This week’s lecture covered so much detail about information overload that my brain was starting to feel a little, well overloaded. Know the feeling? When you have some many things coming at you that you have to take a step back and say, whoa! Hold those horses, I need to process. And that is just what managing information overload is all about- the manner in which you process that information that you are presented with.
Communication overload, information obesity, information pollution and interruption
overload. These are alternative terms but they all come down to the basic idea - there is
too much information!
How did information overload come to be? Through the accelerated use and adoption of
internet of course! At first it was brilliant. A free service (e-mail) which allows users to
send text, photos, videos and the like to whomever, whenever they like for all sorts of
purposes. It was certainly a step up from pagers and fax machines.
Next came the social networking sites -Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace to name a few. And with that, is the ability to access these sites pretty much anywhere through laptops and mobile phone devices. This was of course made possible through the widespread use of wireless internet. In McDonald’s waiting for your meal? Log onto your mobile and check the latest happenings on Facebook. In the university library attempting to study? Take full advantage of their wireless and jump online. I think you get the idea. I tend to find myself logging onto a computer and unable to start any real work without opening up (in multiple tabs) the following: Facebook, Hotmail, UWA Email, ANZ Banking and Google. Not to mention any real work I may be doing (for example, blogging at Blogger.com, keeping up to date with my units on UWA WebCT) plus surfing the web researching my latest holiday.No wonder we’re tired, no wonder our brains have given up on us. But the question is, where does the blame lie?
“It’s not information overload, its filter failure.”
-Clay Shirky, 2008
-Clay Shirky, 2008
Yes, it’s true. The reason we’re overload? It’s our own fault. As the above quote would suggest, we need to have effective system in place that allow us to filter out what is irrelevant and to process what we need to know. After all, there is no point being on top of your friends status updates on Facebook, when you failed to do an assignment because you didn’t get the message about the due date.
So, how to combat this? Delete yourself off Facebook? Only log on once a week to check your emails? No, the answer is not to cut yourself off from these sources; rather, you need to pick and choose which ones are most important for you to receive. How? I hear you ask. You prioritise what information needs to get to you and when. You could employ a number of these handy suggestions:
1. Folksonomies
Who here finds a page she or he loves, bookmarks it and then has trouble locating it again? If you’re anything like me, you’ll have hundred of bookmarks sitting unsorted in your internet browser. The answer: educate thee about Folksonomies now. The opposite to a taxonomy. Folksonomies are a really nifty solution for organising your favourite webpages and resources. These are also of great use in the classroom.
A definition of a Folksonomy:
“ Folksonomy is a system of classification derived from the practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorise content.”
(Retrieved May 23, 2011 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy)
In other words, tagging websites that are related to a particular topic, and then displaying these tags in a specific format. For example, using a Tag Cloud.
Who here finds a page she or he loves, bookmarks it and then has trouble locating it again? If you’re anything like me, you’ll have hundred of bookmarks sitting unsorted in your internet browser. The answer: educate thee about Folksonomies now. The opposite to a taxonomy. Folksonomies are a really nifty solution for organising your favourite webpages and resources. These are also of great use in the classroom.
A definition of a Folksonomy:
“ Folksonomy is a system of classification derived from the practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorise content.”
(Retrieved May 23, 2011 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy)
In other words, tagging websites that are related to a particular topic, and then displaying these tags in a specific format. For example, using a Tag Cloud.
2. RSS Feeds.
Really simple strategy, really simple definition: Really Simple Syndication. Simple, right? Enough joking around, these babies are great for your own personal use and can be an excellent educational resource.
A definition according to Wikipedia:
“RSS a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardised format”.
(Retreived May 23, 2011 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS)
Really simple strategy, really simple definition: Really Simple Syndication. Simple, right? Enough joking around, these babies are great for your own personal use and can be an excellent educational resource.
A definition according to Wikipedia:
“RSS a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardised format”.
(Retreived May 23, 2011 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS)
On a recent school visit, the teacher had set up a Wiki for Japanese students to use. The Wiki also included a RSS feed featuring articles from Japanese newspapers and websites, keeping students up to date with the latest articles and headlines from Japan.
The Educational Link
Tag Clouds
These can be created using websites like Delicious. It is very simple to do and the beauty is that the bookmarks can be accessed from any computer as they saved online, not the individual computer.
Word Cloud
Using services such as Wordle, text is input and a word cloud creates a visual representation of the words in the passage. The words used the most are highlighted in bold and the least used words are smaller.
Suggested links for Wordle in the classroom:
Tag Clouds
These can be created using websites like Delicious. It is very simple to do and the beauty is that the bookmarks can be accessed from any computer as they saved online, not the individual computer.
Word Cloud
Using services such as Wordle, text is input and a word cloud creates a visual representation of the words in the passage. The words used the most are highlighted in bold and the least used words are smaller.
Suggested links for Wordle in the classroom:
· Use as an editing tool. Students input text from a piece of work they are currently working on and Wordle highlights the areas they need to work on.
· Inputting every child’s work in Wordle and comparing what has or has not been included (the main ideas and themes).
· Before reading an article, input the text of a nonfiction piece (i.e. newspaper article) and ask students to come up with a headline or title.
· Use Wordle for classroom polls. For example, favourite colour, favourite football team, favourite topic in class.
Suggested RSS Feed Readers:
RSS Voyage
Google Reader
Feedreader
NetVibes
RSS Voyage
Google Reader
Feedreader
NetVibes
Check out this video about Flipboard on the iPad. It seems to be where the future of RSS feeds is headed:
(Retrieved: May 23, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2vpvEDS00o)
And keep an eye out for my Wordle doodles, coming soon!
7 comments:
Hey Madison, great summaries and I love your education links - I was struggling to see how to use them in a primary setting so that was really helpful. I'm a convert to Delicious as well - I'll definitely be using that a lot more.
Delicious is amazing!! I really like Wordle and I LOVE Tag clouds. I think they can be so useful for primary school children. For example, when set an assigment, students can go to the topic tag cloud as a starting point for resources and information. And if they find a great website they can add it to the cloud too.
Wordle is appropriate for a whole range of activities. Check out the website: 46 Ways to Use Wordle in the Classroom. Just input it into a search engine. You may even use some of the ideas on prac!
Very informative post mad! I like the suggestions for using Wordle in the classroom. During prac i used it as a reflection tool, after a class students reflect on how the activity made them feel or how they felt they went using descriptive one word answers then each students words are blasted on Wordle and it's a collaborative reflection exercise, plus the students love the finished result!
Glad to hear it Rom. That is another great idea that I may just add to the blog. Great suggestion and glad the students like it. Turns a boring reflection activity into a fun and engaging exercise.
Great post Madison! The comment on how the internet can distract is really a good point and one to think about as a teacher, especially if your students are supposed to be doing a task on the computer and while you are busy helping another student they go onto the internet and off the learning task.
Rom, you must have had a great prac if you were able to use the computers with your class and combine digital with literacy. Well done on being able to have that experience.
Yes, the internet can be all too distracting, definitely need to exercise some self control. I think as a teacher you hear the stories of other teachers who are checking their Facebook, email etc on school time, and that is not on. Firstly, teachers need to set a good example to students. If teachers model good and appropriate behaviour, then students may follow by example. And secondly, it is just not professional to be doing those things on school time!
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