How online tacit knowledge learning influences traditional classroom learning? A case study

In a traditional classroom scenario, students easily learn from the lectures on subject-related concepts or theories, but these do not include practical experiences that require hands-on practice, case studies or discussion. Explicit knowledge online learning has been widely applied and proven to be effective, but its counterpart, tacit knowledge has yet to be proven. Accordingly, this study intends to explore whether online learning for tacit knowledge can reinforce or substitute the effects of traditional classroom learning. Using Web design guidelines as an example for articulable tacit knowledge, the experiment result has shown that online learning effect was significant on substituting but not on reinforcing classroom learning. Meanwhile, with appropriate design and arrangement, online tacit knowledge learning can also significantly facilitate classroom learning. Nevertheless, the gap between perception and application levels could not be closed through online tacit knowledge learning that still requires years of accumulated practical experiences.