Scholarly Sources

This last week in class we discussed how to locate and use scholarly sources for the upcoming research paper. In this week's blog I will discuss some of the steps we learned and apply them to the article at http://www.sciencedirect.com.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/science/article/pii/S0747563210001184. In order to find a good scholarly source, a good place to start your search is through the university library's database. I searched through the peer-reviewed academic journals, which indicate that the source is scholarly, to find this article. In the article itself, you can tell it is a scholarly source because the article is broken into sections with each containing its own title. The authors of the article are both professors at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, which make them credible. The article was published by Science Direct which is a collection of scholarly articles. All of these signs indicate that the article is a scholarly source and would make it a good reference for a research paper.

The article discusses an experiment that was done to determine if training could affect people's ability to better decipher information in the presence of information overload. The experiment was done in an office setting and was conducted with a pre and post test with a certain training time in between tests. The results showed that after undergoing training, the employees were able to process information better and the training relieved strain placed on the employees. I feel like the information was presented in a clear manner and very understandable for all viewers. The article effectively presents it's case that information overload is a problem but can be helped through training. The article would be helpful to any office manager because the training could be performed in their office and would benefit all the employees. This training method could become standard protocol for all offices and would effectively relieve some of the stresses of everyday office life. 

It's Everywhere

I still find myself amazed at just how much information we are all exposed to on a daily basis and do not even realize it. Between television, our computers, constant cell phone use, and of course person to person interaction there is such a large exchange of information that goes on in a single day.
Take television for example. You turn on your t.v. and sit down to watch your favorite show, we'll say it's an hour long show. As a viewer, we get so wrapped up in the show and what is going on with the characters and the storyline that we don't even notice the constant overflow of information that is poured down our throats by the advertising world. I was watching the new episode of Sons of Anarchy on Tuesday night when it hit me just how much information we are exposed to. In this "hour" long episode there was probably between 15 and 20 minutes of commercials. And each commercial was different and exposed all the viewers to brand new information each time. This constant exposure is often overlooked by people and we don't realize how much information our brains take in on a regular basis.
Another great example of information overload is found on our social networking sites. I'm sure everyone reading this has a Facebook page so I'll use that as my example. Log into your account and look at the home screen. Just on this home page users are exposed to the news feed which contains every post made by every friend they have online, the message center so you can see who's online that you might want to chat with, advertisements on the right side of the screen, and not to mention all the links that allow you to change your picture, information, and status on your profile. From this one page a viewer can see pictures of his cousin's vacation to Jamaica, be instant messaging with his friend that goes to school in Oklahoma, and update his interests section of his profile. Now if that's not information overload then I don't know what is.

It's American

As I was searching for an advertisement online I came across a recent Dodge Challenger commercial. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk0e1VL80o) This commercial appeals to individuals who are looking to purchase the newest version of the classic muscle car the Dodge Challenger.
In the commercial, the company makes the claim that America understands how to make a high quality car. The Dodge Challenger is a classic American muscle car that has been around since the 1960's and 70's and has one of the most recognizable car designs. The evidence that supports this claim is not straight forward. By having George Washington drive the Challenger and use it to lead the American army against the British, the writer of the commercial appeals to pathos in the viewer. George Washington is one of the founding fathers of America and is considered to be one of the greatest Americans to ever live. The writer of the commercial appeals to all Americans saying that if the Dodge Challenger is good enough that George Washington would drive it, then it is good enough for any American to drive. This supports his claim that Americans know how to make good quality cars. The warrant in this commercial is that American made cars are better than cars from other countries. In the commercial, the British soldiers began retreating when they saw the Challengers speeding toward them from over the hill. This shows that the American made car defeated the British soldiers and is better than any vehicle they have to offer.

Searching for Information

In recent years search and information overload have become concerns of all Internet users. The easy access to thousands of websites by simply typing in a word to a search engine has helped to increase this concern. A new search engine company called Bing has come out with a set of new commercials showing the ridiculousness of information and search overload http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifU5FrugJ_k&feature=related. 

