Participatory methods to support knowledge management systems design in educational environments

Abstract

Existing research shows that schools will greatly benefit from implementing knowledge management systems (KMSes). However, designing and implementing such information systems presents an overwhelming task for schools which do not have a knowledge-sharing culture. This paper explains how we designed a KMS in a rural low-knowledge school in Costa Rica and how the participatory methods applied during the design process initiated the creation of a learning culture that would encourage the use of the KMS. This paper makes a methodological contribution to the KMSes field by providing three detailed methods that can be used by KMSes developers to approach handling the social and technical dimensions of a KMS.