Nature of Knowledge Management

Understanding the Difference among Knowledge, Data and Information

Data represents raw numbers and assertions. It comprises facts, observations or perceptions. Data is just bits, many zeroes and ones.

Example: Bits representing score on examination including score in test 1 and score in test 2.

Information is data with context and relevance. While data are nothing but useless garbage bits and uninterpretable zeroes and ones, information can be used to obtain a more meaningful indication of trends and patterns.

Example: In a test, the result of the frequency of errors interprets if the item is too difficult or too easy to answer.

Knowledge is information with decision-making and action-directed utility and purpose. Knowledge is the highest level in the hierarchy, with information in them middle, and data ot be at the lowest level. This is the richest, deepest and most valuable of the three.

Example: The information in the frequency error and score of test items shows the validity of each item in the test if there's a need to be retained or to be revised.

Knowledge is the information that helps to produce information from data or produce valuable information from less valuable information.

Types of Knowledge

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.

There are many classifications and characterizations of types of knowledge, e.g. individual, social, causal, conditional, relational, pragmatic encoded, encoded and procedural. It is very important to know what knowledge is before we can manage it effectively.

Subjective View of Knowledge

In this kind of view, reality is entirely dependent on human perception and is socially constructed through interaction and individuals.  

·         Knowledge has no existence independently of social practices and human experience

·         Knowledge is not an independent object

·         Knowledge has no single location

·         Knowledge is viewed as an on-going accomplishment

Objective View of Knowledge

In objective view of knowledge, reality is independent of human perceptions and can be structured in terms of priori categories and concepts. 

·         Knowledge can be located

·         Knowledge is something that can be stored, transferred, and manipulated

·         Knowledge enables access and utilization of information

·         Knowledge is a strategic capability that can potentially be applied to seek a competitive
      advantage 

Procedural vs. Declarative Knowledge

Declarative Knowledge focuses on beliefs about relationships among variables.

Example: “All other things being equal, greater price charge for a product would cause some reduction in its number of sales.”

It can be stated in the form of logical propositions, expected correlations, or formulas relating concepts represented as logical symbols and/or mathematical variables. This is often characterized in KM circles as “know-what.”

Procedural Knowledge focuses on beliefs relating procedures or processes: sequences or steps or actions to desired or undesired outcomes.  

Example: The procedure that should be followed in a government organization in deciding on whom to award the contract for a particular area (information system development).

It is often characterized in KM circles as “know-how.”

Tacit vs. Explicit

Tacit Knowledge includes insights, intuitions, and hunches that are not verbalized or documented. This is usually difficult to express and formalized. Therefore, it is difficult to share. It is a phenomenon wherein the employee can’t really tell how to do something.  

Explicit Knowledge refers to knowledge that has been expressed into words or numbers. It can be shared formally and systematically in the form of data, specifications, manuals, drawings, audio or video tapes, computer programs, patents, etc.

Can we convert explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge?

We often convert explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge. It usually happens when an individual reads a book and learns some insights from it, but not by rote memorization.  

Can we convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge?

We can sometimes convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. It happens when an individual, who has a lot of tacit knowledge, writes a book formalizing that knowledge. More often, it is like difficult conversion that requires hard efforts.

General vs. Specific Knowledge

General Knowledge is possessed by a large number of individuals and can be transferred easily across individuals.

Example: Headache is one symptom of brain hemorrhage.

Specific Knowledge (idiosyncratic knowledge) is possessed by a very limited number of individuals, and is expensive to transfer.

Example: How to operate on a patient suffering a stroke.

Technically vs. Contextually Specific Knowledge

Technically Specific Knowledge is a deep knowledge about a specific area. It includes tools and techniques for solving problems. It is often acquired through formal training and experience in the field.

Examples:          

• The scientific knowledge of a marine biologist
• The knowledge about computer hardware by an engineer

Contextually Specific Knowledge refers to the knowledge of particular circumstances of time and place in which work is to be performed. It can not be acquired through formal training.

Examples:               

• The detailed knowledge that design engineers possessed about the idiosyncrasies of the particular design group they are working 
• Basketball forward detailed knowledge about the team’s center

Reference:

Becerra-Fernandez, I. and Sabherwal, R. (2010). Knowledge Management: Systems and Processes. New York: ME Sharpe, Inc. 

Introduction to Knowledge Management

Image Source: www.kassoftindia.com

Why is there a need for Knowledge Management?

According to Peter Drucker, knowledge has become the key source for the nation’s military and economic strength, so that there is a need for the systematic work on quality of knowledge and productivity of knowledge. The survival of every organization in the knowledge society highly depends on those two factors.   

What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge Management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing, sharing and effectively using organizational knowledge (Davenport, 1994). It is about managing the knowledge life cycle, which includes the processes of knowledge creation, knowledge transfer and knowledge use. It is also related to the concept of intellectual capital.

