The Why and How of Knowledge Management: Some Applications in Teaching and Learning

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The Why and How of Knowledge Management:

Some Applications in Teaching and Learning

Olivier Serrat2016

Quid Knowledge Management?

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In context and framed by values, knowledge is in our minds a fluid mix of data, information, and experience, enriched by expert insight.In organizations, it is embedded not just in documents and repositories but also in norms, practices, processes, and routines.Hence, in that environment, the immediate purpose of knowledge management is to provide support for improved decision making; similarly, its higher objective is to advance organizational performance.

The Why of Knowledge Management

Diverse motives can drive knowledge management initiatives. Most frequently, they are to:• Achieve shorter product (or service) development cycles.• Boost internal and external network connectivity.• Harness intellectual capital.• Increase knowledge content in the development and provision of

products and services.• Leverage the expertise of people across the organization.• Manage business environments so staff can access insights that

are appropriate to their work.• Promote creativity, innovation, and organizational learning.• Solve intractable problems.

The How of Knowledge Management

• Business activities—to advance key elements of the business model.

• Communities—to empower knowledge-based communities and networks of practice operating within and across organizational units.

• Content management—to operate and improve the processes and technologies that support information databases.

• Intellectual capital—to manage the human, relational, and structural components of organizations.

• Knowledge benchmarking—to gauge knowledge management capabilities and practices against international "good practice" and raise performance.

The motives that drive knowledge management initiatives are reflected in 10 main areas of activity:

The How of Knowledge Management

Cont'd• Knowledge capture—to identify and harvest explicit and tacit

knowledge.• Knowledge culture—to embed a knowledge management ethos

and knowledge behaviors into working practices.• Knowledge partnerships—to contribute knowledge, experience,

resources, and connections, and participate in two-way communications with key clients, audiences, and partners.

• Knowledge retention—to safeguard knowledge, especially before staff leave and during periods of organizational change.

• Knowledge transfer—to convey knowledge, especially "good practice", among and between its various sources and forms.

The How of Knowledge Management

To note, knowledge management approaches in the 10 main areas of activity are increasingly modulated by:

• Adaptive management, inspired by the ideal of the learning organization

• Adoption of a wide variety of modalities that govern rather than manage

• Attention to social networks• Convergence• Open content, with possibilities to reuse,

revise, remix, and redistribute• Stronger emphasis on influence, not

knowledge per se• Transition from storage and retrieval of

information to active engagement with knowledge seekers

The How of Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management Perspectives

Ecological

Organizational

Technocentric

In step with the motives that drive knowledge management initiatives, the perspectives that conduce the latter are:• Ecological, focusing on how to foster the

dynamic evolution of knowledge interactions between entities.

• Organizational, focusing on how an organization can be designed to better facilitate knowledge processes.

• Technocentric, focusing on how information and communications technology can enhance core knowledge activities, such as storage and sharing.

Knowledge Management in Teaching and Learning

Arguably, the purpose of education is to open the minds of students and equip them with the wherewithal—essentially, knowledge—with which to make out and create their preferred future (and not merely respond to circumstances or events). Chance favors the prepared mind.

In the age of globalization, accelerating technological change, and increased competition, knowledge management can help schools, colleges, and universities— be they public, private, or the object of public–private partnerships—improve teaching for better learning outcomes.

In education as elsewhere, knowledge management can bring together people, processes, and technologies to enable schools, colleges, and universities to accomplish their missions.

Sample Functional Domains of Education

Domain

AdministrationAdmissionsAlumni AffairsCurriculum DevelopmentEnrollment PlanningFacultyGovernanceLibrary and Information ServicesPerformance Evaluation of FacultyPlacementPlanning and DevelopmentResearch and DevelopmentReportingStudent AffairsStudent CounselingStudent BodyStudent LearningTeaching and Learning Processes

People Processes Technology

Knowledge Resources in Sample Functional Domains of Education

Domain

Curriculum Development• Knowledge maps and knowledge audits of corporate and interdisciplinary relationships

and networks bearing on curriculum development• "Hubs" of information in related disciplinary areas (including recent publications,

updated materials, and applicable research)• Peer assists by partner institutions• Knowledge banks of curriculum content, arranged to evidence interdisciplinary inputs• Self- and independent evaluations of curriculum revision efforts• Portals of pedagogical techniques (including outcomes tracking, "good practice",

learning and development opportunities for faculty members, and areas for further research and development).

