[Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash]

We were both looking to learn new strategies that can better help us manage all the added demands of a career, family, friends, and going back to school. New challenges of time management were particularly interesting to us due to the context, in which we are learning now: online education. There was information that we have encountered before, but some of the following insights, strategies, and resources were new to us: 

Here are also some interesting apps to help online students to manage their time better:  Remember the Milk, Forest Focus, and MyLifeOrganized. This Ted Talk video by Tim Urban, entitled Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator helps students understand why they might be procrastinating. 

This activity led us to experience the impact of the overabundance of sources on our learning first-hand. We encountered a large number of information sources, which included websites, blogs, academic and popular books, images/infographics, academic articles, youtube videos, and apps, attesting to the various types of content outlined by Weller (2011). Here is a summary of the sources we have found, using a combination of different keywords and search strategies (including  quotation marks):   

There were several challenges that we have experienced with regards to the overabundance of information sources on our learning of new time-management skills. As Weller (2011) points out, “it is no longer the content that it [sic] scarce, but their own time and attention becomes the key scarce resource now” (p. 225). Weller’s application of the economic model of abundance to information and learning amplifies the notion that information is a commodity (ACRL, 2015). This approach to information has important implications on the learning process since according to Weller (2011) there is an impact from “sudden and great abundance of learning content and resources has on how we approach learning”. 

Even though it is possible to find a large number of sources of information today in a short amount of time (often a matter of less than a second), it has become continuously challenging for students to find quality information and make sense out of it. In that sense, an overabundance of information has also created many challenges for learning: 

• • keyword searching as a means of generating high-quality search results might not work when a learner is not familiar with what they are looking for. Simple keyword searching requires a lot of effort to sift through the content which is not high-quality; 
  • finding credible sources of information becomes very challenging since the speed of the information searching and its availability does not necessarily equal quality.  
  • because of the overabundance of sources, many learners experience a fear of missing some important concepts and sources. Furthermore, it can be difficult to integrate and apply these concepts (Weller, 2011) due to large volume of information. In the words of Stroll and Schubert, “data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom” (as quoted in Keeler, 2006, p. 112). 

Furthermore, information searching is contextual. While identifying time management skills was not challenging, the credibility of the information we found was an important aspect of our exploration journey. We needed to strategically identify what information sources we wanted to consult and whether these sources will provide credible information that will be useful to us in our particular context. 

We applied a constructivist approach when examining the pedagogy of abundance, as the information, and resources (Apps) found cannot be approached as a “one size fits all” solution. It will be up to us to construct and create meaning in what we have researched, put the knowledge gained into action, and then reflect upon the effectiveness it has for us to manage our time more efficiently. Incorporating new habits into our lives is not an easy task. It is important to mindfully dedicate time and energy into improving how we manage our time. Abundant content is not enough. In our scenario, we must take the information, apply it, and to reflect upon our actions to evaluate its validity and overall effectiveness. 

Developed in collaboration with Eunice Leung.

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References:

ACRL (2015). Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education [Text]. Retrieved from Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) website: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

Keeler, M. (2006).  Nothing to hide: Privacy in the 21st century. New York: iUniverse, Inc.

Pettit, M. (2019, February 4). 8 time management strategies for busy people. Retrieved from Lifehack website: https://www.lifehack.org/821945/time-management-strategies

Rampton, J. (2018). Manipulate time with these powerful 20 time management tips. Retrieved from Forbes website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2018/05/01/manipulate-time-with-these-powerful-20-time-management-tips/

Urban, T. (2016). Tim Urban: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator [TED Talk]. Retrieved September from https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator?language=en

Weller, M. (2011). A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 249, 223–236.