DESIGN EDUCATION VIA COLLABORATION IN AN ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Industry is demanding for years to see engineering educators “teach the fundamentals” of global enterprise engagement and skilled use of information and communication technology. The collaboration of universities and industrial partners is a major prerequisite for the realization of an advanced knowledge environment. Therefore a knowledge network has been established, which is an essential part of the overall collaboration framework. Knowledge is built via collaboration among users (lecturers, researchers, industrial partners), via various forms of interaction. A knowledge pool, organized in a database, is the basis of the system, enabling users to compile personalized forms of utilization (online courses, electronic books, portfolios, etc.). This can be achieved by a high level of modularization and structuring of the content. Based on a socio-constructivist approach, the environment promotes the acquisition of knowledge on the basis of users’ experience and via shared activities in a collaborative environment, which serves for the working on common projects. A highly interactive environment with advanced communication tools fosters the realization of virtual innovation projects by project teams. Beside other issues this paper presents the framework of a project for developing a new sports gear within an advanced knowledge environment. The environment integrates universities and industry partners in a common effort, to build a knowledge pool and a space for interaction and learning. Based on a pedagogical model, which encourages individual and social cognition via reflective practice, it is an environment, which offers different learning possibilities and several collaborative instances. The main concept and features will be discussed.