Isa Jahnke

Dynamics of social roles in a knowledge management community

With the emergence of community-oriented Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications, e.g., Wikipedia, the popularity of socio-technical phenomena in society has increased. This development emphasises the need to further our understanding of how computer-supported social group structures change over time and what forms emerge. This contribution presents the results of a qualitative field study of a Socio-Technical Community (STC). The STC is described from its founding (in 2001) to its sustainable development (in 2006) as well as its transformation phase (2007-2008). The design-based research approach revealed changes of social structures by social roles within the STC over time. The central conclusion is that such STCs - networks of computer-mediated communication and human interaction - evolve a specific kind of social structure, which is formal rather than informal. The results indicate that a group evolves from an informal trust-based community with few formal roles to a STC where the social mechanisms, and not the software architecture, supports knowledge management processes.

Concepts for usable patterns of groupware applications

Patterns, which are based on in-depth practical experience, can be instructing for the design of groupware applications as socio-technical systems. On the basis of a summary of the concept of patterns - as elaborated by the architect Christopher Alexander - its adoptions within computer science are retraced and relationships to the area of groupware are described. General principles for patterns within this domain are formulated and supported by examples from a wide range of experience with knowledge management systems. The analysis reveals that every pattern of a groupware application has to combine the description of social as well as technical structures, and that a single pattern can only be understood in the context of a pattern language. It also shows that such a language has to integrate patterns of socio-technical solutions with measures and procedures for introducing them, and that the language not only has to express one type of directed relationship between the patterns but a variety of different types which have to be deliberately assigned to the patterns.

Sociotechnical Walkthrough: A Means for Knowledge Integration.

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to show that for the successful development of socio‐technical systems it is essential that various stakeholders are able to integrate their different knowledge and perspectives. A method that supports knowledge integration in the course of introduction and development of socio‐technical systems is the Socio‐technical Walkthrough (STWT). The paper describes the characteristics of the STWT method and the potential to support knowledge integration.Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical approach of the STWT is closely related to the notion of socio‐technical systems. Starting with the historical development of this term, the authors saw the necessity to adopt elements of newer system theory so as to achieve a better understanding of the conditions under which a social system and a technical system can be integrated. Based on two empirical case studies (university library/logistic enterprise goes Web) the authors show empirical evidence, that the STWT is especi...

Digital Didactical Designs: Teachers’ Integration of iPads for Learning-Centered Processes

Abstract This research presents five examples of how teachers integrated iPads into their classrooms, as part of a larger study of 15 Danish classrooms. Classroom observations and interviews with teachers revealed the use of multiple apps and a focus on creativity, production, and collaboration in the learning process. We discuss the results in the context of digital didactical designs that are needed when integrating mobile devices into teaching and learning.

Developing Tele-Operated Laboratories for Manufacturing Engineering Education. Platform for E-Learning and Telemetric Experimentation (PeTEX)

The aim of the PeTEX-project is to establish an e-Learning platform for the development, implementation, and delivery of educational training programs in the field of manufacturing engineering. The PeTEX team designs both: a technical platform for eLearning based on â??Moodle

Platform for e-Learning and Telemetric Experimentation (PeTEX). Tele-operated laboratories for production engineering education

The development of tele-operated experimentation and its provision to distance learners opens new dimensions of knowledge acquisition, particularly where experiments are the core elements of engineering education. The finalized EU-funded project PeTEX-Platform for e-Learning and Telemetric Experimentation has developed a prototype of an e-learning platform based on Moodle for the design and implementation of educational and training programs in the field of manufacturing engineering. The principle goal of this project was to establish individual and group oriented learning for different target groups like students and professional workers within a platform-system able to sustain a multi-country learning community. Hence, an educational model was designed which integrates the tele-operated experimentation platform with teaching content and learning activities in order to support a successful learning walkthrough for different target groups.

How to Foster Creativity in Technology Enhanced Learning

Creativity-fostered learning in higher education enhanced by social media is described. The fostering of creativity in teaching and learning is illustrated by three examples: (a) a European project about experimental online learning in production engineering (PeTEX); (b) a longitudinal study about informal learning supported by online forums in a computer science faculty (InPUD); and (c) a mind mapping scenario supported by a Web 2.0 tool. Aspects and conceptions toward a framework about fostering creativity in higher education regarding Media-enhanced education are illustrated.

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning at the Workplace: CSCL@Work

This book is an edited volume of case studies exploring the uptake and use of computer supported collaborative learning in work settings. This book fills a significant gap in the literature. A number of existing works provide empirical research on collaborative work practices (Lave & Wenger, 1987; Davenport, 2005), the sharing of information at work (Brown & Duguid, 2000), and the development of communities of practice in workplace settings (Wenger, 1998). Others examine the munificent variation of information and communication technology use in the work place, including studies of informal social networks, formal information distribution and other socio-technical combinations found in work settings (Gibson & Cohen, 2003). Another significant thread of prior work is focused on computer supported collaborative learning, much of it investigating the application of computer support for learning in the context of traditional educational institutions, like public schools, private schools, colleges and tutoring organizations. Exciting new theories of how knowledge is constructed by groups (Stahl, 2006), how teachers contribute to collaborative learning (reference to another book in the series) and the application of socio-technical scripts for learning is explicated in book length works on CSCL. Book length empirical work on CSCW is widespread, and CSCL book length works are beginning to emerge with greater frequency. We distinguish CSCL at Work from prior books written under the aegis of training and development, or human resources more broadly. The book aims to fill a void between existing works in CSCW and CSCL, and will open with a chapter characterizing the emerging application of collaborative learning theories and practices to workplace learning. CSCL and CSCW research each make distinct and important contributions to the construction of collaborative workplace learning.

The Dream About the Magic Silver Bullet: the Complexity of Designing for Tablet-Mediated Learning

In this paper, we report three cases of the integration of technology such as web-enabled media tablets in Scandinavian schools. Both qualitative and quantitative data have been applied. A daily challenge for teachers is to coordinate their group of students in a way that enables collaborative learning. We report the gaps and interrelations between the dreams and the practice of the teachers. They dream about an interconnected praxis -- the magic silver bullet -- and establish their visions of inter-connectivity because of their breakdown experiences of media tablets aiding complexity instead of reducing it. The teachers must learn how to navigate during the breakdowns before media tablets reduce complexity and reach a state in which the tablets take part in the classroom ecology as functional organs. The teachers have to deal with complex situations during class in situ. In order to be able to continue with the class, the teachers become jongleurs of different design elements including the handling of the didactical designs and the breakdowns caused by the integration of media tablets; the teaching practice in classrooms moves away from a common routine activity and turns into a design project.

PeTEX@Work: Designing CSCL@Work for Online Engineering Education

This chapter reflects on the finalized EU-funded project PeTEX-platform for e-Learning and Telemetric Experimentation aimed at designing and prototyping a CSCL platform-system for developing, implementing, and delivering educational and training programs in the field of manufacturing engineering. The main challenge for the PeTEX project team was to transform actual laboratory test beds, domain specific content and social interaction modes into a web-mediated socio-technical system in order to bring together learning and workplace as CSCL@Work. The designed learning system is based on Moodle and includes distributed tele-operated experimentation facilities, educational content and socio-technical affordances to provide the basis for an international large-scale online learning community. For this purpose the project team developed and established new collaborative learning approaches for students and professionals within the ICT-based system. This chapter gives an overview on the fundamental theoretical principles as well as important steps and results of the participatory design approach applied during the project’s lifetime. It concludes with a set of new tasks and challenges to be considered in future systems.