Page 215 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

Although we have so much more available at our fingertips, we are not necessarily smarter. When a Google™
search gives you 30,000 “hits,” how do you know which one of those will give you what you thought
you were looking for? When information is available about how to build a bomb, is this what we should
spend our time seeking? Are we spending hours in front of a machine and becoming less appreciative of
the wisdom of our grandparents, who are only a phone call away? Does text messaging distract us so much
that we become unable to enjoy just one thing or just one person for more than ten minutes?

In this chapter, we will not provide the answers to all these questions. Our goal, though, is to make you a
more effective consumer of information—one who uses information to lead to improved knowledge.

WWW What?

The World Wide Web (WWW, web) was introduced by a scientist in 1980 to make it easier for scientists
across universities to share their findings and data. It did not make it into wide use, however, until the 1990s.
From 1991 to 1993, use of the WWW server increased 1000 times. (http://www.w3.org/History.html)

Now, the web has become an indispensable tool, for everyday questions and important issues. Where do
you go if you can’t remember the name of a rap artist or someone in your favorite movie? Probably to the
web. Many people also turn to the WWW for medical information before contacting a doctor or vet. Some
companies depend totally on the web for their business, not even having an actual storefront. Your future
job could well be in cyberspace.

But, as we’ve heard or even experienced, the web can be a dangerous place. Identity theft has become
insidious and widespread. Do you know someone whose credit card number was stolen while he or she was
making a purchase? Have you heard or read about problems with eBay? Because of its very nature, the web
abounds with incorrect information. How can you judge whether something on the web is fact or fiction?

That brings up another important distinction: that between information and knowledge. Information is
primarily any piece of data or fact that one uses for a particular situation. Knowledge is what you have
after you have worked through the information and made it your own. When you make connections among
bits of information and have insights about those connections, you are creating knowledge. As a student
doing research for classes and writing papers, you will need to be a smart user of the Internet and able to
turn information into knowledge. You will also need to be able to use all kinds of technology in order to
get and keep a good job. This chapter will help you improve your skills in these areas.

Here is an example from a discussion board about “Knowledge versus Information” that will illustrate the
differences between the two (reference and link are available on the FOL online resources for Chapter 8):

A customer contacts his/her broker by phone in order to conduct a transaction.
Customer: “I have an account with you; it’s number 4567. What is my balance?”

The Customer Representative (CR) obtains certain information from the customer
(account holder’s name, account password) and other information from her system
(account holder’s name, account password, type of account, any account restrictions,
and the account balance).

The CR needs to be able to pair this information with experience, insights, problem
solving, and the ability to make connections and suggest new transactions.

Chapter 8 — Living in the Information Age 209