Competency 2: Create Knowledge

Artifact: 51300 Individual Paper-Corporate Knowledge Management

Artifacts assignment detail (provided by the instructor):
Choose a topic related to the field of Educational Technology that you would like
to explore in greater depth. Write a 10-page paper, in APA format, about your
topic. Your paper should include: Description of the problem identified from
literature review; Purpose of the paper; Synthesis of research in the areas
(literature review) relevant to the problem; Your critical analyses on the research
and development relevant to the problem; References
Artifact Overview:
In this paper, I explored the benefits of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS),
Process Improvement (PI), and Organizational Learning (OL) and how they can be
value-add to an organization. When I wrote this paper, the organization that I
worked for did not utilize KMS and thus its primary intent (outside of assignment
fulfillment) was to present to my stakeholders to gain approval to build one.

Competency 2a
Demonstrates ability to describe common research methods in Educational
Technology

Competency 2b
Demonstrates ability to read and evaluate Educational Technology research
As a premise for this paper, I began with just the concept of KMS to research but
quickly found that PI and OL needed to be incorporated as these fields are
interrelated. There is a wealth of material on the subjects of PI and OL in the
marketplace. However, I did not find as much related to KMS. The idea of
businesses improving has been around for centuries but the proactive,
intentional cultures to retain and sustain best practices are not.
For an organization to learn and incorporate knowledge management,
information needs to be shared. Through research, I was able to find ten great
articles related to this subject of which best practices were provided. Examples
included Easterby-Smiths Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge
Management (2nd. Ed) and Peter Senges The Fifth Discipline: The Art and
Practice of the Learning Organization. The discussions about the use of
technology and the specific strategies to incorporate the KMS was quite
interesting. For example, questions a designer should ask are: How should one
evaluate which type of data to share; to whom it should be shared; and how it
should be used? In addition, I learned a lot about the risk factors for providing

collective and explicit knowledge. Through this evaluation, I gained great insight
into the process for setting up a KMS in an organization and will reference this
paper if/when the time comes.

Competency 2c
Applies research findings to the solution of common problems in Educational
Technology
The sharing of elicit knowledge in an organization is a common issue. While most
practitioners accumulate decades of knowledge and skill throughout their
careers, for the betterment of an organization, that knowledge and skill is usually
not shared with junior colleagues during or after that practitioner leaves the
company. It is at that point the information is lost. Through research completed
for this paper, many best practices for setting up an effective KMS were learned.
These best practices can help solve design, development, and integration
problems. As referenced in Competency 2b, the type of information shared, with
whom, and how are tactics to employ for increased success. The research did
conclude that technology should be the driver for best KMS, but just because
one is built does not guarantee that it will be successful.

Continued Learning
On this subject, I am hoping to be involved in a project sometime in the future
that allows for me to design or develop a KMS. Only once I am able to implement
the knowledge learned will I be able to fully develop the skills needed to be an
experienced KMS practitioner. This opportunity may present itself within the next
year and this will provide me with the continued learning needed to become an
expert in the field.

References

Easterby-Smith, Mark Lyles, Marjorie A. (2011) Handbook of Organizational

Learning and Knowledge Management (2nd. Ed). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Retrieved
from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/purdue/docDetail.action?docID=10494521

Senge, Peter (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organization. Retrieved from:
http://www.nald.ca/library/research/george/fifth/fifth.pdf