Are your ideas developing about the information society?
What do you think this term means?
Why is it important for the TL to have an understanding of the information landscape?
For me it was interesting to consider the concept of the Information Society as one which contrasts to earlier agrarian or industrial societies. These earlier ‘revolutions’ had a drastic impact on the lives of people at the time, and I absolutely agree that for many of us changing and emerging IT is impacting our lives too. The fact that I can engage in this degree completely in the “virtual world” while at the same time teaching online would have been incomprehensible even as recently as my years in High School during the early 2000s. Add to the mix the fact that I am getting notifications on my smart watch about my online banking and I’m able to ask Google Home questions about my calendar, the weather, or what an “information society” is. That reminds me, I’ve got to add milk to my online Woolies order … We are well and truly on our way to becoming Floridi’s “inforgs”, if we’re not there already.
I would love to see what someone like Karl Marx would make of our relationship to the current means of production though. Perhaps it’s time for us to write another manifesto dealing with what Floridi called “the tragedy of the digital commons”? “A spectre is haunting the world – the spectre of information technologies!”
The concept of digital poverty absolutely stood out to me as a result of this module and its associated readings. The idea that some people have access to technology and its associated infrastructures and some don’t has really hit home for me during online learning. I teach at a school in the South West of Sydney and we have a very diverse student population, including some students who come from families who are quite affluent and others who are in social housing. We therefore have a number of families that we have had to provide laptops, wi-fi dongles etc. to in order to support their learning online. However, technological infrastructure also plays a part in the concept of the “information-rich” and the “information-poor.” Some of our more wealthy families live in areas that are black-holes for internet reception, which has severely impeded several of our students (especially in Year 12!) from accessing the same information and learning opportunities as their peers. Digital poverty in an information society therefore doesn’t necessarily always follow the same lines traditionally reserved for economic considerations of the term (don’t even get me started on “alliterate” individuals, or individuals who for whatever reasons choose not to engage with authenticated, reliable sources of information. That is a separate rant).
I think that it is absolutely crucial for teacher librarians to not just have an understanding of the information landscape, but to maintain currency in ways of ethically and effectively navigating this complex and ever-changing world. Purcell argued that our role as “information specialist” was one of five key elements to the teacher librarian’s function within a school community. Even though she separated it into its own category (and placed it third in her list) I would argue that our role as information specialists is inherent to our other roles as leaders, instructional partners, teachers and program administrators. If we don’t maintain a deep understanding of the changing infosphere, how can we lead others in designing and implementing curriculum that is relevant to the needs of our students? How can we effectively ensure that our students leave our care as engaged, critical thinkers who will be not only effective workers in this changing world, but also digital citizens that can help mitigate some of the issues caused by unethical tech company policies (Amazon, Facebook: I’m looking at you) and lagging Government action? Our role is also to provide equitable access to quality information to overcome the potential effects of digital poverty.