An investigation of innovation and knowledge creation in virtual worlds

The Internet and World Wide Web have had, and continue to have, an incredible impact on our civilization. These technologies have radically influenced the way that society is organised and the manner in which people around the world communicate and interact. The structure and function of individual, social, organisational, economic and political life begin to resemble the digital network architectures upon which they are increasingly reliant. It is increasingly difficult to imagine how our ‘offline’ world would look or function without the ‘online’ world; it is becoming less meaningful to distinguish between the ‘actual’ and the ‘virtual’. Thus, the major architectural project of the twenty-first century is to “imagine, build, and enhance an interactive and ever changing cyberspace” (Lévy, 1997, p. 10). Virtual worlds are at the forefront of this evolving digital landscape. Virtual worlds have “critical implications for business, education, social sciences, and our society at large” (Messinger et al., 2009, p. 204). This study focuses on the possibilities of virtual worlds in terms of communication, collaboration, innovation and creativity. The concept of knowledge creation is at the core of this research. The study shows that scholars increasingly recognise that knowledge creation, as a socially enacted process, goes to the very heart of innovation. However, efforts to build upon these insights have struggled to escape the influence of the information processing paradigm of old and have failed to move beyond the persistent but problematic conceptualisation of knowledge creation in terms of tacit and explicit knowledge. Based on these insights, the study leverages extant research to develop the conceptual apparatus necessary to carry out an investigation of innovation and knowledge creation in virtual worlds. The study derives and articulates a set of definitions (of virtual worlds, innovation, knowledge and knowledge creation) to guide research. The study also leverages a number of extant theories in order to develop a preliminary framework to model knowledge creation in virtual worlds. Using a combination of participant observation and six case studies of innovative educational projects in Second Life, the study yields a range of insights into the process of knowledge creation in virtual worlds and into the factors that affect it. The study’s contributions to theory are expressed as a series of propositions and findings and are represented as a revised and empirically grounded theoretical framework of knowledge creation in virtual worlds. These findings highlight the importance of prior related knowledge and intrinsic motivation in terms of shaping and stimulating knowledge creation in virtual worlds. At the same time, they highlight the importance of meta-knowledge (knowledge about knowledge) in terms of guiding the knowledge creation process whilst revealing the diversity of behavioural approaches actually used to create knowledge in virtual worlds and. This theoretical framework is itself one of the chief contributions of the study and the analysis explores how it can be used to guide further research in virtual worlds and on knowledge creation. The study’s contributions to practice are presented as actionable guide to simulate knowledge creation in virtual worlds. This guide utilises a theoretically based classification of four knowledge-creator archetypes (the sage, the lore master, the artisan, and the apprentice) and derives an actionable set of behavioural prescriptions for each archetype. The study concludes with a discussion of the study’s implications in terms of future research

Lawrence Today, Volume 93, Number 1, Fall 2012

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Lawrence, Volume 94, Number 1, Fall 2013

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Gettysburg: Our College\u27s Magazine Spring 2016

From the President Janet Morgan Riggs \u2777 Table of Contents Scholarships Ensure Students a Broader, Global View (Craig Disher ’66) Jack Ryan: Vice Provost and Dean of Arts & Humanities Professor Jack Ryan From Father to Son to Sunderman (Frank Arbogast ’16) The 411: Suzanne Hermann Williams ’62 (Suzanne Hermann Williams ’62) Paying it Forward (Jack Duffy ’79) Making it Work: Public Archaeology (Paige Phillips ’12) The Writer\u27s Prompt was a Class Reunion Gettysburgreat: The Campaign for Our College Funds Sought for Music Tours (Joe ’75 and Susan Biernat ’77) Move-In Day is Memorable Shawna Sherrell Conversations Olympic-Sized Dreams (Andre Hinds ’16) The Mysteries of Golemo Gradište at Konjuh (Prof. Carolyn Snively, Katherine Haas ’10) The End of Fire Blight (Prof. Nikki Shariat, Jacob Marogi ’19, Dorothy Vosik ’19) Carina Sitkus The Bitters Biz (Ethan Hall ’11, Eric Kozlik ’11, Russell Garing ’11, Carolyn Margaret Murphy ’12) Carina Sitkus What Students Do: Engaging the Campus in Matters of Race (Ashley Fernandez ’16, Janet Morgan Riggs ’77, Troy Datcher ’90, Jeanne Arnold) What Makes Gettysburg Great: Broadcasting Public History (Jill Ogline Titus, Ian Isherwood ’00, Noah Wolfinger \u2719) Work that Makes a Difference: Inspiring Great Teaching (Anthony Angelini ’06) Save the Dates Class Notes Personal Lessons (Ian Isherwood \u2700) Plan Today to Impact Students Tomorrow (Betsy Haave Dougherty ’68)https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/gburgmag/1007/thumbnail.jp

Lawrence, Fall 2020

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Cognição e aprendizagem em mundo virtual imersivo

2.ed

UND Nursing: A Legacy of Caring, 1982-2008

This departmental history was written on the occasion of the UND Quasquicentennial in 2008.https://commons.und.edu/departmental-histories/1102/thumbnail.jp

Rivers of the Anthropocene

This exciting volume presents the work and research of the Rivers of the Anthropocene Network, an international collaborative group of scientists, social scientists, humanists, artists, policymakers, and community organizers working to produce innovative transdisciplinary research on global freshwater systems. In an attempt to bridge disciplinary divides, the essays in this volume address the challenge in studying the intersection of biophysical and human sociocultural systems in the age of the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch of humans’ own making. Featuring contributions from authors in a rich diversity of disciplines—from toxicology to archaeology to philosophy— this book is an excellent resource for students and scholars studying both freshwater systems and the Anthropocene

2018, UMaine News Press Releases

This is a catalog of press releases put out by the University of Maine Division of Marketing and Communications between March 2, 2018 and December 31, 2018

Rivers of the Anthropocene

This exciting volume presents the work and research of the Rivers of the Anthropocene Network, an international collaborative group of scientists, social scientists, humanists, artists, policymakers, and community organizers working to produce innovative transdisciplinary research on global freshwater systems. In an attempt to bridge disciplinary divides, the essays in this volume address the challenge in studying the intersection of biophysical and human sociocultural systems in the age of the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch of humans’ own making. Featuring contributions from authors in a rich diversity of disciplines—from toxicology to archaeology to philosophy— this book is an excellent resource for students and scholars studying both freshwater systems and the Anthropocene