Synopsis for ICT Activity Week 1

RELATING PHILOSOPHIES TO THE IDEOLOGY BEHIND THE BACHELOR OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT COURSE.

- USING THE TEXTS A PRIMER ON THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY, FUTUREWORK AND MODE 2 KNOWLEDGE -

by Alice Howson

In today's new world of rapidly evolving information and communication technology (referred to as ICT from this point), knowledge has become our most valuable asset.
According to A Primer on the Knowledge Economy by Haughton, J., & Sheehan, P. (2000), the advancements made in the manipulation, storage and dispersal of knowledge, and how fast and inexpensive this has become, have turned knowledge into a commodity. Such advancements and the placing of knowledge as a commodity with other goods and services, has led to globalisation, where there is increased competition and inter-dependence between nations. The ease of access to information around the world (the Internet being the prime example) must dictate the information and learning strategies that educators impart to learners in how it directly relates to the Knowledge Economy. It has become less important to produce students with specific skills and much more valuable to teach creativity and initiative, general problem solving and inter-personal communication.
My own experiences within a Primary School and High School environment revolved around philosophies from a more Industrial-Age Economy, where the recall of specific knowledge was regarded as the essential outcomes. This is opposed to what skills are required in a Knowledge Economy, where the utilisation of knowledge and the use of ICT are used to advance understanding. My experiences at Universities have been much more closely bound to the latter philosophy, however.
We live now in an era facing the fastest growth in technological advancement in the history of our species. As Futurework, an excerpt from a US Labour Report (1999) predicted, employers are demanding a highly flexible workforce. Permanent full-time jobs are on the decrease, while, casual, part time and home-based employment continues to rise. Jobs are requiring more in the way of ICT 'know-how'. Technology at home means workers can continue working (or solely) work from home even after their work hours. With less time, they 'contract out' such work as meal preparation. Although sociological rather than purely work-related, I still feel it is a major omission of Futurework not to link these increasing practices to the effect on families and society as a whole. The fast food culture has led to an enormous rise in obesity rates, both in adults and children, and babies from six weeks old can have no contact with their mother for many hours in the day due to child care. And of course this is not irrelevant to Futurework's ideas, because much employment will now directly relate to these, in health care, child care and takeaway operations.
Likewise, Futurework, with all their focus on globalisation, failed to predict the possibility of a 'domino effect' when so many nations are inter-dependant on one another. In short, one major change in the world since 1999, when Futurework was published, is the advent of the Global Economic Crisis. The strengths inherent in a globalised economy are the same factors which, upon the toppling of one crucial piece, will have roll-on ramifications for the whole.
The rise of globalisation in knowledge, has meant that information is far more accessible - and valuable. We can access knowledge from around the world and utilise it in situations that may be far different from its original purpose. Thus we have an entirely different mode of knowledge than previously, because our limitations in accessing it are far smaller than in the past.
So, for example, where in the past the mode of knowledge has been focused on individual and traditional research, which was discipline based, distinguished between fundamental and applied, and generally localised, now we must realise the potentials promised us by the ICT revolution.
Mode 2 Knowledge by Heath, G. 2001 describes the new mode of knowledge (Mode 2 compared to the traditional Mode 1) as non-localised (produced globally in diverse sites), subject to market acceptability (or the information will not be dispersed) and very much outcomes-based. It is characterised by teamwork and therefore heterogeneous (many different starting bases and perspectives) and transdisciplinary (as different people bring in different knowledge from their own areas of expertise).
In the previous era where ICT was far less advanced, the teacher was the fount of knowledge and the school the primary site of learning. The abundance and accessibility of knowledge and information today demotes the teacher to a lesser (or perhaps I should say 'different') role. Teachers and students may well be learning new technologies and discovering new knowledge simultaneously, so the teacher's role will not be so much a passer-on of knowledge, as a learning manager in an environment emphasising life-long learning. The teacher must be able to understand the processes of knowledge production and use and far more importantly, pass this on to their learners in the creation of broad minded, confident, creative and technologically literate risk takers, rather than experts in one unchanging (stagnant) field.
The ideas of Smith, R., Lynch, D., and Mienczakowski, J. in The bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) and Education Capability in 2003 ties in with this need to move towards a Mode 2 orientated philosophy. The BLM is very much an outcomes-based course, not only in producing teachers already experienced and capable in the field, but also instilling in them a sense of responsibility to be active in accomplishing student outcomes as well.
Pedagogy is valued more than traditional content and there is a substantial emphasis on ICT. The need to design pedagogy with the diversity of students in mind is considered paramount. Richard Smith states that 'indigenous educational outcomes have been unconscionable' as mainstream institutions have utterly failed to engage these learners. With the Mode 2 Knowledge ideology, diversity and uniquely creative thinkers are essential to new growth in society (and thus the economy), so a 'one-size-fits-all' strategy is an idea guaranteed to end in failure, not only to the social system, but to the individual learners.
Studies have shown that the teacher is the most vital aspect in achieving learner outcomes, more so than the class environment, peers and the learners individual history, socio-economic position and learning ability (or disability). Our pedagogical strategies are critical in being successful and the five Dimensions of Learning (Marzano, R. and Pickering, D. 1997) provide a systematic approach focusing on the application of knowledge in the real world.
The BLM emphasises individuality over conformity in creating thinkers with initiative and problem solving skills. This is in direct agreement with the values inherent in the Knowledge Economy. Insofar as teachers utilising, as well as teaching, knowledge (and how to access and process it) in response to changing circumstances and needs, as well as take risks, manage learning, network and use ICT, this ties in perfectly with the knowledge that Futurework claims will be necessary for a worker to succeed in the future. Futurework stresses that the work climate is changing due to globalisation (of knowledge as well as traditional goods and services), where flexibility and technological competence are key factors in success in the workplace.
The BLM works in with this idea of certain new traits and ways of thinking being prioritised higher than were in a pre-globalised world. The course addresses the need for major change in school systems to suit individual learners and to adopt to a rapidly changing world. Advancements and the ideologies emerging from a world where knowledge and its multiple applications and easy accessibility, centre around valuing knowledge as the most precious commodity of the world's economy. Advancements in information and communications technology must be embraced and utilised in our pedagogy to achieve the outcomes that our learners will need in this new world.