KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGES
Knowledge sharing is one of the most critical elements of any knowledge management strategy in development organizations. Different stakeholders collaborate to transfer knowledge and learn together during a knowledge exchange. There are many kinds of knowledge management tools and activities that can be implemented.
I participated as a USAID Fellow in a knowledge exchange symposium for Educational Technology stakeholders. The symposium's name, which has been active for eight years, is the mEducation Alliance. It gathers stakeholders from governments, academia, international development (USAID, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank), and NGOs. The developmental goal for the event was aligned with SDG4, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
As fellows, we collaborated in the design, implementation, and knowledge recording of different knowledge management activities (roundtables, panels, gallery walks, informal conversations, etc.). This facilitation role was critical to ensure a successful knowledge transfer and a correct knowledge recording a codification.
I have selected this artifact because it is connected to the knowledge management theme in my framework. Facilitating knowledge-sharing events is critical to transfer knowledge, especially in the international development arena. In this experience, I liaised with the Ministers of Education representatives to organize their presentations and panels.
During the event, we facilitated different activities, such as reflecting on the role of ICT in Education (Past, Present, and Future Reflections). We used knowledge recording templates to gather information about the presentations. The idea was to structure the information to facilitate the elaboration of different knowledge products and reports about the symposium.
My collaboration in the symposium was an emotional experience implementing knowledge management activities. Collaborating with different high-level stakeholders may be challenging, especially when many competing priorities and parallel sessions are happening simultaneously. Additionally, it required facilitation skills to guide the presentations to fulfill the symposium objectives.
The recording piece of the project was also an excellent opportunity to develop new skills. We used differently shared templates to record the sessions (documents, small videos, tweets, pictures, etc.). I had a fantastic time using social media to highlight lessons learned from each session and connect with broader audiences outside the event. For example, when using Twitter's chat feature to create an online dialogue.
The symposium was a fascinating journey that has not ended yet. I collaborated closely with the organizing team to develop the knowledge products and the reports. More updates to come in the following months!