Human vs. Structural Capital

Human Capital – t his is the body of knowledge that an organization possesses. This is the knowledge in the minds of the software developers, researchers, academic collaborators, business managers, and even the knowledge of the teachers and students in educational institution.

Structural Capital – this is everything that remains after the employees go home. It can be in the form of copyrights, customer files, business process software, databases, software manuals, trademarks and organizational structures. All these refer to the organizational capability.

What are the forces driving the Knowledge Management?

Now that we are in the Digital Age, the need to manage the intellectual capital becomes the major priority of all organizations and this is because of the following driving forces:

·         Increasing Domain Complexity – there is an apparent increase in complexity of the underlying knowledge. Intricacy of internal and external processes, increased in competition and continuous advancement in technology lead to increasing domain complexity. Curriculum development now typically requires not only brainstorming sessions by freethinking content designers but also partnerships by inter-organizational teams representing many various functional subunits.

·         Accelerating Market Volatility – the pace of change within each market has increased rapidly in the past decade. Market and environmental influences can result in overnight changes in an organization.

·         Intensified Speed of Responsiveness – because of technology, the decision-making landscape has changed and the time required to take an action for a particular issue is decreasing.

·        Diminishing Individual Experience – high employee turn-over rates have resulted in individuals with decision-making authority having less tenure within their organizations than ever before. This factor often tends to damage the mission-critical decision making, because of immature intuition, pressure for faster responsiveness and higher risk of wrong or unclear decision responses.

Is Knowledge Management for everybody?

Of course! KM is important for all kinds of organization. With KM, we can come up of better and faster decisions in an environment characterized by a high domain complexity and market volatility despite decision maker’s lack of experience.

Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)

The breakthroughs in Information and Communications Technology facilitate sharing as well as accelerated growth in knowledge. Nowadays, knowledge is accumulating at an ever increasing rate. It is estimated that knowledge is currently doubling every 18 months and, of course, the pace is increasing... Technology facilitates the speed at which knowledge and ideas proliferate (Bradley, 1996). Knowledge Management System is the synergy between the latest technologies and social/structural mechanisms. With KMS, the employees can have an access to all the organization’s extensive documented base of facts, sources of information and immediate solutions.

An example of Knowledge Management System is the company’s Intranet portal and database, wherein the members can also update and even share their findings that can be a valuable contribution to the intellectual capital of the organization. Web-based conferencing is also a great instance of KMS, bridging knowledge sharing beyond time and geographical limitations.

What is an effective Knowledge Management?

You might be surprised that an effective KM is 80% focus on organizational culture and human factors and 20% on technology.  It is not always technology that will bring positive results in our organization when it comes to Knowledge Management. Remember that to effectively apply Artificial Intelligence, we must understand Human Intelligence and Human Computer Interaction.  

Reference:

Becerra-Fernandez, I. and Sabherwal, R. (2010). Knowledge Management: Systems and Processes. New York: ME Sharpe, Inc. 

The One Million Dollar Bill

Yesterday, I went to BOOKSALE, a second-hand bookstore in SM City San Lazaro, to look for some books I could read to keep myself occupied for this week. I stumbled with Dr. Phil McGraw’s Life Strategies, a soft-bound self-help book. I considered it immediately a best buy. Aside from it was written by a popular psychologist and TV host in the USA, I became very intrigued in the life laws that Dr. Phil expounded in this pocket book.

However, this post will not yet discuss the insights I learned from reading the book. But promise… I will dedicate a post as a review for this book as soon as I finished it.

What I would like to share with you here is how I was stunned to see a dollar bill inside this book and the amount is outrageous … ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!! And promise it really looks truer than true, at least at first glance… Here is the bill:

I instinctively perceived that this is a fake bill, but I felt the need to validate. I immediately searched Google, if there is really an existing one million dollar bill in US. Then, I found out that this denomination is fake (sayang… haha!). In the history of America the highest denomination they released was one hundred thousand dollars, but this was only used to exchange funds through official transactions between Federal Reserved Banks and it was never used for general public. I also learned that this one million dollar bill is just a promotional novelty bill and not a legal tender.    

I just laughed at myself thinking that I already had the greatest find of my life –a flat treasure between pages of an old book. But, what if the note is true and valid that I could convert it in our own currency, I would have been one of the wealthiest men in the archipelago of the Philippines!

Today the exchange rate of one US dollar to Philippine peso is 43.63 pesos. This would make me worth Php 43,630,000.00.  Oh-my! Now the problem is how to spend that amount… haha! If I could handle such amount, I would surely go for worthwhile investments like real estates and establish my multi-million companies. Wow! I also dreamed of having fancy car, a mansion on top of a mountain, a trip around the world, and a lot of charity sponsorship. Ultimately, if ever I could really be that rich, I would like to adopt a school. Of course education will still be my life time advocacy.

Okay let us go back to reality.

The dollar bill is not a legal tender and what I have right now is a second-hand book of Dr. Phil… but who knows, the insights that I can learn from this book can worth more than a million dollar. Maybe the life strategies that I will learn here will eventually help me become more than a millionaire.  

