Knowing Knowledge Management

Whenever I come across new terms, I try to figure out why they are called what they are. Very often when I research those terms in detail, the explanation turns out to be in sync with the first understanding I developed. The reason is quite simple really. The basic logic that human mind uses to process information, works more or less in the same way for all of us. The mind that engineers a term, and the one that reverse-engineers it works in almost the same way. So, let us begin by reverse-engineering the term knowledge management.

To understand the term knowledge management, let us dissemble it (sandhi-vichhed?)

Knowledge + Management

Knowledge can be understood as a collection of information and concepts that enable us to arrive at productive and useful conclusions…or in other words enable us to add value to our lives and the world that we live in.

Management is, of course, planning and organizing “something” (in this case, knowledge) in a way that it performs optimally.

Combining the two, I would like to define knowledge management as follows:

"Knowledge management is a term that is used to address the human and technological processes that are involved in ensuring the dissemination of knowledge in an optimal manner."

Although knowledge management is a term that goes beyond learning management, let us try to understand it from the perspective of an eLearning content developer.

Understanding Knowledge Management

In past, we could see knowledge management take place in libraries, universities, and other knowledge centers, although it wasn’t called by that name. The learning centers were truly centers, where knowledge, learners, and teachers came together at the same time, in the same place. Today, Internet and other digital resources have changed the way learning is stored, imparted, and retrieved. Technology is the tool that allows learning to be imparted at anytime, any place, with or without a teacher/instructor. These increased complexities (aimed at making life easier for the learner) brought more focus on the people and technologies that are used to manage knowledge today.

As you must have noticed, the concept of knowledge management is extremely simple. Let us take an every day example:

When we decide upon a directory structure for the information that we store on our computers, we unknowingly engage in knowledge management. But then, the information that we store is pertinent to us, we remember it all, and the technology that we use (windows explorer) is quite known to us. All this makes the use of an elaborate management system redundant. We ourselves perform all the functions required to manage the information in our computer.

Now imagine if instead of just one person, 20 people were engaged in selecting, classifying, and storing information; 200 individuals were accessing the information, and adding additional information; the processing of information was being carried out through 5 technologies, known to some other 5 individual…how complex will the system become? It will surely require some kind of management system, won’t it?

Technological systems that help individuals manage these complex interactions and help connect the individuals and information through processes are known as knowledge management Systems. If you do not have an information technology background it will help to imagine these systems as a faster, bigger, but simpler version of the human mind.

Human mind is capable of far more complex processing than a computer, but it is limited in terms of the speed of processing. It also experiences fatigue when it is made to repeat processes, leading to errors. It also can process only “7 pieces of information” at a given time (Miller.) If we were to “outsource” these fatigue-generating, speed-requiring, and multi-processing tasks to computers, and keep the thinking (analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating) to ourselves; the aforementioned complex learning environment could be managed with ease! Well, you know the reason why knowledge management systems exist.

Composition of Knowledge Management Systems

You probably now want to know a bit about the constitution of these systems. Put simply, these systems use some information processing technologies (called the middle tier) to connect the learners/facilitators/content developers (front-end) to the information source (called the database or the back-end). Most of you would have had a brush with some or the other learning management system. A learning management system is of course a kind of knowledge management system – the difference between the two is of magnitude and coverage. Knowledge is a wider term than learning. Knowledge may be stored and managed for usage other than learning; such as for referencing, performance analysis, market analysis and so on.)

We have committed ourselves to the learning domain so for further discussion; we will focus on learning management systems.

How These Systems Work?

When a content development team creates content and “uploads” it to an LMS, it does so through a specialized front-end view, which only they can login to. The uploaded data is “processed” through technologies such as ASP, JSP, PHP etc. or the middle tier of the LMS architecture to determine where in the database should which part of the information go. The learning content data is saved in the database files. The information is made searchable for the learner and the instructor by using technologies such as XML. XML helps the processing technologies facilitate searches across different platforms such as Windows, Unix, Solaris, and Linux etc.

Once the data is uploaded, classified, and saved in the database; it is now available for the learners and facilitators to use. The learner can login to the course through a special front-end view by supplying user name and password. The user name and password can be imagined as a key that unlocks that part of the database, which contains information pertinent to the learner. The learner can now submit assignment files etc. (once again using the front-end); the processing technology will determine where and in what format should the assignment file be saved; it also puts a sort of “identification tag” on the file.

