Knowledge Management 2 : Moving from Personal to Organizational

Implementing organizational knowledge management requires the full involvement of individuals at all levels across an organization. Only through the participatory design and development of knowledge management systems and processes can a development organization ensure that people actually employ knowledge management tools effectively. This also requires respect and acknowledgement for the value of personal knowledge management activities so that the best features of those activities can be leveraged and adopted across the organization.

Based on knowledge management in the corporate world, we identify eight core activities for implementing knowledge management systems that move from personal to organizational knowledge management:

1)Knowledge mapping , describes what knowledge an organization has, who has it and how it flows (or doesn’t) through the enterprise.

2)Commitment to multi-stakeholder planning , if knowledge mapping suggests that the organization is ready to become a knowledge organization, the organization needs to commit to multi-stakeholder planning for knowledge management.

3)Participant goal setting, participants in multi-stakeholder planning can better grasp the value of organizational knowledge management when they have the opportunity to integrate their personal knowledge management goals with those of the organization.

4)Organizational goal setting , participants in multi-stakeholder planning can more easily move to organizational goal setting when their personal goals have been heard and acknowledged. These personal goals need to be linked to organizational knowledge management goals.

5)Partnering/networking goal setting , knowledge management goals must also go beyond the internal functioning of the organization and look at the wider organizational context of relationships, partnerships and networks.

6)Measurement frameworks – monitoring & evaluation , measurement frameworks are critical to successfully implementing knowledge management systems and processes. These measurement frameworks need not be overly elaborate – as in the qualitative relationship ranking described above.

7)Selection of tools and processes , participants need opportunities to learn about knowledge management tools and processes employed elsewhere.

8)Implementation of tools and processes, tools and processes that are thrust upon people with little consultation are likely to fail.

Knowledge Management 1 : Practically Defined

Knowledge management is a very personal activity that, if practiced widely, can improve organization’s ability to achieve development results. Knowledge management means taking responsibility for what you know, who you know—and what they know.

Knowledge management begins and ends as a personal activity. Without the human understanding, personal context and need for immediate utility which we bring to bear on knowledge, all we have is raw data.

Personally accessible, immediately useful and relatively inexpensive personal knowledge management tools can empower development workers to take ownership of their intellectual assets. Knowledge management starts with the individual and moves through an organization. Every individual uses knowledge management tools – including personal memory, date books, notebooks, file cabinets, email archives, calendars, post-it notes, bulletin boards, newsletters, journals, and restaurant napkins. Knowledge management begins when an organization enables individuals to link their personal knowledge management systems with organizational knowledge management systems.

Knowledge management tools only work when individuals see direct benefits in linking their personal knowledge management systems with organizational knowledge management systems. If development workers believe that the chores of contributing to an organizational knowledge management program benefit only their bosses, and not themselves or the communities with which they work, they may decide the best way to take advantage of the value of their individual knowledge is to use it for personal or local advantage. This results in serious knowledge deficits for the wider organization.

At the individual level, knowledge management involves a range of relatively simple and inexpensive techniques and tools that anyone can use to acquire, create and share knowledge, extend personal networks and collaborate with colleagues without having to rely on the technical or financial resources of the organization. Implemented from the bottom up by one development worker at a time, these techniques can increase productivity and enthusiasm and help to build momentum that can overcome the technological and social barriers to top-down, organization-wide knowledge management initiatives.

Media Pembelajaran

Media adalah sebuah alat yang mempunyai fungsi menyampaikan pesan (Bovee, 1997).
Media pembelajaran adalah sebuah alat yang berfungsi untuk menyampaikan pesan pembelajaran. Pembelajaran adalah sebuah proses komunikasi antara pembelajar, pengajar dan bahan ajar. Komunikasi tidak akan berjalan tanpa bantuan sarana penyampai pesan atau media.

Bentuk-bentuk stimulus bisa dipergunakan sebagai media diantaranya adalah hubungan atau interaksi manusia; realia; gambar bergerak atau tidak; tulisan dan suara yang direkam. Kelima bentuk stimulus ini akan membantu pembelajar dalam belajar. Namun demikian tidaklah mudah mendapatkan kelima bentuk itu dalam satu waktu atau tempat.

Teknologi komputer adalah sebuah penemuan yang memungkinkan menghadirkan beberapa atau semua bentuk stimulus di atas sehingga pembelajaran akan lebih optimal. Namun demikian masalah yang timbul tidak semudah yang dibayangkan. Pengajar adalah orang yang mempunyai kemampuan untuk merealisasikan kelima bentuk stimulus tersebut dalam bentuk pembelajaran. Namun kebanyakan pengajar tidak mempunyai kemampuan untuk menghadirkan kelima stimulus itu dengan program komputer sedangkan pemrogram komputer tidak menguasai pembelajaran.

Jalan keluarnya adalah merealisasikan stimulus-stimulus itu dalam program komputer dengan menggunakan piranti lunak yang mudah dipelajari sehingga dengan demikian para pengajar akan dengan mudah merealisasikan ide-ide pengajarannya.

Media pembelajaran yang baik harus memenuhi beberapa syarat. Media pembelajaran harus meningkatkan motivasi pembelajar. Penggunaan media mempunyai tujuan memberikan motivasi kepada pembelajar. Selain itu media juga harus merangsang pembelajar mengingat apa yang sudah dipelajari selain memberikan rangsangan belajar baru. Media yang baik juga akan mengaktifkan pembelajar dalam memberikan tanggapan, umpan balik dan juga mendorong pembelajar untuk melakukan praktek-praktek dengan benar.

