This is a great book that compares information usage to
food. Today there exist an abundance of
cheap food caused by the industrialization of the food industry. This cheap manufactured food is overconsumed
and a cause of the obesity epidemic. The
author states the best and most simple food diet is “Eat food. Not too much.
Mostly Plants”. This
overconsumption of what I like to refer to as “crap” mirrors information
consumption. Information is industrialized
into “information farms”. It is no
longer fact checked and we get it far from its source. It is abundant, everywhere, and can cause one
to be unhealthy. A good information diet
can be stated as simple as the nutrition diet.
“Read. Not too much. Mostly facts”.
I have some poor information consuming habits that I am now
changing. Last week I was watching a
football game. I had my laptop on my lap
preparing to do schoolwork during commercial breaks. I also had my cellphone in my hand scrolling
social media. That’s 3 devices streaming
information! I was binge consuming. None of it of substance but highly
addictive. Once I realized what was
happening. I turned my phone off and put
the computer to my side with the purpose of picking it up to work during breaks
in the game. Not having my devices made
me uncomfortable. Just focusing on
television wasn’t enough to satisfy. I
needed multiple sources of information.
It was all crap.
In the classroom we need to not only give students healthy
factual information but we need to teach them how to consume healthy
information themselves. With the
abundance of crap available, students need to be able to search for information
they need. Then sort the quality information, sifting the crap out. Then
synthesize the information into its summary.
Building good information habits in students is vital to having a
healthy society.
Is it any wonder that students aren’t engaged in the classroom or have a difficult time paying attention? At home, they probably consume information in a manner similar to what is described in this post. Not only are students used to a binge of information (too much stimulation), but they also probably have a few poorly designed classes. In addition to teaching them how to sort, we also need to teach them to be thorough with each individual source instead of trying to evaluate several sources at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI think this is why it's especially important to design useful, thought out learning experiences for students so that when they are using technology they're using it in meaningful ways and not just garbage time.
ReplyDeleteSince reading this book, I too found myself having the same serious reflections about my own technology consumption and it is not a pretty picture. Through reflection and practicing "healthy" habits we can set a better example for our students and see a need for SSCCS lessons .
ReplyDeleteI think that you mentioned an important point about how we need to go beyond "feeding" students with quality information to actually teach them how to find and judge that information on their own. I agree with you that reflecting on our behavior and changing our poor diet habits is the first step to model for our students.
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