Learning Pyramids
Bela MARKUS, Hungary

Key words: Curricula Models, Capacity Building, Education and Training.

SUMMARY
A fundamental transformation could be observed in the world of education and traning.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are having a deep effect on learning andteaching. Internet based eLearning is eroding traditional geographical boundaries resulting in
greater competition and opportunity. Surveying society needs education and training
programmes that are flexible, tailor made and cost effective. In the rapidly-changing world,
mapping agencies and land administration must offer all end-users wide variety of spatial
data and information services. Employees should have greater opportunities for access toknowledge because of the weakness of education in the management, legal, economic, humanand ethical aspects of land administration; general lack of user oriented approach toeducation; lack of continuity in education from universities to professions and appropriate
linkage between the two. In Hungary the land registry and mapping sector has such importanttasks as e.g. providing digital spatial infrastructure for the information society, recording
tasks related to the agrarian assistance and the redistribution of land property together with its
preparations. Geoinformation technology will soon spread in land offices. Well preparedspecialists are required for these tasks.
The aim of this paper is initiation of a panel discussion at the Workshop on Virtual Academy
and the Surveying/Geoinformatics Community. The key issues are demonstrated by different
pyramids. The first part is dealing with a knowledge pyramid. In the second part theeLearning pyramid is introduced. Our strategy in professional development is based on thestaff-pyramid. Some results of the educational metadata investigations will be presented inalso the paper. The last part of the paper is dealing with the Bologna Pyramid, the curricula
development efforts of the College of Geoinformatics, University of West Hungary (GEO).
The curriculum should be proactive taking into account both the Bologna Process and the
new needs of the society.
The research is funded partly by the OTKA programme (OTKA T 43384) supported by the
Hungarian Academy of Science.

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Learning Pyramids
Bela MARKUS, Hungary
1. INTRODUCTION
Due to advances in digitisation, processing speed, storage and communications, we are living
in a networking era. Education will have a crucial role in developing these capabilities. New
job opportunities will be created in the processing, organizing, packaging and disseminatingof spatial information. The networked world is changing the way we create products andprovide services. All around us we find new tailored products, targeted marketing andcustomisation. Consumer demand for more choice, higher quality, lower cost, better service
and convenient access is a dominant force affecting all industries, including professional
education (Oblinger – Verville, 1999).
The move towards the information society is irreversible, and affects all aspects of society
and interrelations between economic partners. An economy based on the creation,dissemination and exploitation of knowledge will be one of the dominant features of the 21st
century, and will play a fundamental role in generating a recovery in growth and an increasein employment. Fuller use of the potential offered by information and communication
technologies can:- create new service markets;- facilitate provision of services by the private rather than the public sector, including a
new partnership between the private and public sector, e.g. for training;- speed-up administrative decision-making procedures.
2. KNOWLEDGE PYRAMID
According to Russell Ackoff, the content of the human mind can be classified into fivecategories:
1. Data: facts or figures;
2. Information: data that are useful; answers to "who", "what", "where", and "when";
3. Knowledge: application of information; answers "how";
4. Understanding: appreciation of "why";
5. Wisdom: evaluated understanding.
The DIKW hierarchy can have many dimensions. One dimension of Ackoff’s hierarchy is
temporal. He says that while information ages rapidly, knowledge has a longer life-span andonly understanding has an aura of permanence. It is wisdom that he considers to bepermanent.

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Wisdom

Understanding principles

Knowledge
Understanding patterns

Information
Understanding relations

Data

Fig. 1. Knowledge pyramid (based on Ackoff’s hierarchy)

