I was listening to a podcast in which Clay Johnson, author of The Information Diet, was the guest. I felt that I needed some clarification on what the book was about before I continued listening to the podcast. The premise of the book uses junk food versus healthy food metaphor in order to explain information consumption. In the introduction of his book, Johnson writes, “the information diet works best if you think of it not as denying yourself information, but as consuming more of the right stuff and developing healthy habits.” I find this notion to be important and extremely relevant to society right now. As I continued to listen to the podcast Johnson made a comment about people logging into Facebook and losing track of time. That hit home for me because I have noticed that I have been spending way too much time doing that same thing. I definitely have fallen down the rabbit hole of Facebook videos, quizzes, and posts.
This idea of an information diet can also be important to school librarians. According to Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21), we are currently living in a technology and media-driven world in which there is a large amount of available information and rapid changes in technology tools. For school librarians, one of the many aspects of that job is to assist students in the navigation of the learning, using, and understanding information literacy, technology, and digital/media platforms. The school librarian can use this idea of information diet to make sure they are providing the most useful and beneficial tools, rather than overwhelming students by showing them every available platform.
Another way in which school librarians can use the notion of the information diet is focusing on community. In the podcast Johnson made a comment about the importance of focusing on having an impact of your community and it really stood out to me. For some students, their community is as far as they will travel and I think that school librarians have a duty and opportunity to show their students how create their community is and find way for them to become a part of it to support its growth.
This is so true! I make it a point to not be on my phone when out with my family. I feel that they need my undivided attention and should not feel 2nd to a piece of technology. It makes me sad when I see a family at a restaurant and instead of talking and enjoying each others company they are on several different devices. This is time that you can never get back! Great blog!
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting the video and for providing more information about The Information Diet. I found Johnson's notion very interesting because I agree that so many people seem to be addicted to technology, but also seem to only be performing mindless tasks, such as playing Candy Crush, visiting Facebook, or just surfing the web. Instead, many people need to develop healthy habits when it comes to the use of technology.
This can also be applied to our students. Many students rarely read now days and do not know how to do many tasks on the computer, such as type correctly, use Word or Google Docs, or do research. However, they do know how to use social media and play video games on the web and spend most of their free time doing these activities. Therefore, our students also need an information diet, spending less time on mindless games and social media and more time reading and learning important technology skills.
Jennifer
I really enjoyed Johnson's take on how we consume information. It is so easy at the end of a hard day to choose only the gluttonous, easy, fast food media. Sometimes I feel that scrolling through Twitter is almost too much work to get information. This "fast food" information is exactly as Johnson describes it, easy but not necessarily healthy in the long run.
ReplyDeleteAs a school librarian I am aware that most of my students are not exposed to news at all, or if they are it is probably not in depth. It is my hope that I will be able to demonstrate for the students what healthy information habits look like so that I am able to help create lifelong learners.
I also took note of the comment in the podcast about focusing on local politics and community. This is an area that directly impacts our students. National politics are so far removed from the daily lives of students. I do follow school board politics since I feel that directly impacts my job, but I need to do a better job of following other community issues.
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