From data to knowledge
A thermometer on the school wall shows 31. The number 31 alone is data: a raw fact with no job to do. Now add a meaning: “Tomorrow at noon the yard will be 31 degrees.” This is information, because the head teacher can use it to decide something. Knowledge comes when a person joins information with experience: “When the noon temperature passes 30, we hold sports day at eight in the morning.” So the chain is data, then information, then knowledge, and each step adds meaning. Information has three features. Persistence: once it exists it is very hard to remove completely, as a rumour that people keep repeating shows. Reproducibility: it can be copied many times and every copy is exactly the same. Propagation: it spreads quickly, through newspapers, television and above all the internet, where one person can reach thousands. Note that information has no body of its own: a book is an object, but the information in it can be moved to a screen and stay the same.
| Level | What it is | School example |
|---|---|---|
| Data | raw facts | 31 |
| Information | data with a meaning for a decision | Noon in the yard tomorrow: 31 degrees |
| Knowledge | what a person builds from information | Above 30 degrees, start sports day early |
| Feature | Meaning | Case |
|---|---|---|
| Persistence | hard to remove completely | a false story still repeated |
| Reproducibility | many identical copies | a worksheet copied 30 times |
| Propagation | spreads fast and wide | a photo reaches hundreds in seconds |
Take one fact from your own day, for example the number of pupils absent. Write it on paper three times: first as data, then as information (add the meaning), then as knowledge (what you or the school would do about it). Use an invented number, not a real person’s name.