Lisa Soon

Reusing Knowledge in Online Forums: A Pilot Study

Abstract While universities generate knowledge, they may not often effectively reuse and share that knowledge. Academic colleagues sometimes reinvent the wheels to recreate the same or similar type of knowledge and intellectual work. As the forum is a popular online teaching tool, this research focuses on the examination of how knowledge, created by a learning and teaching community in forums within an online learning environment, can be reused when a subject is run again or handed over to a different colleague later. It is qualitative interpretive research. To investigate the sharing and reuse of knowledge amongst academics, a focus group was conducted with eight experienced subject coordinators who have used online forums in teaching. They were from three different university schools and different disciplines. The participants produced a plethora of rich information regarding potential knowledge reuse about subjects, focusing on subject contents, assignment help, class discussions, learning difficulties and experiences. This study suggests that the development of a knowledge-sharing culture, university policies, or knowledge management leadership can effectively encourage sharing and reuse of knowledge within a university environment. This is an empirical investigation of a theoretical hypothesis raising issues for further research. The paper is based on a full understanding of the existing state of knowledge in the field and is an original contribution to understanding of the issues. The treatment shows evidence of critical evaluation and conclusions appear relevant and soundly based.

Student experiences: Collaboration for group assignment in distance education

Charles Sturt University uses a learning management system called “Interact” with multiple tools including wiki, synchronous chat, group mail, announcement and media repositories that support virtual team work. There are many adult learners in distance education. This paper explores distance education student experience and feedbacks in using e-learning technologies for online collaborative group assignment in real life. In a subject “Information and Knowledge Management in Organizations”, international and local students were grouped together for their group assignments. Each group undertook a case study project in which they proposed solutions for identified problems in their chosen organizations. Students worked as virtual teams in completing their case study assignment. Each group was provided with a private project site in Interact. Students developed their assignment in wiki and used various tools for communication and storage of documents. An anonymous web-based survey was conducted after students completed the group assessment. This research reports student perceptions on a wide range of factors including technology use and working with students from a different country and challenges they faced in their online group assessment. The findings indicate that e-learning technology plays a significantly useful role in facilitating student collaborative learning activities in group assignments. It also highlights challenges and barriers that need attention when conducting online distance education group assessments.

Preparing students for online group work in distance education

E-learning technologies such as Web-CT, Blackboard, Moodle and Sakai are the common learning management systems used in teaching these days. Using technology to support group work is a more recent practice than using it for teaching material delivery. Research in preparing students to use technology for online group work especially in distance education is limited. This research is a case study that investigates how students could be prepared for their use of e-learning such as the features of learning management system (Sakai) tools for group work in a subject entitled “Information Management in Organizations” offered at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Students were grouped together to work online with team members geographically distributed worldwide. Students used communication and storage of documents tools. Students progressively develop their assignment in Wiki. Interviews, observation, documentations, and anonymous web-based evaluations were used to investigate their group work experience. Student perceived a wide range of factors related to their experiences of online group assessment such as their experience using technologies, working with students from a different country and the challenges that they face in using the features of tools for group assignment are discussed. The research highlights the importance of preparing students in their learning environment using technology to support their distance education group work.

Knowledge activities in distance education online group work

What kind of knowledge activities are required in order for students to conduct online group work activities successfully in distance education? This paper reports on the knowledge activities involved within online group work in distance education. It explains the types of knowledge used in these activities. The research is a qualitative case study set within an activity theory framework. Participatory observation and documentation are the data collection techniques used. It investigated student knowledge activities in a postgraduate subject called “Information Management in Organizations”. A learning management system (LMS) called Interact (powered by Sakai) was explored. Students were grouped together to work online with team members geographically distributed over Australia and around the world. Students progressively developed their assignment in Wiki and use other group work tools for their communication and storage of documents. Data collected from participatory observation and documentation were used to investigate the group work knowledge activities. The research will report the various knowledge activity improvements explored. It proposes a model of an activity system that explains how knowledge activities are represented through activity theory notions for distance education online group assessments.

