Sonia Acosta

ETEC 523
Assignment #3
Information Seeking Observation
Population: Ten College-Age Counselors from Stephen Benson Program for Students with
Learning Disabilities (SBP) for Disabled Student Services (DSS)
Place: Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) Center @ CSULB
Observation Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2015
What information is being sought?
The counselors from the Stephen Benson Program for Students with Learning Disabilities (SBP)
visited the Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) Center for a tour of the center and to learn
about the different types of assistive technology programs available for students with learning
disabilities. Students with neurologically-based processing problems rely on technology to assist
them with the course curriculum, so knowing about the technology available to assist students
with learning disabilities is crucial for academic success. It is important for the SBP counselors
to know this information in order to be a resource for their students.
How do they seek information?
The counselors from the SBP sought information by touring the AIM Center, and listening to the
Coordinator of the center give a lecture on the types of services and software available to
students, as well as give a demonstration of the different programs and equipment the center
provides. According to Myers and Knox (2001), there are five strategies to information seeking
in an organization: overt, indirect, third party, testing, and observing. The information seeking
behavior of the counselors most resembles that of observing, in that the observation requires
little or no interaction between the information seeker and the information provider and the
information is being obtained in an unobtrusive manner.
How do they physically and intellectually access information?
During the lecture and demonstration, I noticed several counselors took notes on the content
being presented by writing the information down on a notepad and others typed it on their
tablets. A few asked questions about what certain programs could do and who would benefit
from it. However, there were a few that were not paying attention and looked as though they
were surfing the net on their phone and/or texting. In addition to the information seeking
sessions, the SBP counselors toured the center and were able to view the equipment and layout of
the center, which also functions as a computer lab. Furthermore, the counselors were able to
view the programs available on the computers in the computer lab, but did not actually access
them.
Impact of technology on information seeking

Technology was very prominent during this information seeking observation as the topic being
sought was technology itself. However, it was only a demonstration and discussion about
technology. Instead of researching the assistive technology programs with the computers in the
center or even accessing the programs available, the group seemed to rely heavily on what they
learned from observing and listening to the information. There were very few follow-up
questions during the demonstration.
Intervention Recommendations
In the future, I would recommend allowing individuals seeking information on assistive
technology to actually interact with the assistive technology programs on the computers so that
they fully understand the benefits and functions of such programs for their students with learning
disabilities, in addition to the lecture and demonstration of the programs so that they know how
to use them. Furthermore, it may assist in keeping them engaged and more likely to be
knowledgeable and proficient on the topic. Based on Dr. Leslie Farmers Information Literacy
Model, the element of engagement I would invoke is Application/Use. It would be beneficial
for the SBP counselors to add to their knowledge base in order to offer advice and counsel their
students with learning disabilities on the services and programs available to them to assist in
their academic goals. It is new and additional information they can use and should be part of the
training for the SBP counselors. The AIM Center would be an excellent venue for
implementation of this as it already has the technology discussed. Furthermore, I would add to
the observing strategy of information seeking by also using the third party strategy and overt
strategy for information seeking, by making myself available for tours, demonstrations, direct
interactions, and additional information seeking sessions, rather than just relying only on the
Coordinator for information. Lastly, I would recommend to these counselors that they research
the different technologies available online so that they can acquire additional information
efficiently and effectively and in turn give their students all of the information available to assist
and benefit them.
Source:
Myers, S. & Knox, R. (2001). The relationship between college student information-seeking
behaviors and perceived instructor verbal behaviors. Communication Education, 50(4), 343-356.