Session 1: Why Teach Information Literacy?

Focusing Questions What is information literacy? Why teach information literacy? How do we teach information literacy?

Digital Natives Our students are Digital Natives Today’s students are far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy. They think differently from us and have hypertext minds. They leap around. It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential. National Educational Technology Plan 2005

Digital Immigrants Our teachers are Digital Immigrants Most teachers in today’s school were not surrounded by technology growing up. No matter how hard teachers may try to adapt to these tools, they still carry “accents.” Marc Prensky Author of Digital Game-Based Learning (McGraw-Hill 2001) and Founder and CEO of Games2Train.

Digital Natives v. Digital Immigrants The bad news is the Read/Write Web threatens to make these differences between teachers and learners even more acute. Will Richardson Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2006.

Read / Write Web – Originally you could only read what was written on Web sites –Now you can also write your own Web sites –Post to blogs, wikis, and social forums such as MySpace

they lack the savvy, skills, and experience to use the Internet and other resources well. Our students may be Digital Natives, but while they’re comfortable with the technology…

They need to be “Information Literate”

Instruction: Teaching Information Literacy

What is Information Literacy?

Information Literacy is the ability to: locate interpret evaluate synthesize organize present information using a variety of media and sources.

Information literacy is not just a “librarian thing” !

Google? Yahoo? Ask.com? Teachers and students are both confused: Which source Print or Internet Which search engine

They don’t know how to do advanced searches. Our students have trouble finding exactly what they need.

They have difficulty interpreting and evaluating material.

Where Are These Skills Used? NYS Standards Regents Exams Research Life

Develop written plans… indicate materials to be used and steps to follow to conduct the investigation…

fromSocial Studies Instructional Strategies and Resources: Pre-kindergarten Through Grade 6 Graph and Image Analysis Skills decoding images (graphs, cartoons, paintings, photographs) interpreting graphs and other images drawing conclusions making predictions

Frameworks for Information Literacy

SOSU SearchPath

Conley addresses this major problem: Students are totally unprepared for the academic demands of colleges. He makes it clear that there is a difference between college-eligible and college-ready, and lays out chapter by chapter what is wrong and how it can be remedied.

From the Educational Testing Service (publisher of the SATs) This helps teachers assess how information literate our students are.

The Partnership for the 21st Century Skills is a unique public-private organization formed in 2002 to create a successful model of learning for this millennium that incorporates 21st century skills into our system of education. Learning for the 21st Century

Teaching Information Literacy

Crosswalk: IFC Indicators and Session Content IndicatorsSessions Uses successful information and technology strategies to locate sources of information Session 1 Why Teach Information Literacy Session 4 Searching the Internet Session 6 Directories Seeks information from diverse genres, formats and points of view Session 1 Why Teach Information Literacy Session 7 Advanced Searching Session 15 Exploring Primary Documents Online

Crosswalk: IFC and iQuest Sessions IndicatorsSessions Evaluates information to determine value and relevance for answering questions Session 1 Why Teach Information Literacy Session 8 Evaluating and Validating Websites Session 2 Reading Web Addresses Examines sources to determine usefulness Session 1 Why Teach Information Literacy Session 2 Reading Web Addresses

Crosswalk: IFC and iQuest Sessions IndicatorsSessions Uses information strategies to locate information within a source Session 15 Exploring Primary Documents Online Session 6 Directories Identifies inaccurate and misleading information Session 8 Evaluating and Validating Websites Uses visual literacy strategies to derive meaning from information presented visually Session 15 Exploring Primary Documents Online Session 14 Getting More Out of NOVEL Databases

IndicatorsSessions Uses reading and thinking strategies to comprehend and make meaning from information and monitor understanding Session 3 Navigating a Web Page Understands organization of information within a resource Session 5 How Search Engines Work Session 3 Navigating a Web Page Session 14 Getting More out of NOVEL databases Session 16 Pathfinders Crosswalk: IFC and iQuest Sessions

IFC IndicatorsSessions Uses successful information and technology strategies to locate sources of information 1 Why Teach Information Literacy 4 Searching the Internet 6 Directories Seeks information from diverse genres, formats and points of view 1 Why Teach Information Literacy 7 Advanced Searching 15 Exploring Primary Documents Online Crosswalk: IFC and iQuest Sessions

Other Teaching Resources We will be looking at a number of sites from experts in the field. These sites have great resources to help us teach our teachers and students information literacy skills.

Guided Practice Let’s take a look at one of these sites. We’ll see the kind of resources Kathy Schrock’s site has to offer us.

Guided Practice Worksheet Information literacy skill to be taught List teaching strategies Ideas Possible resources Specify grade level Topic or unit Special populations

Work Time

Getting Started For this activity, we’ll be working in groups of four. Open up your Tools for Teaching Information Literacy work sheet in the Additional Materials folder

Work Time On your worksheet, there is a list of links to experts’ Web sites Each group will choose one site to examine more closely.

Work Time As you look at the resources you find on the site, ask yourself: What skills does this resource teach or reinforce? What grade or content area could this be used with? Is this resource especially good for a special population, e.g., ELL students?

Share