Knowlege Management

Knowledge / Skills Portfolios

Introduction

In these rapidly changing times, individuals need a new credential to describe their personal abilities. A Knowledge/Skills Portfolio (KSP) is such a document. It is based on the premise that a tabulation of every educational/learning experience of a person is a good, if not the best, indicator of that person’s knowledge and abilities. A KSP is, therefore, a summary/inventory of everything that a person has studied, regardless of the format of study.

Knowledge/Skills Portfolios are developed using FolioOne. FolioOne is an Internet-based ASP system for building a database of ALL learning experiences of a person. Since FolioOne is on the Internet, portfolios can be sent, in conjunction with resumes, when applying for a position. Knowledge/Skills Portfolios are stored in the personnel database of a company The company can search its database to find people with knowledge.

The following overview gives details on how to develop and use a Knowledge/Skills Portfolio.

Overview---A Time of Change.

At no time in recorded history has the rate of change of events and situations been so fast and so relentless. New ideas, new knowledge and new business procedures have erupted and the workforce has become highly mobile. Persons move from one career to another, sometimes with ease and sometimes with difficulty. These changes have emphasized one requirement for persons who want to compete now and in the future. This is the requirement for KNOWLEDGE, specifically NEW knowledge.

Individuals face a unique question. How can they define their own knowledge? How can they show that they capable of performing tasks in these rapidly changing times? The obvious answer to this question is to go as far as possible in education. Historical data, however, show that only a small percentage of the population reaches the highest level of curricular education. Over 60% of high school graduates have either some or no college work. This is graphically illustrated in Figure I.

Figure I: Educational Status of the U.S. Population

Schools are under pressure to ensure that students are equipped to function in this new environment and they are working to meet this challenge. They maintain records of classes taken to fulfill requirements for a diploma or a degree. But they are finding that traditional transcripts do not adequately document learning of students. Many secondary schools have dozens of extra-curricular activities. Participation in these activities does not appear on a formal school transcript, except perhaps as a brief memo entry. Yet these activities are an important component in a person’s learning history.

Individuals also participate in a myriad of learning experiences outside of formal schools. Seminars, workshops, conferences, tutoring, correspondence, distance education, self-study, on-the-job training, specialty classes, and many other learning experiences are available. Each of these has educational value and contributes to the total knowledge of a person. All of these deserve a place on a person’s Knowledge/Skills Portfolio.

Developing a Personal Knowledge/Skills Portfolio

An inventory of ALL of a person’s learning experiences is an effective way to define a person’s knowledge. This tabulation must include every learning experience whether it was taken through a formal school, has been "certified" by some agency or is a personal development activity. This inventory is a person’s Knowledge/Skills Portfolio.

Such an inventory can assume formidable proportions if done conventionally by assembling certificates, transcripts, diplomas, degrees, etc. This assembly is too large, difficult to organize and requires too much effort to decipher and evaluate. In order to be usable, it must be developed in database format so that it can be searched. It must be kept up-to-date and must also be accessible to prospective employers.

FolioOne is the tool with which this can be done. FolioOne is a web-based system for listing EVERY learning experience of an individual. Each learning experience is classified in terms of the subject matter that was covered and, if data are available, is quantitatively evaluated. FolioOne is offered as a subscription service on the Internet.

Structure of a Knowledge/Skills Portfolio

Hundreds of books, manuals, programs, etc. are available to assist in preparing a conventional resume. A Knowledge/Skills Portfolio, however, is not the same as a resume. It is a new method of defining a person’s knowledge by entering this information into a database that can be transmitted over the Internet. This database is searched by a receiving company to find people with knowledge or skills in a particular area.

A Knowledge/Skills Portfolio includes the following:

1. Personal data. This includes name, address, contact data, and information as judged appropriate by the person or an organization. These data may be updated as necessary by logging on to the Web and modifying fields as appropriate. All persons viewing the web site will immediately see the updated information.
2. Learning experiences. The term learning experience denotes any kind of an educational activity. The following are categories of learning experiences. A Knowledge/Skills Portfolio selectively displays learning experiences in any of these categories.

1. Credit education. This includes elementary, secondary, college, graduate and post-graduate activities that have been approved for academic credit.

2. Lifetime Learning. This term includes all work for which academic credit toward a degree is not granted. Academic institutions call this "non-credit". This designation implies low value and lack of worth. Such is not the case. Many lifetime learning experiences exceed the standards applied by accredited institutions. Academic institutions sometimes count these experiences toward a degree but only after rigorous inspection.

