DISCUSSION OF A WEB 2.

0 BASED INTEGRATED
E-LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
CONCEPT
Michael Doktor
Dirk Frosch-Wilke
University of Applied Sciences Kiel
Sokratesplatz 2, 24149 Kiel, Germany

Mohamed Amine Chatti
RWTH Aachen University
Informatik V, Ahornstrae 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany
ABSTRACT
Knowledge management and e-learning become still more and more important for many companies and can be seen as
two sides of the same coin. But there is still a gap between e-learning management and knowledge management. In this
paper we discuss a proposal for a Web 2.0 based integrated e-learning and knowledge management concept. Our concept
follows a people-driven approach, because learning and knowledge are basically about people. An important part is the
incentive system that is given a specific attention. At last the results of a first implementation will be presented.
KEYWORDS
Web 2.0, Knowledge Management, E-Learning
1. INTRODUCTION
There has been a lot of research on knowledge management (KM) and e-learning management (eLM) in the
last decade. Also in an organizational context, KM and eLM have attracted attention over the past years and
are meanwhile important tasks to increase competitive advantages of a company. In many cases KM and
eLM were studied in isolation. Thus, different and often incompatible concepts and tools were developed.
Meanwhile eLM and KM will be seen more and more as two parts of a coin and are fundamentally social
in nature, as has been emphasized by many researchers [3][7][8][9][12][13]. E-learning content should be
accessible to knowledge management, just as knowledge assets should be accessible to e-learning. Properly
integrating KM and e-learning would be a significant step forward for all organizations.
In this paper we introduce a concept where e-learning will be used to leverage and will help to build the
knowledge base of an organization. Further our approach deal with a major problem of KM which is the
motivation to share knowledge, because most concepts are technology-driven and only about extracting
knowledge from the users without any feedback. This requires a change in focus from technology-driven to
people-driven models of eLM and KM. Our concept is people-driven, by connecting users and recording
their information exchange and results. In this way it generates a direct benefit and supports the motivation to
share knowledge. To realize these ideas the implementation of our concept has been done with the user
focused Web 2.0 tools blog and wiki and also with a learning management system (LMS). Harnessing
collective intelligence has become the driving force behind Web 2.0 and social software has emerged as a
key component of the new Web. It had been noticed that social software has the potential to change the way
we learn and share knowledge. However, little research has been done to bridge the currently existing gap
between eLM and KM solutions.
In this paper, we propose and discuss a new integrated eLM and KM model, which is characterized by the
combination of eLM and KM within a social context.
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The structure of the paper is as follows. First we will give a brief introduction to the used Web 2.0 tools
and will discuss some solutions for possible problems of these tools. Afterwards we describe and discuss our
concept model in detail in chapter 3 and in chapter 4 we will make some proposals for an incentive system to
increase the user participation in sharing knowledge. Our implementation is described in chapter 5 of this
paper.
2. WEB 2.0 TOOLS
Wikis are a collection of websites that are linked between each other and can be edited by any user. Wikis
should make knowledge and experiences of the authors available to other users. All this should be as easy as
possible [4].Advantages of wikis are [10]:
Easy to use
Location-independent
Interactive
Cheap
There are disadvantages as well [10]:
Lack of structure
Possibility of vandalism
Against the lack of structure links are an answer. Vandalism is a minor problem in closed wikis, wikis in
which the users have to register. Because it is possible to see who is responsible for a contribution.
Blogs are frequently updated websites with different content which is presented chronologic downward.
So the most current entry is on top of the page. Authors can either be single persons or groups [6]. Blogs
have seven characteristics [1]:
Chronologic downward.
Every entry has a permalink. A permalinks is a unique URL for every entry.
Possibility to comment every blog entry.
Pingbacks. They check if someone references to the own blog.
Sidebars with additional features like topics.
Blogs represent opinions, so they are subjective.
Blogs are especially appropriate for discussions for different users. During such a discussion the
participants reflect about their knowledge, gain new perspectives and possibly even new knowledge. Through
the use of blogs there are several advantages [11]:
Blogs inform fast. Through the links it is possible to become acquainted to new topics.
Easy to use
Cheap
Blogs are ubiquitous
Further there are different disadvantages with blogs in use with business [11]:
Blogs are not controllable. There is no watchdog, so they are not manageable.
Blogs do not guarantee correctness.
The motivation of the users to share their knowledge is problematical.
Blogs are social publishing tools that have self produced content and reflections about the content of other
users as the central element. Wikis are social collaboration tools which have collaborative editing and
changing of information as the central element [1].
With the RSS technology it is assured that the time is minimized until a new contribution is created. RSS
means really simple syndication and is an electronically message structure. With this technology the
information exchange between author and recipient will be simplified [2][14]. Further on, tagging ensures
that the wiki and blog pages are easy to recover and avoids data graveyard.
3. AN INTEGRATED WEB 2.0 BASED CONCEPT
Our concept (see Fig. 1) includes a wiki and different kinds of blogs. Those are integrated in a Learning
Management System. The wiki documents stores the collected knowledge. Existing topics can be browsed
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and learning is also with help of the existing knowledge possible. The blogs publish knowledge, by asking
and answering questions publicly. They can be used as platforms for discussions and news. Further blogs
generate knowledge through discussions. The LMS integrates Learning Objects so that new knowledge will
be provided.
We distinguish three types of blogs: Employeeblogs, Topicblogs, and Groupblogs. Employeeblogs are
available for every employee. They will be created by demand. In these blogs e.g. questions can be asked by
email and be answered publicly. Another possibility is to reflect about the knowledge that has been taken up
in seminars or e-learning courses that already exists. Topic- and Groupblogs are similar to Employeeblogs
except that topics and groups are more in the focus.
In every kind of blog a clarifying process has been implemented in that many employees can participate.
At the end of a clarifying process consent should be created by the discussion of participants, which can be
transferred into the wiki and thereby becoming part of the organizational knowledge base. This could be done
by a single user which, depending of the situation, summarizes or copies parts of the discussion.


