CHAPTER 5

THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

A NEW LEARNING SPACE OF THE ORGANISATIONS AND PEOPLE

By Neil Edwin Arévalo Alcántara

UNPRG – FACHSE – Masters TEFL - Lambayeque, Peru

21st Century Education

April 10, 2011

 Table of Contents

1. Introduction.
2. Society Evolution.
3. From the information society to knowledge. The source of the
information society.
4. Characters of The Knowledge Society: The Knowledge System.
5. Knowledge societies as a source of development.
6. Digital Solidarity.
7. Network Societies.
8. Towards the obsolescence of human values or new horizons for
creativity.
9. Towards the obsolescence of human values or new horizons for
creativity.
10. Learning societies.
11. Towards lifelong education for all.
12. Risks and human security in knowledge societies.
13. Summary.
14. Conclusion.
15. Suggestions.
16. Questions.
17. Glossary.
18. References.
Only two centuries ago, we could explain everything about everything, only with the pure reason; and now,
almost all this complicated and harmonity structure has fallen through our eyes. We are fool . . . . We have
discovered how to raise important questions, and now we need urgently some answers . . . . We need science,
more science and better, no for its technology, no for pleasure, no even for health and longevity, but wisdom
expectancy because our kind of culture should acquire to survive .
Lewis Thomas, 1979.

INTRODUCTION
The XX century has left an important scientific technological inheritance to the
society of the present millennium. It was a century that will pass to the humanity
history for many positive and negative reasons, but of a great importance for the
science, for the technique and for the society. In that epoch has happened events
that have given lights and shadows, but without any doubts they have cooperated
on the great advance that the century has starred in three places before mentioned
(science, technique and society). The XXI century is the witness of this evolution.
Accepting the challenge of the previous century, baptized as “of the science”
(Sánchez Ron, 2000)
 SOCIETY EVOLUTION
During the preceding ten decades of science, technology and society have walked
at times in harmony, but most of the times they have done so disjointed, with
different sequences and lack of harmony in their evolutionary processes that led to
some conflict issues , generating concerns and social uncertainties and making
crisis emerge in societies that have shaped our universe, especially those that set
the region that makes up Hispanic America. either way has been a time when
scientific knowledge has been the star has become the keystone of the arch that
has built the Dome of the scientific and technical advances of the century.
A time that, among the many contributions gotten shines with intense light physics,
without being able to forget what has been achieved also by the chemistry and
biology. but I have been that the main character and that its evolution has created
a foundation that has built the time known as "information age" or characterize the
"information society."
In this sense Castells (2000) indicates that the impact on companies of information
technology and communications have defined the "digital age" or "network
society", issues from a financial point up the "digital economy" or "network
economy." (Tapscott, 1997; Terceira and matias, 2001, Ontiveros, 2001).
Also in the last century has been particularly relevant social issues. These have
had a positive development, tinged with revolutionary facts in many of its
milestones. Achievements for humanity, for the person and society that
distinguishes it clearly from the past.
Human rights of workers, women, children, etc.. . . have been great social
progress. In short, has been building a democratic and just society with a clear
recognition of freedoms and the title role of the individual as a citizen and as a
major player in your living space. progress that has yet to worsen significantly, the
remaining tasks still exist many different peoples and ethnic groups in today's
world. but the path is traced and the twenty-first century know where you have to
keep walking in spite of the current conflict starring Islamic terrorism determined to
help think about the new world order.
These synchronic and diachronic processes underlying the relationships between
society, science and technology, observe social skills necessary to address the
technological demands of today and tomorrow. Castells (2000): "In effect, the
ability or inability of societies to master technology, and in particular those that are
strategically critical in each historical period, largely defines its destination, so
much so that we can say that even by itself does not determine the historical and
social change, technology (or lack therefore) reflects the ability of societies to
transform these societies, always in a conflictive process, decide to dedicate its
technological potential. "
This capability and commitment seem to be important aspects characterizing the
knowledge society, as a way of understanding the inheritance from the current
century. a century in the life sciences seems to be those that take the place of
physics that Albert Einstein was their champion, as a character of the century
according to the poll conducted by Time magazine, a new era in which science ,
technology and society must find a space that links the different dimensions of
technological progress and research where to find its natural level of development.
issues that are defining characteristics of the scientific areas of excellence, real
and virtual forms to be used to integrate within it the scientific, technical and social
skills that facilitate the creation, transmission, distribution, measurement and
knowledge management, according to the strategy society choose in the challenge
of the new venture to be followed by the twenty-first century, either through
knowledge of both agents and communities or platforms within the "network" can
facilitate these goals.
 SCIENCE , SOCIETY AND TECHNIQUE

FROM THE INFORMATION SOCIETY TO KNOWLEDGE.

