Knowledge management in education

Institutional effectiveness, synonymous with assessment of learning, but perhaps larger is having sweeping impact on education. Education today is subject to the same pressures of the marketplace to spur innovation, improve customer service, or achieve operational excellence. Modalities of delivering learning have changed from ldquoonly game in townrdquo to ldquoanywhere, anytimerdquo. Knowledge management is the process of transforming information and intellectual assets into enduring value. It connects people with the knowledge that they need to take action, when they need it. There is tremendous value to educational institutions that develop initiatives to share knowledge to achieve business objectives. If done effectively, it can lead to better decision-making capabilities, reduced ldquoproductrdquo development cycle time (for example, curriculum development and research), improved academic and administrative services, and reduced costs. The challenge is to convert the information that currently resides in the individuals of the institution widely and easily available to any faculty member, staff person, or other constituent. This paper outlines the basic concepts of knowledge management as and considers trends, and explores how it might be applied in educational institutes and whether educational institutes are ready to embrace it. All institutions inherently store, access, and deliver knowledge in some manner. It is with KM that institutions will be better able to increase student retention and graduation rates; retain a technology workforce in the face of severe employee shortages; expand new Web based offerings; work to analyze the cost effective use of technology to meet more enrollment; transform existing transaction-based systems to provide information, not just data, for management; and compete in an environment where institutions cross state and national borders to meet student needs anytime/anywhere.