Collaborative learning, lessons learned sharing and knowledge management using a blog: a case study in university education with project management students

Resumen

Effective knowledge management is one of the major challenges in all kinds of organizations. Given that it is the people in the organization - and not the organization itself- who acquire and generate knowledge, in the end knowledge management becomes an issue of people management, aiming at making people aware of the benefits in sharing knowledge, and at organizing the methods, tools and roles involved in the necessary processes to encourage and drive their contributions. Educational environments are not different in that matter and students can benefit enormously from collaborative learning and creating a common knowledge base, provided that they are given the required tools and methods that guide their process of reflection, contribution and peer assessment in a structured way. Effective knowledge management in this context is not a question of students summarizing or paraphrasing the theory they learn in the classroom, but reflecting on their first-hand experience after putting that theory into practice via exercises or projects - i.e. their Lessons Learned, in terms of Project Management-, and sharing their reflection with their peers. This paper presents a model for a shared knowledge management system, combining web 2.0 tools, the concept of lessons learned and a set of techniques and role distribution to encourage and drive the contribution process. The key aspect in the information system of this model is the use of a blog as the knowledge repository and blog entries as the support for students' lessons learned. The paper also describes the application of this model in the context of the Project Management subject taught in a coordinated way between a Computer Science Faculty and a Science Faculty in different towns and universities. This experience resulted in a common knowledge repository with blog entries in three different languages, contributed by students who shared their lessons learned after developing and managing several projects that are part of the subject.