Knowledge Sharing Techniques for the 21st Century
At Online Educa Berlin (1-3 December 2010), the annual e-learning conference in Berlin, Germany, UNU-ViE demonstrated how knowledge sharing techniques can enhance dialogue and impact in development work.
Dr Virginie Aimard, Head of the SCIENTIA section at UNU-ViE, presented the knowledge sharing ecosystem of the United Nations University (UNU), encompassing a broad range of social media tools, such as blogs, wikis, twitter, videos and online Communities of Practice. She explained that these tools “help to share knowledge with your colleagues and connect to other professionals in the field. Moreover, online platforms can be used to document your practice, reflect on your work and receive valuable feedback online from the community of practitioners working in the same field, which will help you improve your performance.”
In her presentation, Dr Aimard elaborates how UNU-ViE developed social media tools and informal knowledge exchange sessions, such as Brown Bag Luncheons, to create a culture of knowledge sharing within an institution, which works with research and higher education institutions in developing countries.
“Higher education institutions today need to understand knowledge creation as a collaborative effort, recognizing the potential of social media and peer-learning”, says Dr Aimard. “And we ourselves also need to walk the talk”, she adds. Therefore, UNU-ViE introduced a new and innovative technique to this year’s Online Educa called “graphic recording”.
In a podcast, Dr Aimard explains how UNU uses graphic facilitation to capture the essence of expert presentations visually and stimulate discussion. To listen to her explanation how UNU uses graphic facilitation and social media to create meaningful conversation and encourage knowledge sharing in development work, please click here:
Podcast: Painting pictures from spoken words
View the visual summaries of the parallel sessions on Flickr.
