The Future of Education: Strengthening the Relevance of Lifelong Learning

This chapter explores educational practices to increase work relevance in lifelong learning education programmes. The outlet of the analysis is the development of skills for change, and to lay the grounds for innovativeness and entrepreneurial behaviour in future organizations. For the Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s), there are different pathways to shape and improve on their relevance to education for the work life. We examine how higher education institutions can consolidate their position in the future by agile attention to the development of the necessary skills that promote innovative and entrepreneurial behaviour. The primary argument is a need for a dynamic co-evolving relationship between the work environment and the fine tuning of educational content and educational practices in order to bridge the gap from curriculum to work context, and the probability of a meaningful application of educational content at work. The qualitative data is collected through interviews with students and their colleagues and superiors within two different organizations in Norway. From the analysis, we suggest a conceptual model providing further details of these “relational interdependences” between educational and work factors and outline some basic underlying factors in the work environment that help shape the relevance of skills needed in work life.publishedVersio

Different approaches towards training for crisis - a presentation of a comparative study

Preparedness for crisis has become a focus for Norwegian municipalities. In order to be prepared, one needs to learn about crisis and how to avoid or handle them. Crisis training has been undertaken for many years. The exercises’ undertaken has mostly been response exercises. There is valuable learning from this type of exercises, but there may be even better ways to conduct exercises that will enhance the experienced learning outcome. This study presents two different ways of doing exercises, and where the difference is in the preparation prior to the exercise. This is a pre-study to a larger project and will be undertaken as a comparative study with two comparable groups. Group 1 will be exposed to frequent hints via email regarding the exercise and Group 2 other group will not. The foci will be on how the two groups perform (regarding the same exercise scenario) from an observers view, how the two groups perceived their experienced learning outcome from the exercise, and it is also considered to do a test (multiple choice) that may show what they perceived from the exercise. The theoretical backdrop for this type of exercises will be mainly from experiential learning theory, behavioristic learning theory, and learning theories that embrace participation and engagement. The study will be both inductive and deductive, and the data will mainly be qualitative and consist of interviews, observations and some recording

The Future of Education: Strengthening the Relevance of Lifelong Learning

This chapter explores educational practices to increase work relevance in lifelong learning education programmes. The outlet of the analysis is the development of skills for change, and to lay the grounds for innovativeness and entrepreneurial behaviour in future organizations. For the Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s), there are different pathways to shape and improve on their relevance to education for the work life. We examine how higher education institutions can consolidate their position in the future by agile attention to the development of the necessary skills that promote innovative and entrepreneurial behaviour. The primary argument is a need for a dynamic co-evolving relationship between the work environment and the fine tuning of educational content and educational practices in order to bridge the gap from curriculum to work context, and the probability of a meaningful application of educational content at work. The qualitative data is collected through interviews with students and their colleagues and superiors within two different organizations in Norway. From the analysis, we suggest a conceptual model providing further details of these “relational interdependences” between educational and work factors and outline some basic underlying factors in the work environment that help shape the relevance of skills needed in work life

HyFlex learning as support for lifelong learning

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the courses in a study programme in Knowledge Management have been offered as a hybrid version, serving students at both a campus and online. The official policy from the universities is that the students are wanted back at the campuses. However, students in a work-life lifelong learning situation do not always have the opportunity of travelling to a campus. Hence, the possibility of taking part digitally in a class with a mix of online and physically present students has been the right solution for many working students. This paper presents results from a survey among students enrolled in four different courses in the study programme of Knowledge Management at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway, where the physical classroom is based in Kongsvinger, and the students are either present at the campus or online simultaneously. The preliminary results show that the students in this lifelong learning situation are depending on this hybridity in order maintain their learning opportunities, as this enables them to stay in an often-demanding work situation, as well as being able to stay as learners at a university. This implies that the hybridity, first boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, now, independently of the pandemic, is a demand within the segment of lifelong learners, as this will support access to higher education independent of place of residence, family situation or work situation. The students in this segment claim to attend physically if and when they have the opportunity to travel due to the above-mentioned situations. Hence, online only is not always the best option.publishedVersio

Relevance of Adult Higher Education on Knowledge Management in the Healthcare Sector

