THE INFORMATION DIET

When reading Clay A. Johnson’s book, The Information Diet, I found myself taking inventory of my information consumption habits. I would consider my diet to be average. There were areas where I felt no attention was needed (using reliable sources) and other areas where I could certainly be more mindful of balancing (like surfing on Facebook for the latest LuLaRoe designs).  I believe navigating this digital world, with an abundance of information, is a challenge for us all.  Who knew of such things as churnalism, content farming, and media mining?  I do mostly only watch local news, preferably channel 4, NBC news and only watch CNN when something major happens in the U.S.  I had noticed that all of the different local news broadcasts, NBC, FOX5, CBS, etc. did tend to all report the same things, but I’d always assumed that this was because it was what happened, and everyone was on the scene. Now I know it is a result of content farming and not actual journalism.  I don’t even like listening to the news or seeing posts on Facebook, all of the rhetoric and bias out there surrounding this election and the Black Lives Matter movement. I choose to stay in my ignorance bubble.  I do not engage in any of it.  Just look at one person’s posts and links shared and you see information validation at its finest!  I was already aware of the vast social media mining that takes place and that it wasn’t just a coincidence that advertisements and such links showed up tailored just for us.  I just didn’t know the name and how large of a place it had in the industry. Who thought that being a human data analyst or creator of automated software programs to sift through our media usage, online behaviors, sharing of content, (even looking at our connections with friends), and online buying would be such a needed profession?

As I continue to reflect and be mindful of my own practice, I will hopefully more skillfully design learning experiences for both students and the staff with which I work daily.  It is so crucial that we are responsive in our teaching to such things as cyberbullying, having strong passwords, keeping private information safe and what the difference is between personal and private information, and how everything you do on the Internet leaves a digital footprint.  I am continually shocked to learn of nine year olds having Facebook pages, the potential danger of gaming sites and such.  We must not be illiterate citizens when it comes to information literacy and using.

Teaching information using and 21^st century literacy skills to students is a HUGE part of my job. I do lessons on all of these things -research skills, showing students the county’s online resources, web searching, evaluating sources, citing sources, and web safety.  Just last week, I was asked by the third grade team to do some lessons with students on researching and evaluating websites, along with other skills.  My response was that I’d be more than happy to help them plan a lesson or two to coincide with their curriculum, so that they would also be informed about information using and its importance.  Information literacy and digital citizenship is not something that is just taught and acquired in a few isolated lessons, rather it should be ongoing, woven into all subject areas, projects, and interdisciplinary in nature.  Not to mention, these activities should engage students in real, authentic problems so they can make the connection and see the application to their life.  With the adoption of the One to the World initiative two years ago, all librarians and technology resource teachers were required to become Common Sense Media® (CSM) Digital Certified Educators.  We are additionally charged to facilitate the CSM Digital Certification for our school.  This is to be done annually.  The TRT and I are collaborating on ways to help the staff become knowledgeable of what it means to be a good digital citizen, how to recognize reliable sources of information, and how to use information responsibly. Additionally, now I need to figure out how do I get teachers to see these skills as useful outside of a research context and to see how they apply to everyday content consumption?  I can start by sharing some of my own recent learning and tools with them monthly through a library newsletter.  Now I just need to do an affordance analysis to see what technology to use to best meet my goal.  Will it be with Prezi, ThingLink, word publication, an infographic, etc.? 

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 6: STUDENTS AS DESIGNERS

Students as Designers Principle states, “Good learning designs engage students in using content to construct meaningful outcomes by comprehensively scaffolding students’ ability to design.”  This can be accomplished by promoting the Creative Spirit of Design including design processes to allow designers/our students to exemplify these three characteristics: imagination, being creation-oriented, and interdisciplinary action. 

Last week in class we experienced this process of students as designers as we worked in groups to create a promotional video.  We were given clear guidelines/outcome, had solid background knowledge of the design principles and how to make an “in camera editing” video and Priscilla provided us ample opportunities for feedback.  We were allowed to have choice in what type of video it would be.  We also had voice in how we would demonstrate our knowledge of the six design principles covered throughout the course.  This creative spirit of design lead us to be active participants or motivated, engaged students.  We became designers.  Prior to class we had to first write a comprehensive treatment plan to include the purpose, audience, length and style, as well as, brainstorm ideas to get us into focus.  We chose to do a video chat which allowed us to practice the inter-disciplinary action, or collaboration, as we each have different specialties and perspectives to share.  We typed it up and turned it in for feedback before beginning the next step.  Then, in class, we continued to work as a group to map out the storyboard of our two and a half minute video to include the style of the shot, any technique to be used and dialogue between two teachers.  This demonstrated the use of our imagination.  Students should be given opportunities to plan the process around solving authentic problems so they can experience having choice in the best way to go about reaching the learning goal. 

