Knowing Knowledge

2006·8.2 MB·English

by  George Siemens

Knowing Knowledge

© George Siemens, 2006
ISBN 978-1-4303-0230-8
A Creative Commons licensed version is available online
at www.knowingknowledge.com

Table of ConTenTs
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v
Section 1
An Exploration of Theoretical Views of Knowing and Learning . . . . . .1
Shftng…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
. What.has.caused.knowledge.to.leave..
. ....the.safe,.trusted.spaces.of.generatons.past?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
. What.s.the.mpact.of.knowledge.set.free?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Many.Faces.Explorng.Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
. What.are.trusted.sources.of.knowledge?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
. Can.a.group.be.as.effectve.as.an.expert?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Learnng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
In.Relaton.to.Knowng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
. Why.do.we.want.knowledge?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
. Is.serendpty.lost?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Context.Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
. What.about.power?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
. Who.are.the.new.oppressed?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Section 2
Changes and Implication–Moving toward Application . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Somethng.s.Amss–Changed.Envronments.of.Knowledge. . . . . . . .69
Cycle.of.Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
. The.rse.of.the.ndvdual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
. Connectedness–the.world.has.become.whole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
. Immedacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
. Breakdown.and.repackagng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
. The.condut.s.kng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
. What.s.the.mpact?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
. Socalzaton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
. Blurrng.worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Changed.Characterstcs.and.Flow.of.Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
. Abundance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

. Recombnaton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
. Relaton.to.certanty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
. Development.pace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
. Representaton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
. Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
. Spaces.and.structures.of.knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
. How.can.organzatons.adopt.ecologes?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
. Decentralzaton.of.knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
. Clear.ams.through.decentralzed.means. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
. Affordance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Emotons.and.Creatvty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
. Control.and.acceptance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
. Quet.mnds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
. Scentst.versus.artst. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Implcatons–Structural/Spatal.Impact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
. Complexty.corrodes.clear.paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
. Learners’.sklls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Desgnng .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .116
. Informal.learnng.s.too.mportant.to.leave.to.chance .. . . . . . . . . .119
. Knowledge.reflexvty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120..
Implementng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
. Change.forces.change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Doman.Implementaton.Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
. Doman.1:.Analyss.and.valdaton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
. Doman.2:.Network.and.ecology.desgn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
. Doman.3:.Adaptve.knowledge.and.learnng.cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . .134
. Doman.4:.Systems.and.patterns.revew.and.evaluaton. . . . . . . . .136
. Doman.5:.Impactng.factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
Contnung.the.Conversaton…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143
. What.s.dfferent.tomorrow.mornng?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
Notes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Lst.of.Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
Lst.of.Fgures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157.
Index.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158. .

Thank you…
Many.ndvduals.contrbuted.(or.sacrficed).tme.to.ths.project ...
In.partcular,.I.would.lke.to.say.thanks.to.famly.(my.wfe.Karen.and..
chldren.Alysha,.Jared,.and.Karel).for.toleratng.holdays.whnng.about.
lack.of.nternet.access,.evenngs.of.dstracted.conversatons,.and.the..
numerous.obtuse.deas.dropped.upon.unsuspectng.recpents .
My.thnkng.has.been.very.publc.for.over.five.years.(www .elearnspace .org) ...
Thank.you.to.those.who.have.read.and.provded.feedback.on.countless.
artcles.and.blog.postngs ..Your.tme.readng.and.commentng.has.been..
an.encouragement.and.mportant.learnng.process.for.me ..
Steppng.out.nto.alternatve.means.of.expressng.thoughts.(through.on-.
lne.publshng,.nstead.of.tradtonal.journals),.s.an.act.of.optmsm.that.
has.been.modeled.and.drected.wth.other.transparent.thnkers ..One.needs.
to.abandon.notons.of.perfecton.to.attempt.onlne.dalogue—warts,.poor.
sentence.structure,.quckly.jotted.thoughts,.embarrassngly.smple.vew-
ponts—are.kept.and.preserved.by.search.engnes.and.archves ..Those.who.
hold.to.product.vews.of.learnng.and.knowledge,.nstead.of.process.vews,.
find.the.unforgvng.nature.of.archves.ntmdatng ..I.thank.my.fellow.
sojourners.for.ther.effort.n.walkng.new.paths:.Stephen.Downes,..
Jay.Cross,.Wll.Rchardson,.and.Mash.Nchan ..
Specal.thanks.as.well.to.those.who.have.taken.the.tme.to.provde.revews..
of.the.thoughts.contaned.n.text ..Those.who.prevously.held.the.power.to.
filter.content.are.findng.a.dmnshng.world.as.many.are.now.able.to.cre-
ate,.valdate,.and.share.freely ..The.revew.efforts,.thoughts,.gudance,.advce,.
and.nput.of.these.people.are.nvaluable:.Zad.Al.Alsagoff,.Wayne.Batch-
elder,.Doug.Belshaw,.Mark.Berthelemy,.Alson.Bckford,.Stephen.Downes,.
Patrca.Duebel,.Denham.Grey,.Bll.Hall,.Davd.Hawkes,.Pam.Hook,.Davd.
Lee,.Karla.Lopez,.Corrado.Petrucco,.John.D ..Smth,.Susan.Spero,.Louse.
Starkey,.Lz.Stevenson,.Peter.Tttenberger,.John.Vetch,.Jack.Vnson,..
Peter.West,.Gerry.Whte,.Terry.Yelmene,.Steve.Yurkw,.and.Chrstopher.
Zelnsk .
Thanks.to.Euan.Semple,.Dave.Snowden,.and.Denham.Grey.for.ntervew/
onlne.dscussons.relatng.to.knowledge.n.our.world.today .