   In the last decade, lifetime learning has become an integral element in personal development. Corporate training programs, seminars, conferences and a host of opportunities are available in this domain. The following terms illustrate opportunities in lifetime learning.

   Seminar Lecture Computer-based training Tutoring Correspondence In-plant training Proficiency testing Formal classes

   Conference Workshop Distance learning Self-study On-the-job training Video instruction Professional (licensing) Interactive TV

Evaluating lifetime learning

A continuing education unit (CEU) was originated in the late 1960’s for the purpose of documenting "non-credit" activities. A CEU is determined by dividing the seat hours by 10 regardless of the type or level of topic. FolioOne offers a new measurement, the Lifetime Learning Unit® or LLU®. It is described in detail in Reference 1. The LLU® provides a numerical count of lifetime learning, analogous, but not equivalent, to credit hours as a counter in academic education.

A Knowledge/Skills Portfolio lists both academic and lifetime learning experiences. Whether learning experience has been defined in terms of credit, CEU, LLU®, or not at all, each is entered into the FolioOne database. In conjunction with academic credit the LLU® provides a quantitative method of comparing the educational achievement level of persons.

How to use a Knowledge/Skills Portfolio

Knowledge/Skills Portfolios have two primary functions.

1. They catalogue, describe and permit evaluation of knowledge of individuals.

2. They are transported, via the Internet, by either individuals or organizations.

Since Knowledge/Skills Portfolios are in database format, they can be searched, individually or collectively, to find persons who have studied particular topics. If a person has studied a topic, the inference can be drawn that the person knows something about that topic. Obviously, the greater the extent of study, the higher the level of knowledge.

The following are advantages of a FolioOne Knowledge/Skills Portfolio:

1. It is an immediately available, from anywhere at any time, method of maintaining a cumulative, up-to-date record of a person’s TOTAL educational accomplishments.

2. Individual development programs, covering all sources of knowledge, both formal and Lifetime Learning, are documented.

3. A Knowledge/Skills Portfolio can be sent to any organizational database as a part of an application for employment.

4. Knowledge/Skills Portfolios demonstrate a planned program of Lifetime Learning to qualify for a tax advantage under the Tax Act Relief of 1997.

5. When an individual submits a Knowledge/Skills Portfolio to a company or organization it is used by that organization as follows.

1. Regulatory and licensing agencies track progress of license holders in fulfilling requirements of continuing education as required for license renewal...
2. Schools track the status of certified teachers to meet requirements of state departments of education for continued certification.
3. Placement offices in colleges and universities assist students in preparing Knowledge/Skills Portfolios for use in finding employment, both while attending school and upon graduation.
4. Planning programs of staff development.
5. Search FolioOne for persons who have particular knowledge or skills.
6. Plan learning programs, at all levels, for internal staff development from new-hires to top management.
7. Develop lists of persons with particular knowledge for assignment to specific positions or tasks. Attach such lists to contract proposals to describe corporate capabilities for particular jobs.
8. Develop an inventory of intellectual capital. By using a combination of academic credit and Lifetime Learning Units®, this intellectual capital can be quantitatively evaluated.

Summary

The structure and uses of Knowledge/Skills Portfolios (KSP) have been described. KSP’s are developed by using FolioOne is a web-based system for defining the educational and learning accomplishments of individuals. Organizations of all types, public and private, will use FolioOne, a web-based ASP system. FolioOne is accessed on the Internet at www.folioone.com. Individual Knowledge/Skills Portfolios are an inventory of ALL learning of persons and define capabilities of persons. In its broadest concept.

References

1. Razak, Kenneth; The Lifetime Learning Unit.; Educational Recording Service, 1998
2. Razak, Kenneth; Lifetime Learning, a Path to Career Development; Educational Recording Service, 1998
3. Razak, Kenneth; Intellectual Capital, a Corporate Asset; Education Data, Inc.; June 1999

ADDENDUM

Since this paper was initially prepared, other writings have recommended that individual knowledge records be prepared. (References 4, 5 and 6) These authors espouse such a document but do not prescribe a method of developing them. FolioOne, of Knowledge Management, Inc., is a fully developed system that accomplishes goals as recommended by these authors.

4. Levine, Dr. Arthur; The Future of Colleges, 9 Inevitable Changes; The Chronicle of Higher Education; October 27, 2000
5. Pittinsky, Matthew; The Interactive Campus,: Vendors Take Up the Challenge; Syllabus Magazine: June 2002.
6. Marx, Gary; Ten Trends: Educating Children for a Profoundly Different Future; Educational Research Service; 2003