’t
even generate a throughout understanding of the article because there are many professional
and technological words, so I did some online research to enhance my
understanding of the article, at that time my epistemic aim became the level
two: propositional knowledge.
In class activity two, we shared what we have
acquired in activity one and discussed with our group mates. By discussing we
find that we all have different concerns about the topic and we all have
influence on others’ understanding of the Semantic Web. Finally we understood
the content much better and have reached the level four: knowledge construction
or co-construction.
Obviously, there are differences between
individual and group epistemic cognition. As I have talked before, the level of
epistemic aim and value of group is higher than that of individual; and the
structure of knowledge and the sources of knowledge of group are much more
complex than that of individual. For the epistemic virtues and vices, I think
when individual is involved in a group, he/she always tend to make sure what he/she
share is correct. However, when one is doing an individual study, he/she will
not that care about that.
