Distance Education in Transition - Master of Distance Education ...

Pedagogical Consequences of the Transformation of Information and Knowledge
well as through social, cultural and societal factors, in particular through interests,
convictions, conceptions and ideologies. This process of constructing in particular brings
once again to mind that certain steps in the production of informed knowledge can also be
easily interpreted pedagogically.
It is difficult to overestimate the growing importance of this model. Gabi Reinmann-
Rothmeier and Heinz Mandl (1998, p. 480) have already noted that "the constructive
mental activity of learners represents a necessary precondition for all acquisition of
knowledge".
Acquisition of Knowledge Through Communication and Collaboration
Knowledge does not develop its specific inherent effect until it is published, communicated.
The constitutive interplay of knowledge and communication was seen by Friedrich
Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (1956, p. 224) as early as the beginning of the 19 th century.
What "some scientist or other worked out for himself in lonely work and enterprise"
was for him merely "an empty appearance". In the 20 th century Hartmut von Hentig
(1971, p. 854) saw publication as "a constitutive and integral component of knowledge".
With these ideas in mind, great importance is placed on oral dialogue, scientific discourse,
and communicative action. This also concerns the acquisition of knowledge as well. It
hardly needs to be mentioned in this context that in traditional teaching methods in large
classes and in mass universities far too little account is taken of this aspect.
Things are different in the computerised knowledge society. Communication and
collaboration can become important elements of imparting knowledge. The necessary
hardware and software preconditions are given. They enable new forms that have no
equivalents in pedagogy. A new field of pedagogical activity is developing here that will
have a particular effect on the genesis of informed knowledge, one reason being that
people are brought together who are separated from each other by time and space. Some
of these new forms are discussed here in order to indicate the new opportunities.
Acquisition of Knowledge Through Knowledge Management
Knowledge management, although new to both theory and practice, has already entered
public consciousness as a slogan. Its up-to-datedness is reflected in many monographs and
collections of essays (e.g. Probst, Raub & Romhardt, 2000; Soukup, 2001; Schreyögg,
2001) and numerous conferences. The driving force behind this innovation is economics.
Because knowledge is seen as first-rate productive force and value-added factor,
companies must identify, acquire, develop, evaluate, split, distribute, use, manage, maintain
and secure the knowledge that they possess or need. All these tasks are coordinated and
administered, usually by specialists. Companies must solve these problems if they are to
exist in global competition. The relevance of these activities also arises from the fact that
research has taken up this new field of work, above all in general business administration,
ergonomics, business informatics and industrial and organisational psychology. This
development has led to the current impression that knowledge management is primarily
a matter for companies, especially large industrial operations.
We have to thank the psychological-pedagogical research by Heinz Mandl and Gabi
Reinmann-Rothmeier that "knowledge management" is in addition interpreted as a
competence that concerns us all, because in future we will all have to find our way
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