Location
Radisson Resort at the Port, Antigua Room
Start Date
28-4-1999 2:00 PM
Description
Education in today's world isn't just about children and young adults going to places of learning. It is more about capturing knowledge and sharing it in a myriad of ways with others. Knowledge is defined throughout history in the literature a variety of different ways. Knowledge and the concept of knowledge management should be further defined so that application and impact can be better understood. Definitions of knowledge are plentiful but not necessarily ·clear cut. "Knowledge" can be defined as the understanding of why and how something works. It is not data or information. Implicit knowledge, in one sense, is that which is highly personal and hard to formalize. Subjective insights, intuitions and hunches fall into this category. Another definition of knowledge is simply stated as information combined with experience, context, interpretation, and reflection (Davenport, Delong, Beers, 1998). Perhaps the most cited and influential distinction of knowledge types is Polanyi's identification of two aspects of knowledge: tacit and explicit. This is a distinction he aligns with the "knowing how'' and the "knowing what" of Gilbert Ryle (Nahapiet, 1998). Explicit knowledge is very clear and can be communicated quickly and easily. Explicit knowledge is that which is written down or expressed in some tangible form. Research reports, simple software code, and test results are all examples of knowledge that tends to be explicit. Tacit knowledge, in contrast, requires a high degree of interpretation; it can't be transferred quickly and easily. Scientific expertise, product technologies, and operational know-how are typical of tacit knowledge.
Paper Session II-D - Space Workforce Education in the Year 2000: Knowledge Management Concepts and Issues
Radisson Resort at the Port, Antigua Room
Education in today's world isn't just about children and young adults going to places of learning. It is more about capturing knowledge and sharing it in a myriad of ways with others. Knowledge is defined throughout history in the literature a variety of different ways. Knowledge and the concept of knowledge management should be further defined so that application and impact can be better understood. Definitions of knowledge are plentiful but not necessarily ·clear cut. "Knowledge" can be defined as the understanding of why and how something works. It is not data or information. Implicit knowledge, in one sense, is that which is highly personal and hard to formalize. Subjective insights, intuitions and hunches fall into this category. Another definition of knowledge is simply stated as information combined with experience, context, interpretation, and reflection (Davenport, Delong, Beers, 1998). Perhaps the most cited and influential distinction of knowledge types is Polanyi's identification of two aspects of knowledge: tacit and explicit. This is a distinction he aligns with the "knowing how'' and the "knowing what" of Gilbert Ryle (Nahapiet, 1998). Explicit knowledge is very clear and can be communicated quickly and easily. Explicit knowledge is that which is written down or expressed in some tangible form. Research reports, simple software code, and test results are all examples of knowledge that tends to be explicit. Tacit knowledge, in contrast, requires a high degree of interpretation; it can't be transferred quickly and easily. Scientific expertise, product technologies, and operational know-how are typical of tacit knowledge.
