Skip to main content

Is all this Information forming the Tower of Babel?



http://www.codart.nl/images/BruegelPieter
TowerOfBabelCa1556RotterdamBvB.jpg

You have all heard the story of the Tower of Babel. While the story is biblical, it has also become synonomous with all things in which multiple languages cause confusion.

I wonder if the proliferation of information over the Internet is our Tower of Babel? Do we have so much information and so much stress to try to organize all this information in our lives, that we are destined to bring down the tower? Will we reach a point at which our society can no longer handle the amount of information that is being thrown at it?

Of course, I don't know the answer, but I do think that the key to all of this is in how the information is organized. We need to drop our old ways of organizing data. For example, filing in file cabinets. With the amount of information that comes across our desks, it is unrealistic to file it all in cabinets. Our offices would become so overcrowded that we would be pushed right out. So how do we organize all this information?

We need to use tools like RSS Aggregators that push information to us rather than asking us to go to multiple websites in search of the information. I use Netvibes.com as my aggregator, but there are many to choose from. You simply add webpages that you want to get feeds from and they feed the news articles from all the added websites into one webpage.

We need to become adept at using search engines to find reliable, up to date information quickly and easily. The different languages in this case are the myriad of opinions and perspectives that we are bombarded by. How do we determine what is the truth vs. what is someone's opinion? Reading multiple perspectives and sources is more important (and accessible) than ever before.

As our students get older, they will be asked to sift through gobs of information as part of their lives. What are we doing to help them learn the skills necessary to do this? Where does this skill fit on the continuum of other skills we teach? I put it very high. How about you? What skills are more important? Which can be pushed lower on the continuum to make more room for this one?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creating Traditions

Over the winter break, my wife and I got talking about traditions. At this time of year, there are many. Somehow or another, the conversation ended up on technology. (I don't know how... really!!) We were talking about how traditions are a part of our core values. For us, a love of nature is a core value. We have planned a couple of family trips to take advantage of the nature that is accessible throughout our country. We talked about how many people, including us at times, feel like technology can be a threat to our core values. It might be in conflict with our work/life balance, our love of the outdoors, our perceptions of what good relationships are about. But then we began talking about how technology has helped us build on our core values. As we planned our trip to Utah to go to the National Parks, we used the Internet to research the parks, find a flight, book a hotel, rent a car, and look at maps of the area. We might use a GPS system to help us get around while we are there...
4 comments
Read more

From See Saw to Balance Beam

Lately I've been feeling a bit conflicted. I hear some people write very eloquently about the power of data. If we collect good data on our students, we can use that data to help inform instruction. We will make sure that every student gets the instruction they need. They talk about common formative assessments. They talk about personalizing education. I hear others write equally eloquently about the fact that easy access to information changes how and what we teach drastically. They talk about constructivism and project based learning. They talk about the importance of creativity and design. They talk about deconstructing curriculum and focusing on skills instead of content. And me? I feel like a see saw. One day I'm on the data bandwagon. The next day I'm a hardcore constructivist. And I often have a hard time reconciling these two notions. On my data days, I'm thinking about standards, assessments, how my instruction ties into the curriculum. On my constructivist day...
3 comments
Read more

The Well Equipped Computer Lab - Feedback Encouraged!

I have the wonderful opportunity (and responsibility) to research and select some software for our elementary school computer labs. I have a moderate budget, but it is enough to purchase 3-5 new titles depending on costs. The committee will meet throughout this year and hopefully make its decision by March. I am very interested in the feedback of others, both within the district and elsewhere. We currently have some software in the labs that are still being used. This is an opportunity to fill in some gaps. I also want to go on record as stating that I recognize that there are many websites, free or otherwise, that can meet some of our needs. However, as we collect websites for specific skills and concepts, we are learning that there are often drawbacks to many of them, whether it is the fact that they are not part of a cohesive program that can track progress and individualize instruction or that they have many distracting elements on the screen. I also feel strongly that the core of ...
4 comments
Read more