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Turning Information into Knowledge
by Barbara Bray, bbray@compstrategies.com
published
March 2001 | Vol. 32 | No. 3
Professional Development column, ONCUE Newsletter
A good professional development
program provides ongoing, sustainable support. The demands of technology
and an influx of information makes planning and more time essential
for the student program to be a success. But what kind of support are
we talking about? How do we facilitate effective results when teachers
collaborate with the time they have available? With more technology
in classrooms, teachers will need creative classroom management techniques
to assure equitable use and more time to design or expand units that
integrate technology and align to standards. To understand how to use
these new resources as part of the curriculum, a major focus for professional
development will be on information literacy skills. This is where the
user accesses information, uses it, evaluates it, and then synthesizes
it in their own words. An approach that goes a step further that not
only personalizes the student program but increases understanding is
knowledge management.
Difference between Information and Knowledge
To become a knowledge manager, one must first know the difference between
information and knowledge. The Internet is growing exponentially with
every new node and connection. Metcalfe’s Law described by Robert
Metcalfe, founder of 3Com Corporation and the Ethernet protocol, described
that the more people who use a software program, a web site, a game,
or a book, the more valuable it becomes, and the more new users it will
attract, increasing both its utility and speed of its adoption by still
more users. (Downes, 1998)
Because
of the expansion of the Internet, information is created by new users
more than ever before.
This also provides the ability
for every user at every connection with a knowledge of web page design
to become a producer of information. This is where the end user will
need literacy skills to determine validity. Information is treated as
independent and self-contained. (Brown, 2000) Think of information as
an entity, and information literacy as a process. Information is something
the user can pick up, possess, share with someone, put in a database
or on a website, lose, write about, compare and contrast, and so on.
Knowledge is more personal. It is difficult to pick up or pass around.
A user can point to certain information but not to the knowledge they
have. A user can hold on to information where knowledge takes a degree
of commitment and understanding. Information tends to be independent
of meaning. "I’ve read the information, but I don’t understand
it." Knowledge is where the user owns the information, understands
its value, and is able to use it appropriately.
"I’ve
read the information, but I don’t understand it."
Teaching for Understanding
The challenge as educators is to shift to knowledge management, understanding,
and production skills. In doing this, the focus is less on process and
more on people and teaching for understanding. This transforms traditional
teaching methods by providing clear guidance on choosing curriculum
topics, defining explicit goals and learning activities, fostering student
understanding, and assessing students’ performance. (Wiske, 1998)
Collections of links to primary sources may end up not making a difference
in a student’s understanding of the information unless there is
a system in place that supports ongoing learning of teachers. Teachers
need a way of assimilating primary and secondary sources, time to discuss
what they found with each other and their students, and then provide
strategies where students can personalize this information so it is
relevant to them.
Coaching Model
The coaching model is one of several sound approaches to professional
development. This involves real-world and subject matter experts who
assess the teacher’s situation through observations, surveys, and
interviews, plan with them to design a learning activity involving technology,
model strategies with the students, and continue support on an ongoing
basis. A coach can also search for information for the teacher. Most
teachers have limited time to search for relevant links or the appropriate
resources, so they need the support of "information seekers"
who have the knowledge. The coach as knowledge manager can be another
teacher, an outside consultant, the library media specialist, an online
expert, a student, other teachers, or as part of a team a combination
of any of these. It is important to make sure a coach is not relegated
to the role of "teacher aide" and that they have the knowledge
and expertise or are part of a team that works collaboratively to support
the student program. It is frustrating for a teacher with limited technology
skills or time to add searching for information to their busy schedule.
As part of this relationship, the coach or knowledge manager has to
be trusted and understand the teacher’s situation, and building
this trust takes time.
"Most
teachers have limited time to search for relevant links or the appropriate
resources, so they need the support of "information seekers"
who have the knowledge."
