Skiss till områdesbeskrivning
Forum för forskning om kunskapsförmedling
Detta PM beskriver en möjlig forumbildning ("centrum")
vid Linköpings Universitet. Verksamhetsområdet skulle
avse användningar av IT för att kanalisera
och presentera "kunskap" som förekommer antingen som text (PM,
artiklar, läroböcker, etc), som strukturerade data (databaser
eller utdrag ur sådana), kombination av text och strukturerade data,
och ofta kompletterat med bilder och annat multimedialt. Interaktiva
dokument (t ex problem och feedback på lösningarna) ingår också. Detta
är uppenbart ett mycket aktuellt område i dessa IT, internet- och
WWW-tider, och ett område där Linköpings universitet har avsevärd
kompetens. Tillämpningar finns både inom utbildningen (skola,
universitet, VOF-utbildning), i näringslivet, och i offentlig
förvaltning. Tillämpningarna i vår egen utbildning och forskning är
inte minst viktiga, men är långt ifrån den enda aspekten.
Den akuta frågeställningen är vilka förslag som LiU kan presentera till
KK-stiftelsen och andra stiftelser. Planeringen bör emellertid
inte bara fokusera på en viss stiftelseansökan, utan också ta ett
bredare perspektiv på vilken kompetens LiU besitter på
detta område.
Den följande, mer detaljerade beskrivningen av den tänkta
inriktningen är skriven på engelska för att redan
från början förbereda för
kommande anslagsansökningar.
Forum for Knowledge Conveyance Research (FKCR)
The following is a description of a possible aggregation of research
projects at Linköping University. The idea is that it should
identify an important research area, define a framework which both
accomodates existing projects and encourages new ones, and facilitate
the bridging of research and applications.
The area, and our basis for engaging in it
We define Knowledge Conveyance (KC, in Swedish:
"teknologi för kunskapsförmedling") as the use of
modern information technology such as document processing, Internet,
WWW, multimedia and hypermedia in order to handle and transmit knowledge
for industrial, educational, and managerial purposes. More precise
definitions of "knowledge" and "knowledge conveyance" follow below,
but the general direction should be clear.
The term Knowledge Conveyance has been chosen as a counterpart of the
Swedish term that we use, and in order to suggest the distinctions
that we make from a number of adjacent areas:
- "Knowledge management" may refer to the corporate activity of
managing the knowledge base of the enterprise. By knowledge
conveyance we mean the more technology-related activity of
actually organizing the knowledge in computer-based form.
- On the other hand, "knowledge management" may also be used as
a synonym of "knowledge processing", and refer to the
purely technological activity of processing knowledge in a
computer system: a "knowledge management system" becomes a
high-level counterpart of an "information management system".
By knowledge conveyance we indicate that the choice of
structure, presentation, and processing operations for the
knowledge are issues relating to the view of the human user.
Henceforth we shall use the term "knowledge management" in the former
of these two senses. We area of Knowledge Conveyance that is
considered here should include "knowledge processing" as a part,
and should also give considerable attention to "knowledge
management", but it should also include a number of other aspects,
in particular:
- Dialogue management
- Didactic aspects: how is a certain body of information best
presented? (The term "didactic" is an established one in the
pedagogical area, but makes good sense in the context of industrial
uses as well)
- Document structuring techniques (markup languages for ordinary
text and hypertext as well as their counterparts for virtual
realities, etc)
- ... and so on.
Knowledge conveyance is rapidly gaining attention as a crucial
factor in two areas that are of very big importance for our society,
viz. for our industry and our schools. With respect to industry,
it is vital both for traditional, manufacturing industry and for
service providing enterprises. With respect to schools, it is likely
that modern information technology will deeply affect all levels of
schooling to the extent that it concerned with conveying knowledge.
(No irony intended: we certainly recognize that although knowledge
conveyance is a major goal of our schools, it is not the only one).
In particular, all levels of school
ranging from elementary schools to graduate schools in
universities, and also including continuing education will have to
observe and make use of these new opportunities.
The importance of knowledge is of course not news; it is a classical
tenet both in universities and in Swedish society at large.
However, the emphasis on KC is the result of two new factors:
the new technological possibilities, and the increased emphasis
on efficient organization of the knowledge capital in
many companies.
Linköping University is excellently positioned for taking part
in this development and for contributing to it. Our strength of
research in computer and information science is an important
factor. It includes research on knowledge representation,
intelligent information systems, library science, geographical
information systems, natural-language processing, and human-computer
interaction.
Besides the basic research, applied projects in this area have been
working since several years. The MDA project which develops
multimedia support for the medical professions (both doctors and
nurses) has reached the stage of successful commercial exploitation,
for example.
Our experience with well-working innovation in education is also very
important in this context. We have been pioneers and trend-setters in
Sweden for problem-based learning, particularly in medical education
and in the information technology program. Problem-based learning goes
very well together with the new learning materials that can be
offered by KC technology. The current plans for innovation in the
graduate school of ECSEL (Excellence Center for Computer Science and
Systems Engineering in Linköping) is another example.
Even more than for many other technologies, Knowledge Conveyance
must be developed with a keen eye on the user aspect, both
individually, in groups, and as seens by the organization. The
Tema research on "Communication Studies" and on "Technology and society"
are very relevant here, as well as the newly formed International
School of Management and Industrial Economics (IMIE). Undergraduate
study programs such as the one in Cognitive Science contribute also
to our range of competence.
Finally, on a more structural level, our institutional culture which
encourages cooperation between disciplines is an important asset and in
fact a necessary prerequisite for entering seriously into an area such
as Knowledge Conveyance.
Goals
In a concerted effort in Knowledge Conveyance, our goals ought to be as
follows:
- To contribute to meeting societal needs in this area, in particular
in the areas of service industries, schools, and distributed and
continuing education.
- To further develop our academic and applied competence in this area.
- To improve the quality of our university education, both in KC as
such, and wrt its uses in all our education programs.
- The role of KC in the new university campus in Norrköping
ought to be given special attention.
Steps and means towards the goals
The achievement of these goals will involve people with different
backgrounds. It will also involve several different kinds of projects,
including both projects where new technology is developed and explored,
projects where KC technology is used, and projects where this
emerging technology is analysed and assessed. As a matter of principle,
we do not wish to separate people according to backgrounds. On the
contrary, the combination of professionals from different backgronds
into joint project groups will be a necessity. However, we do believe
that the activities must be differentiated according to the character
of the work. On these grounds, we propose to distinguish the following
main branches of a proposed Forum for Knowledge Conveyance
Research (FKCR):
- Knowledge Processing Systems: Development of
experimental systems,
and basic research providing the foundation for those new
systems.
- Internal usage: Development and assessment of
KC-based learning materials, involving both undergraduate
and graduate education.
- Regional public-service usage: Cooperation with
schools, counties, and medical and paramedical
organizations for the development and use of KC-based
materials in their respective areas.
- Commercial usage: Analysis and understanding of KC
technology in business-administration terms, and cooperation
with industrial partners wrt such usage.
Within both internal usage and regional public-service usage, one
can also distinguish between educational and professional usage.
"Internal professional" is then for researchers (for example,
electronic colloquia). The borderline between educational and
professional is not sharp, of course.