With clear guidelines and expectations for the outcome, opportunity for collaborating with others, and providing students with ample opportunities for feedback, students can be designers too.  Having more ownership of their learning will hopefully lead to more engaged and motivated students who enjoy these experiences to show us their knowledge that is more meaningful to them.  I love the conclusion in the article that stated, “By becoming great designers, as encouraged by the creative spirit of design, all instructional designers are in a better position to develop educational environments that are effective, valuable, inspiring, and powerful.  They are in a better position to develop instruction of the highest quality that they can imagine” (p. 57).

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 5- THE MEANS PRINCIPLE

It was very helpful, once again, to do the hands-on activity of looking at two technologies, the Ozobot and Osmos, and completing an affordance analysis.  An Affordance Analysis is a systematic way of choosing a technology in relation to learning goals. The task paired with the technology allows students to gain certain skills or "affordances."  I learned that the affordance is the convergence of the attributes of technology and the activities of the learning goals.  I further learned that it’s all about the utility, NOT the usability.  It is not enough to use technology just because of how easy it is to use or how well it does something.  The first priority should be to ask yourself, “How can I use this technology? What are the possibilities of using it? What are the constraints against using it?”  Usability can often be answered for you based on what technology is available to you in your school.

Through discussing the homework assignment in class, I learned that sometimes one begins with the technology (tool) and moves towards identifying the educational goal.  I was not alone in having picked a technology tool to use and then working backwards to create a lesson around it. This often occurs with teachers.  They see or hear about this cool new app, gadget, website, etc. and want to use it.  Other times you begin with your educational goal and do your affordance analysis of the task and technology to choose the best tech tool to use.  After doing the partner activity of “Matching Learning Goals and Tool- Considering Affordance,” I now see how it makes more sense to first think, “What do I need to accomplish?” This means having the learning goal clarified. Then, considering, “What tool can help me accomplish these goals?”  This was my biggest take-away from last week. It all goes back to good lesson design- going through the SPDs, ABCS, and AeCTS to identify an authentic problem, activities, then figuring out what technology is best suited for the purpose of the task at hand. 

This leads us to the fifth design principle- The Means Principle which states, “Good learning design reflect technologies chosen after mindful consideration of the cognitive and societal consequences as well as a clear and appropriate connection with content and learning activities.”  This is one more layer to put into practice with lesson design. Being one of the media leaders in the building, I look forward to sharing this with the administration and staff as we work to continue to integrate new technologies into our teaching.  This principle is especially important when it comes to the purchase of new tools.  I feel a little sickened by the fact that I can think of at least five grade 3-5 teachers who are currently goo-goo, gaa-gaa about Ozobots.

THE VICTORIAN INTERNET

Wired city in 1890- New York Utility Lines

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Victorian_Internet

  

NOTE: My metacognition, or thinking, is denoted in italicized text.

What I took away most from the book, The Victorian Internet, by Tom Standage was two-fold. First, I truly grasped how significant the invention and use of the telegraph really was in terms of its impact on society in the late 1800’s/early 1900s.  It created an interconnectedness in terms of knowledge, interpersonal, and globalization that had never been experienced before. It had a huge commercial impact, strong military use, and even social use.  The book also explained the diffusion or process of use and then how new technology goes through stages.  In addition to this, the book illuminated the consequences that the use of technology has in our physical, social, political, economic and our intellectual or cognitive world.  Secondly, the book discusses features common to the development and uses of the electric telegraph networks during the second half of the 19th century with the Internet of the late 20th century: : hype, skepticism, hackers, on-line romances and weddings, chat-rooms, flame wars, information overload, predictions of imminent world peace, to name a few.