In the commercial it gives a drastic example of how information overload impacts Internet users. Although not as drastic as the commercial depicts, people are constantly exposed to numerous amounts of information that is not needed by them or related to what they are searching for. I sometimes feel the same way as the woman in the commercial who recites all of the information she's exposed to. Most times when I need to do research for a project, look up lyrics or guitar chords to a song, or I need information for my job I open Google and type in whatever I am searching for. The first few links given usually have the information that I am looking for while the other 10,000 or so sites have nothing to do with what I am looking for. This does not really matter so much when I am using Google for entertainment and fun purposes, but whenever I need vital information for school or work the information overload causes me to spend extra time sifting through the useless information in order to find the important stuff. Some people will argue that the more information out there, the better. I feel like this statement should be changed to the more correct and pertinent information out there the better. 

The New Face of Education

Technology has become a very prominent part of education over the recent years. As most people know it is required of students to take a certain number of technology classes in high school in order to graduate. These classes range from learning how to do graphical design, basic typing, and learning how to use basic computer software. However, now technology is being used in various ways in every classroom from high school, all the way down to the Pre-K level.

My mother is a Pre-K teacher back in my hometown. She has been teaching for over 20 years and has had to change her teaching methods multiple times due to the continuous changes in technology. She now has the use of 5 computers in her classroom, about 10 ipods, and the new Apple Smart board to teach her 3 and 4-year-old kids. She uses the computers to teach different counting techniques and to help her students learn letters. The ipods have different apps that the kids learn to use throughout the year to further enhance their learning. All of these types of technology not only teach the students the basic skills they are required to learn, the alphabet, counting, etc., but they also begin to teach the children how to use and navigate the Internet through various types of technology. As these kids learn how to use these technologies, I feel that it is taking away from what they truly need to be learning. By using technology, you require the students to not only learn the material they are required too but also how to use the technologies which is requiring them to learn and process much more information then ever before. If technology is to continue to be a significant part of education, can we still require students to retain as much information as in the past? Or should we hold them to a higher standard due to the fact that they now have more information available to them?

Too Much Information

Have you ever searched the Internet for something and Google gives you links to websites that have absolutely nothing to do with what you typed in the search bar? I know I have and it can be very frustrating. The website http://www.rkrk.net.au/index.php/Regional_Knowledge_Resource_Kit_(RKRK) has a cartoon that describes this frustrating feeling, and the confusion, that comes from such information overload.

In the cartoon, it shows a man standing in the center surrounded by numerous books, web pages, and CDs. The placement of the objects around the man gives the viewer the feeling that the man is trapped by all the information and can’t get away from it.  The man also seems to be looking around aimlessly at all the information and is completely confused as to which source he should use. This helps to identify with the viewer because most people can understand the feelings of the man in the picture. Every time I search for something online, I feel like I have to sort through way too much useless information to get to what I’m looking for. All of the extra information can be confusing to any viewer including myself. The color scheme used by the artist also reflects this idea of confusion. The use of numerous different colors for each of the sources shown causes the background of the picture to almost seem like a blur, which is a parallel saying that too much information can be a blur to viewers. The artist did an amazing job of conveying his message that people have become confused by information overload. 

An Early Start

I was reading an article earlier this week posted the Virtual Chase website website that was discussing information quality and how it is important for readers to be able to discern between correct and faulty information. The article gives helpful "tips" to the reader about how to know if the information is reliable or not.
As I was reading the article and going over the "tips," I began to see how the author was connecting to the reader. All of the ideas presented were directed towards a student-based audience and were there to help teach students about the necessity and how to find reliable sources. I feel this is necessary for all students to learn. While education continues to become more based around technology and the use of technology, students need to be taught how to correctly use this technology. Like I said in my previous post, almost all research for projects is now done online through search engines. By teaching students how to effectively navigate these websites and teaching them what to look for in a source, like the article does, it will make the student more comfortable with using the technology and all around better students. These skills can be taught at a young age and will follow the students during their academic careers.