Emerald | On the Horizon | Table of Contents

The academy: hiding behind pay walls?

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Tom Abeles) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The article's aim is to explore the issues of capturing knowledge behind a pay wall of an institution of higher learning. Design/methodology/approach – This is an opinion piece. Findings – Post secondary institutions will have to adopt alternative models for economic survival, as will knowledge seekers entering these institutions. Social Implications – Knowledge providers and knowledge seekers will restructure their relationships. Originality/value – The article challenges the existing model to undergo radical change as opposed to patchwork alternatives.

Knowmad society: the “new” work and education

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (John W. Moravec) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – This essay aims to introduce the “knowmads” concept in the context of converging futures of work, learning, and how people relate to one another in a world driven by exponential, accelerating change. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework for understanding knowmad society is presented, with specific insight to how it impacts formal education systems. A summary of articles following this viewpoint in this issue of On the Horizon is presented to highlight key ideas and how the issue is structured. Findings – Knowmad society is already here, but education systems seem ignorant of this reality. This essay highlights that in this issue, ideas, approaches, and original solutions are offered for further discussion. Practical implications – It is too late to ignore the trends driving the creation of a knowmad society, and it has to be decided if there is to be an attempt to catch-up to the present, or leapfrog ahead and create future-relevant learning options today. Otherwise there is a risk of producing workers equipped for the needs of previous centuries, but not the kind that can apply their individual knowledge in contextually-varied modes to create new value. Originality/value – This essay presents a formal introduction to the knowmad concept, and calls for the co-creation of a broader ecology of options for relevant learning in a knowmad society.

New work, old power: inequities within the labor of internationalization

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The aim in this paper is to extend Dorothy Smith's conceptual understanding of work to consider the emerging labor of “knowmads” within internationalization of higher education. Through original research on everyday experiences of internationalization, the authors seek to illuminate the ways individuals develop skills and competencies in relation to these new forms of work in order to address the reproduction of inequities. The authors make a connection between internationalization of higher education and knowmadic labor based on the premise that cross-border education is often pursued in order to develop knowmadic attributes. Design/methodology/approach – Through a critical institutional ethnography of one mid-sized Canadian university, the paper uses survey and interview data gathered from students and faculty - individuals who are involved in knowmadic labor connected to internationalization – to illustrate some of the study participants' daily experiences of internationalization coordinated by the institutional structures of the university in times of globalization. Findings – It is concluded that internationalization and connecting new forms of work involved in becoming and producing knowmads not only bypass and disregard present inequities in higher education, but work to reproduce them in new ways. Practical implications – The paper provides insight in regards to processes and allocation of work within internationalization, while addressing forms of social inequities that often cut across these practices and concludes with brief comments on the implications of academic knowmadic labor in Western higher education institutions engaged in internationalization. Originality/value – While research has been conducted on work in international contexts, little has addressed “the labor” that is involved in becoming knowmads, and that of “producing” knowmads. The paper draws connections between the internationalization of higher education and knowmadic work showing that knowmadic labor is often preceded by knowmadic educational opportunities. The cosmopolitan vision of creating globally aware citizens, with international knowledge, skills, and competencies that institutions espouse, are assumed to be good per se, and to lead to knowmadic qualities and attributes required in a knowmad society. The paper questions these assumptions and the relations of power on which they rest.

