Concept learning supported by computer must take into account the features Of the groupware used, but also the collective semantic universe that is formed. A virtual group of students building concepts through the Internet, in a distributed and asynchronized manner, may be recognized as belonging to a given culture through the cognitive dimension expressed by the shared conceptual maps. This research was performed with the software CMap Tools from West Florida University used by students of Distance Learning (Specialization) of Informatics in Education at UFRGS, Brazil. This research is conducted by a vibrant cognitive science team - "LEAD: Distance Learning Laboratory, Cognitive Science and Semiotics Research"(2), a newly established cognitive science research laboratory devoted to the categorization, visual perception, knowledge management, computational study of knowledge, language and action. We tried to identify ideological similarity and cognitive deviation, both based on the prototypes and on the levels of categorization developed in the maps, with an emphasis in the investigated groups cultural and semiotic aspects.
