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Article Excerpt
The purpose of the present study was to identify rationales underlying a shift towards knowledge economy in education as perceived by the educational experts in Jordan and relationship with some variables. The random stratum sample (n=90) consisted of educational experts representing faculty members in the Jordanian universities and top leaders in the Ministry of Education. To ascertain validity and reliability, a questionnaire was shown to a number of expert judges. The overall correlation was (0.80). The study questions were analyzed statistically. Findings showed that the general mean for the overall reasons to shift towards knowledge economy was (4.26) out of (5) degrees, indicating how conscious were the educational experts regarding a shift to knowledge economy in Education. The implications also revealed variance in overall mean reasons to shift towards knowledge economy attributed to position. Statistical significant differences were also found that are attributed to education as a whole, where F-value was (4.837) at (-=0.010) with differences among BA, MA, and Ph.D. holders being in favor of the MA and Ph.D. holding subjects.
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The concept of knowledge economy is relatively new which implies respect of human mind and creativity and shows how to capitalize on the information explosion brought about by the recent communications and technology revolution. The significance of the concept of knowledge economy derives from its need for a knowledge community more than educated elites as knowledge workers. From this point of departure stems the role of the educational system as a whole and that of the teaching-learning process in particular. It is, indeed, the role of teaching general education students the high-order thinking skills which enable students apprehend, analyze, draw inferences, reorder and develop information into competitive and marketable knowledge. In this context, Ministry of Education is required to reorganize its structures, personnel development programs, revisit interactive situations commonly practiced throughout their schools, and learning environments and to raise conscious in the local community to the importance of shifting towards the knowledge economy, and alerting policy makers and legislators to the necessity for legislation environment encouraging such transformation process (Ammar, 2000).
A very basic requirement for a shift towards knowledge economy is preparation of knowledge-producing teachers, who can effectively use the knowledge, and have the creative teaching-learning skills. Openness to the various resources of knowledge including online and multimedia is also required (Ministry of Education, 2003).
Being in right place, knowledge will give momentum to other knowledge economy activities. This developed conceptualization of knowledge as being the hub in the knowledge economy requires more consideration of some basic differences between knowledge as a product and goods in the classical approach of economy. The knowledge product could not be eliminated, terminate or deplete as a result of frequent use as is the case with other consumer goods. Rather, the greater the use of current knowledge in thinking processes, new and higher knowledge will be more probable. Knowledge economy is, thus, an economy of abundance rather than scarcity. The created knowledge, for example, could be monopolized as its use is commonly accessible. Knowledge is a wealth that has no weight and tactless; and having no mass or weight gives it the advantage of easy transmission. A knowledge community, which can be defined as one that seeks for Why and Who rather than What; i.e. emphasizing more on the nature of science, community, and relations than on learning fact content, is one of major knowledge economy routes. In a knowledge community individual citizens have secured knowledge (knowers), who obtain the intended knowledge through defined and reliable institutional steps with the Internet role is well established in reaching knowledge and dealing with it (Unger, 2003).
Knowledge economy is a knowledge-based economy in which human agents have dominance, use and control, and where knowledge-generation play the main role in accumulating wealth, meaning that in a knowledge economy wealth is generated not only by machinery but also human capital. The knowledge economy thus took place of muscle force and machinery in generating wealth for communities. Such workers as those performing jobs implying symbol decoding like designers, researchers, and bankers became to be known as knowledge workers or knowledge producers (Areen, 2003).
The knowledge economy is focused on a number of major areas including enhancing, protecting and developing intellectual and knowledge resources, encouraging individual creativity, make knowledge facilities available for everyone, seize opportunity to effectively use knowledge assets, minimize knowledge gap and bottle-neck, and maximize knowledge content and controlling and protecting its use.
There are functional areas that are specifically related to knowledge economy and focused on generating new knowledge through teaching, learning, research & development (R&D), knowledge acquisition, collection, and developing from experts who own the specialized knowledge, and spanning relevant knowledge-containing materials so as to find out and select the valuable knowledge (Wiig, 1994).
The knowledge economy is characterized by high quality leading to excellence the same as an intensive knowledge is based on investment in the intellectual and cognitive capital of human resources, depending on well-trained, qualified, and specialized work force, adoption of lifelong education and training, and retraining, shifting economic activity from goods production and manufacturing to knowledge service production, in addition to investment in the renewable energy resources. Under knowledge economy, income level will be higher for more qualified and experienced knowledge workers, whereas employment contracts are more flexible temporary, and task-oriented (Emad Eldin, 2004).
The new vision of knowledge economy-based education which is called for by his Majesty King Adbdullah II takes as its point of departure the approach of employing technology in education, creating students for future who are able to deal with information technology and communications, and use their application in a variety of areas. This view if successfully applied would introduce Jordan as an advanced regional center for information technology transfer. An educational development project known as ERFKE is guided by this vision which sets student in the center of the teaching-learning process by developing students who are responsible future knowledge economy citizenry (Al Saghir, 1999).
Four major components underlie the educational development including:
First component: redirecting educational policy and strategic educational goals through government and administrative reform.
Second component: modify educational policies and practices in order to achieve educational outcomes that fit with the knowledge economy.
Third component: Providing support to develop quality physical educational environments.
Fourth component: Develop preparation to learn starting from the early childhood level (Mu'tamin, 2004).
The general objectives of the Jordanian educational system are centered on restructuring educational paradigm which include reconsideration of educational policy, rebuilding a national strategy of education to effect a radical shift in educational programs and practices in order to generate...
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