Week 8 - The Learning Curve

My head is spinning. 
I am learning a lot and it is reassuring and also very challenging.

This week's readings helped me make a lot of background ideas more concrete with names and details about things we generally take for granted. For example, I had no idea that "help" screens are "performance support interventions" and that the concept is so relatively new. I also had no idea of the details of the types of knowledge that is included in "knowledge management".  I have always worked in settings that are part of larger organizations where learning the tacit and common knowledge are critical to success.

As a librarian, I work with all kinds of databases, but I never really understood how a knowledge management database would be constructed or what it would include.  The chapter helped me realize I was actually already doing it. Sharing tacit knowledge based on experience is extremely valuable for libraries.

In the "olden" days reference librarians used to keep card files of questions and answers or resource finding aides.
This photo is labelled "The Original Database"

Now, we maintain blogs and wikis to share and add to our common knowledge.  We post reminders or announce changes to explicit knowledge (policies and procedures), share tacit knowledge about recent or recurring questions or assignments.  This is of course much more efficient.  The search keyword improve access compared to the alphabetical order of the cards.

I am definitely a believer in informal learning and the just-in-time action learning that is vital to many workplaces.  Although I do know something about search techniques, it is often difficult to find the right information when you need it.  Googling it can be helpful, but often the search results are just other people asking the same question or the 'answer' is too complex.  The point in the chapter about the need for formalized development and maintenance of performance support and knowledge management systems is important and the need for multiple 'interventions' is also critical.  Sometimes you need actually ask someone who knows. 

This brings me to the challenging situation of trying to learn these new tools for class projects (and hopefully beyond). The Lynda.com videos provide an excellent overview of Flash.  But when you are trying to do something slightly different, there is often not enough detail to help you figure it out.  I am also struggling with the e-portfolio.  The WYSIWYG tools are not as easy to use to meet our specific purposes.

Challenge and some frustration are key elements of learning, "No pain, no gain". But it is a lot to learn in a short time.  I am used to learning just enough to be able to accomplish a task, but this time I am trying to learn in a more systematic way to be prepared for more complex applications later in the program.  I try to keep this philosophy in mind: 
        Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open. Thomas Dewar