THE SOURCE OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY.
In the last third of the last century has been creating and developing internet, as
"unique combination of business strategy, cooperation of large scientific projects,
technological entrepreneurship and innovation counterculture" (Castells, 2000).
Agency was the Advanced Research Projects (ARPA: Advanced Research
Projects Agency) of the Department of Defense the United States to launch a
communications system and then, thanks to digital technology and reticular
Logically, develop the technical conditions for horizontal and global communication
in a first computer network, ARPANET. This occurred first in September 1969 with
four nodes established at the University of California, Los Angeles, the stanford
Research Institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the
University of Utah. Open network of research centers collaborating with the
Department of Defense. Scientists began to use it for their purposes, separating
aspects of official investigation, with scientific communication and personal
conversations. This led to the creation of a network of networks during the eighties
until the February 28, 1990 ARPANET was closed and started the internet era.
During this time societies began to live the "information age" and coined the term
"information society" as a way of understanding the social and economic changes
that make the digital society or network society. this new society has altered the
ways of production and exchange of goods and services and "the kind of human
relationships quantitatively and qualitatively new relations are being strengthened
further by the emergence of infrastructure and superstructure more suitable to
them. Both are becoming more global, thanks to various economic and social
convergence: technological, sectoral, business and financial, cultural, political,
institutional, etc. "(Terceira and Matias, 2001).
a society that has marked the completion of new economy in which information and
technologies that treat and transport are the protagonists. new economy thinking
also works with a new, inclusive of many past and current flows that creates the
right platform for the convergence mentioned cognitive structure are active and
effective social developments of the twentieth century to the twenty-first century
(well , 2001). in present times of economic recession, the "new economy through a
crisis of adaptation and adjustment of its real future, which will become more clear
in the coming months.
as already explained, at the end of the last century have become important public
issues of life sciences and human behavior. knowing the human genome, the
genetic codes of living, advances in neuroscience and put in the center of scientific
research which are the mechanisms and categorical perceptions that explain the
evolution of intelligence and "feel human brains "(Calvin, 2001), are the defining
characteristics of social concerns and part of the scientific focus in this century and
new millennium. ontologically justifies this scenario, no doubt, the final processing
of the information society to knowledge. This is example of a time when the
intelligence, knowledge, talent and human consciousness are centers of greatest
interest to the natural and social sciences. science and technology have been
providing solutions and providing developments around the creation of artificial
intelligence and virtual machines and organizations. process that persists in the
pursuit of "intelligent machines and systems," of "learning organizations" capable
of learning, self-organizing and co-evolve in similar ways, although artificial, as you
can do to living beings.

CHARACTERS OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY: THE KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM

Knowledge society can be characterized by a particular line of argument, inherited
to a set of contributions that have built this expression in the last evolution of the
information society and coincides with the end of the last century. (Well, 1997).
In particular these arguments are:
"A society in which he first acquired primacy over theoretical knowledge and
empirical" (Bell, 1973),
"A society that works in a network and processing a large amount of information,
thanks to information technology and communications "(well, 1997),
" A society whose convergence is increasingly spreading to the growing
interdependence of the revolutions of the biology and microelectronics, both
material and methodological perspective "(Castells, 2000);
"A society that is starring in a growing spiral of new knowledge" (Nonaka and
Takeuchi, 1995),
"a society that has gone to the creation and management of knowledge, especially
from tacit to explicit (Nonaka, 1991),
"A society in which economic value is created primarily to intangible resources
based on knowledge in action "(well, 1998), in short,
"A society in which the axes that make up its structure and behavior are based on
knowledge, in all its dimensions, talent and imagination" (well, 2001 b). on the
other hand, the knowledge society is composed of a set of actors and spaces that
are building this structure and are delineating a given system with its functions and
results to create and develop knowledge and its dissemination to generate
innovation for the above system as a whole and to individual agents. In particular,
we can define the knowledge system as the system integrates research (i)
technological development (d) and innovation (i) or, in other words, relying on the
structure that generates interactions the scientific system, represented by the
university and research centers, the technological system, represented by centers
of development and technology transfer between universities and industry, the
production system, represented by the industry at large and the public - institutional
, represented by the existing public and private institutions in a specific territory
(Kodama, 1992).

KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES AS A SOURCE OF DEVELOPMENT

Knowledge societies are about capabilities to identify, produce, process,
transform, disseminate and use information to build and apply knowledge for
human development. They require an empowering social vision that encompasses
plurality, inclusion, solidarity and participation. The global information society is
meaningful only if it Favours the development of knowledge societies And sets
itself the goal of “tending towards human development based on human rights”
Fundamental rights are and will remain at the heart of knowledge societies.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and the touchstone of all the
other freedoms.
Freedom of expression and fight against poverty in knowledge societies.
Foster a “wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice
and liberty and peace”.

DIGITAL SOLIDARITY
The provision of internet services constitutes a very considerable investment in
urban areas, and is in short supply in the countryside. In addition, familiarizing
oneself with the computer represents a considerable time investment .
Factors that contribute to the digital divide: economic resources, geography, age,
gender, language, education, employment and disability.
 NETWORK SOCIETIES
Knowledge and skills, work and leisure are being radically transformed by the new
language of software and informatics.
Two models are often invoked to describe the third Industrial Revolution and the
associated change of knowledge regime: one is that of the intangible, the other is
that of networks. Economic history since the early stages of the first Industrial
Revolution has been characterized by an increasing dematerialization of individual
human work, made possible by the substitution of machines for manual labour,
then by the development of services and, finally, the advent of the virtual during the
digital revolution.

TOWARDS THE OBSOLESCENCE OF HUMAN VALUES OR NEW HORIZONS

FOR CREATIVITY
Paradoxically, it seems that the more we master knowledge, the more ignorant
we become. With the apparition of new knowledge media, the limitless rise of the
machine world seems to herald the atrophy of human capabilities. With the
accelerating increase of the speed of information processing and transmission, a
growing gap is appearing between the scale of technological time, which is
extremely rapid, and that of “cerebral thought” time, which seems to have scarcely
evolved for thousands of years.
We are building a “brave new world” in which the role of humans would be
reduced to a minimum.

LEARNING SOCIETIES
The term learning society, given currency by Robert Hutchins (1968) and Torsten
Husén (1974), indicates a new kind of society in which the old limits on where and
when organized knowledge could be acquired (inside educational institutions or
immediately after initial training) no longer apply.
Education is no longer the privilege of an elite, nor a matter for one age-group
only: it tends to cover the whole community and the whole lifetime of the individual.
Lifelong learning becomes indispensable.

TOWARDS LIFELONG EDUCATION FOR ALL

Education has been proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948) . Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.
Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education
shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible
to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to
the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall
promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or
religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace.
How can we reach gender equality as soon as possible and offer everywhere equal
opportunity to boys and girls?
How are we to approach education to ensure that learning societies are open to
everyone and not just to the countries, families and individuals that can afford the
most appropriate, highly valued knowledge?
How can we make sure that education does not end up widening the gap between
a more and more educated class of people and people who would have only
limited access to quality education?
The international community gathered at the World Education Forum in Dakar (26–
28 April 2000) and set six basic goals to be reached by 2015.
1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and
education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children;
2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult
circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities have access to, and
complete, primary education of good quality;
3. Ensuring that the educational needs of all young people and adults
are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills
programmes;
4. Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015,
especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for
all adults;
5. Achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’
full and equal access to, and achievement in, basic education of good quality;
6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of
all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all,
especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.
What kinds of basic knowledge?
Mapping out the configuration of basic education is no easy task. What are the
criteria that should underpin the definition of the minimum basic knowledge that
any individual should possess on leaving school? How can this basic knowledge
be brought up to date with the rapid developments in science? In societies in which
writing and counting are omnipresent and are indispensable both for everyday life
and also for the exercise of citizenship proficiency in reading, writing and basic
arithmetic remains the paramount purpose of basic education.
Learning to learn remains the best guarantee for students to be able to go on with
their educational careers, whether in formal or non-formal settings.
 RISKS AND HUMAN SECURITY IN KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES
Is knowledge not supposed to cure the ills of ignorance and error, to free the
individual from the fears and constraints represented by nature, to lessen
uncertainty and to enable us to control risk? From this standpoint, knowledge is a
source of liberation and autonomy. This promise is inscribed in the Constitution of
UNESCO.
The implementation of such reflectivity is not only technical. It is also a matter of
good governance. Information is of no value if we are unable to gather and use it.
The profusion of all kinds of information and knowledge resulting from the new
technological revolution is indisputably a great advantage for researchers, who
have access to a vast amount of resources. But such profusion, characterized by
excess and proliferation, can also represent an obstacle to risk identification. When
it comes to interpreting past experience, detecting the signs of change or
making adaptive choices, the more information one has, the more difficult it is
to say which particular item may prove significant, not to say crucial.
 SUMMARY
The construction of knowledge societies “opens the way to humanization of the
process of globalization”.
“The use of information and communication technologies to build knowledge
societies should tend towards human development based on human rights”
In the absence of freedom of expression, knowledge may still exist; however, there
can be no knowledge society, or any knowledge-sharing.

