Knowledge Management and Instructional Technology Essay -- Knowledge M

Knowledge Management and Instructional Technology The new "buzz word" in many corporate circles currently is the term "Knowledge Management or K.M." KM is considered mostly a role for the Information Technologist because of its storage of the company's information on databases. Because of the "info-glut" that is occurring in many corporations, K.M. is strongly becoming the role for the Instructional Technologist to group that information into training modules for the corporate Intranet, so that the corporation's employees can retrieve the "knowledge" in a real-time, need-to-know basis. In this white paper, I will define Knowledge Management from a business and an educational perspective. I will also discuss two basic strategies for Knowledge Management and the role the Instructional Technologist will have in the process. What is Knowledge Management? From the business perspective, the definition of Knowledge Management from the Business College of the University of Texas is The systematic process of finding, selecting, organizing, distilling, and presenting information in a way that improves an employee's comprehension in a specific area of interest. Knowledge management helps the organization to gain insight and understanding from its own experience. Specific Knowledge Management activities help focus the organization on acquiring, storing and utilizing knowledge for such things as problem-solving, dynamic learning, strategic planning and decision making (1998). In the article "Intellectual Capital and You" in Training Magazine, Knowledge Management is defined as " An effort to capture or tap an organization's collective experience and wisdom- including the tacit know-how that exists in people's head... ...eved September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search on the Galileo: http://www.galileo.gsu.edu. Gordon, J. (1999). The whole enchilada: intellectual capital and you. Training Magazine Retrieved on September 13, 1999 from Training Supersite: http: //www.trainingsupersite.com/publications/magazines/training/909cover.htm Hansen, M., Nohria, N. & Tierney, T. ( 1999, March-April). What's your strategy for managing knowledge? Harvard Business Review, reprint 990206 Mudge, A. (1999, April-May). Knowledge Management: Do we know that we know? Communication World, (16)5, Retrieved on September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search: http://mariner.galileo.gsu.edu Van Buren, M. (1999, May). A yardstick for knowledge management, Training & Development, (53)5 pp. 71+ Retrieved on September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search on Galileo: http://mariner.galileo.gsu.edu