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Image a world in which high quality education was available to all.  The following video by Daphne Koller illustrates how this is possible and explains the learning thus far.  In the video Daphne makes countless interesting points, the highlights of which include:

• Self forming study groups
• How every student has to engage with the course content
• The concept of peer grading
• The importance of active learning 

..and get ready for a powerful (real life and death) story in the opening few minutes.

You can’t have innovation without knowledge

The strategic role of knowledge, innovation and the need to invest in the knowledge economy, are themes touched on in a short, but interesting interview by CNN with John Quelch, Dean of China-Europe International Business School. 

Listen out for his comments about the changes he sees required to the Boards of organisations located in New York and London; the need to focus on talent management; and the importance of creativity – an area where knowledge managers can support their organisations and employees. 

For further information about knowledge workers and the knowledge economy you might want to read my recent blog post – http://ianwooler.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/from-knowledge-workers-to-measuring-the-knowledge-economy/

From knowledge workers to measuring the knowledge economy

Over 50 years ago Peter Drucker introduced the world to the term ‘knowledge worker’ and a few years later introduced us to the term ‘knowledge economy’.  

Much has been written and discussed about both terms since they were introduced, and over recent years we have witnessed the development of business models associated with knowledge-based organisations and the increased emphasis/importance of non-financial measures. 

At a macro level, the World Bank has in place a Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) and interactive benchmarking tool “to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in making the transition to the knowledge-based economy”. 

The KAM includes two indexes – the Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) which takes into account whether the environment is conducive for knowledge to be used effectively for economic development, and the Knowledge Index (KI) which measures a country’s ability to generate, adopt and diffuse knowledge. 

You can view the interactive benchmarking tool (which includes filters over time, by cross-country comparison, and by a world map) and the KEIand KI Indexes for 2012 via the following link – http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.asp and will see Sweden ranked 1, United States 12, United Kingdom 14 and so on through to Myanmar ranked 145.