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There is no doubt that in this age of information and technology, whole world is overloaded with relevant or irrelevant information. The term 'information overload' refers to different conditions, such as the quantity of information, the processing of information or the retrieval of information. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of information overload on students' learning. A questionnaire was designed for data collection which contained both open ended and close ended questions. Data were collected from 360 randomly selected students of M.A. second year from the five departments of Institute of Education and Research, University of the Punjab, Lahore. Results revealed through descriptive and inferential statistics that most of the respondents preferred to use technology or computer generated information which provide visuals, illustrated text and power point presentations. Results further revealed that information overload do not affect students' learning somehow as their interpersonal and communication skills were strong and sharp enough.
Key words: Information overload, students' learning
World is shifting into an information revolution, leaving the industrial revolution behind and this brings an explosion of data and information for which an individual may (or may not) have any use or need {Gifford, 1992). The term 'Information overload' refers to different conditions, such as the quantity of information, the processing of information or the retrieval of information. Also, Information overload is defined in a variety of ways, suggesting that it means different things to different people (Burge, 1994; Fournier, 1996; Rudd & Rudd, 1986). Whereas it is defined in McMillian Web Dictionary as "A situation in which you get more information than you can deal with at one time and become tired and confused."
Learning can be defined as relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of knowledge and experience, (1) learner is changed after the learning occurs, (2) the knowledge of the learner is changed, (3) the main reason of this change is learner's experience (Mayer, 2011, p. 14). One operational definition cannot measure the process of learning. In contrast to this, learning emphasizes on retention, transfer of knowledge and comprehension. According to Butler (2010), many research studies tried to distinguish the similarities and differences in initial learning and its subsequent transfer.
Working memory refers to the information...