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Purpose & Objectives The primary purpose of this session is to expose educators to quality, engaging teaching strategies addressing information literacy. Although students are often technologically literate, they are more often lacking in the arena of information literacy. Unfortunately, technological literacy is sometimes confused with information literacy-educators (and parents) often assume students can locate, evaluate, interpret, and share information based on their prowess of the most common tools used in this process-the computer and the internet. As a result of attending this session, participants will first understand the difference between technological literacy and information literacy. Participants will also understand the research and statistics showing the need for embedding information literacy in everyday teaching.
Although the focus of the session will be on information literacy as it relates to common classroom tools (computers and the internet), participants will also leave with strategies to address information literacy skills as they relate to other mediums (television, print advertising, etc.)
Participants will understand that information literacy encompasses much more than locating pertinent facts. They will learn specific strategies for teaching students to judge sources for authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and bias. Beyond learning how to effectively locate and judge sources, participants will also be exposed to strategies for teaching students how to use the sources. We can’t stop with our students merely understanding how to identify pertinent and quality information-they need to know how to process and use that information. In the context of a project-based scenario, participants will learn strategies for teaching students how to organize information and effectively present it.
Participants will learn how readily available tools (both web and application-based) can support the teaching of information literacy. These tools generally fall into three categories-evaluative, organizational, and presentational. Participants will leave with evaluative checklists, and references to many others on the web. Many of the organizational tools shared will be free and web-based. However, both Inspiration and Kidspiration will be shared as useful organizational tools as well. In terms of presentation tools, participants will learn strategies to help focus students on the content of presentations rather than on the “glitz.”
Our world is awash with information. Although teaching specific content certainly has its place in the classroom, there also needs to be a focus on teaching specific strategies for locating, evaluating, and processing information. When students leave the educational system, they need the tools to be literate consumers (and producers) of information. As a result of attending this session, participants will gain an understanding of how to better address these issues in their teaching.
Outline I’ll start by showing a website that details research (complete with references, data, and visuals) showing how home-schooled students outscore their public-schooled counterparts in all subject area standardized tests. After a brief discussion of the data, we'll take a critical look at the website for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. This is always a fun lead-in to the session topic. This will take approx 5-7 minutes.
Very briefly, we’ll discuss the difference between technological literacy and information literacy, and how the two are sometimes confused.
We’ll then move to an overview of the research detailing the necessity of teaching these skills. As I have shared this in past presentations, audience members are often shaking their heads in agreement, making connections to their own experiences. I often ask for a participant to share one of these quick personal connections. This will take approx. 10 minutes.
Next we’ll explore strategies for effectively locating information on the internet. Specific searching tips will be discussed, and participants will be provided with handouts detailing these and other strategies. This topic will take approx. 10-15 minutes.
Following the strategies for locating information, we’ll address the evaluation of resources. Again, participants will be provided with checklists and other forms to use with their students. This section will take approx. 15 minutes.
In the remaining 15-20 minutes, we’ll address the importance of processing and presenting information as it relates to information literacy. I’ll use a specific project-based example from my own teaching that details how to guide students to pull out and organize pertinent information from the identified resources. Here, we’ll make use of project sheets, checklists, and graphic organizers. Finally, tips on helping students present their information effectively will be shared. We’ll use checklists and rubrics to guide student efforts in the appropriate direction.
All along the way, we will be addressing the importance of copyright and citation. Educational Fair Use Guidelines will be shared.
Supporting ResearchA recent research study by ETS (Educational Testing Service) measuring ICT Literacy (Information and Communication Technology Literacy) among entering college freshman produced some eye-opening findings. These findings are summarized below, and can be found at http://www.ets.org/ictliteracy.Directly quoted from the website:
< The ICT literacy challenges that students typically have, according to recent articles, discussions and presentations by faculty and administrators at colleges and universities, fall into three main categories:
–Identifying trustworthy and useful information
–Managing overabundant information
–Communicating information effectivelyStudent Performance Summary
• Few test takers demonstrated key ICT literacy skills
• On average, students earned about half the points that they could have earned on the test
• Female and male test takers earned similar scores When selecting a research statement for a class assignment…..
