Discussion - Information Overload

I definitely agree with the statement in the “Information Overload” article in Wikipedia (2012) that “[e]-mail remains a major source of information overload.” I tend to delete emails that look like businesses or advertisements to reduce the amount of emails in my in box. As most of the people mentioned in the class, I just do not have the time to read every single email that comes into my email box. I have started to put emails in folders; however, I cannot see that I will get much time to come back to them. I save confidential and important emails that I may need to come back to, or that I need a record for, such as parent emails. I save URLs in my Favourites if I like the content and I will probably return to these websites at a future date. Because I am not in the library this year, I unsubscribed to the LMNETSERV as I definitely do not have time to read. Also, I unsubscribed to the provincial teacher-librarian listservs for the same reason. I still get emails from many companies that I subscribed to for ordering purposes for the library; however, I do not want to set up those accounts again if I get into the library again next year or so. I change the colour of emails if I must return to them in the near future; once I deal with them, I change the colour back to black. While emails are a source of information overload, they are also a positive form of communication that I readily take advantage. For example, emails help to communicate with other teachers and parents almost instantly. Marks can be sent from Easy Grade Pro keeping the line of communication open with parents (I learned how to do this at a work shop Oct.19th). This is much quicker than using the telephone. Although emails are mostly time-consuming, they also help manage information in an effective manner.

Another reason for information overload is “a rapidly increasing rate of new information being produced” (Wikipedia, 2010). Any question that I want answered can be Googled. How amazing is that? I cannot get over the overwhelming vastness of the amount of information at the tips of my fingers. This also creates problems as one must double-check the accuracy of some information, but it is still faster than it was in the good old days of books and encyclopedias. When it comes to teaching, the internet has made finding an abundance of assignments on the internet that can be tweaked; however, this abundance of information also makes it easy for students to plagiarize assignments—you know—the cut and paste mish mash method of completing assignments. However, the internet also makes it possible for students to communicate with other classrooms from around the world; though, I have not reached this point yet, and I am not sure where to start. Furthermore, I am anticipating with my English 12 class that I will not have the volume of assignments to carry home this semester, as they are using a BLOG for their Independent Novel study, adding to the volume of information being produced. What a great organizational tool.

Moreover, the internet is a huge storage device, but somehow I worry that a site will cease to exist and I will lose everything. Changing schools has taught me that everything that one saves in their H-drive does not come with them to the new school, so I lost seven years of work. In the case of pictures, I am afraid that a site, such as Flickr or Picasso will disappear and my pictures with it. This creates a need for everything to be backed up to portable hard-drives or flash drives. I suppose that is a lot better than the several binders and boxes of English material that I have stored in a bedroom and the basement taking up valuable space. On the other hand, these photo sharing sites are amazing in that it allows families to share pictures with one another almost instantly. I have the wonderful opportunity of viewing and watching my grandchildren grow throughout the years, as my son does not live in the same city as I do. In the past, I made copies of picture and stored them on a CD categorized by years. They are stored in a shoebox in the cupboard. That is scary as I think of it now, especially as pictures are priceless.

Since I started this course, LIBE477B, I have created many accounts with different user names and passwords, so because I cannot use the same password or username for every single account, I have had to make a Word document to keep track. This will help me keep organized and also once this course is finished, I will still be able to access these places. I do not know how many times I have started a project and haven’t returned to it because I cannot remember how to get back there or remember the passwords.

As a couple of people in the class mentioned, I also do not have a Smart phone yet. I am not sure if I want the expense. I still have the old flip phone. It works for what little I use it for—texting to help my daughter save money on her phone bill when she goes to Vancouver. I received a Sony e-reader for Christmas, but I still prefer to read the hard copy of a book. Some people in the class mentioned that they still use the paper calendar. I use a planner to keep myself organized. I have to admit that I did not write down every due date for assignments for this course down for the first time since I started university (1999) and I am really feeling like I am getting behind. It is probably because it is my tenth course. Many people have mentioned Delicious. I think I checked into it once during a different course, but I am not sure how it works or what it is. I suppose that is coming up in a future lesson. I feel that I must spend or am forced to spend so much time on the computer, and I really miss having the time to go out for a walk. In conclusion, I have to say that I am not as organized as I should be and that life is not balanced. While computers make life so much easier, they are also very time-consuming.