• Databases of (analyzed) student evaluations, updated each semester for "lessons learned" and "good practice"

• Knowledge harvesting and communities of practice in curriculum development• Guidelines for developing curriculum content (including working with faculty members

and establishing effective teaching styles)

People Processes Technology

Knowledge Resources in Sample Functional Domains of Education

Domain

Alumni and Student Affairs• Knowledge banks of alumni contributions and activities (flagging updates)• Commencement speeches by eminent alumni• Knowledge banks of policies and procedures for admissions, registration, financial

assistance, billing, payments, counseling, degree audits, housing, dining, etc.• Databases on student demographics, work allotments, assessments and evaluations,

performance, grades, etc.• Student-led peer-assisted learning, peer-assisted study sessions, and peer mentoring• Knowledge banks of student affairs services to make sure faculty members understand

existing services and extend proper advice• Portals for career placement services (including a one-stop service center for students

but also for faculty to make sure they are informed)• Knowledge cafés on alumni and student affairs• Retrospects of alumni and student affairs to synergize career, curriculum, and research

and development effort• Exit interviews of selected faculty to elicit insights on alumni and student affairs

People Processes Technology

A Farther Horizon for Knowledge Management in Education

To promote knowledge management initiatives in education, some next steps might be to:

• Communicate the value of knowledge management in education.

• Connect knowledge management initiatives to teaching and learning outcomes, be this in class or online.

• Research and track knowledge management initiatives in schools, colleges, and universities.

• Establish national forums and promote communities and networks of practice to engage stakeholders, including students, in knowledge management for teaching and learning in education.

• Formulate education policies that prompt schools, colleges, and universities to engage in knowledge management initiatives for teacher and student success.

Video #1: Flash Animations for Learning

Video #2: Social Media

Video #3: The Empowerment of ADB-Hosted CoPs

Video #4: The Birth of a Living Archive

Working in Teams

As a Community

AskI ask questions.

Inquiring minds are welcome here.

We check first to see what already

exists.

We question accepted wisdom.

Every Single One of Us

We share experience, evidence, and

feedback.

We share achievements, outcomes, and

pride.

LearnI contextualize

learning to make it real.

We connect and take opportunities

to learn.

We review lessons as we go and apply

our learning.

ShareI share personal

details, roles, and skills.

Asking, Learning, Sharing

Learning

LearningOrganization

Organization

Technology

Technology

Computer Science Cognitive Psychology Management Science Organizational Development

Multiple Disciplines, including

Strategic Framework

Leadership

Leadership

Pillars of Knowledge Management

Further Reading• ADB. 2008. Building Communities of Practice. Manila.

www.adb.org/publications/building-communities-practice

• ——. 2008. Managing Knowledge Workers. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/managing-knowledge-workers

• ——. 2008. Storytelling. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/storytelling

• ——. 2008. Notions of Knowledge Management. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/notions-knowledge-management

• ——. 2009. Glossary of Knowledge Management. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/glossary-knowledge-management

Further Reading• ADB. 2009. Building a Learning Organization. Manila.

www.adb.org/publications/building-learning-organization

• ——. 2009. The Roots of an Emerging Discipline. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/roots-emerging-discipline

• ——. 2009. A Primer on Organizational Learning. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/primer-organizational-learning

• ——. 2010. Seeding Knowledge Solutions Before, During, and After. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/seeding-knowledge-solutions-during-and-after

Videos• ADB. 2013. The Empowerment of ADB-Hosted Communities of

Practice. Manila. vimeo.com/92214511• ——. 2014. Social Media. Manila. vimeo.com/93379097• ——. 2014. The ADB Sustainable Development Timeline: The

Birth of a Living Archive. Manila. vimeo.com/124022887• ——. 2015. Flash Animations for Learning. Manila.

vimeo.com/122391099• ——. 2016. The ADB Sustainable Development Timeline.

Manila. reflections.adb.org/• ——. 2016. ADB: Reflections and Beyond. Manila.

vimeo.com/user26371068

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