via Ed Sessions, Excerpt

The modern world has an increasing ability to make information accessible to people from all walks of life. Each technological advancement, in some way or another, leads to a greater access to information for people as a whole. Is this really a good thing for us to come up against? Or is it something that could turn out to be a perilous problem for all who are involved?

Brian Solis: Relevancy

We each face many different things in our lives as we come against new experiences each and every day. The way that we react to these experiences is what defines who we truly are. All too often in our interactions with others we get caught up with what we posses instead of what we truly are. It has been ever so popular to possess a nice car, large house, or best fit clothes. As we grow into the future, we find that these possessions still have great value, but the fastest growing valued possession is our knowledge. This concept of possessing knowledge does not extend to possessing just any knowledge, but knowledge that has relevance. Brian Solis mentioned in his talk at The Ed Sessions in November 2015,
“when you become more informed, you become more empowered, and when you become more empowered, you become more demanding.” Brian Solis also said that one of the most important things for us to have valuable encounters with information is to ensure relevancy. Our ability to sort through information in an information-overloaded world can very well determine our ability to have success through both the good and bad experiences

Are the Challenges with an Overload of Information Preventable?

Referring back to the talk that Brian Solis gave at The Ed Sessions in November of 2015, he referred to relevance on the scope of competition. If we aren’t persistent in finding that which is relevant, then we will soon find disruption given to us by someone else. Brian Solis hit this right on the head. To further the discussion on preventing the information overload that looms on the horizon for us and those who are to come after us—is the key for success in this area to instill a better internal filter in the minds of young people? Or is the key to success to limit the amount of opinionated information and information with malintent from making contact with them? It doesn’t seem plausible for us to do the latter, but we also can’t force a filter into anyone’s mind. The solution to this problem doesn’t seem like it will come through merely focusing on one or the other, but more likely through a combination of both together. A further question on this topic, is it right, or even possible for students to receive information that is free of opinion? Do students grow an essential life skill during their educational pursuits with their ability to sort through information? However, valuable of the development of the skill to sort through information, does it come at the expense of kids’ ability to properly learn the material? These are all questions that deserve consideration when discussing this topic.