Mechanisms to identify and study the demand for innovation skills in world-renowned organizations

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Cristobal Cobo) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the interrelationship between the fields of education and workforce in the context of post-industrial societies. It seeks to analyze key challenges associated with the match (and mismatch) of skill supply and demand between education and the work force. Design/methodology/approach – Using a “purposeful sample”, the study provides an evidence-based analysis that explores how and to what extent soft skills are currently required by world recognized organizations such as Greenpeace, World Bank, OECD, Google, Apple and Samsung. Findings – After a revision of different perspectives to identify and categorize the key skills of the twenty-first century, the study describes seven non-technical cognitive and social key skills called soft skills for innovation. Research limitations/implications – After exploring a small sample size of five recent job vacancies promoted by six major international organizations, the study analyzes the current demand for soft skills for innovation such as, collaboration, critical thinking, contextual learning, searching, synthesizing and disseminating information, communication, self-direction and creativity. The methodology adopted and the data retrieval process can be replicated with either a larger sample or more focused workforce sectors. Practical implications – The described “skills mismatch” emphasizes the importance of creating different strategies and tools that facilitate the recognition of skills acquired independently of educational contexts. Social implications – This study contributes to the current and ongoing discussions regarding relevant key soft skills for graduates and future employees providing an updated idea of skills demanded by world class organizations. Originality/value – The paper provides evidence-based information (data available online) that can contribute to rethinking curriculums and exploring “blended” models that mix real life and teaching contexts stimulating the development of soft skills for innovation.

Borderlands: developing character strengths for a knowmadic world

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Brad Hokanson, Roger M. Karlson) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The paper's aim is to highlight the value of non-cognitive strengths such as creativity and grit. In a knowledge age, those aspects will be the distinguishing characteristics in a global work force and must be a goal of educational pursuits. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines research supporting the inclusion of character strengths in education for a borderless global future. Findings – Presently, most education and work deals with information and data. Technology has made data/facts/information more accessible but less unique for any given learner, worker, or place. At the same time, education has focused on simple distribution of content, knowledge assessment, and testing instead of the development of rich knowledge and non-cognitive skills. This can be seen in the reliance on testing and achievement, and, by and large, in a generation of students knowing “what” but not “how”, a generation less creative and more prone to set answers, a generation often lacking character strengths and less able to persevere in the face of challenge or failure. Research limitations/implications – Research must focus more intensely on the character strengths or non-cognitive skills to better understand their relationship to learning and achievement. Methods of developing character strengths should be researched for efficacy. Correlation between various character strengths (such as creativity and persistence) and academic achievement should be broadly researched. This correlative research could support new methods and foci in education offering a broader, more inclusive direction in learning. Practical implications – Research has shown character strengths can be better developed in explicit class settings than through tacit methods. Previous research into strengths such as grit and perseverance could also lead to different participant selection for employment, enrollment, or to intervention programs. In a world where information travels around the world in the blink of an eye, in a borderless global future, education must metaphorically cross the cognitive border and begin to directly address that broader set of skills that are cherished but often do not seem to be taught. It is on the border between learning information – explicit knowledge – and affective, social, and behavioral skills where change must occur. Originality/value – This paper addresses a need in education to examine and explicitly address non-cognitive skills.

Limitless: becoming remarkable in the borderless economy

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (George H. Kubik) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the emerging new economy is impacting the future of human capital development and the future of work. Design/methodology/approach – A detailed review of the literature is used to profile the changing nature of work and work requirements in the emerging new economy. Recent trends and developments in human capital development and advancements in computer-enhanced performanceware are combined with components of the traditional apprenticeship model. The resulting silicon-based apprenticeship model is compared and contrasted with models of formal education, training, and apprenticeship. Findings – The fast-paced new economy is demanding greater performance from ever-greater percentages of the world's population. New forms of hypercompetition demand the elimination of the long lead-times that have traditionally existed between learning and doing. The proffered silicon-based apprenticeship model is advanced as a development that is projected to jump-start twenty-first century learner/performers into on-demand, world-class, performance. Research limitations/implications – Speculative literature directed at the future of new economy work and workers is not cohesively linked to the literature of electronic performance enhancement, learning theory, and advancements in technology. This paper advances an approach for accelerating work performance and human capital development that may instigate future research in this area. Practical implications – This paper identifies the value of greatly accelerating the performance of workers in the emerging new economy, while simultaneously decreasing the existing time lag between learning and performance. Social implications – The ability to involve more individuals in the emerging new economy promises to increase both quality of life and standard of living for greater percentages of the global population. Originality/value – The author asserts that silicon-based apprenticeships are a necessary next step toward engaging more of the world's population in the new economy.

