Let's make sure we all agree on a definition of information literacy at least for the duration of this session. Information literacy is the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, and use effectively information needed for the particular decision or issue at hand.
Information Literate people are... not only able to recognize when information is needed, but they are also able to identify, locate, evaluate, and use effectively information needed for the particular decision or issue at hand. The information literate person, therefore, is empowered for effective decision-making, freedom of choice, and full participation in a democratic society. To respond effectively to an ever-changing environment,...people need more than just a knowledge base, they also need techniques for exploring it, connecting it to other knowledge bases, and making practical use of it. In other words, the landscape upon which we used to stand has been transformed, and we are being forced to establish a new foundation called information literacy."
The above statement is taken from theAmerican Library Association, American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report. Chicago, Illinois: American Library Association, January 1989. Written by a group of leaders from education and librarianship, this report defines information literacy within the context of the higher literacies.
Structuring non-structured assignments is simple when you apply the following steps:
Guidelines not finish lines...
Information Literacy involves establishing parameters within which students can decide for themselves the means and methods of accomplishing their tasks.
How does the WWW fit in?
The non-linear structure of the web format encourages the student to take charge of his learning experience. Passive learning habits are quickly and repeatedly challenged when the student is asked to involve himself with the tool at his fingertips, produce a result on the screen that can be viewed and assessed by others, and route and follow his own path.
How do libraries (information banks) fit it?
The virtual library and the physical library are bridged by the new technology. Internet connections, the World Wide Web, Personal Computers, etc. all have roles that change the way we and our students view, access, and manipulate information. Traditional sources of information continue to hold value while electronic resources are making significant alterations in the information landscape. Libraries are logical bases from which " resource based learning " projects are spawned. Libraries, like other information banks (museums, community and service based learning opportunities) involve the students in meaningful ways with both paper and electronic resource materials alongside the tools that help the student manipulate their findings in meaningful ways.
Informing is not educating
It is one thing to present students with information and it is another to structure the experience to encourage them to involve themselves in the information literacy process. The conditioning of commercial information providers leads consumers along paths of least resistance while nurturing immediate gratification and ego needs along the way. Education provides people with the opportunity to exercise and develop the in the face of that conditioning. Just as media literacy helps students to become critical thinkers and users in terms of advertising, journalism, and coping with the societal impact of general commercialization, information literacy helps students to cope with the exponential growth of information. More overwhelming than the reams of data students encounter in this first part of the 21st century is the growth of new knowledge in terms of its rate and breathe.
Addressing differences in the classroom
We teach them all but we reach them one at a time and they learn one at a time.
Preparation and follow-up are essential ingredients for success. Students need to learn how to tolerate ambiguity and there is enough natural fuzzy gray areas intrinsically found in creative projects without leaving loose ends in the instruction design that have no meaning for the student.
Less obviously structured assignments seem like the planning and response on the part of the instructor is less. Not True!
Preparing for the teaching and learning experience means ensuring that the resources the students will need are there. It also means assessing the student realistically so that he can start as his beginning not the generalized beginning assumed for the group as a whole. For example, computer skills vary from person to person. The individual's ability to accurately communicate a true skill level competency in a 60-second verbal exchange immediately preceding a learning experience isn't usually very dependable. A brief but meaningful survey of student skills as they approach a resource based learning project helps the instructor to know where and how he might best spend his time and with whom as the project unfolds. It also helps the student to get a sense of what he knows and doesn't know while providing him with a tool to help him articulate those concerns as he approaches and begins to tackle the project.
Teaching adults is different than teaching children
Andragogy, to paraphrase an entry in the Encyclopedia of American Education (1996), is the art and science of teaching adults, as opposed to pedagogy, the art and science of teaching children. Generally speaking, adults are more self-directed, motivated to learn, and goal oriented. They often have a specific, near-term goal in mind like acquiring skills for a higher-paying job.
Controlled resources are predictable and often control the results
A simple, hierarchically organized, step by step assignment might inadvertently encourage some busy, overburdened students to fall into the pattern of getting it done to get it done.
It's possible to isolate the qualitative elements of most exercises, superficially address those and come away from the assignment without having gained any new knowledge and showing no marked benefits from the experience. Applying critical thinking challenges, cultivating the idea of being able to tolerate ambiguity by using less structure in assignments where it is appropriate helps students to think in more than careful and predictable terms.
I invite you to revisit the Creating a Research Disk workshop to get a taste of the medium in which you plan to work and have your students work. We don't have to be followers and believers of Marshall McLuhan to appreciate that the medium affects the message. Using online resources effectively and practically requires a basic appreciation of how and why they work. Educators do not need degrees in computer science to use the WWW as part of their resource base but they do need to grasp the uniqueness of the approach and structure to appreciate its possibilities. Creating a Research Disk is a practical online activity that helps the learner (our student's tutors, coaches, guides, teachers, instructors and professors) gain confidence and facility in using the WWW as a teaching and learning tool.
Last updated February 28, 2000
Last reviewed February 28, 2000