Brad Hokanson and Roger Wm. Karlson
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…
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.
Details
Keywords
A social movement is sweeping the globe in the form of Internet delivered and open access sharing spaces. People are connecting in new ways while personalizing their daily…
Abstract
A social movement is sweeping the globe in the form of Internet delivered and open access sharing spaces. People are connecting in new ways while personalizing their daily experiences with shared websites called Web 2.0 technologies. This chapter looks into the implications of taking these technologies beyond social interactions into the learning experiences of students. With a literature review and case study analysis, the goal of this chapter is to gain a better understanding of what is needed to appropriate quality instructional strategies to the online university course room including social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Second Life®, and wikis. Following a brief history and descriptions of the Web 2.0 sites and functions, the reader is introduced to the design expectations typical of instructional designers (IDs) with definitions and standards from the field's literature. Support is offered from the business and educational literature for incorporating leadership into design practice through vision, strategy, and theory-based decisions. Definitions, benchmarks, and examples of instructional strategies and activities for learner engagement complete the theoretical framework for the chapter. Given the added complexities of advanced technologies, this chapter suggests evaluating social learning through an ID leadership perspective for a more informed recommendation of Web 2.0 online affordances. Following a case analysis of Second Life®, a 3-D virtual world used for learning activities, implications for ID practice are discussed, along with the various benefits and barriers of adopting Web 2.0 technologies. In the conclusion, suggestions are given for future research on the potential for integration of Web 2.0 affordances into online learning designs for rich, engaging learning experiences.
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…
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.