Organizations, including the healthcare sector, are subject to changes in market, technology and regulations. This requires enhanced and different types of knowledge and has led to an increased demand for adult higher education. However, the competencies required need to be met by the providers of higher education. This article presents a qualitative case study investigating the work relevance of an adult education study bachelor program for middle managers of the public health sector in Norway. The paper explores how the education has shaped the interplay between the student/practitioner and his/her surroundings. The data in the study have been collected using in-depth interviews. The case study showcases the potential impacts of higher education within public healthcare management in the workplace, also highlighting the factors that are predominant regarding the application and dissemination of formal knowledge in the workplace. The primary findings of this study are that there is an interplay between the form and content of the education, personal capabilities, and individual characteristics of the student (employee/health manager), as well as an organizational maturity pertaining to knowledge-management and the exposure to organizational innovation in the broader healthcare system. The case study contributes to the field of knowledge management issues by showing how a study program can support the development of knowledge management practices in an organization, through focusing on the relevance pronounced through the management practices.publishedVersio

On Work Relevance of Adult Education: A Case Study Narrative

There is an increased focus on relevance of higher education. Mostly it is about enhanced job opportunities or job advancements for the individual. However, relevance of higher education may also be towards solving important issues or problems at a workplace. There are some necessary preconditions as to how an educational activity becomes relevant. Firstly, the student must be capable to discover how generic knowledge and acquired skills may or may not apply to concrete situations at work. This requires experience, understanding of the norms and culture of the organisation and a certain form of practical intelligence. Secondly, the conditions at work place must be conducive to innovation and change in various ways. In this article, we present a case study where employee turnover and lack of effective training routines were a major efficiency constraint in a Norwegian firm. With constant competition, changes in markets and other factors that influence the sustainability of an organization, cutting costs, such as high turnover and the time from being newcomer to being fully operative in the job. The responsible for training activities in the firm realized that additional formal education at the higher education level was needed, and he decided to enrol in a Knowledge Management study program at The Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences in order to learn how he could improve knowledge management and learning processes of new employees at his workplace. The case study ultimately demonstrates how crucial the interplay between content and form of education on one hand and specific conditions facilitating changes and improvements at work on the other is for the relevance in formal higher education narrative.publishedVersio

Exploring the possibiliteis of using “posivtive deviance" for enhancing crisis training in municipalities

This study is about using “positive deviance” (Singhal, Buscell, & Lindberg, 2010) regarding more effective crisis training in municipalities. We claim that by using the municipalities own “best practices” and although finding the problem definition, stress the importance of focusing on the solutions found within the municipality, and amplifying these success practices. This paper will explore the theoretical possibilities that lie in the use of “positive deviance” and present some examples from Norwegian municipalities, where this could have been implemented. The paper will also propose and present a pre-study regarding crisis training in a Norwegian municipality, using “positive deviance” as method for enhanced crisis training

