Groupware

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Groupware
Supporting Knowledge Managementin Schools

• Workshop presented by Lyn Hay, Charles Sturt
  University
• atIASL Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  August 5-9, 2002

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What were you, before you are what you are, now?
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KM Problem

• Trapping the knowledge of outgoing community
  members
• Welcoming new community members to a knowledge
  sharing culture
• Maintaining a knowledge sharing culture

Knowledge capture collaborative worksupported
by technologies
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What Is Groupware?

• Electronic mail and messaging
• Group calendaring and scheduling
• Electronic meeting systems (EMS)
• Desktop and real-time data conferencing
• Non-real time conferencing
• Group document handling
• Workflow
• Workgroup utilities and groupware development
  tools
• Groupware frameworks

Coleman, 2000. Groupware The Changing
Environment.http//www.collaborate.com/publicatio
n/publications_resources_groupware_book_section_1_
2_1.htm
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KM Inventory
I wish we knew what we know

• Auditing capturing knowledge
• How to protect knowledge from walking out the
  door http//www.knowledgeharvesting.Org/articles/K
  eepKnowledgeFromWalkingOuttheDoor.PDF
• Misconception that all knowledge needs to be
  captured
• People, processes, work practices, work culture
  technologies

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What are your KM skills?

• Do you know what knowledge you have now? Who has
  it? How to get it?
• Are you systematically transferring knowledge
  inside your own organisation? How? Who?
• Are you systematically acquiring outside
  knowledge? How? From whom? Is it being used?
  
• Are you creating new knowledge? How? Where? Who?
  Is it being captured? Shared?
• Are you leveraging knowledge As a
  product/service? In your products/services?

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What are your KM skills?

• Are you measuring your knowledge assets? Your
  return onknowledge? Are you investing in it?
• Are you using technology to acquire, disseminate,
  and transfer knowledge? To everyone? Everywhere?
  Anytime?
• Are you encouraging...or discouraging...knowledge
  sharing? Are people sharing? If not, why not?
• Does senior management understand and support
  management of knowledge as a business strategy?

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Empowering Good Decisions

• Every decisionmaker has the benefit of the whole
  organisations experience intellect
• Need to rethink how one categorises knowledge
  not according to domains (what it is about)
• More useful to consider applicability
  transferability of knowledge

Applying the fullness of an organizations
knowledge to its decisions means working hard to
represent it, transfer it, make it accessible,
and encourage its use.
Novins, P. Armstrong, R. (1997). Choosing Your
Spots For Knowledge Management.online
http//www.cbi.cgey.com/journal/issue1/features/ch
oosi/choosi.pdf
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Categorising Knowledge

• Recipient
• Applicability
• Transferability
• Richness
• Currency
• Trustworthiness
• Detailed vs general

Knowledge should be managed differentlyaccording
to how broadly applicable it is
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Transferring Knowledge

• Rule-based K is highly transferable
• K can be transferred multiple times without
  losing validity
• Low transferability is that K which is
  judgment-based or context-sensitive.

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What types of K are we dealing with?

• An answer to this question assists us in working
  out how best to manage that K
• Tendency to think more K is broad-based than
  actually is this becomes a source of
  information overload by employee

Recommended reading Wenger, Etienne. (1998).
Communities of practice Learning as a social
system. http//www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garde
n/cop/lss.shtml
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What Does Groupware Do?

• Supports the efforts of teams or paradigms
  requiring people to work together
• People may not be together in time or space
• Effective groupware can maximise human
  interaction while minimising technology
  interference
• Effective implementation of groupware requires a
  good understanding of group dynamics

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Technologies Supporting KM

• Applications for capturing information
• Applications for cataloguing and storing
  information
• Applications for transforminginformation
• Applications for disseminating information
• Applications for securing information

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Capturing Information

• Create and store, eg. word processing programs,
  webpage composers
• Applications capturing information about people,
  eg. educations systems, teachers, students,
  etcOrder entry applications, eg. acquisitions
  budgeting modules of AfW, AIMS
• Student assessment reporting software
• Dialogue, eg. asynchronous/synchronous logs

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Capturing Information

• Capturing applications about our resources,
  employees, customers (students, parents)
• Contact management scheduling applications, eg.
  Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Organizer
• Capture information about professional networks
  contacts, appointments
• Capturing without our knowledge, eg. cookies
  where browsers let websites record information
  about users demographics, preferences

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Cataloguing Storing Information

• Challenge of storing information in appropriate
  type of file
• Developing a filing system to help people easily
  find the information
• Need to look beyond resourcing the curriculum
  play leadership role in streamlining knowledge
  capture of information policy administrative
  documentation
• Lotus Notes lets users create different types of
  information artefacts store in central
  location, eg. with Domino 6 can be used to build
  a corporate portal

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Cataloguing Storing Information

• Web-based access to document management systems
  help catalogue track all docs from draft to
  publishable products
• HTML Transit avoids duplication of effort in
  developing content
• Standardising documentation across formats, eg.
  Word docs to html

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Transforming Information

• Learning management systems (LMS) to develop
  online learning programs, track learner results,
  update educational transcripts, eg. WebCT,
  Powerschool
• Data mining software, metadata to scan for
  information in databases, eg. Intranet search
  engine
• Visual groupware tools such as mind mapping
  software to transform brainstormed information,
  eg. Inspiration MindManager

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Disseminating Information

• Intranet portal content management tools
  provide centralised source of access to formal
  informal online resources email, webpages, web
  forums, search engines
• YahooGroups as bureau provider of a groupware
  suite good for informal CoPs
• Zope as a web application server tool more
  appropriate for system/school data
• Microsoft Exchange for messaging collaboration,
  incl. NetMeeting
• Power of push tools useful with large
  organisations

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Communities tools

• How do people fit into this groupware
  scenario?
• How are their needs being met?
• Who is supporting their technical
  educational needs?

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Can your school benefit from groupware
applications?
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KM ways ware

• Capture store K artefacts
• Public private, individual group places to
  store, share, create, replicate
• Audit assess KM processes
• School administration system/school/community
  networking
• Communities of Practice (CoPs) commit to
  interdependence
• Staff professional development curriculum
  support
• Students understand power of CSCW will become
  our future inventors of ways ware

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Rules for Success

• Get managements hands on the keyboard
• Groupware changes corporate culture. Plan for it!
• Pick a pilot project rather than major rollout
• Pick a project with a group that is supportive of
  technology and innovation
• Pick a project with visibility, and productivity
  or learning impact

Coleman, D. (2000). 20 rules for groupware
success. Collaborative strategies Resources.
Online. www.collaborate.com/resources/rules.htm
l
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Rules for Success

• Adequate planning, training, maintenance, and
  support will be majority of cost, rather than
  initial cost of the software
• Measure productivity factors before/after project
  to cost-justify groupware implementation
• Pick groupware based on a specific problem that
  needs to be solved
• Groupware is not a quick fix no single
  groupware product can do it all

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Rules for success

• Internal expertise will be required to ensure
  your project's success dont depend on vendors
• Listen to the people involved in pilot project
• Don't be afraid to make changes learn as you go
• Make sure software you pick fits with existing
  systems or doesnt compromise them
• You cant change people overnight be prepared
  for resistance, make it fun

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Rules for Success

• While people take time to change, organisations
  take longer
• Only automate those processes which can achieve
  productivity or learning gains
• Groupware can be very political need to strive
  for a win/win outcome
• Lead with a team

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I wish we knew what we know

• Groupware Supporting knowledge management in
  schools