Knowledge management in learning environment design

Knowledge management can be seen as the process of integrating information, to get sense out of incomplete information and to renew it. Codification converts knowledge into accessible, applicable formats, making it as organized, explicit, portable and easy to understand as possible. Communities of practice are groups of people who have practice and knowledge in common. These related concepts knowledge management, codification and communities of practice are applicable to learning, since learning involves acquisition and modification of knowledge, skills, strategies, attitudes and behaviors. A learning environment is the space where it is possible to manage knowledge or, rather, ignorance. We propose a new model, based on knowledge management, codification and communities of practice. We analyzed different models but did not find a learning environment with these characteristics. We developed an environment applying the model. Students who used it show remarkably improved problem solving skills and better capacity to transfer knowledge from one situation to another.