wbv   Bundesverband der Lehrerinnen und Lehrer an Wirtschaftsschulen e.V.

 

 

 


Towards Integrated learning and working: discussion of (work/learning)progress

Dr. Frank P.C.M. de Jong

Drs. Joanne Salverda

Abstract

The aim of this contribution is to stimulate the dialogue about the support and the surplus value of the new technologies in the current efforts to facilitate learning as a part of working. In the context of company transformation towards a learning organization our effort is to fade out sending people to courses given outside the work in favor of organizing learning as close to the workplace and as integrated in their work as possible. In this presentation we focus on two experiences. In the first we highlight the 'discussion of progress' as a learning tool in the context of the learning route for becoming a train invigilator at the Dutch Railways. This 'discussion of progress' might be not only a moment of active learning but also a germ for collaborative knowledge building in an organization. In our second work we focus on the support of a groupware system in the process of creating an online community of practice in the context of a network expertise group formed around the problem of identifying and describing general work-processes used in the field of criminal investigation in the Dutch Police Organization. In the latter case we used Knowledge Forum as a knowledge building e-environment.

The question is: Do workers appreciate the possibility of knowledge sharing, learning from and with each other and how promising is groupware in supporting these kinds of communities of practice in organizations?