Computer Support for Knowledge Management within R&D and the Teaching of Bachelor Students

Abstract

Abstractâ??Knowledge plays a key role within research, development and education. One of the major challenges for knowledge management is to select the right knowledge from numerous sources, including know - how of individuals, and to transform it into useful, practicable knowledge. The focus should always be on supporting strategic organisational goals. In this context, from the organisationâ??s strategic point of view, it is very important to link an institutional knowledge management system with the knowledge management systems of individuals. This paper presents personalised IT - support for knowledge management within industrial R&D and especially for teaching and learning. The support is based on the use of a long term developed in - house software that enables individuals (managers and teachers) to process and manage knowledge on their desktop computers in a user friendly way. Within the implementation of â??Technology - enhanced learningâ? at the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, a pre - programmed work environment called BIKE (Batch Information and Knowledge Editor) was developed. However, this desktop environment works also as a teacherâ??s personalized knowledge management system. It is programmed by the lead author of this paper who is a teacher; therefore the outcomes into teaching bachelor students are implemented directly into the classroom. The paper also presents how such IT - support complements, at a personalized level, the existing organizational knowledge management tool known as the universityâ??s Academic Information System. Some examples from teaching are presented, communication channels (teacher - student forums) were also mentioned as a part of the teacherâ??s knowledge management personalised system. In this case, the BIKE environment is demonstrated as an alternative to learning management systems based on the so called WEB 2.0 technologies.