Likewise the other organisational assets data, information and knowledge should also be
managed. The definition of Knowledge Management (KM) by Oracle Magazine (1998) is thefollowing: "Knowledge Management promotes an integrated approach to identifying,capturing, retrieving, sharing, and evaluating an enterprises information assets. These
information assets may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, as well as the uncaptured tacit expertise and experience stored in individual's heads." Knowledge management
involves data mining and some method of operation to deliver information to users.
In the dynamically changing world of business, the competitiveness of companies (and/or
universities) depends heavily on the possibility to find, for a given problem, the rightknowledge in the right moment. By using a Knowledge Management System (KMS),
organisations increase returns, save time and money, are more adaptable, and have a far
better understanding of partners, processes, customers, competitors and their business. To
benefit from every customer or partner interaction, corporations must give employees
opportunities to record what was learned. Efficient knowledge management needs not only
document knowledge but must provide tools for collaboration to all contributors to theknowledge pool. Then, other employees must have access to the data and the means tounderstand it in context. Knowledge management helps an organisation to gain insight andunderstanding from its own experiences. When employees use this KMS, best practices are
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stored throughout the organization, and each employee accessing the system has similar
power to the best employee (ArsDigita, 2001).
Tabberer (2003) emphasises the need to make organisations not just ‘data rich’ but‘information rich’ and ‘knowledge rich’ as well. An organisation might be quite good atorganising and using data (e.g. understanding the spread of performance and being able toanalyse which departments tend to do worst); it may even be quite good at managing
information (e.g. one part of the organisation knows what others are doing and planning).
That does not mean it is good at managing knowledge (i.e. making what people have learned
about what works available in a form which others can readily use). Data may helporganisations benchmark their performance externally and internally. It may help them ask
questions and recognize surface problems. However, without managing information, they
will not know exactly who out in the wider world is doing better, and why. Finally, without
managing knowledge, they will not be able to learn effectively and put what they learn into
practice.

Fig. 2. Business development pyramid (Source: http://www.mithya.com/home.html)

3. eLEARNING PYRAMID
Taylor (1999) has realized that distance education development reached a new phase. In his
schema, the first generation of distance education, the correspondence model, was based
solely on print technology; the second, the multimedia model, was based on print, audio andvideo technologies; the third, the tele-learning model, involved the application of
telecommunications technologies to provide opportunities for synchronous communication;and the fourth, the flexible learning model, is based on on-line delivery via the Internet. The
fifth generation is beginning to emerge. It will use automated response systems that scan the
text of incoming e-mail and respond intelligently without human intervention, thereby
decreasing the cost of online tuition and increasing access to learning opportunities on a
global scale. Taylor calls this the “intelligent flexible learning model” that will enable aquantum leap in economies of scale and cost effectiveness.
Learning technology is rapidly changing. In previous years we focused on Content
Management (CM): content creation, electronic publication, Internet-based communicationand student support, taking into account the special pedagogy of distance education.
However, we realized the need to move from CM to KM also in eLearning.
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Fig. 3. eLearning pyramid

In KM environment the structure of the learning materials should be re-engineered. In thisnew structure the basic elements called learning objects. Learning objects can be described as
the competencies to be achieved, skill and knowledge outcomes, lesson plans, assessment
items and other learning resources. They can exist in a variety of forms such as presentations,articles, quizzes, people, Web pages, images, maps, samples etc. They can be stored indatabases and used, reused, aggregated as desired or re-purposed by learners, teachers andcourse designers for their own particular purposes, thus moving us towards a “learning ondemand” environment. And they can be accommodated within various delivery models suchas print, CD-ROM or Web-based. The use of common standards will make these learning
objects databases accessible to any organisation that shares the same standards. Thisdevelopment is already starting to change the way we think about the notions of curriculum
and courses.
For strategies to promote a learning-for-all culture, direct measures are needed to motivate
potential learners and increase overall participation levels by making learning more attractive
in terms of active citizenship, personal performance and employability. Schools, universities
and training centres are urged to become local knowledge acquisition centres which areversatile and accessible to everyone.
The urgent task for educational institutions is to reorganise resources for professional
development services. In extending existing education and training programmes, the main
objectives should be:- to develop still further the corporate dimension of education;- to improve the quality of training and foster innovation in education by increasingexchanges of experience and information on good practice;- to establish an area of training by obtaining recognition of its qualification;
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-

to promote the virtual mobility, which was made possible by new communication
technologies;
to develop common databases and other sources of knowledge on skills needs;
to conduct comparative research on methodologies used and policies implemented;
to improve the interoperability of systems of distance learning and increase the level ofstandardisation.

