Bringing Innovations in Knowledge-gathering Techniques

Benjamin Franklin once opined, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. This iconic quote highlights that education, self-improvement and skill development are the most fundamental assets humans can acquire to develop themselves, along with the environment in which they live. Education and knowledge are interrelated, as when education is the journey, knowledge is the destination. We may complete our formal education at one point in our lives, but the knowledge-gathering process remains with us lifelong. To me, knowledge is like the sun, as it enlightens everywhere. However, over time, our education and knowledge-gathering techniques have evolved. The 21stcentury knowledge system requires many more things to acquire humanity, along with essential skill sets, such as critical thinking ability, creativity, collaboration, communication, adaptability and skills to cope with industry 4.0 realities, understandability, and the ability to capture structured knowledge as well as unwritten expertise from veteran employees to prevent business loss, etc. 
Morality and ethics provide a strong foundation for societal peace and order and personal integrity. Knowledge based on moral education strengthens human connection with peace and order in society. When a wise person lacks moral education, he or she fails to spark his or her beauty and brilliance in the world. Ronald E. Pepin, Jan M. Ziolkowski, and Eupolemius rightly said, “Wisdom is light, but a wise man without morals is a well without a rope.” In ancient times, the prime purpose of education was to build good citizens, as well as capable citizens.
It is deemed that our present or future learners will face many new challenges in their journey through life. They will require previous as well as present knowledge to face these challenges. To connect the past knowledge with the present, the schema theory may help them. A schema, which is the plural of ‘schemata’, is an abstract framework that organises knowledge into long-term memory by putting information into what might be considered slots containing related information. Thus, schema theory illustrates how learning happens when learners integrate new knowledge with prior knowledge stored in long-term memory. Tompkins and McGee (1993) define a schema as “a mental bundle of knowledge that holds everything we know about a topic”. The original concept of schema was introduced in 1932 by British psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett.
Imparting physical training as a process of knowledge gathering relies on kinaesthetic learning and embodied cognition. Instead of keeping education confined to attending classes and sitting for examinations, we should think of including physical activity in educational institutes to build up lifelong learners. Physical activity does not merely mean building muscle; this approach treats the body as an active instrument of research, where movement, spatial awareness, and physical problem-solving act as direct conduits for understanding.
Knowledge-gathering techniques should span both human-driven scientific inquiry and the innate, evolutionary intelligence of the natural world. Humans may rely on systematic research, data analytics, and behavioural observation, but nature will give them lifelong satisfaction to carry on their work. Nature contains golden information about our ancestors’ glorious lives. If we delve into it, we will gather knowledge of agriculture, heritage, farming, medicine and what’s not. So, the education system should embrace it.
Fostering lifelong ICT training is essential for navigating the rapidly evolving digital landscape. To meet this continuous need, we must shift from static, one-time courses to accessible, self-paced, and flipped or blended learning. Learning is all about empowering individuals to constantly update their digital skills.
Through embracing our native language and heritage, we can embrace a life with beauty, grace and self-identity. As a tree without roots does not come to be or flowers do not bloom, without adoring one’s own knowledge, a beautiful educational journey does not begin.
Our education system should teach learners how to increase their communication skills. As John Powell, film composer, once said, ‘Communication works for those who work at it.’ Without proper communication, sharing does not happen, and without sharing, growth does not take place. Actually, there is no end to gathering knowledge. Let us build our future learners as lifelong learners, thinkers and researchers.
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The writer is a Professor of English at the Institute of Modern Languages of Jagannath University