Pulled from the bowels of BB … What can instructional designers (IDers) do to facilitate and enhance the process of knowledge "transfer"? I think it is important to for us (designers, teachers, etc) to get beyond conceiving of training as an "intervention" to address a problem (gap in performance, attitude, etc). Rather than focusing on identification and correction of instructional problems, it seems we need to also consider opportunity identification. As in most planning activities, opportunity identification includes considering 1) where are we today? 2) where do we need to be in the future? 3) what do we need to do to get there? As such, instruction and knowledge transfer initiatives focus on #3. By focusing on opportunity identification (as part of a bigger picture organizational planning process) vs. targeting instructional problems, the overall instructional objectives and, in turn, the design plan shifts from making the learner or organization whole today (by filling in existing skill and knowledge gaps) to creating learning experiences and knowledge transfer opportunities which are tied directly to longer term goals for the future.
Further, to effectively tap into existing knowledge and to facilitate knowledge transfer within the organization, ID plans should build upon what learners know and ground training in authentic tasks that are highly relevant to what the learners actually do. By doing so, learners will be more likely to integrate the training experience into their jobs and continue a process of knowledge transfer when the instructional event(s) are over.
In addition, we need to re-think traditional instructional roles by moving away from this idea of instructors and designers being transmitters of knowledge. In contrast, instructors and ID plans should facilitate co-creation of knowledge among learners. Tied to above, if we want the knowledge creation / sharing / transfer to continue after the instruction, the learners should be part of that process during the training (in other words, "practice like you play"). Part of the ID role then becomes helping learners build a shared language and facilitating introductions to people, information, and tools / resources that can be accessed and used during and after the training event is over.