Educational institutions worldwide spend large amounts of money each year developing,
adapting or acquiring learning resources and courses. The development of electronic learning
resources is particularly expensive and often produces course materials that are platform or
operating system dependent. This situation has lead to discussion of the creation ofstandardized learning objects that can operate across hardware platforms and softwaresystems.
Metadata will be fundamental in implementing similar systems. Whilst learning units form
the building blocks of a networked and inter-connected environment, metadata is required tobind the units together and allow them to interoperate. Metadata is required to describe what
learning units look like, how to build a learning route from them, what if any refinements orvalue adding operations have been carried out on a unit, and in a networked environment
what services a tutor/learner can request from a server and what parameters theteacher/student should send to the server to request the service. Adopting a standards-based
approach makes it easier to change system components in future. IMS (IMS Global
Consortium, previously known as Instructional Management Systems) IEEE and Dublin Core
provide a range of specifications that yield a standardised data format, allowing different
systems from different vendors to work together. For seamless searching to work, the world
has to agree on the specification of educational metadata (Markus, 2000).
4. STAFF PYRAMID
The efficient handling, updating and maintenance of the spatial data infrastructure needs
highly qualified, properly trained staff. Learning and working are more and more similar. The
concept of the ‘learning organization’, including ‘lifelong learning’ for staff, is now
recognized as a key element in corporate strategies. This will reinforce consistency, common
identity, shared corporate culture, common actions, clear responsibilities, coordination anddissemination of good practice.

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Fig. 4. Staff pyramid

Traditional universities usually develop a firm educational foundation for professional
BSc/MSc level staff. Now we should seek to build towards a more flexible programme ofshort cycle staff development activities. This differs from the previous in that study will not
be part of an overall academic programme, it can thus be more flexible and will be targeted indifferent ways towards differing levels of ability and differing staff requirements. New
programmes should be delivered for the higher management and a set of programmes for all
levels in Land Administration focusing on organisational issues, on skills and on matters
pertinent to new challenges.
Nowadays increasing numbers of companies are using Internet-based technologies to help
them meet their training needs. In the workplace, ICT based open and flexible, distancelearning (eLearning) provides flexibility in terms of place, time, pace and style, enabling justin-time training where and when required; integration into the workplace for greater
convenience and relevancy; and possibilities for collaborative team working. Encouraging
staff to take responsibility for their own learning has motivational benefits. eLearningmaterials for business training can be quickly updated and adapted to reflect changes inlegislation, procedures or market trends.
Traditional educational systems use the “campus-bound” the concept, but there is an
emerging trend to the “campus-based” concept. The former assumes that the quality of aprogramme depends entirely on the text books, presentations, faculty members, students etc.
are on-campus. But the latter allows that some of the resources and some of the learning are
off-campus.
A distributed learning environment is a learner-centred approach to distance education, which
integrates a number of technologies to enable activities and interaction between students andtutors. Our model is based on amalgamating appropriate technologies with aspects of local
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learning centre-based workshops and co-operative Internet-based distance education. Thisapproach gives tutors the flexibility to meet the needs of diverse student populations, whileproviding both high quality and cost-effective learning.
The technical side was emphasized above. However, the distributed learning environment is asocial system too, consisting of the continuous development of knowledge, skills andcompetences in which subsystems can occur, distributed in time and place, and in which
information and communication technology ensures collaboration. The ability of students toconnect with experts around the country, as well as their group members, also opens newopportunities for learning and professional development. Students and tutors find theseopportunities motivating. Distributed instruction, the explosive expansion of networks, andthe trend to move bits instead of people and products will continue to erode the domination of
traditional educational institutions.
The teaching is not enough, it is the active (or proactive) learning which is essential. Placing
learners and learning at the centre of education and training methods and processes is by nomeans a new idea, but in practice, the established framing of pedagogic practices in mostformal contexts has privileged teaching rather than learning. Teachers traditionally convey
the knowledge they possess to learners, who subsequently must show what they have learned.
In this approach, teaching is largely proactive, whereas learning is largely reactive. The
purpose of the process is essentially to convey content, and the core problem is to find themost effective teaching methods for doing so. Learners certainly participate in this process,but the extent of self-direction and co-determination they may bring to it is inevitably
circumscribed.
5. BOLOGNA PYRAMIDThe Bologna process is a challenge to create an open European higher education area, aframe that is expected to facilitate closer cooperation between higher education institutions,
make easy student and staff mobility. The basic aims of the Bologna Declaration may besummarised in three key words: mobility, employability, and competitiveness. In more detail,the objectives are the following (Teodosiu, 2003):- adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees;- adoption of a system essentially based on two main cycles, undergraduate (bachelor BSc) and graduate (master – MSc);- establishment of a system of credits – such as in the European Credit Transfer System(ECTS) - as a proper means to promoting the most widespread student mobility;- promotion of mobility by overcoming obstacles to the effective exercise of freemovement;- promotion of European co-operation in quality assurance with a view to developing
comparable criteria and methodologies; and- promotion of the necessary European dimensions in higher education.

