Imagine losing the most important and convenient source of technology you have..your phone. It is one of the only technological tools you constantly have with you and the moment its gone is the moment you realize how much you use it.
Last week I broke my phone and got my replacement a week later. I noticed that I was constantly reaching for my phone to look information up, to play music, to text or call someone, or even to take a picture. It was like my universal tool for everything. This is an example of information overload, having all this information at a push of a button, but even though it is an overload of information for most, I think some know how to deal with it.
There is a lot that a phone can do for you and if you lack ways to handle it then you can be overloaded with all the information it can provide you with. For example, all of the apps and widgets available to you are not all necessary for your phone. The ones that will be used are the only ones that should be downloaded. Otherwise you have extra information that you can overload on.
Understanding how to use and limit the information available is important for staying away from information overload. All of the information that is in front of you does not have to be used. Only what interest you, everything else is a waste.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Is Information Overload Really a Problem?
I have spoken about how information overload is an issue that is facing teenagers today, but I recently read an article that makes me think twice about it. In "How Kids are Immune to Information Overload", by Samantha Murphy, she makes a point that information overload does not affect teenagers as much as we may think. She makes the point that teenagers are accustomed to dealing with all the information and know to handle it.
Samantha Murphy claims some strong points that convince me, and her audience of adults, that information overload is not a problem, or at least as big of a problem. She includes the "filtering method" to be an approach teenagers take to decrease information overload. Unlike adults, teenagers "focus on what they care about", says John Barret, director of research for market research firm Parks Associated (Murphy). They are selecting which messages seem to be the highest priorities and then they respond. He also contuniues to say that "some kids receive up to 300 texts a day, but they aren’t responding to all of them....they are selecting which messages seem to be the highest priorities." In making this calim Murphy is assuming that her audience of adults think teenagers are replying or taking in every peice of information that they recieve.
Another claim made by Murphy is that language is huge contributor to minimizing information overload. She writes in her article that Erik Qualman, author of a best-selling book, says "kids these days can get to the point really quick in about 140 characters or less because of these new tools." New tools being ways of manipulating language and abreviating words. Here Murphy is assuming that her audience does not know how to keep a conversation "short and sweet." they are lacking the skills to do so.
In this article, Samantha Murphy makes some claims that show how information overload is not affecting teenagers, but in fact is affecting her audience more. This is because they do not have the tools or knowledge to go about handling all of the information and Murphy assumes this throughout her article.
Samantha Murphy claims some strong points that convince me, and her audience of adults, that information overload is not a problem, or at least as big of a problem. She includes the "filtering method" to be an approach teenagers take to decrease information overload. Unlike adults, teenagers "focus on what they care about", says John Barret, director of research for market research firm Parks Associated (Murphy). They are selecting which messages seem to be the highest priorities and then they respond. He also contuniues to say that "some kids receive up to 300 texts a day, but they aren’t responding to all of them....they are selecting which messages seem to be the highest priorities." In making this calim Murphy is assuming that her audience of adults think teenagers are replying or taking in every peice of information that they recieve.
Another claim made by Murphy is that language is huge contributor to minimizing information overload. She writes in her article that Erik Qualman, author of a best-selling book, says "kids these days can get to the point really quick in about 140 characters or less because of these new tools." New tools being ways of manipulating language and abreviating words. Here Murphy is assuming that her audience does not know how to keep a conversation "short and sweet." they are lacking the skills to do so.
In this article, Samantha Murphy makes some claims that show how information overload is not affecting teenagers, but in fact is affecting her audience more. This is because they do not have the tools or knowledge to go about handling all of the information and Murphy assumes this throughout her article.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Internet Accuracy
In class we recently read a chapter on the information quality of internet resources, in Born Digital. Although I chose quality as one of my inquiry areas for my english class, I had not done much research on what it was about. It was intersting to read about how accurate information may or may not be online especially with sources as regognized as Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is a popular source for any student, elementary to college, or any adult that may want to reseach a topic for work or home. It is trusted by most people and I know I trust Wikipedia to give me accurate information on anything I need to know. But when reading Quality, a chapter in Born Digital, it came to my surprise that you can not be certain that everything on Wikipedia is of the highest quality. People from anywhere in the world are allowed to either give the correct information to their best knowledge, or take advantage and post made up stories about important people or events. After reading stories where incorrect information was posted in Wikipedia, I am more aware and will be more cautious when using information from Wikipedia. In addition to knowing that this well known source can be tampered with, it makes me apprehensive of other online sources that are not as known.
