Tag: Information Behaviour

Module 2 Education Informatics

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Education informatics has influenced how learners and stakeholders engage in learning and instruction. Data collected through information systems is analyzed based on the user’s information behaviour whereby relationships can be identified. Informatics supports the improvement in educational systems through data collection and analysis for teachers, students, instructional resources and assessment results. The data assists educators in differentiating instruction, creating individualized education programs for students and curate resources. Educators can best respond to students’ needs through the support of informatics discovery information and resources to facilitate learning (Mardis, 2004).

Educational informatics is made available through the implementation of technology into learning environments. Technology has changed the learning environment, expanding it beyond classroom walls to encompass a virtual learning environment. Devices, software and programs have dictated how technology supports education. These technological factors control how technology is used by educators and students; they also collect data that can be analyzed to continually improve education with a data-driven focus. Prior to technology integration, data was limited to assessments and standardized tests. It is through programs such as Google analytics that programs can be adapted to suit student and educator’s needs. The continual feedback cycle is responsive as users continue to interact with Web 2.0.

Technology in education has changed the process and tools available to support students. Researchers have studied the effective use of technology to support student learning and technology-based pedagogical practices. How technology is used in the classroom is the next step for researchers according to Selwyn (2010). Innovation is driven by businesses and has quickly adapted society through the ever-evolving production and advancements of technology.

References
Mardis, M. A. (2014). Mapping an Agenda for Education Informatics in the K-12 Domain. iConference 2014 Proceedings. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2142/47379

Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: notes towards the critical study of educational technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 65–73. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x

Module 4: Information behaviour and knowledge construction in game environments

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Information literacy is the ability to find, process and analyze and evaluate information. Information literacy is an essential skill in the 21st century, it’s a soft skill students need to develop to become productive members of society (Christe, Mathur, Lee, Mazur, Badurek, Bhatt & Morton, 2016). Schools today don’t have an effective resource or tool to teach students information literacy skills. Informaiton literacy is not apart of the Ontario curriculum, therefore there is no priority to explicitly instruct students. Informaiton literacy is more than identifying the need for information and locating it but rather requires critical thinking to determine if the information is relevant and creditable.

How does game-based learning support student’s acquisition of information literacy? When students play educational games, students learn by actively participating, they learn by doing. Students are intrinsically motivated through a relevant teaching tool – video games. Information is power, is a common phrase in North America. It rings true in this module as I explored how information is a form of currency (Latham & Hollister, 2013).

Human behaviour is affected by how individuals seek and use information – there are many theories that explain the phases of human behaviour that begin informaiton seeking to finally verify informaiton. According to Robson & Robinson (2013), there are factors that affect informaiton behaviour – context, demographics, expertise, psychological, needs and wants. Within the context of a video, players gather information and process it based on their experiences and perspectives. Players will perceive a game and its meanings differently based on these factors. How a player reacts and responds to the information in a game will also be affected by these factors.

There are many factors that game developers use to motivate players to continue to interact and engage through the digital game medium. Various types of immersion, narratives, interactions, events, sensory stimulus, rewards and challenges. There is an opportunity for educational games to support student learning through game development with curriculum content. When students engage in digital gameplay they are immersed in the narrative and mechanics of the game. The medium lends itself to students gathering information through gameplay and critically thinking about it before responding to the game. Students not only learn the specific learning outcome of curriculum content but foster information literacy skills.

References

Christe, D., Mathur, R., Lee, S., Mazur, K.,  Badurek, C., Bhatt, J. & Morton, M. (2016). A game-based learning approach to information literacy. Knovel Global Academic Challenge, Elsevier.

Latham, D., & Hollister, J. M. (2013). The games people play: Information and media literacies in the Hunger Games trilogy. Children’s Literature in Education, 45(1), 33–46. doi:10.1007/s10583-013-9200-0

Robson, A. & Robinson, L. (2013). Building on models of information behaviour: linking information seeking and communication. Journal of Documentation, 69(2), 169–193. doi:10.1108/00220411311300039

Module 2 Knowledge flow and the information environment

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One of the main takeaways from Module 2 reading and learning was the benefits of social learning and computational thinking as a method to promote student learning. I have integrated social learning into the classroom in the past through inside-outside circle, sharing circles, think pair share activities. I think my motivation for incorporating these models was more for a collaboration piece, “two heads are better than one”. I hadn’t truly connected that social learning is a motivator for students. Computational thinking is a problem-solving approach that decomposes large problems into smaller sequential problems.

Information behaviour was another big idea throughout the module that was new for me. Information behaviour is the ways humans interact with information, what information they seek and retrieve and the methods to seek information and how the information is used. Information seeking occurs to meet a need, fill a knowledge gap or solve a problem. Information retrieval is how information is found. I didn’t realize there actual degrees in the field of informatics. I see that the University of Waterloo and Toronto in the Province of Ontario, Canada both offer courses. It makes sense that companies such as Google and Amazon would value this information, but I didn’t know that employment or educational opportunities existed within the field of information behaviour and informatics. I am embarrassed about this as an educator in the elementary panel how to best prepare students for the future if I don’t even know what degree programs and employment sectors are available?

Finally, the alignment of Blooms Taxonomy with digital tools, systems and platforms was insightful for me as a resource teacher. Linking the depth of how students learn and apply their learning through different tools that available supports how I can scaffold digital tools into programming. The purpose of embedding digital technologies is to foster critical thinking skills, knowledge creation and connected learning. The confines of the classroom boundaries are pushed by the ability for students to collaborate with professionals, students in a different country and critique others learning that has been shared on the Web 2.0. Connectivism is a developing learning theory that supports the expansion of digital tools available and how the integration of these tools support students learning.

Students using Scratch coding to animate a story
Students learning together about movement using robotics