Ada beberapa kriteria untuk menilai keefektifan sebuah media. Hubbard mengusulkan sembilan kriteria untuk menilainya (Hubbard, 1983). Kreteria pertamanya adalah biaya. Biaya memang harus dinilai dengan hasil yang akan dicapai dengan penggunaan media itu. Kriteria lainnya adalah ketersedian fasilitas pendukung seperti listrik, kecocokan dengan ukuran kelas, keringkasan, kemampuan untuk dirubah, waktu dan tenaga penyiapan, pengaruh yang ditimbulkan, kerumitan dan yang terakhir adalah kegunaan. Semakin banyak tujuan pembelajaran yang bisa dibantu dengan sebuah media semakin baiklah media itu.

Kriteria di atas lebih diperuntukkan bagi media konvensional. Thorn mengajukan enam kriteria untuk menilai multimedia interaktif (Thorn, 1995). Kriteria penilaian yang pertama adalah kemudahan navigasi. Sebuah program harus dirancang sesederhana mungkin sehingga pembelajar bahasa tidak perlu belajar komputer lebih dahulu. Kriteria yang kedua adalah kandungan kognisi, kriteria yang lainnya adalah pengetahuan dan presentasi informasi. Kedua kriteria ini adalah untuk menilai isi dari program itu sendiri, apakah program telah memenuhi kebutuhan pembelajaran si pembelajar atau belum. Kriteria keempat adalah integrasi media di mana media harus mengintegrasikan aspek dan ketrampilan bahasa yang harus dipelajari. Untuk menarik minat pembelajar program harus mempunyai tampilan yang artistik maka estetika juga merupakan sebuah kriteria. Kriteria penilaian yang terakhir adalah fungsi secara keseluruhan. Program yang dikembangkan harus memberikan pembelajaran yang diinginkan oleh pembelajar. Sehingga pada waktu seorang selesai menjalankan sebuah program dia akan merasa telah belajar sesuatu.

Virtual Library

Information resources or information services that are available over the Internet. Virtual Library site provides access to a large number of library resources (indexes, journals, and reference materials, for example) and online reference service via the campus computer network. Students access these resources through a browser on a workstation anywhere on campus or remotely from home.

Membangun SDM Berkualitas

Sumber daya manusia merupakan daya yang bersumber dari manusia yang dapat juga disebut tenaga atau kekuatan (energi atau power). Tenaga, daya, kemampuan atau kekuatan terdapat pula pada unsur alam yang lain, seperti tenaga air, tenaga uap, tenaga angin, tenaga matahari. Namun bila digunakan pada manusia daya itu dapat dipadankan dengan istilah manpower.

Membangun manusia berkualitas berarti membentuk manusia yang utuh dan bernilai positif yang dapat dilihat mulai dari aspek yang relatif mudah dibangun sampai ke aspek yang lebih rumit dan sukar dibangun atau membutuhkan waktu bangun yang relatif lama, yaitu mulai dari aspek fisik sampai kepada aspek akhlak atau moral.

Indikator kualitas yang dimaksudkan antara lain :
1. Berstamina tinggi sehingga mampun kerja keras
2. Tangguh dan Ulet dalam menghadapi persoalan
3. Cerdas berpikir dan bertindak
4. Trampil dan memiliki kompetensi
5. Mandiri
6. Memiliki tanggung jawab
7. Produktif
8. Kreatif
9. Inovatif
10. Beorientasi ke masa depan
11. Disiplin
12. Berbudi

Apabila digali lebih lanjut, masih banyak hal yang dapat menggambarkan kualitas prima manusia secara umum, namun kita belum tentu memiliki semua sifat yang menggambarkan kualitas manusia secara utuh dan lengkap tersebut.

Maka muncullah persoalan dan tantangan bagaimana kita dapat membangun atau membentuk manusia berkualitas ?

Instructional Models

Any educational technology is only as good as the way it is used for learning. Perhaps the most difficult challenge for instructors using technology is to develop a strategy for integrating it into the curriculum. To do so, you need to answer such as these questions:

1. What is the learning goal of the technology application?
You need to decide on details of exactly what parts of the curriculum will be taught to which learners using technology, based on your analysis of your general goals for program improvement, and the kinds of software you want, based on your analysis of software types available and resource requirements for them.

2. How will we assign learners to use the technology?
Some instructional models assume everyone will be doing the same thing at the same
time. Others require sophisticated individualized learning plans (ILP’s) based on an assessment of individual needs. In these cases, placement of the each learner in the right assignment, on a daily basis, should be an important factor in your planning.

3. What will the learner’s role be?
Instructional models vary widely in how much and what kind of decisions the learners
make about their own learning. Some models require solo, self-paced work, while others require collaborative study with everyone studying the same thing at the same time. It’s important to work out in detail what the learner’s responsibilities will be and how they will be fulfilled.

Once the learner’s role is defined, then it’s necessary to plan your role in teaching, and the overall program structure, so that both will lead the learners through the intended learning processes.

1. How will we manage the resources?
Your technology plan should have identified the general level of hardware and software resources you will need for the number of learners and type of use you have in mind. With the decisions made about curriculum and instruction, you can make a detailed plan for how to schedule and manage the hardware and software resources.

2. How will we assess the learners?
You also need to decide how you will find out what the learners have learned as they have used the technology. For example, PLATO has a range of powerful assessment options built in. Other software sometimes leaves assessment as a task entirely for the instructor. In some settings, an important part of the assessment system is assignment of letter or numeric grades and course credit.

To answer these questions, we first need to look at all the ways technology can be used in instruction. We’ll group the various applications using three terms: supplementary, complementary, and primary.