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Information handling and adaptive expertise

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Abstract

This purpose of this paper is to argue the case for investigating the culture of information in primary schools. Recent technological change has altered the relationship between the individual and information, yet this change appears not to be reflected in the culture of schools, especially primary schools. To this end the area of the primary ICT curriculum which is categorised as “information handling” is examined, to investigate the current likely manifestation of this culture in schools. Using Hatano’s concept of Adaptive Expertise as its theoretical perspective, the curriculum is analysed from the point of view of how well it is likely to prepare children for a life in which the ability to evaluate information will become a generically crucial skill needing to be applied in many varied and unforeseeable circumstances. Educational researchers have argued the case for change in the way we teach children to deal with information in schools; however this paper suggests that the existing culture of schools needs to be understood and opportunities for change identified if these skills are successfully to be introduced.

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Notes

  1. http://techcrunchies.com/mobile-internet-population-in-japan/ (undated)

  2. http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/07/05/mobile-internet-access-outstrips-pc-access-in-japan/

  3. QCA quoted by BECTA published on Becta website dated 2004 updated 2007; http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=cu&catcode=ss_cu_skl_02&rid=1701

  4. For example, History, there is plenty of material for teaching about the Victorian period which ended in 1902, and for the Unit called “Britain since 1930”. Yet there is little commercial material covering the period between 1902 and 1930, so children do not learn about the First World War, the Suffragettes and the Russian revolution

  5. Prospectus from a 5–11 primary school in the London Borough of Ealing 2003

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Goldsmiths College, University of London, London, UK

    Mark Hellen

Authors
  1. Mark Hellen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Hellen.

Appendices

Appendix 1. Units making up the Information handling element of the QCA scheme of work for ICT in key stages I and 2

Year group

Title of Unit

Year 1 (5–6 years)

The information around us

Year 1 (5–6 years)

Labelling and classifying

Year 1 (5–6 years)

Representing information graphically: pictograms

Year 2 (6–7 years)

Finding information

Year 2 (6–7 years)

Questions and answers

Year 3 (7–8 years)

Introduction to databases

Year 4 (8–9 years)

Branching databases

Year 4 (8–9 years)

Collecting and presenting information; questionnaires and pie charts

Year 5 (9–10 years)

Analysing data and asking questions; using complex searches

Year 5 (9–10 years)

Evaluating information, checking accuracy and questioning plausibility

Year 5 (9–10 years)

Monitoring environmental conditions and changes

Year 5 (9–10 years)

Introduction to spreadsheets

Year 6 (10–11 years)

Spreadsheet modelling

Year 6 (10–11 years)

Using the internet to search large databases and to interpret information

Appendix 2. Breakdown of unit 6d in the QCA scheme of work for primary ICT

  • to print a page from the internet

  • that it is important to interpret information and to understand it

  • to work with others to compare the most suitable sources and methods of searching

  • to type in a URL to locate a web page

  • to save and use pictures and text and import into a document for a presentation

  • that copyright and acknowledgment of sources is understood

  • to access an internet site using a favourites list

  • to use a search engine to find information

  • to search the internet using ‘and’

  • to use hyperlinks to trail an idea

  • that information can be skimmed, sifted, selected and checked for bias

  • to understand the importance of choosing key words to find information

  • to use complex searches to locate information

  • to work with others to interpret information

  • to look at information from different viewpoints and validate resources

  • to use word processing or DTP to organise and present information suitable to an audience

  • to use e-mail as a means of receiving feedback on ideas

  • that the printed information is understood (QCA Scheme of Work for ICT Unit 6d)

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Hellen, M. Information handling and adaptive expertise. Educ Inf Technol 16, 107–122 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-009-9111-2

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