Walk the Talk

Knowledge management and new technologies – that has been the buzz catch words for the longest time. But is it for you? Think about it. When the night has come, do realise that creating a knowledge management system is such a significant yet tiring process, for one must have the much needed support throughout the organization.

Now let’s get over the introduction and back to my 2 cents.

Students, young and matured, are the drivers (some say the future) of tomorrow’s leaders. So what are we really good at? Well, at least for me (and a few others), we basically can’t go by a day without at least talking to someone or something, either via cyberspace method or the traditional (yes, traditional) face-to-face talks. So living in the web 2.0 world, we’ve come so far to engage in a variety of online tools such as participating in the (compulsory) online discussion forums (some hinted it’s because of the dangling carrot syndrome *psst: class participation), and online messaging systems such as MSN, Skype, Pfingo and the list goes on. These countless forms of online messaging tools today are vast – practically covering everything under the sun, in attempt to cover innumerable specialty topics (or sometimes simply to pass time) for anyone and everyone. Such innovations (not sure when it started but I was hooked to it back in upper secondary), provide alternatives to educational courses and more specifically enabling people like me to bond over such given personal air-time (interaction - hence contributing to part of the e-learning process).

However, personally it has crossed my mind a couple of times with respect to the online discussion forums (be it school or otherwise). Yes, there’s some incentive (hidden agenda to score well) but at the end of the day, is that a reliable tangible product? What incentives do I have besides scoring well and gaining new knowledge? One of the challenges we all fear perhaps is the sustainability of attracting active contributors and maintaining a circle of life within chat rooms and forums. Selfish thoughts as these may sound, oh c’mon, this is the real world. The one thing I fear most is for these selfless thoughts to carry on at the workplace in due time. Perception you see, my friend is I feel the bigger tool to overcome. The basis of online participation is to be engaged via a shared platform with a shared goal; the valuable opportunity to learn from each other. Unless we train the young ones of our current and future generations, the egotistical value of’ knowledge is power’ will be here to stay.

Scary isn’t it.

Well, it’s up to you and me, to change minds and impact lives.

What are you waiting for?

Oh behold, for 'tis the season to be jolly.