"As long as the centuries continue to unfold, the number of books will grow continually, and one can predict that a time will come when it will be almost as difficult to learn anything from books as from the direct study of the whole universe. It will be almost as convenient to search for some bit of truth concealed in nature as it will be to find it hidden away in an immense multitude of bound volumes." –Denis Diderot, "Encyclopédie" (1755).
Clay Shirky describes modern information overload as 'filter failure'. His view is information overload is not new, it's been a fact of life for centuries: get over it.
What has changed, is that technology is delivering the information in a way and in volumes that we haven't quite worked out how to filter effectively just yet. Also, that technology has developed in a way that is changing social norms. Now, the introduction of a widespread technological innovation almost always changes social norms but this time the rate of change has been very fast and is visible because we haven't adapted quite as quickly as the technology has developed and spread.
This is quite a long video but Clay Shirky also makes some very pertinent points about privacy regarding social networking and collaboration using the internet/Facebook, themes that we have been discussing in recent weeks.
So, where do teachers and 'information overload' come together (and I'm just talking about technological information overload)?
I think our role is three-fold:
1. To teach students about the technological tools available to them to help them filter their information (folksonomies, RSS feeds, Network filtering).
(This is a word mosaic I made using ImageChef - ironically, this potential teacher couldn't seem to import her tagcloud from Delicious).
2. Extending critical literacy. Helping students develop metacognitive strategies to be clear about what they are looking for and to extend their concentration span.
I also note that the school we visited this week also makes use of software to stop students being distracted by non-essential websites (it's called Self Control and I know it is available for Macs, not sure about MS). The students switch on 'Self Control' when they have work to do, set a time limit and the sites to block and just get on with it. Apparently, it's very popular and helps with focusing.
3. The point that Clay Shirky makes about how social networking has changed social interface and notions of privacy also affects us as teachers. We've touched on it in terms of cybersafety etc but I think that Mr Shirky has made me see that it's a much bigger picture. Social norms are changing/colliding with the advent of social networking and students may need help developing strategies to deal with it - how to filter their own information - at source (you don't have to post every little though that pops into your head) and using the filters available to them on the social networking sites.
In terms of managing my own information overload (not just technological); this year I've cut down on the number of my other commitments and try to make conscious decisions about what to prioritise. However, it does come down to what's engaging, and I probably spend far too much time on this unit and the other ones suffer..... If anyone has any other handy tips, please feel free to share.
I love the quote you included from Denis Diderot. It is lovely and poetic and inspires learning. Whether we are looking for truth in nature or to find information in books - our objective is to learn.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers, we have a fundamental role to play in teaching and facilitating our students to learn, develop and grow. Further to that, we want to foster our students' desire to learn so that regardless of whether the "answer" is to be found in the universe or text, we want them to always ask questions.
Thanky you Kate. I found it on the Wikipedia page on Information overload and loved it too. It's really eloquent and evoked images of ever growing stacks of books. You are quite right as well - we want our students to be excited about learning and to take whatever opportunities they can to do so.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked (and embedded) Clay Shirky's video. He's a great speaker and this talk is very pertinent to our discussions on information overload this week.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you'd like a hand with importing a Delicious tagcloud.
I found the Clay Shirky video really interesting too. It was quite informative on the need for us to really filter in order to deal with the amount of information that we have to deal with on a daily basis!
ReplyDeleteI think you make some excellent points about students and information overload. Not only do we need to give students the new technological tools (such as RSS feeds) we also need to continue to educate them about the basics, such as critical literacy (as you mentioned).
ReplyDeleteLove the word mosaic too!!
Jo I do agree that I am spending more time on this unit than any others, but I think there is a reason for that- it's fun! There is no written paper that has to be completed (well there is at the end of Assignment 2). We are still learning, but the difference is that we're doing it in fun, interactive way and using multimedia to do it.