
Facebook and Information Literacy Instruction
in Higher Education
For many children and young adults- sometimes called the Millennial generation- online social networking has become an increasingly important sphere for both interacting with others and for exercising their creativity (Holmburg et al, 2008). Yet, it can be argued that libraries and schools have been slow to exploit social media websites like Twitter, Youtube and Facebook for educational purposes. The aim of this paper is to explore the affordances of the popular social networking site, Facebook, as a platform for teaching information literacy (IL). Its purpose is to analyze how a number of libraries and schools have used Facebook to teach information literacy. Based on this analysis as well as a review of the literature, a number of guidelines will be proposed for introducing, maintaining, and updating a Facebook- based IL course. It is hoped that this will embody a meaningful contribution to the ongoing discussion among educators and librarians regarding the role of social media in education. The paper will begin, however, by proposing a definition for information literacy followed by a discussion of how the concept relates to other forms of literacy.
Information Literacy and other Literacies:
– “it is difficult to separate out where media literacy ends and technology literacy begins” (Lippincott, 2007, in Godwin, 2007)
– IL competencies as defined by the Association of College and Research Libraries:
Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning. An information literate individual is able to:
– Determine the extent of information needed
– Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
– Evaluate information and its sources critically
– Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
– Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
– Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
Social Media in Libraries (not sure if I need this, but…)
Definition and examples social media (flickr, youtube) and how they have been used in used in libraries. Applications include the following (mostly from Mitchell & Watstein, 2007):
– providing reference services
– providing links to resources and services
– providing opportunities/forums for online collaboration
– providing opportunities to raise funds
– supporting marketing initiatives
– gathering patron input/feedback
FB: Description; Affordances and Constraints as an IL Instructional Tool
Affordances:
– free way to reach users where they are
– easy to link FB with other library services
– opportunity for discussion of ethical use of information (e.g., copyright)
– easier interface than other common course platforms (Mitchell & Smith, 2009)
– “Facebook’s Links and Notes features make it easy to highlight resources or to provide more in-depth coverage of resources” (Thornton, 2009, p. 114)
– easy to post instructional resources across different media
– emphasizes creating rather than just consuming content (7 things, 2006)
– ideal forum to foster ongoing collaboration among students/instructor librarians as FB does not ‘die’ at the end of a term (unlike Blackboard and other courseware)
“. . . I started looking at the applications you can add to Facebook. It’s astounding – from IM to chat to profiles for your dogs, to voice/video messages, texting directly from Facebook to your cell, polling, book reviewing – it’s astounding, and that’s just barely scratching the surface.” from a reference librarian quoted in Mitchell & Watstein (2007)
Constraints:
– ongoing privacy concerns (Rethlefsen, 2010)
– “students’ confort levels with Facebook varies according to use: students were least comfortable using Facebook to interact with instructors and receive grades but were very comfortable with belonging to course-based groups, posting content, and engaging in discussions in those groups.” (Mitchell & Smith, 2009, p. 191).
– risk of inappropriate use (7 things, 2006)
– difficulty in separating academic/professional content from personal (Rethlefsen, 2010)
– perception of FBN as a waste of time / not serious (Thornton, 2009)
Examples of Use
– Wake Forest project replacing Blackboard with FB, discussed in Mitchell & Smith (2009)
– http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cairo-Egypt/AUC-Main-Library/23630215857
Guidelines for using Facebook
– avoid putting content in an uncontrolled environment (Mitchell & Smith, 2009).
– Facebook should work in tandem with other modes of instruction delivery but
– work to avoid fragmentation among different platforms (Mitchell & Smith, 2009).
– demands time / effort to keep content relevant:
Image: 3-D teacher – http://www.sxc.hu/home (6 August, 2010)
References, etcetera
Click, A., & Petit, J. (2010). Social networking and Web 2.0 in information literacy. International Information & Library Review, 42(2), 137-142. doi:10.1016/j.iilr.2010.04.007.
Godwin, P. (2007). INFORMATION LITERACY MEETS WEB 2.0: HOW THE NEW TOOLS AFFECT OUR OWN TRAINING AND OUR TEACHING. New Review of Information Networking, 13(2), 101-112. doi:10.1080/13614570801900005.
Mitchell, E., & Watstein, S. (2007, November). The places where students and scholars work, collaborate, share and plan. Reference Services Review, pp. 521-524. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.
Mitchell, E., & Smith, S. (2009). Bringing Information Literacy into the Social Sphere: A Case Study Using Social Software to Teach Information Literacy at WFU. Journal of Web Librarianship, 3(3), 183-197. doi:10.1080/19322900903113381.
Rethlefsen, M. (2010). facebook’s MARCH ON PRIVACY. Library Journal, 135(12), 34-35. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.
Thornton, L. (2009). Facebook for Libraries. Christian Librarian, 52(3), 112-115. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.
7 Things You Should Know About … Facebook. (2006, August). Educause Learning Initiative. Retrieved 5 August 2010,from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7017.pdf.