My Experience and Reflection - Assignment Example

My Experience and Reflection My Experience and Reflection Introduction The changes and transformations that are taking place in the information technology field are doing so fast and continuously. However, these transformations and changes are not only confined to the information technology field, as their effects are been felt and shown in many other fields. In fact, many other fields, such as education, have been highly impacted by the developments in the field of information technology. The developments have seen varying innovations springing up and influencing a huge number of people who have access to the internet. Many of these innovations have been in the social media part of information technology. The social media discoveries have gone on to influence many aspects of the day-to-day lives and occurrences. How have they done so? Through the high number of people who can access the internet globally, the social media has led to one of the greatest transformations in the history of mankind. It is constituted by a number of major players such as Facebook, Twitter, and messaging applications like WhatsApp along with many other upcoming ones. The strength in these social media innovations has been in the way they bring together a great number of people with similar and dissimilar interests on one platform. By doing so, they have been able to create a great level of interaction that people from all walks of life can use to express themselves in a way that they could not in the past. Most importantly, the social media tools and innovations have become very prominent due to the opportunity they avail to not only interact, but to do so with the confidence of saying whatever it is one may feel to without fear or favour, which in the real life could be hard for many users. The social media tools have their advantages and disadvantages. However, this paper will not focus on either of these, but, it shall seek to assess the impact of the usage of social media tools in knowledge management, sharing and in the application of the social learning theory. Hence, the paper will have a critical discussion and analysis of the experience of using social media while providing a personal reflection of the activities undertaken in order to manage personal knowledge and learning within a postgraduate learning context. It could be asked what knowledge management, knowledge sharing, and the social learning theory are. How do they tie together in the explanation of a concept such as the issue of social media and learning? Wallace (2007) defines knowledge management as utilising knowledge to boost performance and learning. Knowledge sharing goes ahead to expound on the way a person decides to distribute knowledge to or with other people (Maier, et al., 2009). As for the social learning theory, it is founded on the basis of processing information among individuals in the social circle. How do persons conceptualise information, which forms their learning and knowledge base, from people they know. In the paper’s focus, among and from their social media friends. The theory provides an insightful facet of the social media world and the dispensation of information, especially information that is critical to one’s learning. Activity 1: Twitter I had been going through an article by IvKovic (2013) that was talking about the transformation that he and his wife went through after their country was destroyed by civil war. In the course of reading the article, it was evident that learning from the experience was a crucial part of the change that occurred. The article touched on the use of social media, not just by individuals but also the corporates. As a result, as I took a break to have some coffee, I took to Twitter to seek answers to the questions that arose in regard to the building of a learning organisation. I wanted to know what other people had to say. The questions I posed on the site resulted in a number of replies that were rather interesting. The reason being that they elicited mixed reactions on the role of the company and the individual within the same organisation as pertains to the development of a learning organisation. From the replies, it was evident that most of the people placed the role of building a learning organisation and culture in the company and not themselves. Could it be that these people were failing to own up? Alternatively, was it that they took minimal responsibility for the company’s learning culture? The experience was a revelation for me because it made me realise that a company may instigate measures to develop a learning organisation. However, without the valuable input of the individuals within it to ensure, the learning culture is thriving within the company, it may not add up to much. The experience and event did was based on the social learning theory because it showed that learning in the organisation was not just limited to one on one meetings in the workplace. As both Hart and Jarche argue. The current scenario stipulates that companies have to be at the forefront of encouraging knowledge sharing through social media. Just as I sought the input of colleagues on