Title:	MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF THE DIGITAL AGE BY GROUNDING SYMBOLS IN UNDERSTANDING
Author(s):	Asghar Iran-nejad , Mahdiyeh I. Parizi
ISBN:	978-972-8924-69-0
Editors:	Kinshuk, Demetrios G Sampson, J. Michael Spector, Pedro Isaías and Dirk Ifenthaler
Year:	2008
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Information overload, knowledge management, symbol grounding, knowing, understanding
Type:	Reflection Paper
First Page:	414
Last Page:	416
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	The rapid growth of symbolic knowledge in organizational and educational institutions is drowning today’s world deeper into the vicious cycle of disembodied symbols chasing symbols. At, the same time, treating symbolic knowledge as the single most valued intellectual commodity may be responsible for some of the persistent challenges of the digital age. Among the challenges are the nature of the relation between explicit and tacit knowledge, the relation between symbolic text and nonsymbolic understanding, the tension between static organizational stability and dynamic instability, and the discord between single-source knowledge and multimedia technology. An approach toward meeting these challenges is outlined that regards nonsymbolic understanding as the most valuable intellectual resource of the digital age. It is argued that, rather than being treated as a disembodied commodity, symbolic knowledge must be grounded in human nonsymbolic understanding that shares natural affordances with people’s sensory, biological, intuitive, intellectual, motivational, and social capacities.
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