Friday, June 15, 2007

PhD Project

My PhD project is "Social Media for Knowledge Management and Technology Enhanced Leaning".

Overview:

Learning and knowledge management have become essentially two sides of the same coin as the two fields are increasingly similar in terms of input, outcome, processes, activities, components, tools, concepts, and terminologies. Apparently, previous models of learning and knowledge management have failed to address the problem of learner and knowledge worker performance. In the past few years, Web 2.0 concepts have been opening new doors for more personal, dynamic, and social learning. And, social media, also called social software, has emerged as the leading edge of Web 2.0 and has become a crucial means to connect people not only to information repositories but also to other people, in order to share knowledge and create new forms of social networks and communities.

The goal of this PhD research is to achieve a new vision of blended learning defined by the convergence of learning, knowledge management, and Web 2.0 concepts into one integrated solution toward a new model of network learning through active participation in different communities. The main results of this PhD will be the design, implementation, and evaluation of a framework for social media supported learning (SMSL) and social media supported work (SMSW).

The main research questions can be formulated as the following:

  1. How learning and knowledge management can be viewed as two sides of the same coin?
  2. Why previous models of learning and knowledge management have failed to address the problem of learner and knowledge worker performance?
  3. What are the factors needed for the success of future learning and knowledge management models?
  4. How Web 2.0 concepts and social media technologies can leverage learning, support the building and maintaining of knowledge ecologies, and enhance individual performance?
  5. Why a social media driven approach to learning and knowledge management can succeed whereas previous models have failed?
Here is 1 page description of my PhD project as pdf.


Your valuable suggestions and comments are welcome!


1 comment:

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Amine Chatti said...

Paul Lefrere pointed me to a couple of interesting references.

Norris DM, Lefrere P & Mason J (2006), Making knowledge services work in Higher Education, Educause Review, Sept/Oct, Vol 41(5), 84-100 (http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0656.pdf)

Mapping Knowledge Nodes, Networks, and Domains (http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0656.pdf)

Norris D, Mason J & Lefrere P (2003) Transforming e-Knowledge – a revolution in the sharing of knowledge, Society for College and University Planning, Ann Arbor

A Revolution in Knowledge Sharing (http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0350.pdf)

Share and Share Alike: The E-Knowledge Transformation Comes to Campus (http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0351.pdf)

Many thanks Paul!