my Twitter, the companies should not just focus on training. Rather, as Hart and Jarche put it, they should be at the lead of developing new ways of sharing knowledge among their workforce. New does not mean to do what has not been done before, but they should take advantage of the opportunity that the social media offers to get knowledge transfer across the individuals who work for them (National Extension Directors and Administrators Meeting, 2014). This event falls does fall under knowledge management and sharing as noted by Holt (2001), in which he stated that knowledge management is ensuring that the correct information is passed on to the pertinent individuals at the right moment. In doing so, aiding the persons to create and share the knowledge and information they obtain (Shirazi, et al., 2011). Activity 2: LinkedIn I decided to share an article that I read on the views of Peter Senge. A famed researcher on learning organisation. Why did I chose to share it? I deemed the concepts and contents of the article to be of substantial benefit to colleagues. Going through it, it has a lot to do with learning, sharing and managing knowledge within an organisation. Using LinkedIn, the information therein would not only be of benefit to me, but also too many others through sharing it on social media. I ensured I shared it when most of my friends were online so that they would get it in real-time. It did work because they were of the opinion that it was an excellent article. The sharing of this article did go well and its intentions were well received. The reason behind it is because of timing. At times, posting an informative material on a social media platform when people are not active on that platform is not effective because they could soon come to find many other things that have been shared. Hence, they may choose to ignore it. However, by choosing the opportune moment to post the information, the efficiency of sharing it will be enhanced. In my case, it was because the post got a massive response. The social learning theory offers the argument that persons turn to their acquaintances and close friends when they want information about a certain issue (Lamberson, 2010). When using LinkedIn, the information shared is passed on to close friends and people whom one knows. Thus, there is a notion that the information one is sharing will go a long way in helping these people. Under the social learning theory, there is the aim that learning elicits the suitable responses or actions (Engler, 2013). The activity undertook was aimed at ensuring that the people who obtained the information got to learn more about the learning organisation as argued by Senge. Indeed, the response was more than what was expected. Hence, this activity was based on the social learning theory. Dalkir (2013) notes that once knowledge has been obtained, it should be shared and distribute in the whole organisation. The same author opines that many of the people within a workforce tend to search for information on the internet but fail to locate, recognise, and utilise it appropriately. Hence, based on this argument, the activity was based on knowledge management and sharing as it captured the appropriate information, which was shared with people who needed it. How they utilised it is based on their understanding of the concepts and ideas expressed by Senge. Thus, it is up to the people who obtain the information to choose what to do once they consume it. Activity 3: Facebook On this occasion, I decided to do some research on the impacts of learning within organisations. I came across this article touching on how organisations that learn are able to adapt better with a description of learning organisations (Coullard, 2007). Going through the article, I realise the emphasis it put on sharing knowledge within the team. My outright conviction was the resource was too important to ignore it. Hence, I shared it on Facebook where I have many colleagues. Moreover, Facebook avails a large audience from whom the information therein could be shared. The post had twelve shares and more than fifty comments. The only negative thing about it was that some did not contribute to sharing of knowledge. The activity did not go as planned because the number of people who seemed interested in the post was minimal. Considering the large number of friends, I have, and I ensured that it was in public mode so that anyone who checked my wall could have access to it. Nevertheless, from the comments, some questions such as what if the leadership of the organisation is toxic. To this comment, I replied that such a case needed an innovative and democratic solution in order to ensure that he working environment and culture was not destroyed from the management. As such, it proved to be quite an experience, which had me thinking that maybe, it is not all about posting, some innovation is required too. Mills (2011) indicate that the available social networking tools enhance the ties through which knowledge is passed on among individuals in a social circle. As a result, they avail opportunities for the transfer of information, communication, and deliberation as a result. As evidence of the