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Intelligent Learning Agents operate primarily at the individual learning level. Their objective is to accelerate the acquisition and the adoption of relevant new concepts and practices by individuals. InCAs are a very advanced approach to technology-enhanced or e-learning. They operate first at the motivational level, and then gradually involve the learner in an interactive process, in which an individual first better understands and develops interest for the new concepts and practices, and then successfully integrates and adopts them, individually as well as in his/her organizational or social context. In our current projects and research plans, we are modelling, designing and developing prototypes of InCAs operating in different application domains such as making people learn to manage and share knowledge in organizations better and faster (K-InCA), generate and extract value from virtual communities (C-InCA), or become more learning-oriented (L-InCA).
Example of Research Progress: Towards Intelligent Agents operating in Social Contexts. The K-InCA and the EdcomNet Projects have advanced our understanding of how to design software agents operating in organizational contexts aimed at triggering learning and behavioral change in individuals. After having explored extensively the cognitive dimension of such anthropomorphic agents interacting with people using a conversational metaphor, we have focused on how to design such agents in a way which leverages as much as possible the social context in which such agents operate, as well as research issues related to user modeling and ontologies of knowledge management systems, which we are exploring in the context of the OntoLogging Project. These studies are leading to the definition of new standards and design principles aimed at employing advanced learning technologies in a way which recognizes and exploits more explicitly the fact that learning and change always take place in a social context.
Advanced Simulations of Organizational Dynamics are experiential learning systems exploiting technologies such as multimedia or virtual reality to accelerate the understanding and learning of organizational processes. Such simulations are built on models of human behaviour and social processes in organizations, and their design and evaluation helps us to understand the opportunities and the limits of supporting learning through the design and creation of highly realistic, simulated learning experiences. In our current projects and research plans, we are modelling, designing and developing extensions of the kernel (organizational behaviour processes) as well as of the interactive components (learning in multi-user virtual reality environments) of the EIS Simulation, which addresses learning in the domain of change management and resistance to change in organizations, and which is currently extensively used as a pedagogical and research tool in a number of universities and organizations world-wide (providing a rich continuous flow of feedback data for evaluation research).
Example of Research Progress: High-Tech Simulations for Hi-Touch Situations. In the VERDI Project, we have explored the impact of enabling learners to participate in simulations addressing organizational dynamics via 3D/Virtual Reality interfaces, as well as the design and implementation of such complex distributed real-time systems. The new prototypes will enable us to create new highly involving simulations in which to experience inter-personal and group dynamics. Furthermore, we have started extending the models underlying our simulations (which are used today worldwide for teaching or research purposes) to address specific contexts such as situations of resistance to change in educational environments, family businesses, as well as driving change in virtual organizations, in which employees interact almost exclusively through a variety of electronic means.
In the domain of Virtual Communities , our research projects address and contribute to knowledge creation in the domain of the design of effective online environments in which communities (of researchers, employees of one or more companies, customers, service providers, etc.) learn, structure and manage knowledge as well knowledge- and value-creating processes. In our current projects and research plans, we are extending further the technical features, the underlying social dynamics model, and the evaluation of the ICDT Platform, a virtual community environment which is used in a variety of research projects, knowledge management and e-learning contexts.
Example of Research Progress: Learning across Organizations: Theory and Practice of Learning Networks. The eCAMP and Knowlaboration Projects have generated an extensive set of research data related to the theory and the practice of Learning Networks, cross-organizational groups and communities focused on knowledge sharing (and creation) within a given industry or focused on a specific issue, such as their management competencies. We have explored Learning Networks operating in a ‘traditional’ way (in terms of their governance, decision-making, learning and knowledge management processes) as well as ‘post-Internet’ Learning Networks operating using an OpenSource model and integrating information and communication technologies to redesign and extend/transform their key governance and value-creation processes. The insights from these studies are providing a sound basis for better understanding the dynamics of Learning Networks in general as well as the social, technological and knowledge engineering design principles characterizing the next generation of Learning Networks.
In the domain of E-nnovation Studies, our research projects aim at better understanding the phenomenon of ‘innovation in the Information Age’ by studying new models and forms of innovation taking place at the individual level (‘CyberEntrepreneurs’), in organizations (e.g. through the introduction of ‘incubators’), as well as in whole market or industry sectors (e.g. the transformation and evolution of the content, of the banking, and the education sectors as well as of technology-enhanced dynamics at the communiy, regional, national and international level).