How to save expert knowledge for the organization: Methods for collecting and documenting expert knowledge using virtual reality based learning environments

The current demographic development will lead to changing working conditions. The paper at hand presents methods for the investigation of expert knowledge within the company and how to document these information, widely independent from individuals, within a technology based learning environment, using virtual reality (VR) technologies and other media. Expert knowledge is often coded as tacit knowledge [1] and can be hardly verbalized by experts. The extraction of tacit knowledge requires methods that are based on stories. Beyond facts these stories also include tacit knowledge driven by emotions. One of the narrative methods presented in the paper will be the »triad interview« [2]. The documentation of these interviews within texts is not very sustainable and other methods for the documentation of expert knowledge are required. Especially in the field of maintenance that is focused in the paper, virtual reality is a suitable method for the documentation as technicians are familiar with drawings and visual content representations. Virtual reality learning environment can visualize working processes and keep the narrative structure that is required for transferring tacit knowledge. Besides, interactions as a typical characteristic of virtual reality applications allow the design of problem solving tasks. The paper presents the »triad interview« and the »working process analysis« [3] that are used for extracting the relevant information of a working process. For the didactical design of the learning tasks the method of the »complete action« [4] is applied. The paper will present the design of the several phases and their benefit for the learning process. Finally the results and experiences from an evaluation study within the organization will be presented.