Information Fluency

Geared to the K-12, I really like the basic approach to information fluency that can be found in the works of the 21st Century Fluency Project.  Thank you guys.  They use the phrase InfoWhelm.  I think we can relate to that. They approach the basic skill set for information literacy with these five steps.  Good approach:

ASK – coming up with the right questions will ensure success; yes, you need a defined target.

ACQUIRE—knowing where to look and looking among multiple resources will ensure success.

ANALYZE – I like the way he describes this, as doing a background check on data you uncover. evaluate.

APPLY – Yes, your goal.  Did it answer your questions and can you now decide or act on it?

ASSESS – This is what I have emphasized in the idea of 'think about your thinking.'  Evaluate the process and what worked and didn’t’.  Did your info quest succeed?

go to their website and learn --  http://www.fluency21.com/ 

T1: Moving From Question to Answer

Some situations in life demand that we face the unfamiliar.  In my work life I had to advance my career by moving to new jobs.  It is always a challenge to start at a new work location and figure out all of the simple things.  I need to know where is the cheapest gas station on my way to or from work?  Can I find a good deli near by?  What route can I take if the highway is backed up?  In the case of unfamiliar territory, it helps to break out from the emotion and ask qeustions.

Moving from Question to Answer:

1- Realize that it is OK to feel a bit perturbed and frustrated by the unfamiliar.
2-Celebrate each answer you get and share the result with co-workers.
3-Give yourself a break, and know that it takes trial and error.
4-Nothing happens over night - allow it to take time.
5-Do first things first - I know I am low on gas, better find that out first.
6-When you get stuck, admit it.  Ask around.
7-Assume others like being asked questions.
8-Keep notes on locations, directions, etc.  It's easy to forget if you only do something once.

Handling the Web

Reading a book is different from reading web pages.  Most of us would acknowledge this, but we don't have different approaches to how we read, filter, evaluate, or use the information.  The currency of our culture used to be filtered through newspapers and books.  As the other forms of media (radio, TV) emerged there grew an immediate reaction and then thoughtful response to how it was affecting us.

Now there is a thriving and lively discussion of the Internet's impact on culture, reading, and even our brains! However, blindly using anything can negatively affect us.  Use the Find & Learn techniques discussed here to use it wisely.  Do not be afraid - web pages are not poison in and of themselves.

Media Wars

Many of us are numbed by the media wars - polarizing 24/7 assaults on the "other side."  It is very hard to straighten out the facts.  In a previous blog, I gave you links to various fact checking sites.  In a hard-hitting opinion piece in the Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Tom Ehrich writes about this.  The article title is "Your best weapon in a war of ideas is information" (Sat., Aug. 18, 2012).  Some important quotes from the article:

1- "I do recognize that being informed takes effort."
2-  "Dueling opinions are the heartbeat of politics.  Dueling facts, however, lead mainly to shouting, bullying and mistrust."
3- [when media outlets] "simply broadcast misinformation, the work of staying informed gets more complicated."

This political season, do your part as a citizen and work at the truth.  Our future depends on it.

Weinberger book, #3

PART 3:  He holds an excellent discussion of tricky play of diversity of opinion and information on the Web.  He sees a polarization – a great difficulty in having the right balance between too much and too little opinion.  He uses the terms which I interpret as:  

• ·         Commonality – the degree to which people in a group hold the same beliefs
• ·         Groupthink – when everyone is thinking along similar lines
• ·         Echo chambers – very tight groups that only include people who agree
• ·         Homophily—congregating with others who reinforce their beliefs

Having just enough diversity is the key to a successful website and to successful interaction.  You can notice if you are off track because as an echo chamber, a group usually migrates to extreme views over time.  And extreme talk attracts attention on the web and indicates a desire for homophily.  

I think he identifies some very important ideas in this analysis.  It is so difficult to assess oneself, though.  Without feedback, it would be easy for someone to move into an extreme.  The main tenant here -- seek diversity in the web sources you use.  Look for external opinion about the sites and sources you find and use.  Think about it.  

Weinberger book, #2

Weinberger is right.  With more and more information “on hand,” the greater the possibility that we go wrong --- easier to both get distracted and to stumble upon the garbage.  Plus if we are inundated with lots of words, we can become overwhelmed.  We can keep linking around, finding more information, and never getting to the end -- to make a conclusion or decide.  That’s why we had relied on books and major media channels.  They did the filtering for us. 

We are even quite sure of the facts.  Since all variations of the same information occur together in this massive web presence, how do we pick the true statement?  If anyone can post, then any variation will appear.  He quotes NY senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, as “Everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts.”  But we are living in a time when we each have ouur own facts and truth is questioned. 

He points out to the benefits of access and plenty.  But he points out the drawback of have a medium (publishing on the web) that is ill suited to helping someone uncover a body of knowledge.  Who’s deciding what does NOT appear – no one!

New Book on Knowledge

Highly recommend reading this: Weinberger, David.  Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren't the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room is the Room . Perseus Books Group. 2012. 

He says:  Knowledge has been about reducing what we need to know.  Knowledge is now a property of the network, and the network embraces businesses, governments, media, museums, curated collections, and minds in communication.  What has our Web experience revealed so far?  His five factors are:

•        Abundance. There is more available to us than we ever imagined back in the days of television and physical libraries.  

•        Links.   Ideas can be hyperlinked, and you can go from one to another with a mere click.

•        Permission-free. The default is that people can read, post, and build what they want on the Net.

•        Public. What you can see, generally others can see. The Net is a vast public space within which the exclusion of visitors or content is the exception.

•        Unresolved. The longer you spend on the Net, the more evidence you have that we are never all going to agree on anything.