Information Ecosystem

Connective reading and writing are skills that kids need to learn to use. Many students are used to reading in this manner. They skip and skim from hyperlink to video, to Flash cartoons, and then through to another site. They are used to their information coming together, being packaged and connected as they wind a course through the infosphere. I am often concerned about the depth of understanding and the depth of the reading kids do when they work in this way as the spend most of their time further pursuing links rather then in in - depth digestion of what they have read; but it is true that many students have a lot of experience navigating through electronic texts in these ways.

However, writing in this way is something most kids have little experience doing. They are unused to bringing information together, synthesizing, and drawing out new conclusions. I have been reading my kids' blogs lately with this in mind; looking at their posts and their comments, and trying to get a community built up and moving in the space of our new blogs. I have designed a Suprglu page for them to see their information come together, but the space often feels empty and unpopulated in many ways; a space without a history. It is like a new house, shiny and ready to be used, but still not a home.

A 2.0 information ecosystem is different, filled with the energy of give and take. Information ebbs and flows. There may be times (as with all of us) that we read more then we write, or that we are on a fury of writing, digesting little of what others say. But we understand that to sustain the information community, we need to be a part of it, prepared to share our energy. I wonder about that as we work with students in developing blogging skills. Many kids write regularly and want readers, often trolling looking for more comments, but they often forget they are part of the cycle of energy. If they want to take, they need to give something back to the community they are part of.

I am trying to get kids to leave more comments and to write more about what others are saying. I am trying to get them to become part of an ecosystem, putting energy back in, to replace what they take out.  This is a skill that can be taught. Just as kids can be taught to write a 5 paragraph essay, they can be taught concepts of connectivist, networked writing. They have full access to the tools and if they are immersed in the information environment, they can be taught to become part of an information ecosystem. And just as with "real" ecosystems, the systems the kids become part of will differ from each other. Some may have long response times while others will have shorter feedback cycles. Most importantly, the systems the kids become part of can be international, and they will differ from student to student.

It is about energy. About give and take. The ebb and flow of information across networks of learners. But the understanding of these networks as ecosystems of learners is an interesting change. Natural, and organic vs. something we create.

technorati tags: information ecosystem, learning, globalization