ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss knowledge management (KM) with respect to the Master of Distance Education (MDE) degree, a postgraduate program jointly offered by the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (Germany).*
A discussion of the nature of knowledge or, in particular, the difference between knowledge and information is beyond the scope of this chapter.† We tend to use the words “information” (or “data”) when we talk about encoded messages flowing in digital networks, and “knowledge” when people are concerned with interpreting these data. Information, says Peters, can be disseminated today with the speed of light, while the spreading of knowledge is still slow and cumbersome (Peters, 2003). While information management is a necessary ingredient of knowledge management, it is by no means exhaustive. Knowledge management (KM) is about managing people as well as information.
