Delivering Quality Education for All Under the Threats of Islamic Terrorism, Refugee Crisis and Budget Cuts
Politics / Educating Children Mar 19, 2016 - 06:05 PM GMTBy: Dr_R_M_Mathew
New Roles of UNESCO, Internet, Google and Facebook
The humanity is heading towards the unprecedented growth of ignorance and denial of education to millions of children all over the world, including those of the Islamic Terror-ridden Syria, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and several other African countries. Islamic Terrorism has emerged as the darkest force to deny knowledge and education to its targeted victims, including girls, for, it fears Knowledge, Skills, Education and above all 'Women Empowerment' as the stumbling blocks for establishing its Caliphate or Islamic Republic.
It is impossible for the humanity to mobilize $ 39 billion for providing quality education for all by 2030, as projected by UNESCO, through the familiar mode of education, in the context of the prolonging global economic crisis and rising Islamic Terrorism. Our Schools, Universities and Information Technology have miserably failed to deliver Quality Education at affordable cost to millions of Children, Youth and Adults, including Refugees and Terror-Ridden Africans or Arabs. The Humanity needs a Revolution in Educational Philosophy, Strategy, and Organizational Structure and also in the Delivery of Knowledge.
Education and Knowledge
Education, from Kindergarten to Universities, is basically a series of activities in the Consumption and Production of Knowledge and not 'Data' or 'Information'. The applied form of knowledge is 'the Skills' and the wisdom form of knowledge is ‘Values and Culture'. Education at lower levels is concerned with Knowledge Consumption and at higher levels with Knowledge Production.
The building blocks of knowledge are 'Concepts'; but Data and Information are constituted with 'Bits' that can be represented by '0' or '1'. Information Technology is built upon not on Knowledge Structure but on Data Structure. That is why; Information Technology cannot go deep in the heart of Education
Theories of Knowledge Consumption and Production
I got interested in the ways in which Knowledge was Consumed and Produced in Schools and Universities since 1980. My prolonged research helped me formulate two basic Theories of Knowledge Consumption and Production after developing tools to measure and categorize Knowledge both quantitatively and qualitatively by 1983.
Those theories were published by the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow in 1985 for the FID Committee on 'Research on Theoretical Basis of Information Science' , in the book 'Theoretical Problems of Informatics'. I was the youngest member of the 12-member International Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Prof. A. I. Mikhalove, the father of Informatics and Director of VINITI, Moscow. The other members were drawn from Japan, Germany, USA, UK, Switzerland and etc. The Committee had consultative status with UN and UNESCO.
Now these theories are known in my name: i) Mathew's Theory of Knowledge Consumption- Production Correlation' and ii) 'Mathew's Stage Theory of Knowledge Consumption-Production Growth'. Later, a handful of doctoral works have been brought out based on them. They have wide application in augmenting Skill Acquisition and Scientific Productivity, including Military Training and Acquisition of Sophisticated Skills.
Knowing Knowledge
I am basically not a seeker of knowledge but an explorer of the deep ocean of knowledge trying to understand the nature, structure, organization, representation and communication of knowledge. I explored both the Philosophy and the History of Knowledge besides the ancient knowledge stored in the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas and Upanishads, the Ayurveda, the Tribal Medicine along with the modern Science, Technology, Social Science and Humanities.
I also supervised (guided) doctoral research works based on the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas & Upanishads, the Ayurveda, the Tribal Medicine, Internet, IT and Development, Higher Education Management, Skill Acquisition and Scientific Productivity, On-Line and Distance Learning.. Such a background helped me formulate my Theories of Knowledge Consumption-Production and later propound ‘Knowmatics’ and Dynamic Knowledge Bank.
Information Technology Revolution and Globalization
During the formative period of IT Revolution, I had been contributing papers for international conferences on Informatics and Trans-border Data Flow, International Information Economy. By 1988, Information Technology became a Reality having wider impacts on almost all aspects of human social and personal life. IT paved the way for Globalization. Everybody projected that IT Revolution would bring Revolutions in Education, Governments, Improving the Quality of Governance.
Knowledge is away from the Google and Wikipedia
Though Google and Wikipedia did a lot to provide vast depositories of 'Information', they could not enter in the real realm of Wisdom and Knowledge. It is knowledge that makes data and information relevant and meaningful. Without the minimum knowledge-base, nobody can use any information, even if it is strategic. If a search is made either in the Google or Wikipedia, both the school children and the university professors get or download the same material.
Just by spending 30 minutes in the internet, we can easily locate hundreds of websites or sources of information on any field and then download them to the extent of at least a 10,000 A4 size page matter. It may take another 30 hours to go through them, scan them and organize them and finally extract a small volume of knowledge. Since everybody is getting almost same thing, its economic value is getting lost. Google and Wikipedia have not yet addressed these issues, for they don't have much idea of what constitutes knowledge, how knowledge is organized, absorbed or communicated but Data or Information.
Facebook for Adolescents
Facebook and almost all other social networks have not yet grown from the stage of adolescent communications confined with silly talks and filling the space with immature chats or sharing, to education or learning and knowledge sharing. Occasions are there in which they helped people organize and lead revolutions, especially in the Arab world.
However, Terrorists and Fundamentalists have been making use of these social networks for their criminal deeds. But they have to grow mature enough for meeting the Educational and Knowledge needs of the children and adults all over the world at an affordable cost, even making substantial profits. It is high time to redesign Facebook and Internet to deliver Quality Education and all sorts of Skills and above all developing the New Culture of Tolerance and Meaningful Co-existence of diverse people on the earth, promoting Humanism, Spirituality and Universalism. (http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article52547.html)
Knowmatics
In 2005, on the occasion of the ' 20 Years of Mathew's Theories of Knowledge', I delivered a talk at Calicut University, Kerala, India, I expressed my total disappointments with Information Technology and Education - Schools and Universities in delivering Knowledge including Skills, Expertise and Values.