I was someone who did not realize the severity of information quality online and I think there are many more who are the same. Many people do not think about the accuracy of sites and just use certain resources because of the convenience. But maybe next time when you are looking for sources to use in a college paper or project, or whatever you are using the internet for, just consider the quality of the information and whether or not it is accurate. Maybe compare it to other sites, do not just except the information because it is from a well known site or because it is the first link that popped up on google.
Wikipedia is a popular source for any student, elementary to college, or any adult that may want to reseach a topic for work or home. It is trusted by most people and I know I trust Wikipedia to give me accurate information on anything I need to know. But when reading Quality, a chapter in Born Digital, it came to my surprise that you can not be certain that everything on Wikipedia is of the highest quality. People from anywhere in the world are allowed to either give the correct information to their best knowledge, or take advantage and post made up stories about important people or events. After reading stories where incorrect information was posted in Wikipedia, I am more aware and will be more cautious when using information from Wikipedia. In addition to knowing that this well known source can be tampered with, it makes me apprehensive of other online sources that are not as known.
I was someone who did not realize the severity of information quality online and I think there are many more who are the same. Many people do not think about the accuracy of sites and just use certain resources because of the convenience. But maybe next time when you are looking for sources to use in a college paper or project, or whatever you are using the internet for, just consider the quality of the information and whether or not it is accurate. Maybe compare it to other sites, do not just except the information because it is from a well known site or because it is the first link that popped up on google.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Is technology helping us learn ?
Technology is a useful tool when it involves learning, but how useful is it really? Everday students use technology when they are having a difficult time finshing assignments and help is needed. Although it is good the assignment is complete, do they understand the problem they were trying to solve? Let me give some examples.
When I took a chemistry class, sometimes I needed to figure out names of compounds or how to draw the compounds Lewis Dot Structure. While I was doing homework I tried to figure out most of the homework problems given to me, but the ones I could not solve it was easy to just google it. The assignment was done, but did I understand why google gave me that answer...no I didn't. I did not learn what I needed to because I chose conveinience rather than knowledge. And of course when it came to the test I had no idea how to solve a similar problem. This is huge problem that most students have. We look for information online to solve problems, but rarely do we sit there and try and figure out why that is the answer.
Another great example is the use of calculators in math classes. Calculators are reqiured in most math classes today in order to solve problems, that are alot of the time simple multiplication or division in complicated looking equations. Today I am sure if calculators were taken away for a day in a math classes, most students would not know what to do or it would take a long time to solve a simple problem using a pencil and paper. We are no longer accustomed to using our brains to give us an answer. We are use to inputing it in a calculator and then the calculator spitting out an answer in seconds, without us even thinking what went behind solving the problem.
Sometimes technology that is meant to help us learn, can in fact do the oppisite. It takes away our ability to think about what goes into solving a problem. Technology just gives us the answer and makes it is easy to not have to learn.
When I took a chemistry class, sometimes I needed to figure out names of compounds or how to draw the compounds Lewis Dot Structure. While I was doing homework I tried to figure out most of the homework problems given to me, but the ones I could not solve it was easy to just google it. The assignment was done, but did I understand why google gave me that answer...no I didn't. I did not learn what I needed to because I chose conveinience rather than knowledge. And of course when it came to the test I had no idea how to solve a similar problem. This is huge problem that most students have. We look for information online to solve problems, but rarely do we sit there and try and figure out why that is the answer.
Another great example is the use of calculators in math classes. Calculators are reqiured in most math classes today in order to solve problems, that are alot of the time simple multiplication or division in complicated looking equations. Today I am sure if calculators were taken away for a day in a math classes, most students would not know what to do or it would take a long time to solve a simple problem using a pencil and paper. We are no longer accustomed to using our brains to give us an answer. We are use to inputing it in a calculator and then the calculator spitting out an answer in seconds, without us even thinking what went behind solving the problem.
Sometimes technology that is meant to help us learn, can in fact do the oppisite. It takes away our ability to think about what goes into solving a problem. Technology just gives us the answer and makes it is easy to not have to learn.
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