Knowledge Management and the Internet

In his book Too Big To Know, David Weinberger (2011) gives a one definition of what knowledge is that is aligned with many classical ideas, mainly that knowledge has the characteristics of justified, true belief (p. 43). But in addition to what knowledge actually is or isn't, one thing that was typically agreed on is how the "truths" of the worlds were collected, on books and in the minds of experts.  However, Weinberger (2011) argues that due to the Internet and the networked nature of the world, the body of knowledge now lives on the network and not it books (p. 45). But the network is messy, and it makes getting to the truth even harder is many ways, despite the opportunities that networked knowledge creates. While reading Too Big To Know, I was reminded of a scene from the movie Men in Black discussing some of the problems that occur with knowledge:

The largest issue that the Internet, and knowledge on the network, has caused is summarized by Davenport (2015) and his claim that due to the web, knowledge management is dying. There is an irony that has occurred with large networked knowledge, in that with a greater amount of knowledge, it is often harder to find and use. And due to the rise of efficient search algorithms, such as Google, it has now become easier to search for external knowledge than to find internal knowledge (Davenport, 2011, p. 2). For organizations to now manage knowledge there must be a shift towards using social learning as advocated by Dixon (2009) and Jarche (2010).

In a recent survey, the difficultly of managing and maintaining knowledge was displayed when less than 15% of organizations were confidant in their ability retain knowledge when employees left (Jarche, 2016). Social learning is certainly something that can and has occurred naturally in workplaces, however, through effective leadership organizations can foster the trust that is a "essential component of social learning" (Jarche, 2010). The networked world is often changing too fast to conduct traditional training, instead leaders need to empower employees and small teams to solve the "how to do it" for themselves (Jarche, 2010). This empowerment by leaders fosters trust and facilitates the organic creation of social networks, which in turn assists in building the community necessary for social learning (Dixon, 2009).

These issues are very relevant to my new position. I am now in charge of updating a training program on a plane that rapidly changes with new technology. The  process for formal training course changes can take years and after approval the changes might not even be relevant. Instead I will definitely be using the advice of Dixon (2009), Jarche (2010, 2016), and Weinberger (2011) moving forward, teaching students as well as instructors how to "fish and move on the the next challenge", develop the skills to learn from each other, and foster a community that encourages social learning.

References:

Davenport, T. D. (2015, June 24). Whatever happened to knowledge management? The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/06/24/whatever-happened-to-knowledge-management/

Dixon, N. (2009, July 30). Where knowledge management has been and where it is going - part 3. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.nancydixonblog.com/2009/07/where-knowledge-management-has-been-and-where-it-is-going-part-three.html

Jarche, H. (2010, February 24). A framework for social learning in the enterprise. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://jarche.com/2010/02/a-framework-for-social-learning-in-the-enterprise/

Jarche, H. (2016,  December 8). Closing the learning-knowledge loop. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://jarche.com/2016/12/closing-the-learning-knowledge-loop/

Weinberger, D. (2011). Too big to know: Rethinking knowledge now that the facts aren't the facts, experts are everywhere, and the smartest person in the room is the room. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Exploring Web 2.0 and Udutu Review

There is no doubt that the internet has had a dramatic effect on how people digest data and information. However, the vastness of the the internet has also brought concerns of so called information overload, as noted by Weinberger (2011, p. 6). I sit here writing with this the T.V. on in the background, my phone besides my computer and Firefox with multiple tabs open. But as Weinberger (2011) describes, information overload is nothing knew, instead the recent outcry concerning how we interact with data can be summarized as a filtering problem (p. 10).

The evolution of the internet into the Web 2.0 is in part an attempt to tackle this issue. According to O'Reilly (2005) several of the core competencies of Web 2.0 sites focus on how data is structured and how it is interacted with by users. The rich user environments of Web 2.0 are now the norm for many people and can provide enormous benefits to leaders in all sectors. One such Web 2.0 service is Udutu, a website that is a learning management service but also can help with eLearning course development.

So what does that actually mean?

Now that computers are so common place and integral into peoples lives, there has been a steady shift in moving towards electronic learning/training, not only in education career fields, but also in military and private workplaces. I know in my experience in the Air Force, computer based training (CBT) has become ubiquitous. Similarly, Creighton's online Ed.D. program (of which this blog post is for) and other online college programs have demonstrated that eLearning is not something that is going to go away. Most large companies can afford to invest in proprietary development of both eLearning courseware as well as a way to deploy (send out to employees/trainees) and manage/monitor that courseware. However, for smaller scaled businesses it might not make since to develop a proprietary solution, which is where Udutu comes in.

