Distinguishing ICT Literacy from Information Literacy Philip Candy NHSU Institute

Competence: Adequate ICT literacy A basic literacy for the 21 st Century –“ICT literacy is using digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and create information in order to function in a knowledge society” (ICT Literacy Panel, 2002) European Computer Driving Licence Can ICT literacy be context free? Intergenerational differences – confidence and competence Many users are self-taught Collaboration between formal education, workplaces and communities

Hierarchy of ICT Literacy (Market Equity, 2002, p. 19)

Competence: Appropriate ‘information literacy’ Another basic literacy for the 21 st Century “To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needs and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information” (ALA Presidential Commission, 1989) “the acquisition of those skills by all citizens should be treated as a basic human right” – NCLIS 2002 Widespread support, but different conceptions – formal education, government, employers and professions, librarians and information specialists ALIA 2001 ‘Statement on Information Literacy for All Australians’

ALIA Statement on Information Literacy for all Australians (2001) Principle A thriving national and global culture, economy and democracy will be best advanced by people able to recognise their need for information, and identify, locate, access, evaluate and apply the needed information. Statement Information literacy is a prerequisite for: participative citizenship; social inclusion; the creation of new knowledge; personal, vocational, corporate and organisational empowerment; and, learning for life.

Information literacy skills Difference between IL and ICT Literacy Blended concept Range depending on demands of task Only generic to an extent – must be enterprise specific Surface and Deep web – how to find what is needed Information literate workers part of a firm’s (or nation’s) competitive edge.

Two different kinds of literacy ICT LiteracyICT Literacy Generic and domain specific elements Partnership between IT and subject specialists Cumulative and hierarchical Various elements or components Evolves over time Published guides to assist learners Information LiteracyInformation Literacy Generic and domain specific elements Partnership between Info. and subject specialists Cumulative and hierarchical Various elements or components Evolves over time Published guides to assist learners

Competence: Digital literacy A new hybrid concept that blends ICT literacy and information literacy –“to be deeply literate in the digital world means being skilled at deciphering complex images and sounds as well as syntactical subtleties of words. Above all, it means being at home in a shifting mixture of words, images and sounds” (Lanham, 1995, p. 161) The ability to navigate in cyberspace and to negotiate hypertext documents is separate both from ICT literacy and from information literacy, but entails elements of both