Simulation, shared spaces, and information management to support discovery and learning: An application in emergency management

Abstract

In the academic enterprise, research and education are closely linked, and often highly complementary. Yet guidelines for developing Internet-based systems to support this linkage are few, and many of the promising tools have costs that put them out of reach of students. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of an open-source-based online workspace for supporting integrated research and education activities in the domain of emergency management. Motivating the workspace design is the notion that experience-based education programs create opportunities to generate and acquire knowledge individually and in groups. Accordingly, the workspace is organized to enable close integration between processes of discovery and learning. Of particular interest is the use of computer simulation, shared workspaces, and information management tools to support learning. This work contributes to our understanding of how research and education activities may be integrated and undertaken for mutual benefit within an online environment.