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Kim 2002
Kim 2002
The advent of a digital knowledge-based society has brought about significant changes in many ways.
Specifically, educational problems are becoming more diverse, and tasks more complex, which necessitate the
ability of teachers to apply feasible solutions to individual situations, as well as the flexibility to adapt to
changing environments. These changes call for a paradigm shift in education to one that is search- and
discovery-centered, emphasizing creativity and initiative, and valuing interaction and collaboration. This digital
era requires the modern teacher to have the ability to play various roles including that of change enablers, digital
networkers, and learning consultants, and to possess a high degree of humanity and morality, practicality and
liberal sensitivity, and logical reasoning and general sensibility, in order to effectively work and cope within this
dynamic educational environment. Asia is in a unique position to witness the materialization of a new
generation of teachers who embody these ideals, due mainly to cultural and traditional factors. This paper
proposes a vision of future education influenced by the uniqueness of Asian culture, the building of an
Asia-Pacific network of teachers, and ways to effectively utilize the potential of digital society, all from the basis
of Asian culture and tradition.
terms, to one that relates more to the value of social
experiences.
With the development of the internet and the advancement
Two buzz words which have been circulating in recent of digital technology, the rate of information and knowledge
years have been digital (against the backdrop of the internet) has accelerated and subsequently, the effective lifetime of
and knowledge as a catalyst to the formation of a knowledge is shortening (Tapscott, 1997). This limited
knowledge-based socio-economy. The transition from an lifetime of knowledge necessitates the constant updating,
information-based to a knowledge-based society has brought development, and expansion of personal expertise. This
about dramatic changes in business, education, in terms of the progress however, should not be expected to be found solely
way information is processed and problems resolved. within the boundaries of formal education and therefore,
Especially noteworthy is the trend to refocus on the notion individuals should engage in self-motivated learning activities
of knowledge from one involving practicality in economic outside traditional classroom settings.
Furthermore, a change in the location of learning, or the
transition from the analog era to the digital era, is also
Chong Yang Kim, Ed.D., President of Hanyang University, Korea. important. In the digital era, the learning environment has
Correspondence Concerning this article should be addressed to greatly broadened to the extent that the utilization of modern
Chong Yang Kim, Office of the President, Hanyang University,
17 Haengdang-Dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Korea.
technology, namely the internet and cyberspace, allows for the
Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to cykim@hanyang.ac.kr. learning setting to be placeless. Moreover, the learning pace
*This paper is presented as a keynote speech at the 3rd iAPED can be adopted according to one's needs, with the availability
International Conference on Education Research, Seoul National and accessibility of vast pools of information just a click
University, Korea, October 24-25, 2002. away. Needless to say, the potential for such technology as a
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instruction has failed to exploit the vast learning Asian "Analog-Digital" Mentality
possibilities through dynamic interaction and collaboration
between learner and teacher, between learner and learning Transition from an analog society to a digital society has
resources, and among learners themselves. The opportunity brought about the notion that analog is essentially bad and
for interactive and collaborative learning enriches the digital is good. Analog is a general world of continuity while
learning experience by providing learners with the digital is a specific world of zero and one. The former
opportunity to learn by presenting them with actual aspects encompasses diverse alternatives while the former involves two
of real problems, diverse viewpoints on various subjects, simple possibilities. Thus, due to the rigidity of the digital
and most importantly, experiences of sharing and living world, it has become increasingly important to seek
together in a community. complementary analog answers to various digital questions,
which cannot simply be answered in one or two ways. An
analog way of thinking is holistic and nonlinear whereas a
digital way of thinking is procedural and linear. In this regard,
!
in general terms, the analog approach can be seen as similar
to the Asian mode of thinking, which tends to take a general,
The paradigm shift in education is from one of a teaching all encompassing view.
paradigm to one of learning. This means that education is no Exchange of information can be done easily on a digital
longer about how to deliver information and knowledge to the network because information can be easily organized in a
learner but about how to help learners to search and discover digital way and separated by and from the owner of the
information for themselves to create knowledge useful to their information. But knowledge is closely tied with the owner of
own contexts. Teachers are no longer responsible for which that knowledge and it cannot be easily organized and
information and knowledge is stored in the minds of learners exchanged in a digital way. Rather, a better way to exchange
but for how learners acquire information and knowledge. knowledge is by direct and holistic contact with the knowledge
Teachers are not just passive helpers however. In a rapidly owner. Thus teachers with an Asian orientation and/or an
changing society, they should have clear visions themselves as understanding of the differences between analog and digital
to the creation and application of knowledge which is to be ways can conceivably work well in the transmission of
presented to learners. knowledge in this digital-knowledge-based society.
