I’ve decided to focus on definitions for ICT in my own school district. I am feeling in many ways like the district is producing roadblocks for learning through ICT for both teachers and students.
So how is ICT defined in our district?
On its public website the district provides a resource called digital citizenshipwhich has information intended for students staff and parents. Part of this resource is a page called “Guiding our Practice”. On this page are teacher responsibilities and resources divided into four different categories: privacy, copyright, use and access to information, and behaviour.
The resources that are given for use and access to information include
Points of Inquiry and the The BC Ministry of Education doesn’t use the term ICT instead they use ‘digital literacy’. They give the following rationale : “Many organizations use different terms such as ICT (information and communication technology), educational technology, computer literacy, and others. We view these terms as synonymous with digital literacy. In any case, what matters most is the definition, since it provides common understanding and outlines the scope.” It goes on to define digital literacy as “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others in order to participate effectively in society”
So I assume our district accepts the BCTLA’s definition of information literacy and the Ministry’s definition digital literacy in place of what in this course we’re calling ICT.
How does this relate to librarianship and library teaching?
I find it encouraging that a lot of the work being done on Digital Literacy in our district is being done by District Librarian Heather Daly (also the BCTLA President). It’s coming from the library not the IT department. This seems to indicate that the district feels that TLs have a role to play that is very important in this conversation (I assume that somewhere someone is having a conversation about it). I think that On a practical real-world level it is necessary for the TLs to become the school experts in ICT, to support/provide professional development at their schools, to collaborate and to bring ITC in the classroom. Especially as part of the definition above is “construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others” and students are going to be expected to do that digitally.
It is very important to discuss the various definitions and terminology that is used in education with regards to incorporating ICT into practice. Despite our ‘connected selves’ there are some real gaps between policy-makers, administrators, and the day to day realities of teaching. These gaps are going to persist unless we, as education professionals, take on the responsibility of facilitating communication and building networks of understanding. With any one group defining our uses of digital technologies, their point of view is going to be constrained by their historical and disciplinary position. Thus, the management of ICT in education has been focused on securing the technology, not the pedagogy. The library science approach to ICT has been about relationships to information (accessing, evaluating, interpreting, etc.) but no necessarily the social realities and skills necessary for succeeding in the digital age. Educators primarily concerned with curriculum and pedagogy, have not developed a well-rounded understanding of digital technologies in school settings, particularly the social aspects of learning and functioning in online cultures.