The facilitator can now access this file, by logging into the system and asking for the learner’s submission. Though the facilitator will also accomplish this through a front-end view, technically, he sends a “query” to the database, to retrieve the “X” assignment submitted by the “Y” student. The information is retrieved. The facilitator can now review the assignment, add comments, and grade the assignment.

LMSs/LCMSs - Why Clients Love Them?

LCMSs (Learning Content Management Systems) are different from LMSs because they can provide further customization of information for the learner, depending on the audience requirements. LCMSs provide a rapid authoring environment, which allows the facilitator to use the reusable learning objects present in the library to create new tailor-made courses for the learner. The facilitator can search the database for reusable content and use a front-end view to drag and drop the reusable learning objects (RLOs) and create customized courses.

Don’t let the term RLO worry you. Reusable learning objects are independent content chunks that have been placed in the database with some kind of identity-tags, so that they can be searched. Much like the under skin identification tags put on whales to spy on them! In addition to being searchable they also need to be reusable. Check out fig3.

At this point it is also important for us to develop an awareness of why organizations and learning institutions are making a move towards LCMSs. LCMSs help them cut costs while maintaining flexibility. Imagine an organization that wishes to train its sales employees. This organization can either employ an eLearning vendor to create courses that are highly customized and very expensive; or it can buy ready-made courses from the market that are not very effective, but are relatively cheap. LCMSs help them create custom content using in-house/hired expertise thereby ensuring flexibility at low costs!

With these advantages, it’s clear that LCMSs are here to stay. The sooner we become friendly with them, the better it is for us.

Instructional Designer and Knowledge Management

Now that we have the macro-view of how knowledge management systems work, let us figure out how this information helps us. Does it really make a difference to the way we create content?

Instructional Design, by virtue of its principles and concepts ensures that content created for LMSs or LCMSs will be appropriate for them. Good instructional design demands that when you develop content, you create it by weighing the environmental and psychological factors that will be influencing the learner while going through the content. In other words, if you are developing content, which shall be served through and LMS or LCMS, you will have to keep in mind how, when, and in which form the content will be served.

1. LMSs and LCMSs are built to suit SCORM and AICC guidelines. Become aware of what these guidelines are. This doesn’t mean that you should know them by heart. It just means that you should be aware of their existence and how they impact the content you create. You should be aware of the existence of XML tags, the need to make data searchable and how you contribute to all this in the capacity of an instructional designer.
   
   
2. Make yourself comfortable with creating content in reusable form. The feature of Rapid Authoring (An environment where a basic authoring tool palette is made available to the SMEs or facilitator for speedy re-arrangement or modification of existing content.) Among other things, usable content is:
   
   
   • content created in a standard format (RLOs should have three components. A performance goal, content to meet the goal, and an evaluation component. )
     
   • content piece (Learning Object) which can be served independently (Non-example: As we discussed in previous topic, …)
     
   • content piece (Learning Object) that doesn’t use thematic examples that build chronologically through a string of topics (Non-example: In the case of Chavelli Motor Parts, which was discussed in topic x.x)
     
   • content that is made searchable through instructionally written MetaData
     
   • content that is written using examples with content-based theme rather than personal themes.
     
   
   These are some little tips. When you begin working on your next course, carve out a timeslot to understand RLOs, LMSs, LCMSs, VLEs, SCORM, rapid authoring, and so on.
   
3. Try to understand the limitations and the strengths of technologies that make the particular LCMS function. Get a feel of the different front-end views if possible. It will give you an idea of what the learner will feel while looking for content and what process the facilitator or SME will follow while modifying content. It will help you create content from the viewpoint the users.
   
   
4. Finally, don’t let the technological facet of LCMSs bog you down. Technology is but a tool to make life easier for everyone concerned. Try to make friends with it. Making friends with someone doesn’t mean that you should know everything about him or her; it just means that you know enough to enjoy his or her company. It is also true for developing friendship with technology.
   

The important point to remember here is that the right way to begin learning about anything is by getting the big picture. We should always begin by questioning the reason behind the existence of anything. Most often the reason is extremely simple and logical. After having determined the reason, we should try to analyze the macro-picture by mapping each component of the picture to the reason. If we follow this approach with the concept of Knowledge management or Learning Management, we will find that everything is so beautifully simple…and it is we, the instructional designers, who more than anyone else make sure that the system works flawlessly!

Author: Shafali R. Anand