Knowledge is information that can be used as it has been processed to take into account the everyday needs and aspirations of people consuming it. Knowledge will be received by people who are well-informed with information and have benefitted from a wide variety of life experiences. Knowledge can be acquired through reading, discussion, research, teaching, travel, and engagement in a wide range of life experiences. The richer one’s past tapestry of knowledge, the easier it is to acquire new knowledge and understanding.
Wisdom is knowing when and how to use your knowledge. Contextualised knowledge combined with a wealth of worldly experiences equips a person to make decisions that are beneficial to her/himself, to others, and to their environment. There is no lack of information in our world, and there is a considerable amount of knowledge, but wisdom is in short supply.
In the hyper-connected but problem-ridden world of today, it is not enough to have knowledge and wisdom. These are mental properties that need to be expressed in the ways that we think, behave and interact with others. The next steps in the Education Value Chain are therefore to change our mindsets and change our behaviour, using our newly acquired wisdom. For others to benefit from our new mindset and behaviour, we need to convince them to change their mindsets and behaviours as well. With this collective change, we can start exploring better ways to relate with each other, communicate effectively and come up with creative solutions to global issues.
The full Education Value Chain, therefore, reads as follows:
Information – Knowledge – Wisdom – Changed mindset – Changed behaviour – Influencing others to change their mindset and behaviour.
Taking people through this full Education Value Chain when educational programmes are developed, and interactive displays are designed for science centres and museums is very important. There are so many urgent issues facing humankind that it is not enough for people to be well-informed, or even knowledgeable and wise. They need to be able to use this knowledge and wisdom to confront the big issues of the day and have the mindset, skillset, and willingness to solve them.
Informal educational displays and programmes in science centres and museums, therefore, need to be more than informative. They need to be transformative and enabling and must equip their users with the wisdom and skills to address and solve problems. They also need to impress on users the fact that science and technology are two of the main tools that humans have to solve many of the problems that confront us today. An understanding of the role of science and technology is therefore important to everyone, whether or not they become scientists or technologists themselves.
formula D_ has created many interactive displays that take people through the full Education Value Chain and equip them to face the big issues of today, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, plastic pollution, and sustainable development. With a big focus on global environmental challenges and sustainable development, a considerable emphasis is placed on developing displays and multimedia experiences that inform people. Young or old, no matter the background, or culture, knowledge is adopted in such a way that they become wise to change their mindsets and behaviour in response to environmental challenges. Knowledge is information that can be used as it has been processed to take into account the everyday needs and aspirations of people consuming it. Knowledge will be received by people.