virtual company open university of the netherlands modes of personal and organisational learning in...

Virtual Company Open University of the Netherlands

Modes of Personal and Organisational Learning in VirtualBuisinessTeams

Hans van der VleugelJack GerrissenDarco JansenPeter SloepWim van Petegem project “Virtual Company”Science & Technology DepartementOpen University of the Netherlands


Presentation content

• Concepts that triggered our ideas

• Projecteam-philosophy for VBT-s

• VBT-workstation

• Modes of learning in a VBT

• deployment modes/motives for VBT-s

Warning: pilots, but no “formal proof”


Professional Training

Becoming a psychologist (regular university)

• first year at the university:everything but psychology!

• 4 years study period• 6 month practical work:

the real thing!

When did learning and growth of expertise have its peaks?


“Traditional” Distance Teaching

Open University of the Netherlands

• guided selfstudy• “open”-ness in admission• little pacing and time constraints• early ICT-adoption• working students


Changes in pedagogical concepts

Open University of the Netherlands experimenting towards constructivist,

“competency-based” learning

• learning while doing: authenticity• no learning without error: quality control• just-in-time resources:

coaching and knowledge-management• assignment of project-tasks


Working Communities

Projectteams:• Different expertises and roles of project

members• Aiming at (collective) competencies• Support and compensation for each others

individual weaknesses• Development of individual expertise, group

competencies, and organisational knowledge

• Coordination via synchronous interaction


Work-for-Learning Communities

Professional learning in projectteams:• authentic tasks and roles• collecting information on a “need-to-know-

basis” (JIT-learning)• peer-support and coaching• development of individual expertise

and group competencies• documentation of “lessons learned”• important for organisation as a whole


Network-for-Learning Communities

Supportive ICT-infrastructure and groupware allowing for: • dislocated team-members• asynchronous team-interaction• information retrieval (intranet & Internet) • accumulating repositories of resources• asynchronous coaching


Network-for-Learning Communities

VIRTUALWORK-FOR-LEARNING

COMMUNITY

Task/functionassignment

Repository of learning resources

Repositoryof coaching

capacity

Personal growthassessment

Trainee at location A

Trainee at location B

Trainee at location C


VirtualBusinessTeams

Our VBT-s consist of:• trainees with authentic, project-tasks• for a sponsor in the real world (about!)

• who’s roles are allocated to honour an expressed wish or need for expertise-growth

• by practicing that field of expertise• with a high quantity of asynchonous work• and assessment of both product and process


Virtual Work-for-Learning Communities

ICT-Networks enable:

• Asynchronous work • Asynchronous training and coaching• Direct transfer of training • Flexible window for intake on the basis of

expressed needs (individual/group)


Typical VBTeam workstation

Communicate& coordinate

Co-work tools& objects

Corporate knowl.identity / rules

Just-in-time learning& coaching

Competenceanalysis,

monitoring &assessment


Typical VBTeam workstation

Communicate& coördinate

Co-work tools& objects

Corporate knowl.identity / rules

Just-in-time learning& coaching

Competenceanalysis,

monitoring &assessment

Peer-learning

Assessment basedlearning

Knowledge management oriented learning


Three submodes of VBT-learning

Supportive conditions for building expertise Heterogeniety

• peer-learning

Interactions• tacit knowledge more explicit and inter-related• assessment of competence “in the field”

Linking of different knowledge resources to:• individual nomological networks• organisational “body of knowledge”


Knowledge cycle in knowledge based task

APPLICATION

knowledge component

STORAGE

DISTRIBUTION

Operationalknowledge

new knowledge

improved knowledge

external knowledge sourcesKnowledge product

ACQUISITION

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

Primary input


Realism and motivation

Competencegrowthdemand

Task componentaddressing

growth profile

Stack ofproduct/service

orders


Deployment modes (motives)

1. Business-task paced learning

2. Learning at work

3. Organisationalprototyping

4. Knowledge manage-ment for

competencegrowth

Virtual CompanyVirtual Company


VBT - modes (1)

From knowledge delivery to personal development

Business-task paced learning

Direct competence-development instead of indirect management

(traditional HRM) Specific professional

practices

Just-in-time learning


VBT - modes (2)

Learning at work

minimal agenda- and/or travel-problems

direct “Transfer of Training”

Just-in-timelearning

Competence assessmentin existing tasks

a-synchronous trainers/heterogenous groups


VBT - modes (3)

Organisational prototyping

Migration to new functions and/or new tools

Competence assessmentin new functions

Knowledge-base with “best practices”


VBT - modes (4)

Knowledge management towards competence growth

Merging of individual andorganisational

“Bodies-of-Knowledge”

Permanent updating of

organisational memory

Knowledge-base with “best practices”


Overview

1. Business-task paced learning

2. Learning at work

3. Organisationalprototyping

4. Knowledgemanagement for

competencegrowth

Virtual CompanyVirtual Company


Conclusions on VBT-s

• a highly motivating way of combininglearning and working

• a rich source for both individual and organisational learning

• makes need for knowledge management appearent

• ICT for asynchronous communication may make available tacit knowledge easier explicit

• “off the shelf” groupware can be used, but interaction design helps


Modes of Personal and Organisational Learning in VirtualBuisinessTeams

Hans van der Vleugel (ao) project “Virtual Company”

[email protected]

Science & Technology DepartementOpen University of the Netherlands

virtual company open university of the netherlands modes of personal and organisational learning in...

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