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University of Tennessee

About ITC

Newsletter: Fall 2004

Information Overload

by: Darren Hughes

How can I help my students transform information into knowledge?

“In 1900 the average person saw 1,000 pieces of new information every six months. In 1960 that same amount of information was seen each week. Today we see that amount in one hour.”
—Franklin Covey

The above statistic is a useful example of both the quantity and the quality of information that we see each day. Like much data gleaned from a quick Google search, it lacks documentation and is, therefore, suspect, at best. Our students, however, often don’t realize this. They are bombarded daily by unprocessed information from myriad sources, and they are still developing the filtering, contextualization, and analysis skills necessary to transform that information into knowledge. Our job is to shepherd them through that process.

Try This: One simple method for reducing information overload, while also improving learning, is to organize online course content in a logical manner that mirrors your delivery of content in the classroom. A recent upgrade in Online@UT (Blackboard) introduced a simple feature that changes the way we organize content: In previous versions, we were stuck with default button names, such as Course Information,Course Documents, Assignments, etc. Now those names can be modified and new buttons can be added. To do so:

1. Enter your course site’s Control Panel and click Manage Course Menu.

2. To change a button’s name—say, from Course Information to Syllabus – click on the Modify button at the right of the screen and type “Syllabus” in the Area Name text box.

3. To add a new button—say, a Content Area called Unit 1—click the Add Content Area button at the top of the screen and type “Unit 1” in the text box.

4. From the Manage Course Menu area, you can also add links to Blackboard tools, other areas of the course site, and external Web sites. These buttons can also be modified with custom names.

How does this help combat information overload? Many Online@UT users still use the default button names, pouring all of their assignments (sometimes 40 or 50 of them) into a single Assignments area and all of their lecture notes and PowerPoint presentations into a single Course Documents area. Navigating through those sites can be overwhelming. Instead, organize your content like you organize your course: by units or lessons. For instance, a Lesson 1 area might include sub-folders that contain reading assignments, external links, online quizzes, discussions, etc.