Information ladder
Encyclopedia
The information ladder is a diagram created by education
professor Norman Longworth
to describe the stages in human learning
. According to the ladder, a learner moves through the following progression to construct "wisdom" at the highest level from "data" at the lowest level:
Whereas the first two steps can be scientifically exactly defined, the upper parts belong to the domain of psychology and philosophy.
The related model in information science
is referred to as DIKW Hierarchy
.
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
professor Norman Longworth
Norman Longworth
Norman Longworth is an honorary Professor of Lifelong Learning at the University of Stirling in the UK. He is the creator of the 'information ladder', a diagram which describes the stages in human learning.-External links:*...
to describe the stages in human learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
. According to the ladder, a learner moves through the following progression to construct "wisdom" at the highest level from "data" at the lowest level:
- DataDataThe term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
→ InformationInformationInformation in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
→ KnowledgeKnowledgeKnowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
→ UnderstandingUnderstandingUnderstanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object....
→ InsightInsightInsight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect in a specific context. Insight can be used with several related meanings:*a piece of information...
→ WisdomWisdomWisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...
Whereas the first two steps can be scientifically exactly defined, the upper parts belong to the domain of psychology and philosophy.
The related model in information science
Information science
-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
is referred to as DIKW Hierarchy
DIKW
The "DIKW Hierarchy", also known variously as the "Wisdom Hierarchy", the "Knowledge Hierarchy", the "Information Hierarchy", and the "Knowledge Pyramid", refers loosely to a class of models for representing purported structural and/or functional relationships between data, information, knowledge,...
.