Staff Development Models
Examples of collaborative learning communities where professional development
includes ongoing support are listed below:
L’Ouverture Elementary in Wichita, Kansas was created as a Technology
Magnet. Craig Bright, (cbright@usd259.net)
principal, was eager to share information about this exciting learning
community and their staff development program. After school and inservice
days were devoted to increasing technology proficiency levels. A full-time
support person (coach) was hired to assist classroom teachers. Staff
development needs are reviewed by the technology committee and support
is available on an as needed basis. Peer mentors are assigned to new
staff to work closely with them in the classroom. The technology committee
and mentors developed an extensive framework and established resources
to support learning activities. Through an ongoing assessment, any staff
needs are identified and matched with the coach or a mentor. A scope
and sequence was developed to better meet and challenge the needs of
their students. Teachers utilize a sequential checksheet for assessment
of student progress that is aligned with their standards. The parent
association and other partners work closely in providing support through
fundraising efforts so teachers have the resources necessary to do the
learning activities. With support from an entire learning community,
students meet their learning goals. Please visit http://louverture.usd259.org
Emily Craft (ecraft@randolph.pvt.k12.al.us),
staff development coordinator at Randolph School in Huntsville, Alabama
(http://www.randolph.pvt.k12.al.us),
spends most of her time assisting teachers with technology integration.
Her position from full-time teacher eventually transformed into full-time
coach. Her position evolved from a faculty request for ongoing technology
support as they moved toward a student laptop program and support for
80 faculty members. The technology team consists of her position, a
technology coordinator, a system administrator, a laptop technician,
and a student help desk. Craft helps teachers design instructional units
which infuse technology into the existing curriculum. The focus is on
letting the curriculum drive the technology rather than forcing a technology
lesson into the curriculum. This commitment to provide a full-time support
team and encourage collaborative planning provides learning activities
that teach for understanding.
Janice Friesen (janice@more.net),
Area Instructional Specialist, eMINTS (enhancing Missouri’s Instructional
Networked Teaching Strategies) shared how a pilot project in 12 classrooms
around the state proved that technology helped students show dramatic
increases in learning. The program has now increased to 200 classrooms
out of around 5000 in the state. Each classroom has a Smart Board, projector,
one computer for every two students, a teacher workstation, scanner,
digital camera, and a laptop for the teacher along with 10MB connection
to the Internet. Teachers receive a stipend for the hours they participate
in training which is up to 100 hours the first year and 75 hours the
second year. "Clusters" of teachers meet on a regular schedule
as they learn to integrate the technology. The state is divided into
10 clusters where each has an Instructional Specialist, (CIS) that travels
to each of the schools supporting the teachers and leads training sessions.
There are three Area Instructional Specialist in which Janice is one
of them who support four CIS. Each CIS works with two groups of teachers
with 5-10 teachers in each group. Support includes not only separate
workshops but time coaching individual teachers. Technical support along
with curriculum support has provided encouraging results. Please visit
http://emints.more.net to see evaluation
reports and classroom web pages.
Conclusion
All three of these examples provide strategies that include rich resources,
a technical support team, and coaching. A consensus from members of
the staff development listserv is that teachers cannot do their job
alone. Teaching has changed. Students have changed. They need an environment
where just-in-time support is available, collaboration is encouraged,
and everyone is a knowledge expert about something. To be successful,
the school needs to become a learning community that involves teachers,
students, and partners. With the growth and speed of the Internet, it
will be more difficult to determine validity and relevancy of information.
If we provide the resources that Missouri put in their classrooms, we
have to support them. Technology does not work all the time and can
be frustrating. Teachers cannot be technical wizards, curriculum developers,
manage discipline problems, and teach to standards without the help
of a support team. I am recommending developing a learning community,
where full-time knowledge managers find valid and relevant information
for teachers and help them design and implement effective technology-based
learning activities that help students become informed consumers as
well as knowledgable producers of information. As part of this learning
community, knowledge managers can facilitate a team of teachers to participate
in collaborative activities where teachers support each other.
Resources
- Brown, J. and Duguid,
P. The Social Life of Information. Harvard Business School Press.
2000. ISBN 0-87584-762-5
- Downes, L, and Mui, C.
Unleashing the Killer App. Harvard Business School Press. 1998. ISBN
0-87584-801
- Wiske, M. Teaching for
Understanding. Jossey-Bass Education Series. 1998. ISBN 0-7879-1002-3
Barbara Bray (bbray@compstrategies.com)
is President of her own company, Computer Strategies, LLC (http://www.compstrategies.com)
and the new division, my eCoach (http://my-ecoach.com).
She writes regularly for ONCUE and moderates a very active listserv
for staff developers. To subscribe, write to techstaffdevelop-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Susan Birrell