Udutu provides a learning management service (LMS) that can scale from small to large companies but still provides a way to develop and deploy eLearning courses. Of course the content isn't limited strictly to courseware. Instead leaders could also use Udutu to send out update to policy or vision statements. Providing a more interactive why to spread a message than just e-mail, while still having the tracking in-place to ensure complete dissemination. The other major service that Udutu provides is assistance in the actual creation of eLearning courses, with several predefined templates. Udutu is fully SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) compliant, the standard for eLearning courses. This means that courses already developed can be used in Udutu's LMS and likewise any courses created using Udutu's tools can fit into a companies preexisting LMS. This flexibility can be extremely useful when an established company is attempting to move to a new service such as Udutu, ensuring that they don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Udutu's toolset and services seem to scale easily as claimed which I see as helpful for the main target audience of a site like Udutu. Additionally, the ability to use templates or a preexisting PowerPoint presentation as starting point for courses makes getting started much less daunting, especially if there in a significant time crunch. In addition to the actual courses, a major factor in determining how effective eLearning will be is based off on the LMS user interface (no trainee is going to want to spend time with a broken or confusing user interface as it can be quite frustrating). Unfortunately, without purchasing the full services offered by Udutu, I feel like a cannot make a complete judgement on how intuitive the Udutu LMS user interface is from a user perspective. 

Even with the benefits of eLearning courses and LMSs, services such as Udutu do have downsides. The biggest challenge for companies is ensuring that the training being provided lends itself to an online or computer environment. A great example of this is an Air Force training course called Self Aid and Buddy Care, which focuses on how to treat battlefield wounds. While there are some strictly academic parts in a course on first aid, a majority of training is going to be much more effective if it is provided in a hands on environment. Therefore, the Air Force has a baseline course in an eLearning environment, followed by hands on training. Leaders cognizant of limitations of eLearning environments are going to also be able to better use computer based training to the maximum extent possible successfully.


References

O'Reilly, T. (2005, September 30). What is Web 2.0. Retrieved from http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html?page=1

Weinberger, D. (2011). Too big to know: Rethinking knowledge now that the facts aren't the facts, experts are everywhere, and the smartest person in the room is the room. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Technology and Globalization

In 2005, Thomas Friedman released his book, The world is flat, discussing the role that technology played in the globalization of the world and, in his view, equaled the playing field for all people, regardless of where they were born or lived. I find it interesting that "uploading", the concept of online collaboration that the internet provided, is considered by Friedman (2005) to be possibly the most disruptive role that technology has had towards globalization. This blog falls under the "uploading" concept, and while my writing about globalization and technology is certainly not very important in the grand scheme of things, the idea that anyone with access to the internet, anywhere in the world can create a blog certainly is a powerful idea. Now a normal person can carve out a corner of the internet and share their ideas to the world. While the ability to perform online collaboration is one idea Friedman (2005) has in mind when he talks about the flatness of the world, is he correct or can the role of globalization be explained in other ways?

In response to Friedman's thesis, Professor Florida (2005) of George Mason University, outlined a counter argument that argues that globalization has caused the world to become increasingly "spiky". By "spiky", Florida (2005) argues that urban centers are becoming increasingly important as more people move to live in cities (p. 48). However, more important to Florida's (2005) argument about the spikiness of the world is that production and innovation are now centered around a few key cities (p. 49) Globalization has therefore caused a higher level inequality to be created, with the peak production centers such as New York or London benefiting, while second tier cities, such as Detroit, are left facing increased competition (Florida, 2005, p. 51). Recent rises in anti-globalization and nationalist parties across the globe seem to support Florida's argument and explain the backlash against the inequality produced by globalization (Roubini, 2014).  

I personally find that Florida's argument is more persuasive and accurate, however, both arguments are right to highlight the role of technology and its effect on globalization. The Internet's role in the increase in globalization is undeniable. And as technological progress continues, I am unsure whether that will lead to more inequality and spikiness or a flatter world that Friedman (2005) has argued. It is certainly possible that within my lifetime a human level artificial intelligence will be created, and as Bostrom (2015) argues, that will most likely lead to a cascading effect of super intelligent machines. I like to believe that the creation of AI will lead to a flat world as discussed by Friedman (2005), where people will have every chance to succeed regardless of location in the world, solely based on ability and effort. However, without the controls that Bostrom (2015) warned of, I can see instead AI leading the world being even spikier than it is now, and this time it will be humanity that is left in the valleys.

References

Bostrom, N. (2015, March). Nick Bostrom: What happens when our computers get smarter than we are? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talk/nick_bostrom_what_happens_when_our_computers_get_smarter_than_we_are

Florida, R. (2005, October). The World Is Spiky. The Atlantic Monthly, 48-51. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/images/issues/200510/world-is-spiky.pdf

Friedman, T. L. (2005) The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York, NY: Picador. 

Roubini, N. (2014, June 2). Economic insecurity and the rise of nationalism. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/jun/02/economic-insecurity-nationalism-on-the-rise-globalisation-nouriel-roubini