So how did it all begin and what was the diffusion of the telegraph?  For centuries people communicated across distances only as quickly as the fastest ship or horse could travel. Generations of innovators tried and failed to develop speedier messaging devices. Initially, the success of optical designs was invented, but use was limited because they were so expensive to run, so only the government could afford to run them and their information-carrying capacity meant they were just used for official business.  Also, optical telegraphs did not work in the dark (constraints) so careful selection of location was needed that was not near any water because of fog and mist. (An example of careful design.) In addition to this, batteries and electricity were not available in the early nineteenth century so buy-in for the electric telegraph was slow to grow.  After electricity was invented, and in the mid-1800s, a few extraordinary pioneers at last succeeded. Their invention--the electric telegraph--shrank the world more quickly than ever before.  France was behind in use as the French were reluctant to abandon old technology, the optical telegraph, in favor for the new.  Telegrams were expensive to send so only the rich could afford to send trivial messages so this represents the small group of elites using it.  (Could this be an example of digital divide in history?)  Most people used the telegraph to strictly covey urgent news.  There was also a source of confusion to those unfamiliar with its use and confusion of the electric jargon kept the use to those most curious.  (Lack of understanding often leads to misconception and/or skepticism.)  Once enthusiasm replaced skepticism, the growth of the telegraphic network was explosive. Telegraph lines radiated out from central telegraph offices in major towns – Each telegraph office could only communicate with offices on the same spoke of the network and the central office at the end of the line – Messages from one office to another on the same spoke could be transmitted directly, but all other messages had to be telegraphed to the central office and were then re-transmitted down another spoke of the network toward their final destination- finally needing messengers to take written transcribed messages to the recipient. (There seem to always be constraints with technology.)  Once the Atlantic cable was installed, the volume of traffic increased- the rapid delivery of messages caused information overload, and the telegraph was in danger of becoming victim to its own success. As stated in the book on page 92, “Once you’ve gotten used to being able to send messages very quickly, it’s difficult to put up with delays.”  The telegraph gave rise to creative business practices and new forms of crime as it “provided unscrupulous individuals with novel opportunities for fraud, theft, and deception,” page 105. Romances blossomed over the wires. Secret codes were devised by some users, and cracked by others. This cryptography by hackers created a need for more security systems and security measures. (Attempts are always being made to regulate new technologies and provide security to its users.) The benefits of the network were relentlessly hyped by its advocates and dismissed by its skeptics. And attitudes toward everything from news gathering to war had to be completely rethought. 

Many generalities can be drawn that relate to today’s use of the modern Internet in society and its impact on our educational practice.  Tom Standage states on his website, “The telegraph unleashed the greatest revolution in communications since the development of the printing press. Modern Internet users are in many ways the heirs of the telegraphic tradition, which means that today we are in a unique position to understand the telegraph — and the telegraph, in turn, can give us a fascinating perspective on the challenges, opportunities and pitfalls of the Internet.”

The first generality that has an impact on our practice is that human nature often leads to unethical use and use of technology for life-enhancement.  Choices about use will reflect human nature- good, bad, indifferent.  Tom Standage, himself, stated, “The rise and fall of the telegraph is a parable about how we react to new technologies: for some people, they tap a deep vein of optimism, while others find in them new ways to commit crime, initiate romance or make a fast buck — age-old human tendencies that are all too often blamed on the technologies themselves.”

What this means for us as educators is that our practice has to include empathy, ethical decision-making, and values discussions including personal and interpersonal relations. My building works hard to build leaders by focusing on the 7 Habits for Happy Kids adapted from Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.  I also work in collaboration with grade level teachers to embed digital citizenship activities into their lesson design.  One such activity deals with teaching staff and students to evaluate the reliability of information and sources found on the Internet which goes along with the generalization that technology speeds up the spread of information and misinformation. A third generalization stems from the understanding that to move technology into lives takes social, cultural, economic, and collaborative understanding and initiative.  This points to the importance of human skills as being part of our educational practice.  This leads into a fourth generalization that technology use changes the structure of authority. Teachers have to have a lot of basic knowledge and know how to use conceptual tools. Lastly, technology costs money – It is often available to the haves and not necessarily to the have nots.  We have to be conscious of digital divide both in terms of access, possession, and all the conventions that go with it.

