E-Learning Curve Blog

The Problem of Knowledge

The E-Learning Curve Blog’s primary focus is technology in education, so obviously when I investigate Knowledge Management (KM), one of the central topics to cover is the use of technology – specifically digitally mediated technology – to support education, training, and organizational and individual professional development.

But before we can do this, I would assert that it’s important to look at the nature of knowledge and it’s role in the life of individuals and organizations. This is problematic; in one  sense, today’s post is a non sequitur because it discusses epistemological knowledge rather than knowledge in the organizational/KM sense of the term. In another way, today’s post represents the Problem of Knowledge that we will encounter as we investigate the topic over subsequent articles in this series.

Knowledge is slippery stuff, a kind of cognitive or conceptual dark matter that we know (pun intended) must exist, but measuring and quantifying it, and demonstrating its effects is a sophisticated business.

As an aside, I think it’s appropriate that Episteme (the Greek personification of knowledge displayed in the image above) is headless…

Sarkisyan and Marinova (2003) citing Arthur Murray describe the following categorizations of types of knowledge:

• Epistemology: The study of the nature and foundations of knowledge;
• Etymology: The study of the history of change of a linguistic expression within a domain;
• Corporate Knowledge: The collective body of experience and understanding of an organization’s processes for managing both planned and unplanned situations;

Equally, Murray suggests that knowledge can be studied and classified according to a set of disciplines:

• Morphology: The study of patterns and structure of word formations in language;
• Ontology: The study of relationships that give rise to meaning of expressions;
• Taxonomy: A framework for the classification and arrangement of objects (used to build a classification hierarchy).

So, what is knowledge?

Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as:

(i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject;
(ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information; or
(iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.

I know (pun intended) from my undergraduate days studying Philosophy that debates on the subject in that domain generally start with Plato’s formulation (but not endorsement) of knowledge as “justified true belief.” There is however no single agreed definition of knowledge – nor any prospect of one.

Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning. The term knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose if appropriate. This classical epistemological view addresses the questions:

• What is knowledge?
• How is knowledge acquired?
• What do people know?
• How do we know what we know?

Much of the debate in this field has focused on analyzing the nature of knowledge and how it relates to connected notions such as truth, belief, and justification. It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims.

At this point, you could justifiably (pun intended) ask: “So what? How does this help me acquire information and learn new skills and expertise?”

Well, as intimated previously, it does not necessarily get you further down the path to setting up your corporate knowledge ecosystem; but I am suggesting that this is a path we need to tread carefully, lest we slip and fall to the side.

More…

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References:

Murray A., Intelligent KM, Knowledge Management Argot: Knowledge Management Forum – KM Archives – the Early Days”, 1991-96

Sarkisyan, A, Marinova, N. (2003). Intellectual and Knowledge Based Assets of the Organizations and Contemporary Technologies for Their Management Assoc. International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies – CompSysTech’2003

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September 30 2010 03:00 pm | e-learning

4 Responses to “The Problem of Knowledge”

1. Virginia Yonkers on 30 Sep 2010 at 7:37 pm #

   This comes as I grapple with the perception of knowledge for my dissertation. So let me throw out some additional terms: know-how, anthropology, design, content, and expertise. With the exception of anthropology, all of these terms have been used when participants in my study were discussing “knowledge.” Anthropology looks at the difference in perception of knowledge from culture to culture.

2. Michael Hanley on 30 Sep 2010 at 10:14 pm #

   Hi Virginia – interesting that you mention anthropology… I’ll be discussing Clifford Geertz down the line in relation to this topic.
   Good luck with the dissertation.
   Best,
   Michael
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3. Knowledge. Defining the Problem. Somewhat. | E-Learning Curve Blog on 04 Oct 2010 at 3:01 pm #

   [...] that emerges in most peoples’ minds is “knowledge management.” As I have already suggested, knowledge is a kind of cognitive or conceptual dark matter that we know must exist, but measuring [...]

4. A for-profit social enterprise model for e-learning | E-Learning Curve Blog on 02 Nov 2010 at 2:04 pm #

   [...] PS – returning to the topic of KM soon! [...]