As an alternative to Information Technology, I proposed ‘KNOWMATICS' - Mathematics and Cybernetics of Knowledge as the basis of Knowledge Technology and Knowledge Industry, including Dynamic Knowledge Banks and Mega Knowledge Corporations. Their root can be found in Pythagorean Mathematics.
For the last 2600 years, since the time Aristotle's Academy, no Revolution has been taken place in Education, Schools and Universities - their philosophies, strategies, practices and organizational structures. Further, Information Technology is the most inappropriate technology to deal with Education and Knowledge but only Data or Information as the Algorithms are based on linear and static data-structure and not on non-linear and dynamic knowledge structure.
Knowmatics, Knowledge Technology and Knowledge Industry
In May 2005, a Conference on Knowmatics, Knowledge Technology and Knowledge Industry was held at Calicut University, India.. Since Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the then President of India, had endorsed my ideas and the Conference, it got wide media coverage.
After realizing the strategic value of Knowmatics in Revolutionizing Education, especially Higher Education, I started my research on these directions. In 2009, I submitted my paper 'Knowmatics - A New Revolution in Higher Education' for the World Universities Forum which comes under the World Economic Forum.
It took more than two years for them to complete the 'Refereeing Process' as most of the experts could not assess the work. Finally, it was accepted as one of the ten best works and presented for the Fourth World Universities Forum held at Hong Kong in Jan. 2011 and also published in the Journal of World Universities Forum. They also posted a brief video presentation of my paper in YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p0SXqRuV3k )
My Recent Works on Education and Information Technology
Recently I published popular articles on the Failure of Education and the alternatives to Schools and Universities so that Knowledge can be delivered to and made use by every child, youth and adult with ten-fold efficiency at one tenth cost of the Conventional Schools and Universities.
There is no justification for spending such long years and lot of energy and money for School and University Education. I am angry with the existing Education Systems, Schools and Universities. So I propose Dynamic Knowledge Banks and Mega Knowledge Corporations as a substitute for Schools and Universities and IT-enabled industries. UNESCO in collaboration with the Google and Facebook can do a lot to bring revolutions in education.
New Role of UNESCO, Google and Facebook
Both Google and Facebook can enter in the world of Education and Knowledge in a Big way for which they have develop new tools to process, organize and deliver personalized and value-added Knowledge to each and every learner and seeker of knowledge making use of the vast depositories of the best brains, best teachers and the great experts in thousands of fields.
Both Google and Facebook can make use of the Two Theories of Knowledge Consumption-Production and Knowmatics-based Dynamic Knowledge Bank and Mega Knowledge Corporation for developing Knowledge Technology and Knowledge Industries and deliver Education and Knowledge, including Skill Acquisition and Scientific Research. This will in effect, make conventional Schools and Universities totally obsolete. Besides, they can develop Knowledge Industries in a Big Way, at least ten times of the IT-enabled businesses and industries. Knowledge Industries dealing with the production, marketing and delivery of value-added knowledge packages and solutions, depending heavily on the human brains and knowledge, will emerge as the biggest industry.
UNESCO, in collaboration with the Google and Facebook can play a new role of Facilitating Education, including Skill and Knowledge without any boundaries of the conventional schools and universities, including on-line education, and Awarding School level certificates as well as University level Degrees and Diplomas, including doctorate degrees. UNESCO can set up Global Schools and Global Universities in each member country, having jurisdiction in all over the world with well specified curriculums, examination patterns, faculties, including part-time teachers and thousands of learner interacting centers.
Education can cost-effectively be extended to all, including Refugee Children and other marginalized children besides strengthening and extending Public Education for the benefit of the entire learning communities. For the prolonging global economic crisis and the rising Islamic Terrorism and Fundamentalism, the greatest casualty must be Public Education at Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Levels. This is the only solution to address these issues.
A network of the best teachers, professors and experts can be built up and thereby pooling their knowledge, skill and expertise on a continuous basis so as to make them accessible to the learners and the academic community. I have already developed these concepts into practical business models and systems.
My following recent works are helpful in exploring these issues.
- Oct 05, 2015 - 05:13 PM GMT - Redesigning Internet and Facebook to Explore Their Full Potentialities and Empower the Humanity with Knowledge for Finding Solutions for Its Problems (3076 Reads) http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article52547.html
2) Feb 2014 - Education: Transforming The Most Unscientific And Mismanaged Industry Into A Scientific, Competitive And Learner-Friendly Industry (27856 Reads) http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article44230.html
3) 23 Nov 2014 - Strategic, Methodological and Developmental Importance of Knowledge Consumption - Production in Countering Terrorism and Ensuring Peace (5788 Reads)http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article48326.html
4) http://www.slideshare.net/…/arab-african-american-chinese-a…
5) http://www.slideshare.net/drra…/arab-knowledge-bank-for-the…
6) http://www.slideshare.net/…/arab-knowledge-bank-why-and-how…
{Recently, myself and my wife, Rani attended the Global Education and Skill Forum 2016 and the Global Teacher Prize Award Ceremony held at Atlantis, Dubai on 12-13 March 2016 under the auspicious of the Varkey Foundation. We, got opportunity to personally interact with UNESCO chief, Ms. Irina Bokova, Mr. Andreas Schleicher of OECD, Mr. Fareed Zakaria of CNN and others, besides knowing the live-story of the Refugee Children.}
Prof. (Dr.) Raju M. Mathew
My recent writings on these topics appeared in the Market Oracle (UK) can be found with the help of the following link: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/UserInfo-Dr_R_M_Mathew.html
Prof. (Dr.) Raju M. Mathew
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