Informal Self-regulated Learning in Corporate Organizations

Sharing knowledge is one of the most challenging tasks modern companies have to deal with. A vast amount of knowledge exists within organizations; however it is often difficult to find and to judge its value. As a consequence, learning and knowledge building seem to be a lonely activity, separated from everyday work. Transfer of knowledge acquired in formal courses has little impact and effect on day-to-day work. That is why training often has a low return on investment. Knowledge management systems have also proven to be ineffective as they fail to present the knowledge employees are looking for. So how can we improve learning in organizations using ICT? To find an answer to this question we might learn from the generation that has grown up with modern communication technologies. This Homo Zappiens has shaped new ways of communication and information sharing including attitudes and views leading to collective knowledge building strategies. Prominent characteristics of Homo Zappiens include their preference for images and symbols as an enrichment of plain text, their seemingly effortless adoption of technology and their cooperation and sharing in networks. This generation seems to take exploration and learning, discovering the world, into their own hands. Homo Zappiens shows us we can increasingly rely on technology to connect us and allow us to organize as a group. In a networked society, the individual has more room for contributing its unique value, and innovation and knowledge reside in a network, rather than in each separate individual. Realizing that we need a flexible structure for organizing ourselves and the world around us, we can look at Homo Zappiens for a clue. This chapter describes self-regulated learning within a network (Networked Learning) and presents a model for it. It also presents experiences with the model at the multi-national corporation IBM, where a Technology-Enhanced Learning Environment (TELE) was built and introduced.