Information grazing

Information grazing is the acquiring of needed knowledge just in time to quickly solve problems or answer questions. Unlike tradition learning where one could hope to be a "renaissance man" or know a subject in total, information grazing assumes that the subject of study is so large or so fast changing, that prior learning is either insufficient or obsolete to solve "new" problems. This change from in depth learning and memorizing everything to a find the facts and forget mentality comes from the technological singularity concept that information is growing so fast (Information explosion) that humans can no longer keep up with some fields of knowledge. The Internet and modern computer cataloging of libraries has led to knowledge being accessible in near real time and in incomprehensible large quantities. As more future advances in search engine and library services come available, the information overload trend is expected to worsen, information grazing will become more prevalent to deal with the overload.

Disadvantages of information grazing comes from its advantages. Switching from a "fixed" sources of information that is constant, verifiable, and worth memorizing to "fluid" sources that are always in flux, can lead to quick solutions that are unverified or worse incorrect. As information becomes more like an instantaneous consumable item, memorization is less fact based but more procedural (i.e. how to find it). Similar concepts are found in Japanese education where after intense study of many unconnected facts, most of the information is forgotten or if remembered, not connected to other relevant facts. In The USA, this is similar to cramming an exam. Information grazing may have have the same affect but greater since it is done over the period of years.

See also

sparknotes. Used often to "read" books in a few minutes.

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/ Growing Up Online "Frontline" Jan 2008] The sections on school work and report writing.