Figure 1. Overview of the concept
Discussions are not bonded to a single blog. They can develop through several blogs and pingbacks
reproduce the path of the discussion by showing the links between the single blogs. This is the way how new
topics can be generated, edited as well as expanded.
E-learning courses can produce topics as well, when they are structured in Learning Objects. If this is
granted then they can be integrated or linked in wiki-pages easily. In order that users who want to become
acquainted with a topic are not limited to the consent, every topic within the wiki is provided with the
permalinks of the blogs. So employees can recognize the development of a topic. Besides alternative views
and arguments, which are part of the clarifying process, are revealed. In conclusion its easier to transfer
explicit knowledge into implicit knowledge with the additional context. Wikis and blogs are equipped with
RRS-Feeds so that interested users, who subscribed them, are informed by a feedreader. That provides
interested users with messages when someone made a new entry or changes in already existing topics.
The wiki should be structured by topics and it should be prestructured to make the access more easily.
Empty pages are acceptable and even wanted because this clarifies that a topic exists with a demand. The
publishing of not knowing something makes the system work too.
Besides the advantages of wikis and blogs there are several others which our system obtains:
Social Learning is possible. Employees will be linked to share their knowledge. This is the best way
to transfer implicit knowledge which is transferred best through the contact between persons.
Learning processes will be initiated during reflecting about knowledge. On this way knowledge will
be refastened. The output is the consented result and during its development all participants gained
knowledge.
Thus that solution acts as a circle where the topics can evolve.
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Interested persons access to a topic is disburdened, because of the permalinks in the wiki pages and
the pingbacks in the blogs. On this way the development of a topic can be reproduced. So there is
context which helps on the transformation from explicit to implicit knowledge.
Easy finding - Due to linking and tagging of the entries it will be avoided that documents exist that
are hardly to recover.
Among these advantages there might be some general problems with the Web 2.0 tools we used:
Blogs are hardly controllable. This disadvantage is particularly relevant when external user access to
the blogs and their data. So they can generate damage. Our concept is for intranet use only and there
have critic comments even a positive part. On this way the atmosphere in the corporation can be
measured and controlled.
Blogs and wikis dont guarantee correctness. By discussion and with help of a clarifying process an
opinion shall be found and mistakes shall be corrected, but there is not always a specialist who is
correcting mistakes. Because there are no hierarchies the right knowledge could be not accepted
by other participants. Because of that all experts should be informed by RSS so that the possibility is
higher that these experts can influence the discussion and the consent.
The motivation to use this tool and to share knowledge is difficult. The most important thing for a
successful use is participation. First thing is that users have neither time nor motivation. Further
knowledge could mean power. In this way employees fear if they share their knowledge they can
suffer under a lack of knowledge because this was their unique selling point (USP) or they fear to
make their not knowing public. The last point is a complicate user interface or a too difficult system.
Because if all user shall participate it must be easy to understand and to handle.
Initial filling. To initiate the usage there must be first a direct benefit for the users. Therefore there
must be some content available. Because of the paradox to grant finished knowledge, there should
be e-learning courses that the employees can pass. So that there will be some clarifying process.
With this a critical mass should be achieved. This means the minimum of users that create, only
through participation, a benefit.
4. INCENTIVE SYSTEM
As already discussed the main point for a successful use is the participation of the users. Therefore an
incentive system is very important. First of all it is necessary to evaluate which relevance knowledge work
has within an organization and thus the participation on the system. Thus the question is if participation
within the system has to be rewarded once or should this be done permanently. The former is only relevant if
knowledge work is not a daily task to fulfill. Finally the attitude of the employees shall be changed the
participation should not be additionally rewarded. It is better to communicate it as a daily task. In this case it
should be added in the job specifications. More drastic is it to connect the career advancement to the
participation in the system. Another difficulty is to measure the use. It can be done quantitatively, but there is
a chance that users manipulate the measurement e.g. by asking close employees to visit their blogs
permanently. It also is possible to do the measurement by quality. It could be done with a point system. But
here is the problem to set a value to contribution. Has a question the same value like an answer or the
summary of the consent? To solve this problem referencing a lack of knowledge by a question can also be
rewarded by points. Further is it necessary to communicate that questions will not slow the career
advancement. The challenge is to build up a culture for knowledge sharing within a company.
5. IMPLEMENTATION
Moodle has been chosen for a first prototype implementation of our concept. Moodle is widespread and has
integrated wikis and blogs. The Standard blog module has been changed with the OU Blog module [5].
With this additional module different blogs can be created with more than a single user and they must not be
bounded to a single user. So it allows creating all three kinds of blogs. Also RSS and tagging is supported.
But at this time there is no module which provides permalinks and pingback functionality. But there is no
other open source based system which fulfills all our requirements yet.
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6. CONCLUSION
We discussed a user centralized Web 2.0 based integrated e-learning and knowledge management concept.
Though there is no system which has all the necessary functionalities, Moodle shows already the potential.
The application area is wide because the system is open source based and the barriers for the users are low
through the use of Web 2.0 tools. In future works Moodle has to be customized to get the full functionality
and the usage of our system has to be evaluated.
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