The job of teachers is of course to educate. On a social In a digital knowledge-based society, the idea of
level however, another major task is to inculcate learners practicality relates to an emphasis on the pecuniary value and
with a sense of morality and ethics through the presentation economic utility of knowledge. For example, in recent times,
of societal standards and taboos, either directly through there has been a decrease in the demand for humanity related
aspects of the education being presented, or indirectly courses in colleges compared to those focusing on everyday
through example. Rapid technological developments and the practicality, such as the hard sciences. But what should not be
increased convenience of anonymity are posing potential forgotten is that to develop originality and imagination, one
problems to traditionally defined ways of interaction, must cultivate humanitarian and liberal sensitivity which
behavior, even attitudes. One cause is the increase in presumably flourishes more in non-scientific, non-technological
isolation for those with excessive exposure to the internet fields such as the humanities. Such creativity is precisely what
and the subsequent decrease in real face to face social is needed in education in order to account for problems in
interaction. Therefore, the possible detrimental consequences learning patterns and behavior, procedures and methodologies,
of excessive self-imposed confinement and estrangement due which cannot necessarily be resolved using scientific nor
to cyberspace access, resulting in the breakdown of societal economic perspectives.
norms and mores should be discussed and in the very least, On the other hand, teachers need to be digitally literate to
considered, when dealing with computer technology in understand and be prepared for the high tech environment in
education. which they are surrounded by and with which they will be
working directly. Digital literacy means not only the ability to provider', i.e. someone who processes and presents knowledge
collect, select, edit, and process information but also the ability needed to confront changes, to that of 'change enabler', or a
to evaluate and determine the credibility of information. The person who helps learners find knowledge needed to confront
outcome of editing and processing in particular, can vary much changes and actively deploys self-development strategies. More
depending on the liberal sensitivity of the individual. Thus, a specifically, teachers' roles in the new era should include
digital society requires teachers who are both digitally literate mitigation of the potential shock from changes, guidance to
and liberally sensitive. The latter refers to the ability to help learners establish new visions for the future, and
acquire cultural knowledge and sensitivity to work successful encouragement of leadership for learners to help them initiate
in the rapidly changing educational field. their own roles and to continue self-development.
Teachers need to have the ability to logically reason in their The control of information has been much decentralized
specialized areas by building expertise and updating themselves on since the era of mainframe computing. With advancements in
new developments on a regular basis. In addition, teachers should digital network technology and the subsequent 'open
have the ability to use various real world examples to relate the information principle' which allows people to network and
learning subjects to learners' daily lives. Teachers should take care share information, is replacing the 'closed information principle'
not to bore their students by simply delivering a preplanned unilateral that controls information within the hands of a few selected
lecture focusing on logic and form. Instead, teachers should promote people. Knowledge creation by a few creative people has come
the idea of learning how to learn-knowledge creation through to its limit and must give way to knowledge creation by a
information processing and experiences of students themselves- network of people who share ideas based on their own
rather than taking a training and education perspective-knowledge creativity and imagination. In this changing environment, the
acquisition through abstract conceptualization and logical reasoning. role of a teacher should not be one analogous to a knowledge
Attention given to EQ relative to IQ (Goleman, 1997, 2000), tank that contains pre-processed knowledge or a super brain
experience-oriented economics (Pine II & Gilmore, 1997), and that serves as the source of all knowledge, but one of a
experiential marketing (Schmitt, 1999) are methods proven to be knowledge incubator that serves as a network navigator or a
useful and are examples of current trends in learning techniques. director to the useful sources of knowledge. Thus, teachers in
digital society should not teach knowledge per se but rather
teach the methods of finding where and in what manner
information and sources can be determined, as well as ways to
"
process knowledge and apply them to problems encountered in
everyday experiences.
Macroscopic changes that accompany the digital
knowledge-based society and their impacts on the paradigm
shift in education have been overviewed. Next, discussion will Learning Consultant
center around a new vision for teachers to conduct the new
education paradigm. In what follows, the new roles for Future teachers are content experts of their subject-matter
teachers as change enablers, knowledge incubators, and and play the role of learning consultants who diagnose various
learning consultants will be examined. problems that learners face and prescribe methods to facilitate
learning activities. For this role, teachers need knowledge and
skills to appropriate, discover, develop, and apply various
Change Enabler learning methodology repertoires. In particular, to utilize
various digital learning resources, teachers need to have digital
Change is a regular part of life. Change management literacy, the ability to search, evaluate, edit, process, and
refers to not only passively responding to changes but also utilize digitized information. Digital literacy also includes the
active and intentional planning of changes. In this context, ability to share learning outcomes with others and to build and
teachers' role should be shifting from the role of 'answer maintain various cyber communities. Digital literacy is a basic
148 Chong Yang Kim
prerequisite for construction of a digitopia and a vitalization of in a common knowledge management system can lay the
digital life, as well as one of the fundamental abilities to help foundation for collective ties among teachers in the
future youths in their interactions in cyber space. Teachers Asia-Pacific area and work towards building a common
with digital literacy play the role of learning consultants to cultural community.
help learners acquire the abilities of information decoding,
information navigation, and information sharing. The Potential of Digital Society Based on Analog
Methodology