Information technology has been progressing at an increasing higher speed since the first IBM PC came out in the 1981. To keep up with the ever changing information brought about by increasing sophisticated information technology, one has to re-train and re-learn continually throughout one's working life (Castells, 2001, p.91). Learning how to learn is therefore an important skill as lifelong learning becomes an inevitability for the knowledge worker. It is no longer sufficient to acquire knowledge through specific information as the information becomes obsolete in a fraction of our professional lives.
Another feature of the connected economy is the ease which which we can set up self-employment and work from an “office” at home due to the enhanced connectivity. Combined with the noticeable fading lifelong employment with a single employer, this calls for a flexible and self-programmable workforce (Castells, 2001, p.95) with more generic skills.
Lifelong learning includes the need to learn formally and/or informally at the workplace. Beitler and Mitlacher (2007) found that employees who are highly self-directed learners1 are more willing to help their colleagues by sharing their acquired knowledge and information, thus fostering learning at work. In our information-based society, the sharing of information is essential “because organisations that effectively share information show higher levels of productivity” (Beitler and Mitlacher, 2007). The success of formal and informal learning at the workplace is supported by the sharing of information amongst workers. Can this finding be extended to other cultures? Korean corporate culture puts the company before the individual which one expects extends to sharing information with peers, although Korean learners are generally less self-directed learners than their Western counterparts.
Gongla and Rizzuto (2001) also recognise that to do well in the connected economy, knowledge workers have to participate in the sharing of knowledge on a daily basis. This involves not only the dissemination of data but also the exchange of ideas and knowledge with other individuals experienced in the same or related field of work. Such interaction can lead to communities of practice which pool their knowledge together to work towards innovative and creative solutions. One characteristic of a community of practice is collaboration. In order to collaborate well, individuals should have key competencies such as interpersonal communication, networking, curiousity and the ability to associate ideas.
Conclusion
The literature calls for “new” skills and approaches to learning in a connected economy. Among them the ability to process online information, willingness to share information and knowledge, flexibility to engage in lifelong learning and in acquiring new skills, and interpersonal skills to collaborate in teams. It would be interesting if more work could be done in ascertaining if learners of non-Western cultures will have to undergo similar changes in learning mindset to perform well in a connected economy.
References:
Beitler, M. and Mitlacher, L. (2007) 'Information sharing, self-directed learning and its implications for workplace learning', Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 19, No. 8, pp. 526 – 535.
Castells, M. (2001) The internet galaxy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Gongla, P. and Rizzuto, C.R. (2001) 'Evolving communities of practice: IBM Global Services experience', IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 40 No. 4
Endnotes:
1 Self-directed learning is defined as a process in which “individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies and evaluating learning outcomes”.