CONCLUSION
It is important to recall that the new technologies are network technologies. Within
them knowledge is a fact because the members of a single network are
interdependent. In such a con- text, interdependence requires sharing knowledge
in order to be effective. Consequently, are there still any grounds to set ethics
against performance, and solidarity against efficiency? One of the major advan-
tages of knowledge sharing is that it cuts costs by achieving economies of scale
and avoiding useless duplication.

SUGGESTIONS
1. Invest more in quality education for all to ensure equal opportunity Commitment
to the expansion of knowledge societies is a matter of global concern. It is
indispensable for the reduction of poverty, the implementation of collective security
and the effective exercise of human rights.
2. Share environmental knowledge for sustainable development.
3. Education must teach learners how to cope with the challenges of the twenty
first century by encouraging, in particular, the development of creativity, the values
of good citizenship and democracy.
 QUESTIONS
WAS EDUCATION PROCLAIMED AS A HUMAN RIGHT?
yes, it was.
WHY ARE YOUNG PEOPLE BOUND TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN
KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES?
because they are often among the first to use new technologies and to
help establish them as familiar features of everyday life.
IS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE ARTICLE 19 OF THE UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS?
Yes, it is
ARE THE LANGUAGES VANISHING IN THE GROWTH OF KNOWLEDGE
SOCIETIES?
Yes, they are.
WHY IS IMPORTANT TO DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS?
Because we need to distinguish between “useful” and “useless” information.
IS IT VERY IMPORTANT THE ROLR OF GOVERMENT IN TH QUALITY OF
EDUCATIO?
Yes, it is. The success of education for all also depends on international
concertation and requires sustainable financial support.
IS INTERNET A BASIC TOOL IN EDUCATION?
Yes, it is.
WHAT ARE THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS?
Universal access to information.
Freedom of expression.
Cultural and linguistic diversity.
Education for all.
WHAT ARE THE FACTORS OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE?
Economic resources, geography, age, gender, language, education, employment
and disability.
 GLOSSARY
Paradox
1. a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that is or may be true
religious truths are often expressed in paradox
2. (Philosophy / Logic) a self-contradictory proposition, such as I always tell lies
3. a person or thing exhibiting apparently contradictory characteristics
4. an opinion that conflicts with common belief
Empower
1. (formal) to give sb the power or authority to do sth. SYN. AUTHORIZE:
The courts were empowered to impose the death sentence for certain crimes.
2. To give sb more control over their own life or the situation they are in:
[VN] The movement actively empowered women and gave them confidence in
themselves.
Digital
1. Using a system of receiving and sending information as a series of the numbers
one and zero, showing that an electronic signal is there or is not there
2. (Of clocks, watches, etc.) showing information by using figures, rather than with
HANDS that point to numbers
compare ANALOGUE.
Lifelong
lasting or existing all through your life: Her lifelong ambition had been to learn how
to fly. * He has been a lifelong supporter of the club.
Technical
1. Connected with the practical use of machinery, methods, etc. in science and
industry
2. Connected with the skills needed for a particular job, sport, art, etc
3. Connected with a particular subject and therefore difficult to understand if you do
not know about that subject
4. Connected with the details of a law or set of rules.
Network
1. A complicated system of roads, lines, tubes, nerves, etc. that cross each other
and are connected to each other
2. A closely connected group of people, companies, etc. that exchange
information, etc
3. A number of computers and other devices that are connected together so that
equipment and information can be shared
see also LAN, WAN
4. A group of radio or television stations in different places that are connected and
that broadcast the same programmes at the same time
IDIOMS see OLDBOY
Verb.
1. To connect a number of computers and other devices together so that
equipment and information can be shared
2. To broadcast a television or radio programme on stations in several different
areas at the same time
3. To try to meet and talk to people who may be useful to you in your work

REFERENCES
UNESCO-ICSU. 2000. Proceedings of the World Confer- ence on Science:
Science for the Twenty-first Century. A New Commitment. Paris, UNESCO-ICSU.
(http://unesdoc. unesco.org/images/0012/001207/120706e.pdf).
Towards Knowledge Societies UNESCO 2005.
www.google.com