A PGLC has to be a virtual place where managers can actually (1) tap into the knowledge from their peers (or from the facilitators, if they are admitted to be part of the community), (2) reconnect to the learning experience smoothly and with insights that can be inherited by previous experiences without having a negative impact on their valuable time, (3) reconnect with the theoretical framework introduced during the facilitation phase, (4) share their experiences on the job and seek for help if needed.
Therefore, any kind of collaborative tool that can gather together the community of players and address these needs can be used for supporting the set up of a PGLC. In particular, in the case of EagleRacing (Angehrn and Maxwell, 2009), as well as of other games such as WhatADay, the InnoTube platform (Angehrn et al., 2009) has been used because of its customisation flexibility and availability.
InnoTube is a rich platform that combines the advantages of social networking and of the WEB2.0 participative attitude of community of practices. It is composed of three main spaces that provide (1) the sharing and exchange facilities (video-based Channels Space, but also via asynchronous – comments, blog and forum – and synchronous – chat and video-chat – means) where the community members express themselves, (2) the network visualisation facility (through the Network Visualisation and Navigation Tool) to browse and explore the community and the knowledge network, and (3) the Rich Profiling Space where expertise can be sought and where members can describe themselves, their interests and competences.
Typically, PGLC can be facilitated, that is, organisation facilitators are part of the community. However, the standard members are managers that participated in the learning experiences where the game has been played in the running session. Facilitators may ask the other community members to share their experiences first, in relation with the gaming and more in general with the overall facilitated sessions, then, on how they have been able to put the learning into practice once back on the job. The latter is the key aspect that brings actual value from the PGLC to the organisation. Through the community and the knowledge network the members can find the right resources they need in to answer to their daily problems in the field. They can find expertise from the experiences posted in videos by their peers or from the material (videos and documents) preloaded by facilitators in specific thematic video channels. On the same line, facilitators can also assign tasks that can be solved by applying into practice the key learning points addressed by the SG and then ask the community members to report about their achievements.
This way, community members are motivated to share their own experiences and contribute actively to the preservation and transmission of the organisational know-how. And the organisation can (1) have an overview of the actual learning achievements and knowledge spread through it, (2) preserve the know-how within and transfer it to the following generations of managers, (3) support the debriefing of the learning experience, (4) link the learning experience to the underlying theory, (5) support the transition from learning to action.
InnoTube Channels
InnoTube Network
References:
Angehrn, Albert A. and K. Maxwell (2009) “EagleRacing: Addressing Corporate Collaboration Challenges Through an Online Simulation Game”; Innovate, Journal of Online Education, Vol. 5, Issue 6, Aug/Sept 2009, retrieved at http://www.innovateonline.info/pdf/vol5_issue6/eagleracing-__addressing_corporate_collaboration_challenges_through_an_online_simulation_game.pdf
Albert A. Angehrn, A. Marco Luccini, Katrina Maxwell (2009). “InnoTube : a video-based connection tool supporting collaborative innovation“. Interactive Learning Environments (ILE) Journal, Vol. 17 No. 3 (Jul 28, 2009). https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?publisherName=tandfuk&publication=NILE&contentID=10.1080/10494820902924862&mac=&numPages=16&authorPreorderIndicator=Y&orderBeanReset=true