Stephen Downes

If something doesn't work at the institutional level, why would we think it works at the personal level? Harold JHarche cites David Jonassen, who argues convincingly, "Every amateur epistemologist knows that knowledge cannot be managed. Education has always assumed that knowledge can be transferred and that we can carefully control the process through education. That is a grand illusion." Quite so. So why does Jarche then say "While knowledge cannot be managed, we can work at managing our own knowledge?" We can, as individuals, manage our information artifacts. And maybe we can come up with learning plans or career aspirations. But I think these are a long way from personal knowledge management.