activity, the deliberation was spearheaded through the comments. Implying that information, and as a consequence, knowledge had been exchanged. The social learning theory as articulated by Burgess and Akers (1996) is constituted by a principle that indicates that behavior is learnt through social interaction, where an individual has a behavior that influences others (Akers & Jennings, 2009). Even though this is in the criminal context, in the social media activity context, the same could be said of the event. That persons tend to share information because, one person, in their own doing decided to share what they found useful. Leonardi (2014) puts forward a theory of communication visibility under knowledge sharing and management where he argues that the social networking tool causes an increased consciousness of the people who get to obtain the information shared. Evaluating the social media activity that was undertaken, it is evident it falls under knowledge sharing and management as the persons who see the shared information are at liberty to make their own inference. Nevertheless, the concepts learned do instil some common knowledge and information that forms part of the culture if it was shared with employees working in the same organisation. Activity 4: Facebook The final activity that I undertook was one that sought to determine if indeed learning organisations exist. If they do, would the persons who work in these organisations agree to share what it is that these organisations do to enhance learning. I read the blog that touched on the tools of a learning organisation. From the ideas in the blog, the point was that people within an organisation manage how much they learn and they share with the rest (Gill, 2012). Hence, I used Facebook to share the post along with the link. I posted it in the morning. However, in this instance, I made sure that I referred some friends to the post. The result was different because the people who, according to me, read and commented about the blog were many. They stated that it was an insightful piece that reflected on the case at their place of work. The outcome of the activity was pleasing because of the responses received. The responses were not only just mere responses, but they were related to the ideas in the blog regarding a learning organisation. Could be because of referring several of my friends to the post? It could have been because this functioned through increasing the number of people reached. However, as before, it seems that even though some people had a look at the blog, not all of them got its message. Alternatively, it could be they got the message and chose to ignore it based on the comments like, which organisation is this about? Siemens (2005) developed a theory termed as connectivism. He says that it integrates ideologies looked at by the theories that examine self-organisation. Thus, he defines learning as a process. One that takes place in numerous environments with changing key foundations that are not under the jurisdiction of any one individual. Thus, he opines that it is the ability to identify relevant information and differentiate it from that which is irrelevant. In the activity, this case was exhibited from the comments asking what the information on the organisation was all about. However, for those that the information made sense to, they took it seriously and were thankful. Firestone (2008) indicates that one of the fundamental goals of knowledge management is to enhance the availability of information and data of whichever form. Through this enhancement, the acquirement of knowledge is boosted. In the social media activity conducted, the boosting of the availability of the information was done by referring several friends to the post, which in turn increased the number of people the post got to. The result was more views and comments relating to the information on that blog. It meant that the activity enhanced the acquisition of knowledge. Conclusion Sridharan, et al. (2004) indicate that it is essential to ensure that knowledge is made available to people when they need it. The experience of using social media to share information and knowledge was very much instrumental in evidencing the importance of the provision of informative material that enhances learning, not only to the individual but to also to an organisation. Rather than train its employees, organisations are better off using social media to spread and ensure that knowledge is shared from the experienced workers to those who seek the same knowledge. Moreover, the social media platforms proved to be very efficient tools of sharing knowledge. The only shortcoming was when the information reached persons who were not interested in the contents or concepts the information had to offer. Noorderhaven and Harzing (2008) note that the social learning theory highlights how learning and knowledge are associated to certain habits without which they cease to be of importance. Again, they point out that learning takes place in scenarios where persons are linked by sharing. Therefore, social media platforms, which provide the means to share, find their basis in the social learning theory (Holtzblatt, et