(Using the Inter)Net Smart(er)

This week, we read the book Net Smart. This was as always- an interesting read, however I did feel that there were some powerful similarities with this book and the Information Diet. Such as, they both talk about becoming obsessed with technology and having an inability to turn off technology or get away from it and how it can grab your attention for far longer than you actually are aware of. These are just some of the similarities that both works talked about. The thing that we talked about most and that I found most interesting and helpful were the 5 literacies Rheingold mentions. He specifically talks about: attention, crap detection, participation, collaboration, and network smarts. These 5 literacies are supposed to help us to basically be a better digital citizen an become more aware of what we are doing and accomplishing online and what the majority of our time is spent doing online. This will in essence, make us more aware and productive by being more introspective while being online.

To break down the 5 literacies a bit further, the first is attention. Rheingold talks about how we can use our attention to look at all of the information coming to us in various formats and focus on the pertinent ones. I just read a quote from the MIT press and they called it a “tsunami of information” and I could not agree more. Next, participation with others helps all of us to be better digital citizens. It also broadens our base of knowledge and helps us become digitally literate in many formats. Next is collaboration goes with participation in that it facilitates new knowledge into the world in many new ways. Finally, we have network sharing in that he talks about network building. This is of course, the briefest of overviews but I also think that Rheingold’s ideas also would benefit us as teachers because we are constantly barraged with information as teachers (here have a pamphlet or another catalog) about products, services, and whatever the new “it thing is. I think we can use this process that he outlines to focus on the importance of what we are talking about with the students and cut out the extraneous details that are not as important because it is so easy to get bogged down. Like Rheingold alludes to, if we collaborate with each other and become more mindful of our work online, we could really end up elevating everyone’s life a little more, digitally (and make their educational experience better as well!)

Clarifying Copyright

While reading copyright clarity, there were several things that I learned. To sum it all up, copyright makes good designers because for using copyright well, you have to consider the whole project. The intent for copyright is to spread knowledge, even within the first amendment guidelines, does not extinguish creativity. I also noticed that collaboration is so important with the idea of copyright, even among educators. Copyright and fair use is not trying to squelch what educators do; it is trying to protect creators and consumers from doing anything wrong.

 I also really liked certain cases the book presented. The Harry Potter example from the book was very interesting to me, not just because it was about Harry Potter but the idea that you cannot just make an anthology of someone’s work and use tons of quotes and other things in there, that is against fair use. I really was happy that the man in that case was in violation of copyright because when I was reading the background information, I thought that surely there would be no way they would let him! So, I was happy with that ruling. Another thing I found interesting was when they talked about those infamous charts about copyright, which you see, in secondary education all the time! This is apparently wrong. I have seen TONS of those things, which basically terrify you and list all of the things that will land you in jail for copyright infringement. It is also supremely unhelpful because it does not tell you what you CAN do, at all.  It is pretty funny to hear Hobbs say that this is not correct, because I remember thinking to my self when I viewed those charts that it would be slim what you COULD do. I also liked that she told us several things that are misconceptions, like you can never copy anything to give to someone else (false), or that fair use is only applied to educators (false), or that there is no such thing as copyright bias from companies (false) and that they will not try to scare you into purchasing things you could use for free under fair use.

The ways that copyright would impact my practice are several. I think that for my purposes, I actually teach my students about copyright and fair use (in the most basic sense), including things like citations from when you borrow information from someone else. It’s hard for the kids to understand that they cannot just borrow whatever information they want and that’s why we also talk about plagiarism a bit as well. So, for me, this book really helped me for that use- it made me realize how to better go about talking to the kids about copyright. I also think that personally, it clarified a lot of things about copyright for me. There are still some things that I think I am unsure of about copyright. I feel that it is one of those topics that is hard to fully understand, and that is something that I personally need to work on.

Information (Diet) Overload? Real or Not...

The Information Diet was quite an interesting read in several ways. I really liked the concept of comparing food with information and I found many more correlations than I ever anticipated with comparing such unlike items. But, I felt that talking about all the different components that go into information using (like eating) really does have different types of information, not unlike when you look at nutrition. This all being said, there were several things that I disagreed with- particularly when he goes into the topic of "there is no such thing as information overload". I find this to be untrue. I think there is TOTALLY a point where you reach information overload status. I think that he literally mean that our brains make room for new information and thus there is no such thing as information overload in that sense- but I think there is info overload when it comes to how you personally feel. For instance, I recently went to Costco on a Sunday in Northern Virginia. I can almost hear the groans that go along with this- it was a poor decision from the start, but alas I needed some items that could not wait until an obscure hour during the week. (Sidetone: the fact that we cannot allow ourselves to go anywhere in NOVA on the weekend because we fear the crowds and the ridiculousness of the general populace always baffles me. I hope that I never become accustomed to it, because that would make me one of "them" the people who perpetually make the trip so AWFUL.) So, I am digressing here, but I walked into Costco and it was like a scene from either The Hunger Games or a movie similar to World War Z where everyone is scavenging for food after an apocalypse-type event. I am exaggerating, but not as much as I would like. There were tons of people everywhere and the line to pay was crazy- in short, I had some serious information overload in terms of the way I felt. My brain was fine, dealing with all the stimuli around me, but I felt anxious about it all. This is what I mean by there being such a thing as info overload. 

Next, I thought that infoveganism is crazy. I am so sorry to say, but it (just like veganism) seems to go way over the necessary limits and into something, well crazy. Like I said, I think this because I personally do not feel that I am obsessed with information to the point of needing to monitor it to the degree that Johnson does. Maybe that is because as a teacher and not a person working from home, I literally am unable to look at a technology device (that is not work related) for more than 7 hours a day. That is fine with me, but I feel that careful monitoring of your devices and making sure you use them (like everything) in moderation is a fine way to succeed in life. Quite frankly, I think that Johnson's level of information consumption before he started infoveganism was a little on the obsessive side. Perhaps I would need something drastic as well. 

This all being said, I did really agree with most of the points in the Information Diet, I also see the correlation of why we read it, and I felt that it was good to think about WHAT we are using, HOW we are using it, HOW MUCH we are using information, and WHY we are using it. Awareness about yourself and your habits are always a good thing. We need to do a lot of self reflection as humans, to make sure we grow and prosper. The Information Diet will effect or impact my practice because it applies to my students in the way of cyber safety. This is a new unit I am starting and the Info Diet gave me a lot to think about and incorporate into my new lessons. It is quite a bit of food for thought and I am working through it.