Sharing Knowledge with me and others (a course!)

I am currently a participant in a workshop on knowledge sharing (KS) techniques supported by CGIAR and facilitated by four great individuals. A professional development opportunity!! Wonderful.

For this workshop I personally have two goals: to develop my understanding of good KS and my ability to apply KS tools; and, to expand my network of professionals working in the KS/KM field. I want to improve myself and be able to do a better job at my work, but I also know that I can never do it all nor do I work in a vacuum. (But it does get lonely out here some times!) The network of professional friends is what really brings it all together in the end.

The success of this could be judged through my application of the things we learn in my work and hopefully through the identification of some common interests (maybe even specific projects?) with others who are taking the course with me.

The course is run in a space on the net created with Moodle. This in itself is a learning experience for me, as I know about this application from our IMARK team, but have not actually experienced it first hand! The learning space is choc (hey, that’s a Nancy White term isn’t it?!) FULL of stuff and we’re just though our first week. It’s fascinating and a bit overwhelming at the same time. All the things I don’t know laid out in front of me … and then there’s trying to balance this opportunity to learn new things with the day-to-day demands of my regular work. I will mange :-D

LEARNING! Never stop learning.

(This is the first of several posts that I will be making during the online KS workshop.)

KM to Me (aka "Looking Back...")

I've been working in the field of information/knowledge mangment for development since I first joined the UN (FAO) about seven years ago now.

In this time the terms have evolved, "information", "knowledge", "ICT", "ICT4D", "KM", "KM4Dev", Web 2.0, etc., but in most cases I believe the intent remains the same - to help others by improving rural developoment (both the processes and the results).

My work involves capacity building (e.g. IMARK), networking people (e.g. PhilAgriNet), information management standards (AIMS), studying successful examples of rural ICT, and some other things. I'm devoted to the Asia-Pacific region in my current capacity. It's a great job, one that has opened my eyes to the world we live in and one that has hopefully allowed me to give something back.