The.mages.n.ths.book.are.the.work.of.Murray.Toews ..I.spent.much.
tme.wth.hm.n.creatng.a.non-structured,.non-lnear.model.for.
expressng.key.concepts ..I.have.read.too.many.books.on.knowledge.
and.knowledge.management.that.assume.advanced.theores.must.be.
expressed.n.complex,.ntmdatng.mages ..Structure.does.not.equate.
wth.knowledge.(structure.s.qute.dfferent.from.organzaton) ..
As.an.actve.partcpant.n.the.transparent.world.of.onlne.wrtng,..
I.know.the.value.of.buldng.on.the.work.of.others ..I.have.tred.to.cte.
orgnal.deas.(I.went.through.the.panful.process.of.tryng.to.locate.
orgns.of.popular.quotes—a.task.not.readly.acheved,.beyond.lnkng.
to.a.quote.database) ..The.rapdly.evolvng.nature.of.knowledge.some-
tmes.results.n.areas.beng.overlooked ..If.you.find.expressons.n.ths.
text.that.have.not.been.sourced,.please.let.me.know .
The.onerous.task.of.edtng.fell.on.Karen.Graham…
Thank You
v
The First Step toward Knowledge is to Know that We are Ignorant.
Richard Cecil 1
PrefaCe
Knowledge.has.changed;.from.categorzaton.and.herarches,.to.
networks.and.ecologes ..Ths.changes.everythng.and.emphaszes.
the.need.to.change.the.spaces.and.structures.of.our.organzatons ..
● How do we run a meeting?
● How do we decide on action items?
● How do we create our marketing plan?
● How do we learn? How do we share knowledge?
● How do we define organizational ethics?
● How do we foster democracy?
● How do we achieve our strategic goals?
We.supposedly.exst.n.a.knowledge.era ..Our.work.and.our.lves.
center.on.the.creaton,.communcaton,.and.applcaton.of.
knowledge .
● But what is knowledge?
● How is it created?
● How is it sHared?
How.does.knowledge.flow.through.our.organzatons.today?..
Is.t.dfferent.than.t.was.
. ● 10 years ago?
. ● 50 years ago?
. ●.a century ago?
v
What does our Future hold as a Knowledge-Based Society?
Why.does.so.much.of.our.socety.look.as.t.dd.n.the.past?.Our.schools,.
our.government,.our.relgous.organzatons,.our.meda—whle.more.
complex,.have.mantaned.ther.general.structure.and.shape ..Classroom.
structure.today,.wth.the.excepton.of.a.computer.or.an.LCD.projector,.
looks.remarkably.unchanged—teacher.at.the.front,.students.n.rows ...
Our.busness.processes.are.stll.bult.on.theores.and.vewponts.that.
exsted.over.a.century.ago.(wth.perodc.amendments.from.thnkers.lke.
Drucker2) ..In.essence,.we.have.transferred.(not.transformed).our.physcal.
dentty.to.onlne.spaces.and.structures .
Ths.book.seeks.to.tackle.knowledge—not.to.provde.a.defnton—but..
to.provde.a.way.of.seeng.trends.developng.n.the.world.today ..Due.to..
the.changed.context.and.characterstcs.of.knowledge,.tradtonal.defntons..
are.no.longer.adequate ..Language.produces.dfferent.meanng.for.dfferent.
people ..The.meanng.generated.by.a.sngle.defnton.s.not.suffcently..
reflectve.of.knowledge.as.a.whole ..
We are able to describe, not define knowledge.3
Most.leaders.today.would.settle.for.a.vew.of.knowledge.that.enables.
them.to.take.acton.consstent.wth.core.changes—so.ther.organzatons.
do.not.suffer.from.outdated.actons ...
Knowledge.possesses.two.broad.characterstcs:
1. It.descrbes.or.explans.some.part.of.the.world.(how.atoms.act,.whch.
companes.to.nvest.n.for.future.growth,.how.dseases.are.spread),.
2..We.can.use.t.n.some.type.of.acton.(buldng.partcle.accelerators,.
nvestng,.preventng.dsease) ...
All Knowledge is Information,
but Not all Information is Knowledge.
It.s.my.hope.that.ths.book.wll.not.be.seen.as.a.product,.but.rather..
