Improving the Professional Knowledge Base for Education: using knowledge management and Web 2.0 tools

Improving education systems is an elusive goal. Despite considerable investment, international studies such as the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) project of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the McKinsey Report, How The World's Best Performing Schools Come Out On Top, indicate that improving teacher quality is more important than increased financial investment. Both reports challenge governments, academics and practitioners to adopt new ways of sharing and building knowledge. This article makes the case for national education systems to adopt tried and tested knowledge management and Web 2.0 tools used by other sectors, and highlights the neglected potential of teacher educators as agents for improvement.