Anyway, I made this dollar bill still useful for me. See, I’m using it now as a bookmark. :)

Happy weekend everyone! :)

Brigada Eskwela 2014

For this year's Brigada Eskwela, the Faculty Club officers, together with Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Supreme Student Government (SSG) officers, convened and scheduled the different activities for the repair and maintenance of our school classrooms and facilities in preparation for the class opening this June. 

As a kick-off activity for our Brigada Eskwela, we will organize a "bicycle run" and everyone in the community will be invited to join, especially those who are biking enthusiast. This will be our way of informing the community that we need their help to prepare the school this June. 

We also solicited the assistance of nearby business establishments and even local officials to support our Brigada, may it be in kind or monetary assistance. We are so glad that most of our benefactors are responding favorably to our requests. :)

#educACTION
#Go-for-comfortable-and-safe-school-for-our students!

Policy, Governance, and Capacity Building Programme for Philippine Leaders and Educators – ICT Training for Teachers

Last April 28 to 30, I attended the Philippine Governance Building Programme – ICT Training for Teachers at Ateneo de Manila University. I was so blessed that my head teacher sent me in this training because I got the chance to learn some of the most useful ICT tools that can be used to enhance my students’ learning experience.

Day 1

We met our trainers: Mr. Red Prado, Head Teacher in Division of Valenzuela; and Mrs. Rebecca, Master Teacher in Division of Quezon City. They were both energetic trainers. They immediately conduct the opening routine and facilitated a dynamic and engaging “getting-to-know-each-other game.”

As an introduction for the training, Mrs. Rebecca talked about the background of this training. We learned that Policy, Governance and Capacity Building (PGCB) Programme for Philippine Educators is an initiative of TEMASEK Foundation, in cooperation with Ateneo de Manila University. It aims to enhance the skills and knowledge of teachers when it comes to content and pedagogy of elementary and secondary teachers in Science, Math, English and ICT.

She also discussed about the ICT Affordances. It was my first time to hear the word “affordance.” Mrs. Rebecca defined it as an actionable property that exists between the object and the actor. During her discussions, we learned the different affordances of ICT tools from pedagogical, social and technological perspectives.

In the afternoon session, Mr. Red trained us on how to utilize Edmodo as a course learning management system. Although I am quite acquainted with the features of Edmodo, I still learned a lot from the training because the environment of this site has changed since the last time I used it.     

I'm with my great grandfather's statue :D

Day 2

Hot Potatoes, CMap Tools and Blogger were the “star ICT tools” during our second day. After demonstrating how to use these tools, the trainers gave us a lot of challenging exercises. They required us to develop interactive and online examinations using Hot Potatoes, concept maps about our lessons using CMap Tools and we even created a blog site account using Blogger (of course on this part I am quite at ease, since I already know how to manage a blog site in Blogger).

When Mrs. Rebecca asked for volunteers, who would like to conduct a micro-teaching demonstration as our culminating activity, I didn't hesitate to raise my hand. I would also like to share the things I learned and how I could apply it to actual teaching. But, since many were interested to conduct a demonstration teaching and only four teachers will be given the chance, Mrs. Rebecca did the selection through a raffle among those interested. I was so blessed to get a slot.

Day 3

I was so excited (and quite nervous) to attend the last day because of my scheduled demonstration. I just told myself that it was a chance for me to share also my strategies with my co-participants on how to effectively use those ICT tools that we learned and I should make the most out of this opportunity.

During the morning session, Mr. Red trained us how to use Audacity, which is a sound-editing program that can actually help us record and edit our voices for instruction or for interactive learning module development. He also shared a lot of websites, wherein we can access interactive educational games.

Micro-demonstration teaching in ICT integration

My micro-teaching demonstration was indeed a success. Although, I was cut because our time was just limited, I believed that I covered the essential parts that my co-participants should capture. In my micro-teaching instructional plan, I used the ASSURE model. This was something that I would really like to share to them. With ASSURE instructional design model, we can integrate technology tools more effectively. 

Happy First Blogaversary!

Wow! This is my First Blogaversary and this is really something that I need to celebrate. May 1st, last year, I have decided to create a blog site that could serve as my online journal to record my adventures in teaching profession and life in general, and here it is – a blog with 97 posts, almost 8000 hits and a bunch of Google+ followers.

Well, to be honest, at first I’m on the verge of shutting this blog site down, because it’s not creating any traffic, my Google Ad Sense application is rejected so many times and I can’t even generate comments. Then, I realized that blogging is never a contest of who has the most statistics and monetary earnings. Blogging for me is happiness, the joy to shout to the world how passionate I am in teaching profession and how I am enjoying the smooth and the rough roads of this journey. I would like to thank you… you, who are reading this post. You may be inspired or bored by this humble blog site, but still I want to thank you for sparing your time with me.

May God bless me for another year of fruitful blogging. I am ready for the next chapter of my blogosphere life!