Creating Knowledge Mobilization Curriculum

Last month, during the first Mobilizer Boot Camp in Ottawa, several participants suggested the need for courses in knowledge mobilization theory, history, practice, and methods. Following up on these suggestions, I began putting together the beginning elements for a process to develop this curriculum.

Today, I wrote a relatively lengthy reply to one potential funder. I thought this might be useful to the KMb community, as I think it speaks to the ethic and philosophy needed to create a knowledge mobilization community in Canada and elsewhere. I am not saying who the funder is to protect their decision-making process.

Thank you very much for your reply to the request sent on February 3, 2009. The questions asked by the KM Committee are very pertinent. I trust that the information provided below is helpful to answering these questions.


Background:

Knowledge Mobilization Works launched a series of workshops this year that focus on particular aspects of knowledge mobilization practice, policy, administration, and research. The themes include such topics as: incentives & infrastructure, human resources, leadership, creativity, management & governance as well as lessons learned in key sectors of our society such as health, education, social services, and business. The dual goal of this series is to increase our collective knowledge about knowledge mobilization and to build a community of practice of those involved in knowledge mobilization. These workshops are self-funded through participants’ fees and profits are re-invested in developing the series. This is a challenging model to work with but one that we felt was worth the risk.

The first two workshops in Ottawa and Toronto have been well attended and considered successful by most participants. In an effort to remain transparent and to “walk the talk”, we post the results of each work on the KMbW website. We also distribute the results to members of the KMb discussion group hosted on Google. Transparency of methods and discussion of results is the cornerstone of good knowledge mobilization practice.

The idea of developing a KMb Curriculum emerged from participants at both workshops. During the breaks and networking periods, several individuals approached me as the facilitator and suggested that despite having titles that included knowledge mobilization/knowledge transfer/knowledge exchange, they felt that they did not understand the basics and could really use a course (or two) to build their skills. When I proposed this to the full group, there was significant positive response.

Based on this reaction, I invited a series of senior KMb practitioners from across the country to come together to develop the curriculum for two courses on knowledge mobilization currently described as: KMb101 – Theory and History & KMb 201 – Methods and Practice.

The reaction from practitioners was positive. There was general agreement that this is a useful project to become involved in and that given the complexity of knowledge mobilization, it makes sense to work collectively on designing a curriculum that would be widely available.


What is the KM curriculum?

The core content modules of the curriculum will be developed at a 2-day face-to-face meeting at the University of Guelph. The Executive Director of the Centre for Families, Work & Well-Being, Linda Hawkins has offered to host the meeting. The Associate Director Teaching Support Services at the University of Guelph, Peter Wolf, has agreed to help develop the content into useful modules.

The goal is to produce the outline and core content modules for the two courses KMb101 – Theory and History & KMb 201 – Methods and Practice.

The ongoing development of this content will be facilitated using a Web 2.0 application called a wiki. Knowledge Mobilization Works has purchased a license from a leading software company (http://pbwiki.com) for an unlimited number of users in a publicly accessible site.

A stub (initial elements) for the KMB101 course has been created at the following link:
https://kmbw.pbwiki.com/KMb-101 Making the content of courses publicly available has been pioneered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through their open courseware site: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

We anticipate that as the curriculum matures, there will be additional modules created that will correspond directly to particular contextual needs such as those with brain injuries, physical differences of abilities, special educational needs, or particular cultural perspectives. This is one of the strongest arguments for pursuing a collective development strategy. Including a range of people in the process will also include their specific needs in the development of the curriculum.

The goal is to provide the content free of charge to be used in seminars and workshops across Ontario, Canada and elsewhere. The understanding of users is that by accessing and using this content, they are engaging with a community of practitioners and will also share their learning from their use of the content.


Who will be targeted in Ontario to take part in this course?

Currently we are targeting individuals and institutions that have an intermediary or brokering role between research and practice, policy, produce & process development. One of the key lessons learned during my past 7 years of explicitly defined Knowledge Mobilization practice (job title) is that the core audience for the development of knowledge mobilization skills is not researchers or policymakers themselves but those in positions as educators and influencers, synthesizers, fieldworkers, transfer & disseminators, and resource allocators. While researchers and policymakers may be interested and are not to be excluded, their core business is not knowledge mobilization itself but the production and utilization of knowledge. Knowledge mobilization is focused on making both these processes more effective and efficient.

We anticipate working with agencies and organizations such as the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, Cancer Care Ontario, Centres and Institutes associated with Universities, Hospitals and Colleges, professional associations such as the Council of Ontario Directors of Education, and specific branches of the Ontario government with knowledge mobilization mandates such as Early Learning and Child Development Branch of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

It is important to mention that while Knowledge Mobilization Works will be delivering seminars and workshops based on this curriculum, it does not intend to hold the content strictly for itself. The content of all KMb courses developed will remain in the public domain to be accessed, shared, utilized, and contributed to by many interested parties. This is the model of collective creation that has allowed Linux to emerge as an operating system, Wikipedia to grow as a public encyclopedia, and Amazon to have 140,000 applications produced independently to build its distribution services.


Will there be a cost to join or is this anticipated to be provided free?

There is no cost to access and contribute to the curriculum content. The wiki requires that a participant create a username and password. The contributions of each participant are data based and subject to the ongoing discussion of the group – a form of ongoing peer-review.

The choice of charging a fee to participate in a course is the choice of whoever wishes to deliver the course. Universities and colleges charge tuition. Private companies charge a fee. Learning groups within professional associations may deliver the content for free.

On the other-hand, if a self-motivated learner wishes to access the curriculum on-line, s/he may do so at no charge.

Users agree that regardless of how the content is delivered, lessons learned, opportunities for new modules or courses, and new content elements will be shared with all users.


Are there other sponsors that have agreed to provide financial support or have been approached to do so?

At this point contributions have been in-kind or investments made by Knowledge Mobilization Works ($12,700 to date). We consider this to be an important project that has the potential to produce widespread benefits. As much as we directly benefit from this work, the complexity and need for effective and efficient knowledge mobilization is too big for one enterprise or sector to engage in alone. In our opinion, it is a collective work for collective benefit.

The Alberta Health Foundation for Medical Research has been approached and is supportive but feels that this project does not directly fit their mandate. They are willing to provide expertise and in-kind support for the development of the curriculum and wiki.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has been approached but no response has yet been received.

The Wellesley Institute Foundation rejected the request for support based on the economic downturn and current commitments.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada has been approached but no final decision has been made.

York University is providing the services of their Director of Research Services, Dr, David Phipps, formerly the Director of Partnerships at CIHR.

The Canadian Centre for Elder Law at the University of British Columbia is providing the services of their Exective Director, Laura Watts.

The University of Guelph will host the face-to-face meeting, providing catering and meeting space. They are also providing professional services in curriculum development.

The Institut National pour la Recherche Scientifique in Montreal is providing a template for a graduate KMb course that is currently delivered to students in French.

The Institute of Work and Health will provide undetermined in-kind services but is unable to contribute financially due to a cut in their budget. They remain however, quite supportive.

There has also been interest from other parties who are willing to support delegates attending the meeting in Guelph as well as participating in the ongoing development online.

I am pleased that you were interested in learning more about this project. I hope that this information provides you with a better understanding of what we are trying to do.

Your offer of lunch in Toronto is appreciated and I will take you up on it. The next time that I am heading to Toronto, I will let you know.

If there is anything else that you or the KM Committee needs to know, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.