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The changes are now reaching Hungarian universities and the dimensions set in the process
are being adapted or taken in consideration also by the University of West Hungary. In viewof the above, several actions were started:- 2002 - the introduction of a credit accumulation system compatible with the ECTS, inorder to enhance the flexibility of national higher education system and to promotemobility;- 2003 - the implementation of a common national frame of reference for qualifications,serving as a reference point (in BSc studies), but also allowing for differences (in MSc
courses); and- 2004 - the adaption of a European dimension in quality assurance, evaluation andaccreditation, by means of compatible quality management systems.
A new Act on Higher Education is under preparation, planned to be issued soon. The
Ministry of Education expects the introduction of the three-cycle, linear BSc-MSc-PhD
system in 2006.

Fig 5. The levels of the Bologna pyramid are BSc, MSc and PhD.

The Bologna process will highly change the educational systems of European countries andwill have a great impact on the surveying courses world-wide. FIG Commission 2 shouldtake into account these changes and build into the working programme the comparison of
curriculas and evaluation of experiences.

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6. CONCLUSIONSThe job market in general will become much more dynamic, complex and heterogeneous.
Our experiences greatly improve the knowledge transfer between academic institutions andindustry has vital importance. FIG Commission 2 is a good forum for increasingcollaboration between professional institutions and the sharing of learning resources.
Information and communication technologies as driving forces in the network revolution will
have a dramatic impact on our daily life, working routine and education. Information
technology will become essential everywhere. We must transform all traditional institutionsof learning in order to prepare students for their future, not for our past. In addition to basic
professional skills, every learner should master communication, collaboration, and creative
problem solving. These are the very important skills and attitudes needed to be a lifelong
learner.
REFERENCES
ArsDigita, 2001: Knowledge Management, http://www.arsdigita.com
Ackoff, R. L., 1989: "From Data to Wisdom", Journal of Applied Systems Analysis, Vol. 16,
p 3-9.
Bellinger, G. et.al., 2004: Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom, http://www.systemsthinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm
Kaipa, P. et.al., 1998: Application of Pyramid Building in Organizations: Aligning
Strategy, Processes, and People in Organizations,
http://www.mithya.com/home.html
Márkus B., 2000: Educational metadata, Proceedings of FIG Working Week, Prague.
Márkus B., 2002a: (Global) spatial knowledge management, GSDI6 Conference,
Budapest.
Márkus B., 2002b: Strategy for professional development and academic responses - a
Hungarian case study, “Land Registration and Spatial Planning in Transition Countries:
Opportunities for the European Union” workshop, Wageningen.
Márkus B., 2004: Curricula development in Bologna Process, FIG Working Week, Athens.
Oblinger, D. G. - Verville, A-L., 1999: Information Technology as a Change Agent, Educom
Review, Vol. 34, No 1.
Tabberer, R., 2003: Knowledge and Innovation, ttp://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/innovationunit/pdf/knowledge_and_innovation.pdf
Taylor, J.C., 1999: The death of distance: The birth of the global higher education economy,
e-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology (e-JIST), 3, 1, 6-11.
Teodosiu F.(2003): An Introduction to the Bologna Process, http://www.cep.org.hu/

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Bela Markus is a land surveyor, M.Sc., Ph.D., professor of Geoinformatics, and director of
the College of Geoinformatics, University of West Hungary. He has 30 years teachingexperience in surveying, 15 years in teaching GIS and 10 years in development andorganization of open, distance learning professional courses for land administration.
Prof. Markus has over sixty published papers on various aspects of using GIS. He is actively
involved in many national and international academic programmes, is chairman of the
Hungarian UNIGIS Course Board, chairman of the National Committee of Association of
Hungarian Surveyors and Cartographers, chairman of the Agricultural Experts Committee
Surveying Session at the Ministry of Agriculture. He is chairing FIG WG2.4 (Knowledge
Transfer in SIM) and the Hungarian Scientific Committee of COST G9 “Modelling Real
Property Transactions”.
Prof. Markus is Council member of Association of GI Laboratories in Europe (AGILE) andalso the Executive Committee of EUROPACE (Leuven, Belgium). He is chair elect of FIG
Commission 2 and member of Board of Directors of FIG Foundation.
CONTACTS
Prof. Dr. Bela Markus
University of West Hungary, College of Geoinformatics
Pirosalma u. 1-3.
SzékesfehérvárHUNGARY
Tel. +36 (22) 516 523
Fax +36 (22) 516 521
Email: mb@geo.info.hu
Web site: www.geo.info.hu

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