–8% picked statements that did not address the assignment
–48% picked a reasonable, but too broad statement
–Only 44% identified a statement that captured the demands of the assignment. When asked to evaluate a set of Web sites for objectivity, authority and timeliness….
–52% judged the objectivity of the sites correctly
–65% judged the authority of the sites correctly
–72% judged the timeliness of the site correctly
–Overall, only 49% of test-takers identified the one website that met all criteria When asked to narrow an overly broad search….
–Only 35% of students selected the correct revision.
–35% selected a revision that only marginally narrowed the search results. When constructing a presentation slide designed to persuade…..
–80% included irrelevant points with relevant points
–Just 12% used only points directly related to the argument
–8% used entirely irrelevant points Positive Findings
• Test takers recognized that .edu and .govsites are less likely to contain biased material than .com sites.
• 80% of test takers correctly completed an organizational chart based on e-mailed personnel information
• Across several tasks, most test takers correctly categorized emails and files into folders
• When presented with an unclear assignment 70% of test takers selected the best question to help clarify the assignment. Negative findings
• Across several tasks, only a few test takers could accurately adapt material for a new audience
• In a web search task, only 40% entered multiple search terms to narrow the results
• When asked to organize a large amount of information efficiently, more than half the students failed to sort the information to clarify related material
• When searching a large database, only 50% of test takers used a strategy that minimized irrelevant results>> Quotes from countless well-known educational experts back up the fact that there is a need for information literacy instruction… “There is no question that we are overwhelmed with information, or, more accurately, overwhelmed with faceless data flooding us from every quarter.”
-Dr. David Thornburg (Starsong, 2003) “The hope of education is that data become information, which becomes knowledge, which if we’re lucky, leads to understanding (or some say wisdom.) The process of thinking, assessing, acting upon, assimilating, and discarding unusable data lasts forever and can be improved upon continuously. I believe that good teachers go into the field of education and stay there because they are as intrigued and caught up in learning every day as their best students. And this becomes all the more important as the world shrinks, we get to know more and more of our neighbors, and available information increases exponentially.”
-Sara Armstrong (Information Literacy, 2004) “….teachers and students must be able to define their information need by pre-planning and identifying what they are actually searching for. Next, they need to be able to search effectively, eliminating unnecessary information as they hone in on their stated goal. Examining how others view the information discovered is another skill. Backwards searching and citations to good information from trusted experts in the field can go a long way in determining the authority of the creator and the validity of the information. The users then need to be able to critically evaluate the information they find, and either utilize it, search yet again, or perhaps even re-define their information need. Finally, teachers and students alike need to recognize intellectual property is not in the public domain, and learn to cite all information from any source they use, including interviews, websites, books, magazines, listservs, videos, television shows, and any other of the myriad of information choices available to teachers and students today. Think, plan, search, evaluate, use, credit.”
-Kathy Schrock (interview, 2006)
Presenter BackgroundI have had 10 years of classroom teaching experience, and now work at a district level as an Instructional Technology Support Specialist for the Beaverton School District in Oregon. I am in classrooms on a regular basis, assisting in the planning and implementation of projects using technology resources. In the last three years, I have been focusing on the information literacy piece, working closely with building-level media specialists as I assist teachers and students in the management of information during projects.
I have presented at numerous conferences on topics of instructional technology (often with a literacy focus), including IRA, NCCE, NECC (six times, with three workshops earning the"Best of NECC" status), TCEA, FETC, ASCD, CUE, and at least a dozen other regional conferences. I have also been awarded with the "Best of the Best" distinction from ISTE.
I conduct professional development on a national scale as part of a consulting business I started in 2000. Since then, I have trained teachers in 23 states, most recently being invited to keynote for Philippine Reading Association in Manilla (the Philippine IRA affiliate) on the topic of literacy and fluency. I was also invited to keynote for the the Baltimore City Public Schools for a conference on Information Literacy.
I am committed to staying connected to the classroom, while also working with teachers and administrators to positively influence student learning.
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LeMoine_Information_literacy.pdf