Week 1 Class: "The beginning of the end"

Week 1: Class

Week 1’s class started off just like any other first day at DePaul, except this time it was actually like a real “syllabus day.” Professor Burns let us out early, which was fantastic regardless of how much it fanned the flames of my inflamed senior.

Professor Burns laid out a roadmap for our class, including the importance of this very blog (to me 50% says it’s important). He also gave us an introduction to Knowledge Management. We went through the basic IS exercise of examining data, information, knowledge and wisdom. However Professor Burns really through the gauntlet down by making the statement that “most of the problems you’ll encounter in life are knowledge problems.” I want to speak more of that here.

That thought really intrigued me, and I think it really touched a chord. I’ve been working with technology my whole life and I think I’ve somewhat developed this point of view, but never gamed it out and put it as elegantly. But often times my friends and family always would ask me (of course after fixing something of theirs) “How do you know all of this stuff?” Of course I would always talk about how my passion is technology, and how I just love working with technology, but I think what it all boils down to is a problem of knowledge. From an early age I started to recognize the overwhelming power and possibility that computers and technology gave us as a species. I knew that my life would always be intertwined with technology, and as a result I tried to learn all that I can about it. The reason I know how to fix someone’s PC, or how to install a program, or setup a home theater system is simply because they’re problems I’ve experienced in my life, and have acquired the knowledge to solve them. There are vast amounts of technologically related issues that I have little to no knowledge of, but what I’ve learned in my experience thus far is that these are simply frontiers of technology that have yet to intersect with my life. When they do, my understanding of them will simply be a problem of knowledge….