Visualization of Web-based Australian Export Trading

E-commerce applications tend to be used by a non-homogenous user population, requiring special attention to the modelling of underlying business processes, in order to make the execution of an activity as conspicuous as possible. Current modelling languages do not provide for concepts and symbols to represent all communicative aspects of a business transaction. Speech act theory offers categories that may be used to supplement the concepts and notations of current modelling languages. We are developing a Visual Business Modelling Language (VBML), for which we propose various speech acts in addition to the common symbols in a modelling language. To explore and demonstrate the expressiveness and logic of VBML, we apply it to the web-based Australian export trade. In particular, we show how an export trader can make a cargo declaration through the web to facilitate a document exchange with the Australian Customs Service. This model benefits application designers, software developers, Australian Customs Service, and the export traders since it delivers a clear view of the trade and the corresponding software application processes.

A Case Study: Technology Education Internationalization

Abstract This paper investigates the internationalization of education, specifically technology education in National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU). Through a conducted case study of a course in a Master of Information Technology (MIT) program development, it investigated the challenges that TPU faced and how they could overcome the challenges in internationalizing their programs and curricula. The research adopted a qualitative case study research method. It used survey, observation and documentations as the data collection techniques, as they are best suited for this research. Ten students were involved in a delivery of a course in a developed internationalized MIT program. The research team observed how the students learnt, whether there were challenges and difficulties in the delivery of course learning and how they were overcome. The results showed that the students were highly satisfied with the course developed and they believed they greatly benefited from the developed course.

An important factor of research university development the role of a pre-masters program for international students /

Abstract This paper considers the important practicality, scientific and methodological principles in the design of the pre-masters program in National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (or simply TPU). TPU is a university that mainly provides technical education, particularly education in engineering, science and technology disciplines. The design of the pre-masters program also considers the incorporation of educational technology for its realization for the international students, who received the bachelor’s degrees in other countries in English language and want to study masters programs in Russian language in Russia. According to the results of a comparative analysis that explored the experiences of the international students from English-speaking and Russian-speaking universities in the world within their pre-bachelors and pre-masters programs, this paper explains the differences between these programs and the specific features of the pre-masters programs. Further, this paper reports the analysis results of the implementation, monitoring and outcomes of the pre-masters program in TPU. It also presents some proposals for its further development.

Facilitating online student group work assignments

This paper reports a case study on the facilitations of online student group work assignment within on-campus and distance education. There is prior research that explores the use of technology for distance education. However, research that explores how to facilitate distance education group work assignment through the use of technology is limited. Being different from on-campus students, distance education students work in online group assignments with detrimental constraints of disparate locations and time differences. This research adopts a qualitative case study method. It explored distance education student group work performance in a subject. In particular, it investigated the role of a teacher in facilitating distance education students in completing their group assignments in an information technology course. The findings indicate that the facilitation could be more challenging in distance education than on-campus student education. The paper proposes various ways to facilitate online group work to enable distance education group work assignment success.

Knowledge Creation in Export Trading

In this research, we investigate how knowledge in the export trading industry is created. Prior research focuses on general businesses in local market environment. This research specifically focuses on export trading with overseas market needs. These needs require attention to different types of control and requirements beyond that of a local market. In this paper, Nonaka et al.s theory of organizational knowledge creation is explored. We specifically examine the processes of knowledge creation through four modes of knowledge conversion. Empirical investigations in export trading organizations are conducted. We examine how export firms obtain new knowledge for innovations based on collective knowledge being used in export trading. The findings indicate that the knowledge management processes in export firms allow for the creation of new knowledge. The collective knowledge (from groups and individuals) forms a basis for innovations and competitive intelligence. This collective knowledge also creates foresight, insight and hindsight in the export trading context.