Use of Game Based Technology at NAMA

Norsk: Målet med prosjektet er å teste effekten av å bruke Steel Beasts Professional (SB) i taktisk trening på Krigsskolen. Aktivitetene i prosjektet var: 1. Forberede scenario 2. Bruke scenariet som en taktisk øvelse for kadettene – med en kontrollgruppe som bruker kart og en testgruppe som bruker SB (dag 1) 3. Teste gruppenes terrengforståelse og deres løsninger ved å bruke Taktisk Øving Uten Tropper (TØUT) (dag 2) 4. Vurdere bruken av tekstbasert rollespill som et formativt evalueringsverktøy (dag 3) Prosjektet har to mål: 1-3 tester effekten av broken av 3D visualisering og simulering i forbindelse med planlegging og 1,2 og 4 tester bruken av rollespillsimulering som et formativt verktøy for å evaluere læring. Kadettene er delt i en kontrollgruppe og en testgruppe. Kontrollgruppen ble gitt et scenario og fulgte standard prosedyre og papirbaserte kart, når de laget sin taktiske plan. Kontrollgruppen fikk bruke SB og alle tilgjengelige views i dette verktøyet/spillet. I TØUT’en ble begge gruppene testet for terrengforståelse. Spørsmålene ble designet for å vurdere hvordan kadettene svarte på spørsmålene og tiden det tok dem å svare på spørsmålene. Hensikten var å finne ut om det var en signifikant systematisk forskjell på måten kadettene utviklet en forståelse for terrenget i scenariet. En del av testing av rollespillsimulasjonen (RPS) var for å studere brukermedvirkning i utvikling av scenariet. For å unngå at resultatene fra RPS skulle forveksles med resultatene fra SB, ble halvparten av kadettene som hadde brukt SB og halvparten av de som hadde brukt papirbaserte kart satt til å gjennomføre en workshop for å utvikle script for RPS. Etter workshoppen utviklet Wold og forskerteamet det endelige scenariet for RPS’et. Deltakerne ble delt inn i fire roller: to SB–og to kontrollgrupper. MS NetMeeting ble i RPS’en brukt for å kommunisere. Rapporten viser resultatene fra denne studien.English: The aim of this project is to test the impact of using Steel Beasts Professional (SB) in tactical training at the Norwegian Army Military Academy (NAMA). The activities in this project were: 1. prepare the scenario 2. provide the scenario as a tactical exercise for the cadets with a control group using maps and an test group using SB (day 1) 3. test the two groups understanding of the terrain and their solutions using a Tactical Exercise Without Troops (TEWT) (day 2) 4. assess the use of text based role play as a formative assessment tool (day 3) This project has two objectives: 1-3 test the effect of the use of 3D visualization and simulation on planning, and 1, 2 & 4 test the use of role play simulation as a formative assessment tool for learning. The approach to testing the use of SB was to divide the cadets into a control group and a test group. The control group was given the scenario and followed standard procedure for developing a tactical plan using paper maps and manuals on operating procedure. The test group was given the same task, but with access to SB, and could use the tool in whichever way they chose. In the TEWT the two groups were tested on their geographical awareness. The questions were designed to assess how the cadets answered questions and the time it took for them to respond to questions. The intent was to establish if there were any significant systematic differences in the way in which the cadets developed an understanding of the terrain in the scenario. Part of the testing of the RPS was to investigate user participation in the development of role play situation. To avoid confounding the RPS with the SB results, half of the group using SB and half of the group doing the paper exercise took part in a workshop developing the script for the RPS. After the workshop, Wold and the research team developed the final scenario for the RPS. The participants were divided on four roles: two SB groups (one took part in workshop) and two control groups (one took part in the workshop). MS NetMeeting was used as the communication system for the RPS.Krigsskole

Utilizing Outdoor Quiz Games in Secondary School: Teachers’ Perceptions of Usefulness

Outdoor play is a natural way for children of all ages to do physical activity. The advantages of being outdoor in an educational setting have been elaborated. For instance, the social constellations may change when outdoors as the social structures defined in the classroom setting no longer apply as the pupils may display different skillsets outdoors as to indoors. Using games for learning purposes have been employed for several decades. As far back as in 1904, the Landlord’s Game was used to teach people about real estate and taxation. Since then games have mostly been developed for leisure purposes, but some also for educational purposes. In this paper, we elaborate on the use of a Norwegian developed quiz game called ‘ZippyGO’. Most of the research on ZippyGO have been focusing on students’ perceptions of the use of this quiz game. In this paper, however, we focus on the teachers’ perceptions and use of an outdoor quiz game for educational purposes. In this particular case, four teachers have collaborated on developing questions for the quizzing. We conducted mixed method ways of collecting data, surveys and semi-structured interviews. Our investigations have focused mainly on how the teachers perceive working on developing adequate questions for the quiz and how they perceive pupils may react to using the quiz game. We have also challenged the teachers on their perceptions of games for learning purposes in general and about being outdoor during class.publishedVersio

The Importance of Tacit and Explicit Knowledge Transfer in an Onboarding Programme

Abstract: “Onboarding” is one way of facilitating training for newcomers to get them socialized and trained for the job in question. Getting newcomers “up to speed” and reducing turnover is cost saving for a company. In this paper, we showcase how this has been done in a company in Norway. This organization suffered from high turnover and a lengthy training period for newcomers. Theory on socio-cultural learning, organizational culture, and knowledge management has enlightened our study. To display the interplay between organizational socialization and learning at work, we will present our findings on the development of an onboarding initiative. We dive into the subtleties of the border between formal structures of the onboarding and the informal best practices. Tacit knowledge conveyed through the informal best practices can be transferred and adapted through conversation and behavior. The data material is collected through qualitative in-depth interviews over a period of three years. The onboarding is not only contributing towards higher effectiveness and less turnover, but also developing, and continuously improving, learning structures in the organization.publishedVersio