Wednesday, January 23, 2013

MAS as Team Member - Presentation Slides

I just recently presented my paper Multiagent Systems as a Team Member at the 9th International Technology, Knowledge and Society Conference on January 14, 2013, in Vancouver, Canada; presented by Common Ground Publishing, USA. 


As mentioned in a previous post, 9th International TKS Conference, this paper is in the process of being peer-reviewed and will hopefully be published by this spring. Earlier I discussed that I would provide my presentation slides once they were finalized, "Once the presentation slides are put together, edited, and finalized I will have them posted on Slideshare. I will post the link to the presentation slides once I have them completed". 



The complete presentation slides can be found at the following Slideshare address: http://www.slideshare.net/JohnTurner5/mas-teams-slidesfinal

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Innovation at the Intersections: Many-To-Many Connections


Timothy Chester identified in his blog The Accidental CIO that the nature of collaboration has shifted, it has shifted from one-to-many exchanges to many-to-many exchanges (Chester, MOOCs, 2013). The examples used for one-to-many was the traditional classroom setting in which the teacher presents knowledge to students. In the corporate setting the same could be said of certain hierarchical levels in which the upper levels dictate to the lower levels.
Competing in this complex environment requires new knowledge, innovative ideas, and exchanges that take place within the organization as well as outside of an organization. In their blog on Social Capital, TNT - The Network Thinkers discussed this same idea in the framework of social capital: “Creating competitive context requires social capital - the ability to find, utilize and combine the skills, knowledge and experiences of others, inside and outside of your organization” (Social Capital). Having the ability to utilize and find knowledge requires many-to-many exchanges.
As explained by TNT - The Network Thinkers, “Innovation happens at the intersections” (Social Capital). The intersections refer to the numerous connections made between the many, as opposed to the intersections in a one-to-many connection. You can see that more connections are possible in a many-to-many connection compared to a one-to-many connection. As these connections increase the number of intersections increase, and the potential for new knowledge and innovative ideas grow exponentially.
Expand your current network so that you are taking full advantage of the many-to-many connections rather than utilizing the one-to-many connections. To do this TNT - The Network Thinkers offer some steps to take in their article Community Networks. First, identify your current structure. Know where there are gaps, bridges, linchpins, and identify who is the core of the network and who is in the periphery (Community Networks). Secondly, begin closing the gaps by inviting and including all members within the network to contribute.

References:
Chester, T. (January 18, 2013). Why MOOCs are like Farmville. The Accidental CIO. Retrieved from www.accidentalcio.com/2013/01/why-moocs-are-like-farmville-html
Community Networks (October, 12, 2012). TNT-The Network Thinkers. Retrieved from www.thenetworkthinkers.com/2012/10/community-networks.html
Social Capital: the key to success in the connected age (July, 04, 2012). TNT-The Network Thinkers. Retrieved from www.thenetworkthinkers.com/2012/07/social-capital-key-to-success-in.html

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Competencies for Today's Workforce - Critical Thinking


In a recent survey conducted by the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) a significant skills gap was identified in addition to a lack of the following critical soft skills: communication, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking.  Respondents also reported that leadership or executive-level skills were the number one skills gap in their organization (Pace, 2012).

Pace (2012) identified the following competencies that employees look for in their young workforce. These competencies are provided as they were reported 20 years ago, today, along with predictions for the future workforce (see table below). 


Top 5 competencies employees look for in youths entering workforce
20 Yrs. AGO
TODAY
FUTURE
Technical Mastery
Self-motivation and Discipline
Adaptability
Self-motivation and Discipline
Effective Communication
Effective Communication
Confidence
Learning Agility
Learning Agility
Effective Communication
Self-Awareness
Multicultural Awareness
Resourcefulness
Adaptability
Self-motivation and Discipline


Collaboration


There are two discrepancies from the previous information. The first is that even though respondents identified the following skills gap lacking in their workplace (communication, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking), they also reported that leadership training was the number one skill gap in their organization. Additionally, the top five competencies for the entering workforce do not include those missing skills that were already identified, with the exception of communication and collaboration, although collaboration was only listed in the future category. This leaves out creativity and critical thinking skills.

With nearly $12 billion dollars dedicated to leadership training in the US alone (Peters, Stephens, & Baum, 2012), there is a disproportion of training leadership related skills compared to training the required critical skills needed to complete everyday tasks. Pace (2012) highlighted that collaboration between higher education and businesses was essential to developing these skills and to assist in closing these gaps. However, examples provided were for leadership skills collaboration programs. I agree with Pace, there must be collaboration between higher education and businesses (private & public) so that the workforce employed today will have appropriate competencies and skills. Unfortunately, concentrating on leadership training will not resolve the skills gap.

Concentrating on the competencies identified above would be the best place to begin closing the skills gap between what today’s businesses are requiring and what new employees are offering. Essential in closing this skills gap is to concentrate on providing today’s students with critical thinking skills. If students are not able to think on their feet and solve complex problems how can you expect them to lead these efforts from others (through leadership training?). If businesses concentrated on demanding and hiring employees that were able to demonstrate true critical thinking skills, then, their workforce would be able to be trained to be future leaders. Higher education should be able to train their students to practice critical thinking skills through workshops and groups assignments in classrooms (group projects add the collaboration to the mix, with collaboration being one of the competencies). Teaching critical thinking skills can be practiced and taught through the following three criteria:

  • Reflective scepticism.
  • Identifying and challenging assumptions.
  • Imagining and exploring alternatives (Martin, 1995, p. 5).

Additionally, teaching students to become self-directed learners could be easily accomplished through the following four stages presented by Grow (1991), the student’s stage is listed first followed by the teacher’s role listed second:

  • Dependent - Authority Coach
  • Interested - Motivator, Guide
  • Involved - Facilitator
  • Self-Directed - Consultant, Delegator

By addressing the competencies, rather than trying to train leaders, businesses and higher education will be able to address the skills gap more effectively. Resulting, ultimately, in a better qualified workforce for the future.


References:

Grow, G. O. (1991). Teaching learners to be self-directed. Adult Education Quarterly, 41, 125-149. doi: 10.1177/0001848191041003001

Martin, G. W. (1995). An approach to the facilitation and assessment of critical thinking in nurse education. Nurse Education Today, 16, 3-9.

Pace, A. (December, 2012). Preparing Today’s Youths for Tomorrow’s Workplace. Training + Development, 42-46.

Peters, L., Stephens, G. K., & Baum, J. (December, 2012). When developing leaders, don’t blame training! Training + Development, 59-62.

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