Reusing Knowledge in Online Forums A Pilot Study Lisa Soon Maryam Sarrafzadeh Kirsty Williamson

Lisa Soon Maryam Sarrafzadeh Kirsty Williamson

Overview About this Research Online Forum Knowledge Management Research Design Data Collection and Analysis Findings and Discussion Conclusions and Future Work

About this Research Research objectives were to explore: whether knowledge in online forums in previous teaching sessions is reused. If so, how? the benefits of reusing knowledge in online forum the barriers preventing knowledge reuse ways to facilitate knowledge reuse through knowledge sharing Significance and contribution More effective teaching when a lecturer takes on a subject from a previous session

Online Forum Knowledge Management Prior research Repositories for capturing e-learning knowledge ( Dolog et al., 2008; Reinhart, 2008; Aggarwal et al., 2006; Schell & Burns, 2006; Seongheea & Boryungb, 2008; Payne & Reinhart, 2008; Teo & Gay, 2006 ; Dewe, 2005; Chaudhry & Khoo, 2007 ) Using forums for pedagogical reasons ( Schellens & Valcke, 2006; Marra, Moore & Klimczak, 2004; Dennei & Paulus, 2005 ) This research How online forum knowledge can be reused in an e- learning environment

Research Method Qualitative interpretive research Knowledge is intangible and cannot be easily measured/quantified How online forum knowledge is reused – a new phenomenon Data collection method A pilot study with one focus group Eight subject coordinators from three different schools in three different disciplines Pretest - validity and usefulness of questions in a focus group guide

Data Collection and Analysis Collecting responses to 11 questions Participants could freely voice their views Responses were audio tape-recorded Data were transcribed for analysis Data Analysis Key points and concept mapping A table to reflect group responses categorizing answers for each questions supporting quotes in each category Reflection of results Reporting

Findings Online knowledge captured includes: subject issues, student learning needs, learning difficulties, past student complaints or concerns, and assignment matters Participants who re-activated and reused knowledge commonly agreed that it leads to more effective teaching.

Findings Benefits of knowledge reuse include: sharing experience of a previous lecturers subject knowledge, answers/ help/ advice to students queries, assignment discussion, problems, solutions, resources to help students, and subject administration issues – complaints, suggestions, concerns. Time-saving, avoid reinventing the wheels in teaching

Findings Barriers to knowledge reuse include: not knowing the possibility of forum re- activation, insufficient forum postings, international students are shy to post due to their English as a second language a lack of a systematic way to retrieve forum messages, and misleading information in forum messages.

Findings Facilitation of knowledge use can occur through developing a knowledge sharing culture: changing university policy, providing leadership in knowledge sharing organising casual and informal seminars to encourage knowledge sharing, and giving management support and endorsement Adding a knowledge manager role: for online forums to facilitate the above-mentioned tasks

Conclusion A lot of wheel reinventing of subject material writings can be saved Teaching preparations can be improved Impacts on how a subject coordinator in a next session can effectively use subject resources and knowledge Inputs into subject planning and subject revision can be provided

Future Work This research is useful to a wide audience using similar online forums within e-learning environments This research currently reflects the perceptions of teaching academics. As future work, we will gather student inputs.

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