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ARTICLES | From Learning Centres to Knowledge Centres - Knowledge Management (KM) in Educational Institutions

Knowledge Management is a buzzword that is making its presence felt in most organisations, big and small as today's businesses gear up to sift through and create knowledge from reams of data available, and generated advertently and inadvertently over the years. This knowledge will be hopefully translated into concrete action that can be taken to further the interests and impact effectively the growth of the organization. Knowledge Management (KM) encourages the setting up of a learning centre within the company and bosses are willing to spend time and money on retraining and relearning, including unlearning unwanted or obsolete ideas. It is only obvious that the impact of Knowledge Management (KM) has to be felt in the knowledge centres of the nation - the educational institutions. What costs does TCO take into account?

An educational institution that already has an existing learning system and a massive database of information in the form of project reports, theses and other data serves as the ideal foil for graduating from a Center of Learning to a Centre of Knowledge.

A b-school that thrives on the high intellectual level of its students could do well to transfer its reports and the information generated therein to an online learning system where students could come and log in for information. This could mean potential benefits in terms of the saving of time of students in searching and collating data that would otherwise take up more time. This information literally available at the fingertips also speeds up the learning process as faculty can analyze and make use of general trends thrown up by the system to adapt to and introduce new techniques of pedagogy. A well planned and managed alumni association also comes in very handy for that crucial bit of extra information that may be needed.

However that doesn't mean that any and every educational institution that exists needs to go the Knowledge Management (KM) way. The efficacy and indeed, relevance of the system is questionable if the size, scope and activity of the institution does not demand it. Some institutions may not necessarily need Knowledge Management (KM). However most schools, autonomous universities and institutions that otherwise foster a research, information seeking and personal development atmosphere would greatly stand to benefit from a Knowledge Management (KM) system.

In the next part, we will examine and look at the various aspects of Knowledge Management (KM) that can be covered in an educational institution to bridge that gap from a Centre of Learning to a Knowledge Centre.