Bank of Knowledge

(Part Three of a multi-part series)

In our society today individuals are constantly generating and transmitting a bank of knowledge. Educators, or the experts, are working at the boundary between the known and the unknown, constantly adding to the bank of knowledge.

It is very important that knowledge be transmitted to all members of our society. The transfer of knowledge takes place through structures like schools, families and training courses (either classroom-based or online) or any other structured learning experience.

Certain attributes are necessary to generate and effectively transmit knowledge. The attributes that the experts use to generate new knowledge are very similar to the qualities needed to effectively transmit knowledge within the learning experience and environment. Here are the required elements for effective inquiry learning:

• Experts see patterns and meanings not apparent to the students
• Experts have in-depth knowledge in their field or specialty and it is structured so it is most useful to the student
• Experts knowledge is not just a set of facts or bulleted data points - it is structured to be accessible, transferable, and applicable to a variety of situations
• Experts can easily retrieve their knowledge and learn new information in their fields or specialty with little effort

If you are an expert in your field or specialty and privileged to be sharing your bank of knowledge with others, take a few moments to review these attributes. Identify where and how the learning environment you use contains these essential elements or not and make adjustments where necessary. Generating and transmitting from the bank of knowledge is a precious gift and skill!

Copyright M. A. Webb, 2005. All Rights Reserved

(Source: http://WeTrainU.blogspot.com)

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