The Information Diet and the SSCCS
Reading The Information Diet made me reflect on my information consumption habits and challenged some preconceptions I had about the power of media. The first thing I found interesting was the food/obesity analogy; it helped me make sense of the concepts in the book as they became concrete. It also made me question several things, what kind of nutrients am I feeding in my mind? Am I having too much junk information? And, how can I find wholesome information that will actually enrich my diet?
Reading the symptoms of information obesity, I realized I am indeed "obese" or at least on my way to it. And what is worst I am guilty of blaming others for the way I got here. I used to think there was an information overload and that media wanted to control the way we think by manipulating information, now I know that the information I get is a direct result of the way I interact with it. I am just listening what I want to listen, and I have filtered other points of view like they didn't exist.
After realizing I was obese, I was thankful that the attention fitness section provided some guidelines to get back into shape. Willpower, measurement, elimination, and training seem like aspects I can start to control. As a real diet I don't expect to be "fit" overnight I know it would take some time, but at least now I am aware of how I consume information and how I can do it better.
In our class discussion, I looked at this issue from my teaching role. Now that I know where I am and how to be a "healthy informational eater" the question was; how can I help my students to get there too? We learned about a new tool, the SSCCS (search, sort, create, communicate, synthesis) that is connected to the AeCTS and the ABCS. Using this tool will help my students get the information using part of the PICKLE. Right now I still feel it will be a challenge as I am just starting my own “diet" I know it would take me some time to teach my students how to do it on their own. But is a challenge I am willing to take.
Your point about viewing this like a real diet is definitely spot on! Our students do sometimes want to use technology to take the easy way out. We need to teach them that life is not like this. Technology isn’t the instant “get fit” remedy. Even when using technology, it takes thoughtful consideration and effort to use the technology properly.
ReplyDeleteI also think students sometimes get caught up in wanting to use the same resources for information using purposes and I like to teach them to broaden their horizons (respectfully and wisely) so that they're acquiring information from multiple sources/positions without having to be overloaded by the many options out there.
ReplyDeleteI have the same question. How do we get our students to be good information users? If most of us have a poor diets of information consumption I bet the parents of our students do too. I wonder if a monthly column in the school newsletter about information consumption could help educate parents on their own consumption would help us teach children about theirs.
ReplyDeleteThis book was certainly eye opening for me as well both as a information consumer and a teacher, but I think you are on to something starting with yourself first and then build awareness with your student using the components of SSCCS.
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