Thursday, August 30, 2007

From Knowledge Worker to Knowledge Networker

Peter Drucker, among others, argues that in the emerging economy, knowledge is the primary resource for individuals and for the economy overall; land, labor, and capital. He further argues that improving front-line worker productivity is the greatest challenge of the 21st century. Drucker coined the term Knowledge worker to refer to one who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace. In that sense, a knowledge worker is one who doesn’t just consume knowledge but who is able to create it.

However, while I do agree that knowledge has become increasingly critical to the continued success of individuals and organizations, I believe that the new knowledge age is demanding new crucial skills based on knowledge networking rather than knowledge creation abilities. Since knowledge is distributed and ubiquitous in nature, everyone has to be a good knowledge networker. A Knowledge networker is one who has the ability to

  • identify connections, recognize patterns, and make sense between different knowledge sources.
  • locate the person or the community/communities with the required know-how that can help achieving better results.
  • navigate and learn across different communities.
  • Connect and collaborate in different knowledge networks.

Your valuable comments are welcome!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

TEL Journals

My colleague in PROLEARN Fridolin Wild pointed us to an extensive review of journals for Technology Enhanced Learning prepared by OUNL (a PROLEARN core partner). The list can be accessed here.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Social Software for Life-Long Learning

Our article "Social Software for Life-Long Learning" has been published in the journal of Educational Technology & Society, Volume 10, Issue 3, 2007. The article can be accessed at: http://www.ifets.info/issues.php?id=36. My colleague Ralf Klamma did a great work in coordinating the work among a group of PROLEARNERs. It was indeed a nice opportunity to work with great researchers in the PROLEARN Network of Excellence like Erik Duval and Ambjörn Naeve. I would like here to thank both of them for giving me the chance to work and learn from them.

Abstract:

Life-long learning is a key issue for our knowledge society. With social software systems new heterogeneous kinds of technology enhanced informal learning are now available to the life-long learner. Learners outside of learning institutions now have access to powerful social communities of experts and peers who are together forging a new web 2.0. This paper reviews current work in pan-European initiatives that impact upon life-long learning via views of professional learning, learner competence and social networking. It seeks to provide an overview of some of the critical research questions for the interdisciplinary field of social software research.

Reference:

Klamma, R., Chatti, M. A., Duval, E., Hummel, H., Hvannberg, E. H., Kravcik, M., Law, E., Naeve, A., & Scott, P. (2007). Social Software for Life-long Learning. Educational Technology & Society, 10 (3), 72-83.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Back from the Summer Break

I spent the summer break in the country of dreams Tunisia. It was indeed a merry time there with a lot of fun with my family and old friends. I recommend everyone to spend some time in Tunisia which is full of attractions and natural beauty from north to south. The choice is really diverse there. You can live the amazing mix of Arab, African and Mediterranean cultures and historic heritage, enjoy the golden sandy beaches, blue sees and traditional souks in Hammamet, Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia, and Djerba, the fantastic landscape in Tabarka, or the Sahara adventures in Tozeur, Douz and Matmata.