FIT: Dana's Notes

Dana's Notes

Introduction: Mike Eisenberg
Mike Eisenberg discussed the need for this summit, and he pointed out that the World Wide Web is increasing at a large rate. He showed graphs from a recent survey of UW graduates, which point out that finding and evaluating information is an important skill to all of them. The findings also show that first year students do not feel that they have these skills when they come in to the UW, but by the time they graduate more, (but not all), of the students feel competent.

Speaker introduction: Ed Lazowska
Ed Lazowska discussed the rebirth of the School of Library and Information Science and said that now is a good time for departments and schools across the UW to combine resources and efforts toward FITness.

Keynote: Larry Snyder
Larry Synder discussed his ideas on Information and Technology Fluency, which will probably resemble a report soon to be released by the NRC. He has rephrased the concept to reflect "fitness with information technology" - FIT. Information technology is defined as information, computers, communications, and software. First he discussed some background information which underscore the need for FIT, then detailed their approach, which breaks FIT into three components, and identified the "top ten" things in each category.

English is the predominant language on the web, and this is probably because U.S. industries have led in technology and creation of content. There are more freedom of speech issues developing, but the most daunting thing about the Internet right now is the rate of change. More web pages are created daily, and more people are getting online. This increases the need for universal access, because more and more resources which everyone should have access to are provided electronically.

He discussed what the "useful life" of a college education is; how far in the future should your college education still be "good?" If an average male lives 55 years past college, what should the class of 1944 been taught about information and technology? This is difficult to know because of the rate of change. ARPA was developed in the past 30 years, the first computer 50 years ago, and the PC became more known only in the past 20 years. None of these things could have been taught 50 years ago.

The term "fluency" is preferred over "literacy" because literacy has a lower connotation than fluency. If you are fluent, it implies that you have control over an issue and are able to manipulate it. This leads to FITFitness with Information Technology.

FIT is broken into three coequal, interdependent factors: concepts, skills and capabilities. He started with skills first because they is most easily defined. Skills are the applications, "computer literacy," and job preparedness that many employers expect from college graduates. However, this is obviously a moving target, as applications change daily. An example in this area is how someone finds information on the internet.

Concepts would be most similar to what we call "book learning" but are probably learned best in collaboration with others, not through a book. This area would include the answers to questions such as how and why does IT work?; what are the constraints on IT?; what general principles guide IT?; what is a computer?

Capabilities refer to higher level thinking, such as abstract thinking, logical reasoning, analysis, judgement and estimation.

The goal of FIT is not to have a test at the end which measures if someone passes or not; rather, a university should provide baseline knowledge and individuals should acquire new skills, concepts and capabilities as needed throughout life. FIT provides a foundation for life long learning.

Top Ten Lists

Making any top ten list is difficult, and he invites people to suggest an addition to the list, as long as they also suggest something to remove.

Skills

Understand operating systems
Be able to set up a computer
Be able to link a PC to a network
Be able to get a computer to communicate with others
Be able to follow an online tutorial
Be able to use word processing software
Be able to use graphics/presentation software
Be able to find information on the Internet
Be able to use spreadsheet software
Be able to set up and organize a database

Concepts

Understand how a computer works
Understand how an information system works (such as a medical billing system)
Understand how networks work
Understand about the digital representation of information what a "bit" is
Understand information structure and be able to assess it
Understand computer modeling
Understand algorithmic thinking and programming
Understand universality of computers
Understand limitations of computers
Understand the role of information in society (encryption, copyright)

Capabilities

Understand sustained reasoning
Be able to manage complexity
Be able to test a solution
Be able to locate bugs
Be able to organize and navigate information structures
Be able to collaborate with others
Be able to communicate IT to an audience
Expect the unexpected
Anticipate technological change
Think of technology and learn by analogy

FIT could probably first be implemented in higher education, not in K-12, because higher education is more flexible than K-12. Eventually, FITness should be a higher education entrance requirement, but now it should be demonstrable when graduating.

There are several problems with using FIT in the first year of a higher education program. First year students often do not have majors, extra resources may be needed, few faculty can teach all the elements which makes team teaching more likely, and the role of FIT in the curriculum is not clear.

Synder will be teaching CSE 100 "Computer Fluency" in Spring 1999 as a prototype class. It will be project based, and students will learn skills in a lab, attend lectures and complete projects. He will see how well the class scales, what the resource load is, and how a class like this should be graded.

Snyder also issued challenges specific to the University of Washington: Should all students be FIT? All undergraduates be FIT? Where should it fit in the schedule and curriculum? Will delivery be mapped to all units? Will FITness fulfill a quantitative reasoning requirement?

Snyder then took questions. He stated that he did not know if other NRC committee members were involved in prototype classes such as his, and thought the NRC report should be coming out soon.

What the Libraries are Doing: Betty Bengtson

The libraries have found that linked courses work well; an information resources seminar works with a large lecture class. They are excited about IMT 220, a new undergraduate course from the School of Library and Information Science, which will begin in the fall. She briefly discussed the FIG (freshmen interest group) program from 1987 to 1994, and discussed the role UWired and writing programs have played. She highlighted several specific courses for their innovations: Engelmann, who teaches Russian as part of the Jackson school; and Walker, who teaches Systems of Human Behavior in the School of Medicine.

She offered questions to ponder to the group: Who should share responsibility for FIT? What partnerships can be developed? Where should the curriculum be infused with FIT? Is the curriculum scaleable? What is the role of K-12 and the community colleges? How will we know we have FITness? How can educators prepare themselves?

Discussion groups

The participants broke into small groups to have a discussion centered around a questionnaire. The results from the questionnaires are also available on this site.

Panel Discussion

Below are the ideas which resulted from the panel, but I did not identify specific people who contributed them.

Many like the term fluency, not literacy.

The project approach is key.

Learning needs to take place independent of technology.

The University of Washington faces a challenge: will academic units take FITness seriously? Faculty need to be mobilized, students prepared. There are many passive faculty who know little about technology.

The faculty incentive structure right now encourages them to do other things, not incorporate FITness into their teaching.

How are human problems addressed? How do we mobilize faculty? Teach skills?

The book by Robert Evans The Human Side of School Change was suggested.

Students should be engaged in this conversation.

Bill 1729 is being discussed in the legislature right now. It would set up a four year undergraduate program called Cascadia on the Eastside and was offered as a potential partner to a new FITness program.

The next steps are Synder's course, publicize FIT through the report and a common voice through the units, mobilize departments, and engage students.

If faculty participate, they help control the content of FITness.

Is more infrastructure needed? Students may be a resource in teaching faculty and other students.

UW needs to be an information organization, and count e-journals and other technological innovation toward faculty tenure and promotion.