In the book Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada, the Canadian Association for school libraries provides the following definition of an information literate citizen:
- Works independently and collaboratively to solve problems
- Analyses information critically in all its formats and in all media contexts Applies information strategically to solve personal and social problems
- Makes decisions based on accurate and current information
- Uses information and communication technologies
- Respects information sources and diverse perspectives
- Honours intellectual property and privacy rights
- Appreciates the aesthetic qualities of various creative and scientific expressions
- Communicates effectively and expressively using a variety of information and media formats.
Although only the fourth criterion directly references technology, each of them relies on or is enhanced by the use of technologies, whether they be digital or more traditional. Social media allows students many more opportunities to collaborate and broaden their learning networks. The world wide web is valuable source of information which allows us to compare multiple perspectives and also provides access to tools we can use to communicate our ideas with one another.
Today was the first day that I’ve ever used Twitter, and looking at the list of qualities of an information literate citizen, I can see how it could be an incredible tool in helping us to help our students improve their information literacy skills. They can follow organizations or experts in an area of interest, connect with peers to collaborate on their work, seek advice on where to find further information, and send out their findings to the world.
The ideas of information literacy and digital literacy seem to be merging as we rely more heavily on digital technologies as our primary source of information. What our students see online influences how they understand the world and how they connect with one another, so it is important that they are able to analyze and assess the information they are accessing. In other words, the more digitally literate they become, the more necessary it is for them to be information literate as well.
Hi Charlotte,
If I remember correctly, I believe you teach at the high school level… I hope I’m right because after reading your post I just had a couple of questions. I teach at the elementary level so I just wondering about a few things from a high school viewpoint. (If I am wrong about you being at the high school level, I apologize because my post is totally related to that.) I agree when you said that information literacy and digital literacy seem to be merging as students rely more and more on the Internet as a source of information. One of the major problems I have run into at the elementary level with students using the Internet for researching is that they, despite lessons on searching and selecting information, choose information that is not suitable to their level and often end up copying what they don’t understand. Or they just choose the first website from a Google search and go with that one. So, I was wondering, what is your experience at the high school level with regards to these issues? Do they come up often? How do you deal with it? If you don’t have a chance to respond here, don’t worry about it we can chat in class.
This is still an issue at the high school level. Unless the selection and evaluation of resources is tied in with assessment, the students often will look something up in Google (always Google, and not always using the best search parameters), look at the first or maybe second website (which is often if not always Wikipedia), and then copy and paste what they see. How I usually try to deal with the situation is a combination of:
1. introduce them to other search methods, including databases
2. direct instruction on the idea that one source is not always indicative of the truth (showing them a few poor websites on a topic usually helps!)
3. I like to talk to students as much as possible during the research process. I find that through conversation I can find out whether or not they understand their own research or have confirmed it with more than one source.
This is a good beginning to defining information literacy. I don’t think it is a coincidence that we have so many forms of literacy coming to the fore, in conjunction with our evolving relationships with digital technologies. I would say that all these criteria would apply pre-digital era, in that they were all part of human life prior to the emergence of digital technologies. It seems to me the advent of our involvements with digital technologies have highlighted institutional gaps in the education system. In the past, academic success was awared for the ability to attain high test scores. These high test scores did not necessarily correlate with broad knowledge, civic responsibility, compassionate society, or communicative abilities. When we have access to more information, a greater range of informational credibility, and the ability to produce and publish information, these are forms of information literacy pertinent to digital technologies. What is unique about our uses of digital technologies? What characteristic or quality are we able to amplify through the use of digital technologies? How are we able to influence the emergence of social values, democratic principles, social justice, sustainable economies, etc.?
I think it can be difficult for this generation of teachers to break free of the definition of “success”. When I was in high school I was at the top of my class – I scored well on tests, was able to produce artistic works, and knew how to “play the game” that was the education system. It is easy for me as a teacher to teach the way that my own teachers did. I know the system, I can easily identify what is “good” work and what is “poor” work. I would love to be able to make social justice, democracy, and values worth something in my classroom, but these are the very things that the “authentic assessment” movement has pushed us away from. I can’t give grades to someone who is helping their peers, or participates in class, or is thoughtful because it’s not in the IRP’s and therefore represents a behaviour rather than what they “know”.