https://tomstandage.wordpress.com/books/the-victorian-internet/

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 4: THE LEARNING PRINCIPLE

In reflecting after last week’s class activities, I feel compelled to say more on the articles as I now have an even deeper understanding of how they support the design process to foster student learning.  It all begins by using Knowledge of Structure, Process, and Discourse with Content as a Vehicle, SPD.   I grasp and wholeheartedly agree that we need to ignite a sense of urgency in educators to design learning opportunities by teaching the structures and processes related to disciplinary knowledge so students will be able to use their understandings to make meaning of them and apply them to their lives and the world in which they live.  As we worked in pairs to examine the fifth grade weather standards and design a lesson, I saw firsthand how “content can serve as the vehicle by which students learn about structure and process”.  First we identified the structures and processes needed by students within the weather standards as we browsed the different websites and online resources (both examples of software skills from AeCTS).  This was fairly straightforward, but the exercise of actually doing it reinforced the importance of having our students do it.  Emphasizing the role of structure over content in teaching disciplinary knowledge does make it more understandable. As I skimmed over the articles and my notes once again, I was reminded by two other claims that can be made for doing it this way: “If content knowledge is related in some way to the structural elements of a discipline, it will be more effectively remembered,” and “knowledge organized around the structure of a discipline facilitates transfer of learning.”  [NOTE to self: I need to share these articles with my administrators, teachers, and our building’s instructional coach.]  Then it was time to examine the discourse- a little harder for my partner and I. Thinking of weather experts in the real world, what are some of the jobs that they have and what do they need to be able to do?  Sharing amongst the groups really helped facilitate my meaningful understanding of this!  When we worked on brainstorming authentic activities- asking ourselves, “What are the things that meteorologists or weather forecasters who use the tools do?”-  It clicked for me.  We are teaching students modes of thought like deductive reasoning, analytical thinking, (the ability to identify relevant information), cause and effect reasoning, and sequential reasoning- discourse.  And it comes full circle- We must design opportunities for students to engage in the kinds of activities that support and shape their ability to think and problem solve.   According to “The ABCs of Activity” article, “these activities should help students become competent with at least four categories of cognition: memory, information extending processes, information rearranging processes, and cognition.”  As my partner and I created the list of authentic activities, the overlap with discourse was evident.  We continued to brainstorm ideas of background building activities and constructing activities.  Doing this led us to the possibilities of the clear outcome/product that would be part of the actual designing of our lesson and the thinking skills/processes that the students would need to utilize as part of AeCTS.  We asked ourselves, “What are we going to have the students produce to demonstrate their knowledge.”  Once we had figured out a clear outcome for the students to produce, we could begin analyzing what thinking skills/processes the students would need by asking, “What do they have to be able to do in order to do this?” We also thought about software skills.  Questions to ponder are, “What tools do we need to scaffold?  What mechanical skills are needed to use a tool?”  The most challenging part was getting the wording of the authentic problem down as we had phrased it as a question.  Asking an “essential question” as part of every lesson plan has been branded into my brain the past two years since becoming a librarian and teaching again.  Once we had the wording of our authentic problem polished, we devised an exit strategy (experience). Regarding implications for my practice, this is a lengthy design process that I am  embracing. I look forward to providing my students with more relevant and meaningful  learning experiences- Ones that truly foster 21st century skills/processes and will better  prepare them for the world.  (More details to come…)  Perhaps it’s time to have grade  levels “unpack the SOLs” again to truly understand the underlying structures and  processes related to the content in each one, not just the essential knowledge  necessary for mastery. Now on to Vygotsky.  I thought the reading might not be as difficult as it actually was,  because I had prior knowledge of his findings and the zone of proximal development  from my undergraduate studies in psychology and early childhood education. I was truly amazed at how succinctly Pricilla summarized the entire book, and I only needed to  write a page and a half of notes!!! Especially knowing that I had taken about 14 pages of  nonsense notes, before giving up after realizing that my notes really did not clarify what  I had just read.  So I just concentrated on reading more closely, rereading often, highlighting important parts of the text, and stopping ever so often to reflect, summarize,  and jot down key vocabulary.  Symbols are the tools that engage us in activities, not just children.  Adult learners, alike, go through this process when encountering something  new to them.  A symbol, or tool, initially narrows your attention.  Then it starts shaping one’s perception. When tools begin coming into use, one starts remembering or building  memory. Put to use, it becomes abstract thought.  When one begins to use all of those  tools and shape one’s understanding, one internalizes them.  The more one internalizes tools, the less they become noticeable.  When we have collected a set of tools and have  internalized them, we have begun higher psychological function.  How is this done?  The mechanism through which all of this happens is PLAY.  Play is learning versus  work, which is the application of what has been learned.  Play is purposeful and important.  Students need to engage in meaningful, play to allow them to interact with the concepts being taught.  As teachers design lessons, one should keep the zone of  proximal development, ZPD, in mind.  What this means is knowing what a child can do with help until he can do it on his own, and this completely depends on social  interaction.  ZPD is similar to the concept of a cognitive apprentice that was mentioned  in the Situated Cognition article.  It is here, in the zone of proximal development, that  teachers must take on the role of modeling, coaching, and fading progression.  Through socialization, a student uses the symbolic tools in this guided practice with the teacher  being the “guide on the side.”  Here, he/she begins to internalize the tools, and then can  start to use and understand the tools independently.  When using an acquired set of tools, the student has reached higher psychological processes. To put all of this together, we first read the book as a background building activity.   Doing the “Poetry as Discourse” activity in class was an example of a constructing  activity.  Here, the expository discourse activity stretched our analytical reasoning to  perceive how concepts are broken into parts.  Then we created the “Vygotsky Mind  Map” to comprehend the manner in which the parts are organized to explain the whole. Thank goodness for Priscilla’s careful course design, so I have success with constructing meaning and with my higher psychological processes.  Next up, to begin brainstorming the future use of all of this knowledge into my own lesson design. Design Principle 4 states, “Good learning designs engage students in “playful” activities at the edge of their knowledge and understanding using symbolic tools to develop and internalize meaningful thought.”