al., 2013). Vuori and Okkonen (2012) state that a social media platform that runs through an organisation attains success if the employees within have the yearning to ensure that its goals are achieved through sharing of knowledge. What does this imply? From the activities that were undertaken, if the same was implemented in an organisation, it is evident that if the same is applied to an organisation, knowledge sharing and management is enhanced. Taking the experience of the four activities, one person can share knowledge with a large number of people. This is what the Connectivism theory touching on learning through the social media stresses on. Under it, knowledge, learning, and comprehension can be strengthened and enlarged through an individual (Samara, et al., 2007). The result of sharing information obtained by an individual elicited reaction, which showed that it had an impact even though this was not within an organisation. Nevertheless, if this took place in an organisation, where the individuals shared a common goal and the same information was shared. The learning within the organisation would be greatly enhanced just as it was in the broader context as shown by the social media activities. References Akers, R. L. & Jennings, W. G., 2009. Social Learning Theory. In: 21st Century criminology: A reference handbook. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc, pp. 323-332. Coullard, D., 2007. WHY CREATING A LEARNING ORGANIZATION LEADS THE HIGH TECH FIRM TO SUCCEED. [Online] Available at: http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/why-creating-a-learning-organization-leads-the-high-tech-firm-to-succeed/ [Accessed 08 April 2015]. Dalkir, K., 2013. Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. Burlington: Routledge. Engler, B., 2013. Personality Theories. 9 ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Firestone, J. M., 2008. Position Paper: On doing knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Issue 6, pp. 13-22. Gill, S. J., 2012. Tools of a Learning Organization. [Online] Available at: http://stephenjgill.typepad.com/performance_improvement_b/2012/06/tools-of-a-learning-organization.html#sthash.05AyuKcZ.gbpl [Accessed 08 April 2015]. Holtzblatt, L. et al., 2013. Evaluating the Uses and Benefits of an Enterprise Social Media Platform. Journal of Social Media for Organizations, 1(1), pp. 1-21. IvKovic, E., 2013. Builiding a Learning Organization. [Online] Available at: http://www.dragonsearchmarketing.com/building-a-learning-organization/ [Accessed 09 April 2015]. Lamberson, P. J., 2010. Social Learning in Social Networks. 10(1), pp. 1-31. Leonardi, P. M., 2014. Social Media, Knowledge Sharing, and Innovation: Toward a Theory of Communication Visibility. Information Systems Research, 25(4), pp. 796-816. Maier, R., Hadrich, T. & Peini, R., 2009. Enterprise Knowledge Infrastructures. 2 ed. Lichtenau: Springer Science & Business Media. Mills, N., 2011. Situated Learning through Social Networking Communities: The Development of Joint Enterprise, Mutual Engagement, and a Shared Repertoire. CALICO Journal, 28(2), pp. 345-368. National Extension Directors and Administrators Meeting, 2014. National eXtension Confrence. [Online] Available at: http://muconf.missouri.edu/NeXC-NEDA2014/Keynotes.html [Accessed 08 April 2015]. Noorderhaven, N. & Harzing, A., 2008. KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND SOCIAL INTERACTION WITHIN MNCS. [Online] Available at: http://www.harzing.com/download/knowshar.pdf [Accessed 08 April 2015]. Samara, K., Patel, D., Patel, S. & University, L. S. B., 2007. An Ontology Based Knowledge Experiential Learning Framework. Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, 8(3). Shirazi, A., Mortazavi, S. & Azad, N. P., 2011. Factors Affecting Employees’ Readiness for Knowledge Management. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, Issue 33, pp. 167-177. Siemens, G., 2005. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. [Online] Available at: http://www.ingedewaard.net/papers/connectivism/2005_siemens_ALearningTheoryForTheDigitalAge.pdf [Accessed 08 April 2015]. Sridharan, B., Tretiakov, A. & Kinshuk, 2004. Application of Ontology to Knowledge Management in Web based Learning. In: L. C. K. Kinshuk, et al. eds. Proceedings of the 4th IEEE International Conference on Advanced learning Technologies 2004. Los Alamitos: IEE Computer Society, pp. 663-665. Vuori, V. & Okkonen, J., 2012. Knowledge sharing motivational factors of using an intra‐organizational social media platform. Journal of Knowledge Management, 16(4), pp. 592-603. Wallace, D. P., 2007. Knowledge Management: Historical and Cross-disciplinary Themes. Westport: Libraries Unlimited. Appendices: Social Media Screen Scripts 1. Twitter http://www.dragonsearchmarketing.com/building-a-learning-organization/ 2. LinkedIn http://infed.org/mobi/peter-senge-and-the-learning-organization/ 3. Facebook http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/why-creating-a-learning-organization-leads-the-high-tech-firm-to-succeed/ 4. Facebook http://stephenjgill.typepad.com/performance_improvement_b/2012/06/tools-of-a-learning-organization.html#sthash.05AyuKcZ.gbpl Read More