Key features of research portal for stimulating research in institutions of higher technical education

Problem Statement: The current higher learning institutions in developed countries have adapted to their changing role in a knowledge-based society It is time for developing countries like India to focus on Knowledge Management thus, the current study presents research undertaken in understanding the implication of Knowledge Management in the field of education in India. After analysing the need of Information and Communications TechnologiesICT for implementation of KM in Institutions of Higher Technical Education (IHTE) and identifying KM technologies, which academia felt could be leveraged to a greater extent, this study investigates the factors affecting the implementation and use of Knowledge Management technologies for enhancing research in IHTE.Problem statement: Realizing the importance and value of KM, the researcher has identified the key features to come out of a viable KM portal for enhancing research Institutions of Higher Technical EducationMethod: Data has been collected through a structured questionnaire given to 141 respondents covering 30 higher educational institutions in India, including both national as well as state level institutions. Designations of the targeted respondents in the IHTE have been categorized into two sections. The first one consists of management and senior academia, e.g. Professors, Associate Professors. These are considered to be the best addressees because they are the overseers of their institutions' operations and are likely to be the thought leaders of KM. The second section consists of assistant professors, lecturers, and research scholars who are using and also contributing to the KM system.Findings and Results: The results highlight that the academia supports the need for KM portal for research in IHTE. Three components of portal design as identified by academia of IHTE are: Research Initiation, Research Facilitation, and Research Commercialisation. A regression analysis further highlighted that there is a positive relationship between perceived benefits of research and Research Facilitation and Research Commercialisation. Based upon the above results, the portal has been designed for facilitating research in IHTE.Conclusions and Recommendations: The portal designed will facilitate the researchers in India as well as in other developed countries in identifying the new areas of research, avoiding duplication of research, and providing links of various funding agencies to support their research activities. Moreover, the portal will provide a platform for commercialising research. Thus, it is extremely important for IHTE to design a portal for simulating research activities, as research will not only enhance curriculum development but also help in enhancing the global image for the institution.

PDF

___

Alberthal, L. (1995). Remarks to the financial executives institute. Dallas. TX. In Wickramasinghe N., Dag K. J. E. Von Lubitz, Knoxvledge-based enterprise: theories and fundamentals, Idea Group Inc.
Allen, T. (1984). Managing the flow of technology. Cambridge. MA: MIT Press.
Bateson, G. (1988). Mind and nature: A necessary unity. New York: Bantam Books.
Bergquist, W.H., & Phillips, S.R. (1975). A handbook for faculty development council for the advancement of small colleges. Washington, D.C.: One Dupont Circle.
Birol, C, Dağlı, G, & Silman, F (2010). Uusage of knowledge management tools: UK and Canada versus Russia and Turkey in a comparative study. Eğitim Arastirmalari - Eurasian journal of Educational Research, 38, Winter, pp. 37-54.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (2000). The social life of information. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Burt, R. (1984). "Network items and the general social survey.". Social Networks , 6, 293-339.
Cloete, M., & Snyman, R. (2003). Tine enterprise portal - is it knowledge management? Aslib Proceedings: New information perspectives, 55 (4), 234-242.
Cohen, W., & Levinthal, D. (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), 128-152.
Coukos, & Eleni. (2003). Knowledge management in research universities: the process and strategies. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Reserach Association (Chicago, IL, April 21-25, 2003), Education Resources Information Center, U.S.
Cross, R., Parker, A., & Prusak, L. (2000). Knowing what we know: supporting knowledge creation and sharing in social networks. (D. Cohen, Ed.) White Paper, 1-34.
Davenport, T.H., & Prusak, L. (1998). Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know. Cambridge,MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Drucker, P. (1993). Post-capitalist society. Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann.
Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology , 78, 1360-1380.
Hawkins, B. (2000). Libraries, knowledge management and higher education in an electronic environment. Proceedings of the American Library and Information Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 2000.
Hendriks, P.H.J. (2001). Many rivers to cross: from ICT to knowledge management systems. Journal of Information Technology, 16, 57-72.
Kidwell, J.J., Vander Linde, M.K., & Johnson, L.S. (2001). Applying corporate knowledge management practices in higher education. Educause Quaterly, 23(4), 28-33.
Kızıltepe, Z. (2010). Purposes and identities of higher education institutions, and relatedly the role of the faulty. Eğitim Arastirmalari - Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, (40), Summer, pp.113-132
Klein, J. T. (1999). Mapping interdisciplinary studies, the academy in t ransition. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lichtenthaler, U. (2005). External commercializatiov of knowledge: review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Revieius, 231-255
Markus, B. (2002). Global spatial knowledge management. GSDl 6 Conference - From Global To Local. Budapest, Hungary.
McManus, D., & Loughridge, B. (1999). Corporate information, institutional culture and knowledge management: a UK university library perspective. New Library World, 103(9), 320-327.
Meso, P., & Smith, R. (2000). A resources-based view of organizational knowledge management sSystems. Journal of Knowledge Management, 4 (3), 224-234.
Metaxiotis, K., & Psarras, J. (2003). Applying knowledge management in higher education: the creation of a learning organization. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 2(4), 353-359.
Miller, W. (999).Flash of brilliance - inspiring creativity where you work. MA: Perseus Books, Reading.
Orr, J.E. (1990). Sharing knmoledge, celebrating identity. In D.S. Middleton & D. Edwards (Eds.), Collective Remembering (pp. 169-189). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rogers, E. (1995). Diffusion of innovations (4th Edition). New York: NY: Free Press.
Rowley, J. (2000). Is higher education ready for knowledge management?T/ie International Journal of Education Manage7nent,14(7), 325-333.
Sallis, E., & Jones, G. (2002). Knmoledge management in education: Enhancing learning and education. Routledge, Francis and Taylor Group.
Shah, P. (1998). Who are employee's social referents? Using a network perspective to determine referent others. Academy of Management Journal, 41 (3), 249-268.
Shariq, S. (1997). Knowledge management: An emerging discipline and a professional society for facilitating adaptive change to a stable world order in the 21st Centry. The First International Conference on Technology Policy ami Innovation (p. 16). Macau: NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
Shariq, S. (1997). Knowledge management: an emerging discipline and a professional society for facilitating adaptive change to a stable world order in the 21st centry. The First International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation (p. 16). Macau: NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
Simmel, G. (1950). The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: Free Press.
Slaughter, S., & Leslie, L. L. (1997). Academic capitalism: Politics, policies, and the enterpreneurial university. 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4319: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Slaughter, S., &c Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic capitalism and the neiv economy: markets, state, and higher education. Baltimore, MD: JHU Press.
Szulanski, G. (1996). Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practices within the firm. Strategic Management journal,(Winter) 27-43.
Thitithananon, P., & Klaewthanong, T. (2007). Knowledge management is a perfect education development tool: Is Thailand's higher education really ready to embrace it? Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, 8 (2).
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.