Heavy switchers in translearning: from formal teaching to ubiquitous learning

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Ismael Peña-López) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The aim is to explore the role of personal learning environments in an already ICT-dense context and in combination with some educational approaches in the field of technology enhanced education. The paper seeks to analyze how personal learning environments are not a device but a learning strategy that threatens the way educational institutions and their functions are understood, by contributing to enable a borderless learning society. Design/methodology/approach – The research begins by revisiting Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development and assesses the role of educators and educational institutions as the actual more knowledgeable others in scaffolding learners' learning paths. This role is put in relationship with different learning scenarios (formal, non-formal, informal and autodidactic) according to their inner structure (or lack of) and degree (or absence) of planning. The research then puts PLEs in relationship with other “physical” spaces (VLEs and LMSs), the digitization of content (open educational resources), records and assessments (e-Portfolios) and the possibility to flip some traditional tasks or processes that enabled regaining the social component in the classroom (Education 2.0). Findings – It is suggested that PLEs have come to close the circle of ICTs in education with a highly transformative power: the power to blur the boundaries between formal teaching and informal learning. Indeed, the traditionally difficult transition from one learning scenario to a different one has been made smoother by the appearance of OER and, especially, social media constructs that can be used for learning purposes, especially within a PLE-based strategy. Originality/value – It is stated that institutions should embrace and even foster the possibility that learners could easily and intensively switch educational resources, just like they could shift among different registers and learning scenarios, as a newly enabled way to tear down the artificial divisions that formal learning edified.

Building better learning and learning better building, with learners rather than for learners

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the relevant role of users/learners as designers/creators of meaningful and effective learning places and spaces in both digital and virtual worlds. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on research and observation of changing trends in users' behavior in physical and digital collaborative workplaces and spaces all over the world. Findings – In this third millennium, the new spirit of knowmadic workers and learners is breaking down old design concepts and rules. The progressively more subtle frontier between virtual and physical learning environments and working environments is changing the use by, and the behavior of, learners in these places and spaces. In this context, the transversal-thinking, designer-guided paradigm is rendered effectively useless. The era of user-led design has started. User-oriented design is an old trend; it has changed over time. In societies and economies based on learning, reflection and constant collaboration, the individualistic design guru has no place. Originality/value – This paper discusses the evolving strategic role of users/learners as designers and co-creators of their own places. Traditional design criteria and theories are outdated. The role of the designer as master/creator is not compatible with the collegiate and collaborative, reflective spirit of knowmadic learners. A consequence is a requirement for new strategies and a redefinition of the designer's role in the creation of space. The axis of design control has shifted.

Ready for the future: the four principles of nomadic learning in organizations

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (An Kramer) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – This essay aims to develop a new concept of learning for organizations. Change concepts are used to explore and find principles of learning that make employees and their organizations ready for the ever changing reality. Considering the rapid and unexpected changes of today it makes them ready for the future of work. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is anticipatory, utilizing a dynamic knowledge development framework, combined with action research in the organization consultancy and training practice. Findings – The article describes theory and practice of four principles of nomadic learning. It shows the connection with change theories and future of work research. Research limitations/implications – How to realize nomadic learning within organizations and in that way make that organization a learning company is a recommended topic for new research. The consequences for the way of structuring and organizing within organizations should be taken into account. Practical implications – When nomadic learning is applied it will change the common practice of leadership development and organizational change programs. Social Implications – Nomadic learning has the capacity to connect people from diverse backgrounds and functions. In that way it can cope with risks of isolation and exclusion. Originality/value – The combination of philosophic conceptualization and experienced practice makes this article special. This is simultaneously the way to “do” nomadic learning.