Limiting Information

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.

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.

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.

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.

Learning in a Digital Age

Our advancements in technology are continuing to increase at a steadily fast pace and our advancements in the way we learn are increasing along with it. Students, elementary to college, are using technology, not only for social purposes, but also to do daily assignments or projects in school. Sometimes it is required to use technical resources, but other times technology is used because students in the technological age are accustomed to these resources.

This picture, from http://www.cartoonstock.com/,  resembles today's students in the classroom. The students confusion with the simple math problem is humorous which appeals to pathos, the audience's emotions. Although this cartoon exaggerates the extent to how much students need to use technology, it does have some truth to it. In every math class I have taken, since high school, it was required to have a calculator. Now whenever a time comes that I am not allowed to use a calculator it takes me twice as long to figure out a problem, but with that I also stress out about having to manually solve something.

This picture also shows the generation gap between those born in the digital age and those that weren't. They first of all accentuate the gap by showing a young boy and an old lady. Also in the past, the way students learned  math was by working out problems on a chalk board. Now students learn how to use a calculator in order to solve math problems. I remember when I use to get math homework in print and all of my work had to be shown, but now homework is online and any resources are useable.

The world has definitely changed since technology has been invloved, and classrooms have been strongly affected. The way students learn have advanced negatively and positively, but will continue to change alongside technology.

Information Overload !!!

Imagine a place with the delicious wings and other kinds of food, and televisions covering every wall with each one having a different channel covering sports news. Yes this place does exist, its called Buffalo Wild Wings. This place is a utopia for any sports fanatic, but it is also a great example of information overload!

I have already talked a little bit about information overload, but I thought this was a great time to give another example of how much information surrounds us. Anyone who does not believe we are overloading our heads with information relayed technologically, should believe after this.

Buffalo Wild Wings is a great place to go to catch up on sports games and sports news, but in my opinion it is ment for people with short attention spans. I went this past weekend with my boyfriend and would you believe we did not speak one word the entire time! His eyes moved from one television to the next, somehow not missing anything. He was being informed on basketball, football, soccer, golf. I didn't even know he liked golf. It was as if every time he turned his head he was in a new world. And then when I thought the televisions were distracting enough, he pulls out his phone and looks up a football player that he thought played at A&M. And no exaggeration but he liked a song that was on a commercial and shazamed it.

Anything we need to know is now only a click away or a turn of the head. It is so easy and more convenient to know anything. Yes sometimes it comes in handy, but other times it takes away from a normal conversation. What happened to back and forth talking?

Information Overload

Technology is everywhere in this new digital world. It is at our reach continuously in many shapes and forms and does not look like it is going away... ever. In fact technology is growing at a fast rate even with all of the advances we have made today. All of the information available to us now a days, with increasing convenience, is more than most people know what to do with. A result of this is information overload. People are concerned with what is going on constantly, whether it be with Facebook, sports, news, or music. On their phone alone people can look up a sports game every five minutes and text or chat on Facebook all while watching TV or listening to music. People are overloaded with technology on a daily basis. The convenience of having technology at our reach , I believe, is sometimes being misused. For example, when learning in school there are computers and technological instruments that can advance a persons learning experience. But these sometimes get misused by using the computers for reasons that do not relate to school. We need to realize that technology, though overwhelming at times, is here to help us when used correctly. Also, even though there is a lot of information that is available to us, it does not mean we need to constantly be aware of it. Technology does surround everything we do, but there is a world outside of it.