an.nvtaton.to.dalogue.and.debate ..You.can.dscuss.the.book.at.the..
www.knowingknowledge.com.webste ..Artcles,.ntervews,.and.news..
on.the.changng.context.and.characterstcs.of.knowledge.wll.be.avalable..
as.well ...Readers.are.nvted.to.share.ther.comments.on.the.book.or.assst..
n.re-wrtng.t.n.the.wk .
v
I.have.ntentonally.left.thoughts.unstructured.and.unconnected,..
allowng.readers.to.create.ther.own.connectons ..
It.s.not.ntended.to.be.read.as.a.comprehensve.treatse.on.socety’s.
changes ..It.s.desgned.to.mmc.the.chaotc,.complex,.but.holstc,..
nature.of.knowledge.(and.learnng).n.today’s.organzatons—.
an.attempt.to.duplcate.knowledge.n.form,.not.only.content ..
I.have.mrrored.the.nature.of.knowledge.today.through.text .
I.have.ressted.the.urge.to.extensvely.classfy.concepts ..
Today,.ndvduals.sttch.and.weave.ther.own.networks ..
the practice of claSSiFication, as means to reduce cognitive load,
ends up more taxing when it fails to accurately reflect the underlying
core.
W r i t i ng in a linear format is challeng i n g!
I.am.used.to.wrtng.n.hypertext ...
Concepts.relate.to.other.concepts—but.not.n.a.lnear.manner ...
For.example,.when.addressng.connectvsm.as.a.changed.theory.of.
learnng,.I.want.to.relate.t.to.mplementaton,.or.when.addressng.
changes.n.the.context.n.whch.knowledge.occurs,.I.want.to.connect.to.
changes.n.knowledge.characterstcs—but.wthout.contnual.repetton ..
Books.do.not.work.that.way ..To.acheve.the.same.effect.n.a.book,..
I.would.have.to.rewrte.(and.you.would.have.to.reread).my.thoughts.
numerous.tmes.n.numerous.places ..The.repetton.would.be.annoyng ..
I.ntroduce.smlar.concepts.n.varous.places.to.show.connectons ..
Vewng.learnng.and.knowledge.as.network.phenomena.alters.much..
of.how.we.have.experenced.knowledge.n.the.last.century ..Networks..
are.adaptve,.flud,.and.readly.scale.n.sze.and.scope ..A.hierarchy
imposes.structure,.whle.networks reflect structure .
v
Mass.meda.and.educaton,.for.example,.have.been.largely.desgned.on.a.
one-way.flow.model.(structure.mposed.by.herarchy) ..Herarches,.unlke.
networks.and.ecologes,.do.not.permt.rapd.adaptaton.to.trends.outsde..
of.establshed.structure ..Structure.s.created.by.a.select.few.and.mposed..
on.the.many ..
. The.newspaper.publshes,.we.consume ..
. The.teacher.nstructs,.we.learn ..
. The.news.s.broadcast,.we.lsten ..
An.alternatve.to.ths.one-way.model.has.been.developng.momentum..
over.the.last.few.years ..Smple,.socal,.end-user.control.tools.(blogs,4.wks,5.
taggng.and.socal.bookmarkng,6.podcastng,7.vdeo.loggng8).are.afford-
5
ng.new.methods.of.nformaton.connecton.and.back-flow.to.the.orgnal.
source ..Feedback.s.more.common.n.meda.and.advertsng.than.n.
educaton . . .but.academcs.are.begnnng.to.see.ncreased.desre.from.
learners.to.engage,.not.only.consume,.learnng.materals.and.concepts .
AS GoeS knowledge,
So Go our organizations
Ths.book.ntends.to.serve 5.broad.purposes:
one
. .To.conceptualze.learnng.and.knowng.as.connecton-.
. . based.processes;
Two
. To.explore.the.nature.of.change.n.the.context.n.whch..
. . knowledge.exsts;
Three. To.explore.the.change.n.the.characterstcs..
. . of.knowledge.tself;
Four
. To.present.knowledge.as.a.context-game—a.dance..
. . that.requres.multple.realtes,.each.selected.to.serve..
. . the.ntended.needs.of.each.task,.challenge,.or.opportunty;.
Five. To.present.a.model.for.the.spaces.and.structures.whch.wll..
. . serve.the.needs.of.our.organzatons.(schools,.unverstes,..
. . and.corporatons).for.tomorrow .
v