The School as an Information Ecology: A Framework for Studying Changes in Information Use

This article explores the concept of the school as information ecology and proposes the use of this concept as a framework for studying the dynamics of online information-seeking behaviors of educators within the ecology. From an earlier study of teachers' online information-seeking behaviors using online survey and interview methods, four themes emerged: currency of information, sparking of ideas and gaining personal knowledge, resource management and the role of time, and webs of sharing. However, although teachers were using the Internet widely, they were underusing the online digital tools specifically designed for educational use. An information ecology framework would enhance the study of collaboration between teachers and library media specialists and of how this collaboration might affect desired outcomes of teachers' information use such as student achievement. This research might have implications related to supporting enhanced teaching and learning practices and informing preservice education and professional development initiatives. Introduction Schools are inherently information-rich environments with converging and overlapping multi-streams of incoming and outgoing information. Information is represented in myriad formats including state learning standards, district mandates, curricula, lesson plans, student rosters, individual education plans, policy and procedures, textbooks, online resources, budgets, and schedules. These examples of information come in a variety of multimodal formats and are accessed, produced, and distributed through both low- and high-tech means. Yet we must remember that humans "ultimately decide what it all means and why it matters" (Brown & Duguid, 2000, p. 18) and that it is "social forces that shape the development of information networks" (p. 33). Information Ecologies and Schools A school may be considered an information ecology, that is, "a system of people, practices, values, and technologies in a particular local environment. In information ecologies, the spotlight is not on technology, but on human activities that are served by technology" (Nardi & O'Day, 1999, p. 49). Constituents of a school's information network, or information ecology, include teachers, library media specialists, students, administrators, office and custodial staff, and parents. They act simultaneously as consumers and producers of information. Using the concept of the school as an information ecology can provide researchers with a framework for investigating the dynamics of information use by teachers and library media specialists in teaching and learning. The scale of an ecology assert Nardi and O'Day (1999), "allows us to find individual points of leverage, ways into the system, and avenues of intervention" (p. 50). Study of a school's ecology may uncover potential zones of intervention and avenues to leverage them that could be used in supporting the diffusion of innovations such as advanced information seeking behavior and its sustainability. An information ecology is similar to a biological ecology in that it is marked by "strong interrelationships and dependencies among its different parts" (Nardi & O'Day, 1999, p. 51). In addition, any change in the ecology is systemic. Nardi and O'Day point out that: "When one element is changed, effects can be felt throughout the whole system. Local changes can disappear without a trace if they are incompatible with the rest of the system" (p. 51). An emphasis on understanding the role of locality and context is a central feature of studying information ecologies, and this focus distinguishes it from a typical systems view. Copy shops and libraries are two examples cited by Nardi and O'Day (1999) of "systems of people, practices, values, and technologies in a particular local environment" p. 49). They note that a self-service copy shop comprises paper, copy machines, scissors, a computer expert, and so forth, whereas a library comprises humans and multimodal (print and nonprint) resources, and in each of these venues, "humans help other humans use technology" (p. …