THE IFLA produced a report on evolving information environment and the introduction of the the report states: “The amount of new digital content created in 2011 amounts to several million times that contained in all books ever written”.

Whoa.

Mind-blown.

This mind-blowing statistic highlights one the reasons that I’m studying information sciences.  As an English language and literature teacher I’m often aiding in accessing and evaluating information and then promoting and evaluating what the student can create with that information.  I know colleagues in other disciplines feel the same. Perhaps being a teacher librarian is the gateway to a more skills based approach to learning and one that is less focused on retaining facts?

Trend 2 in the report recognises that “online education will disrupt global learning” and ” non-formal and informal learning pathways … will become more visible and valuable”.  Great, I’m all for it.  Vicki Davis blogs about the importance grit and success  via edutopia and  this infographic from Adobe highlights the importance of creativity in relation to feeling fulfilled at the workplace.  So, the IFLA’s recognition of these trends is valuable.  Right?

CONCERNS…

The old curmudgeon  in me worries about the trends in the information evolution.  I see that students reliance on Google to provide answers seems to inspire laziness, not the perseverance Davis notes above.  The “instanswer” is often sufficient in light of the hard work it would take to read through multiple sources and locate a meaningful answer.  Likewise I worry about “non-formal and informal learning pathways” too.  The pessimist in me feels like informal learning pathways may allow some to deceive others about the rigour and quality of their experiences. For instance, some people are able to create digital profiles that are a far cry from the that person in actuality.  I know I sound like the grandfather that walked uphill both ways to school, but without some of level of quality control I think people may manipulate the system with ease. I’d be interested in hearing how other educators feel…

References- Thanks to the creative commons images via Flickr

“Mind Blown”.  Raymond Fruseth Gangstad. Retrieved from https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

“Concern”. Jurek D.  Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurek_durczak/2932836064