This year at school you will learn a lot of facts. Many of them will seem critical at the time. You’ll learn about math and writing, science and history, perhaps art, music, or a foreign language. But have you ever heard of the 3 E’s? The 3 E’s are skills that will serve you for the rest of your life as they will help you access, critique, and share information.
The 3 E’s are the ability to Extract, Evaluate, and Express information. People who have these skills can zero in on the information they need to make good decisions about everything from movie reviews to medical treatment, college courses to vacation destinations. They are also less likely to be taken in by the foolish or fraudulent information that is so prevalent online. Equally important, people who have these skills are more employable—over half the jobs in the US are now classified as “knowledge workers,” people who get paid to access, apply and generate information.
The first “E” is Extract: The first step to finding information is figuring out what you want to know by asking questions. Next think about the best way to track down the answer. Think about the advantages and disadvantages of various sources such as books, newspapers, and websites. Compare results from search engines including Google, Yahoo and Bing. Think about the differences between reference works that are written by experts (Encarta.com) and those that are produced by collaboration among strangers (Wikipedia.com).
The second “E” is Evaluate: Critical thinking is the single most important skill you can have today. How can you find out who produced information, especially on websites? What are their credentials? Some authors such as reporters, researchers or teachers are trying to make an unbiased presentation of facts. Others have an agenda. How can you determine someone’s point of view, and how does point of view affect the reliability of information? It’s up to you to evaluate information by asking hard questions: What’s the evidence? Does this make sense? What’s the other side of the story?
The third “E” is Express: Learn to express yourself in varied and creative ways. Writing a report and making a powerpoint presentation is a valid way of expressing yourself, but that’s only the beginning. You can also express what you have learned through social networking groups, photo sharing, spreadsheets, video blogs, CAD projects, interactive games and virtual worlds. Think about the pros and cons of various forms of expression in order to determine how to best express yourself for a particular situation. Who is the audience? What is the message? Will collaboration make the project better?
You are probably learning the three E’s while doing your regular schoolwork – but without necessarily being aware of them. Information management will be critical in the 21st century. Thinking about and practicing extracting, evaluating, and expressing will help you be successful!
@ Copyright, 2009, Carolyn Jabs. All rights reserved