I found the whole concept of thinking about information interesting. I particularly connected to the PowerPoint slides and my current state of affairs in my family…choosing a high school for my daughter. Our state of chaos!
Gliding through the slideshow, I began to ponder the first statement on page 2, Learning is about knowledge. One cannot exist without the other.
But information systems have their limitations. (page 3). For two weeks in a row, my husband, daughter and I have explored 2 local high schools at their open days. “They’re like chalk and cheese really,” was a comment from my husband today. We began to weigh up the pros and cons of each and discovered that although from our point of view one clearly outweighed the other in the facilities and subject offerings, our daughter was sold on the simpler school.
This all came down to the information hierarchy as seen on page 4 and ultimately decisions can be made more clearly with both knowledge and experience. The decision will eventually, I believe, come down to the Community of Practise. Our daughter is primarily interested in the “assembly” of like-minded people. The school she continues to favour, although with what my husband and I perceived as having inferior facilities, is closer to home, most of her friends will attend, it is smaller (which she prefers), and it made her feel more comfortable.
I found the linking of this personal experience to what I have learnt in this section, gave me perspective about why she wants to go to the high school of her choice (and not necessarily her parents choice. It has shown me why it is important to her to go to a school where shared backgrounds, common purposes and social interactions are also pivotal in dynamic learning.
We are on our way to wisdom, just hope we don’t hit “information overload”.
Resources
Wideman, R.M. (2008). The Information Hierarchy. [Powerpoint slides]
