John,
Very cool stuff on the connectedness of your video crusade. I went to a
lecture today by a fellow that may interest you. Here is a link to an older
talk: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2500845581503718756
Doctor's Law: "Pants always beats no pants."
Best,
Leland
-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David West
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 4:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [BP] Transfer of Trades Knowledge
John
They are very impressive statistics.
Do you mind if I share them with some colleagues at (a) the NSW Heritage
Branch and (b) APT?
Clearly there is a cost, but, honestly, your statistics tell the story.
At the NSW Heritage Branch, they've been tracking downloads and page
visits on their website for the past 5-6 years. Consistently, year in
and year out, most of the top ten comprise technical content - how to do
something.
But your distinction between vertical and horizontal knowledge transfer
is intriguing.
Cheers
David West
Executive Director
internationalconservationservices
T: +61 (2) 9417 3311
M: +61 (411) 692 696
-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Leeke
Sent: Tuesday, 24 February 2009 2:38 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [BP] Transfer of Trades Knowledge
>> As I get more experience, I start to look for other, more-effective,
ways of getting the knowledge out to the industry. <<
>> I am with you on that. Open Society at heart.
I want to know about techniques and strategies on how to disseminate
knowledge, standards and good practice. <<
"Vertical" transfer of knowledge has serious limitations during times
when change is needed because the transfer is top down and seldom if
ever bottom up and is fraught with mostly wasted effort. For example the
professor and the manufacturer teach the architect who writes the window
spec that is read by the estimator and is ignored by the worker.
"Horizontal" transfer of knowledge is more expeditious, one worker shows
another worker which glazing putty actually works best, lasts longest
and how to tool the line nice and straight.
The Knowledge Media Institute (KMI) at the Open University
(Milton-Keynes, England) is a distance-learning outfit that has students
around the globe. They have been studying the worldwide transfer of
knowledge for 40 years and developing tools to facilitate that. These
are the folks who helped me get into video conferencing over the
internet. Here is one of their "tools," a "live map" of the world that
is updated minute-by-minute to show the location of people who are
learning from one of my video conferences on glazing wooden window sash:
http://flashmeeting.open.ac.uk/kmi_fm/replaymap.php?pwd=0f3ad1-5717
Click on your continent for a close up view.
8,000 views on 6 continents by 3,000 different people. This means that
the average viewer is coming two or three times to see it again. 12%
have viewed the video 18 to 20 times. The good folks at the KMI who
understand all this say that these numbers are astonishing and that none
of their academic material reaches nearly as many. Their interpretation
of this is that this sort of practical knowledge flows best
"horizontally". People seeking what they need to know via the internet
and efficiently connecting directly with those who know, bypassing the
wasteful vertical knowledge model.
In the past, and today, you put workers together on the scaffold and
they learn from each other. How can this effect be expanded? There are
limits to how many you can put on one scaffold. In the past and today
there are books and training sessions and trade school. But there are
limits of time to read and travel to training sessions and go to school.
Right now it is possible to put interactive video via cellphone in the
hands of many tradespeople. Got a problem with tucking mortar into that
narrow joint? Give Jimmy or John a call, show them whats up and they can
show you how. Not exactly shoulder-to-shoulder, but better than just
talking with words on the phone or doing haphazard work.
Video cell phones? Gimme a break. OK, your break is measured in decades,
then there will be video cellphones up on the scaffold. It took only 6
centuries to go from Gutenberg to tradespeople reading Audels Carpenters
and Builders Guide. It took only 9 decades to go from Bell's telephone
to cell phones on the scaffold. It only took 2 decades for tradespeople
to get connected by email and the internet. Right now we have cell phone
video conferencing. I predict it will arrive on the scaffold about 2020.
How long before you put it up on your scaffold? In the mean time the
vinyl pirates are destroying tens of thousands of important historic
windows and buildings per year. And tradespeople are losing the
opportunity to learn what they need to know.
John (not much) Leeke
http://historichomeworks.com/hhw/conf/vidconf.htm
--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
*Please vote for ICORS every 24 hours*
<http://www.lsoft.com/news/choicevote.asp>
--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
*Please vote for ICORS every 24 hours*
<http://www.lsoft.com/news/choicevote.asp>
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.11.3/1967 - Release Date: 2/23/2009
7:17 AM
--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
*Please vote for ICORS every 24 hours* <http://www.lsoft.com/news/choicevote.asp>
|
