7 Things you should know about InIormation Strategies and InIormation Skills

Patricia Krezinski
September, 2010


FRIT 7136
Dr. J. Repman

















7 Things you should know
InIormation Literacy is deIined as a set oI competencies that an inIormed citizen oI an
inIormation society ought to possess to participate intelligently and actively in that society.
(Wikipedia 2009) Students need to know how to saIely navigate the online world. The American
Association oI School Librarians has set up a list oI nine common belieIs that a student oI an
inIormed society needs to have. They include: 1.) Reading is a window to the world 2.) Inquiry
provides a Iramework Ior learning 3.) Ethical behavior in the use oI inIormation must be taught
4.) Technology skills are crucial Ior Iuture employment 5.) Equitable access is a key component
Ior education 6.) The deIinition oI inIormation literacy has become more complex as resources
and technologies have changed 7.) The continuing expansion oI inIormation demands that all
individuals acquire the thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own 8.) Learning
has a social context, and 9.) School librarians are essential to the development oI learning skills.
(AASL p. 11) An ideal situation would be a class oI 30 IiIth grade students searching saIe sites
and gaining and using inIormation without plagiarism. My students have to do their web
searching at school because most come Irom a lower socio-economic home liIe which means
they most likely do not have access to the internet at home.
Who is doing it? My students are Irom a suburban neighborhood Iilled mostly with
Section 8 housing, Iree or reduced lunches and any number oI other socially undesirable
qualities. However, these students come to school ready to learn and are happy to be working at
a computer terminal. What I have seen Irom research is that all students Irom all economic
classes need to understand how to search the web in a saIe and secure environment. 'Instructors
Ioster desirable dispositions by challenging students to consider not only what they are learning,
but also how they are learning and why they are learning. (AASL p. 40) In this manner oI
teaching, teachers can avoid having students reverting to a Google search when they need to Iind
something on the web. Students must believe that Lhelr searches are yleldlng crlLlcal evaluaLlons
lf noL why noL [usL use Coogle?
Pow does lL work? Many 'aLrlsk' readers aL age 9 and 10 have been found Lo move
from relucLance Lo enLhuslasm when speclallsL readlng supporL sesslons over a flveweek
perlod were founded on lnformaLlon llLeracy (oulopoulos 2000) "(Moore p 7)" SLudles
conducLed ln AusLralla show LhaL LhaL where Leachers and Leacherllbrarlans have expllclLly
LaughL for lnformaLlon llLeracy facLors such as selfesLeem selfpercepLlon conLrol of learnlng
masLery of conLenL Lask focus and reducLlon of confuslon and frusLraLlon are lnfluenced
poslLlvely (1odd 1993) Pawallan 10 and 11 year olds engaged ln [ournal wrlLlng as parL of an
lnformaLlon llLeracy lnlLlaLlve demonsLraLed lncreased cognlLlve and meLacognlLlve
undersLandlng of Lhe lnformaLlon search process alLhough lL was sLlll a challenge Lo verballze
Lhlnklng processes ln llne wlLh kuhlLhau's (1993) affecLlve model of lnformaLlon problem
solvlng [ournal wrlLlng also asslsLed Lhese sLudenLs ln verballzlng and sharlng personal feellngs
and emoLlons cenLers on school research Lasks A Leacher worklng wlLh Moore and age (2002)
goL slmllar resulLs by uslng an emoLlons conLlnuum based on kuhlLhau's model along whlch 9
yearolds placed plcLures of Lhemselves as lnqulry Lasks preceded She reporLed LhaL Lhrough
ensulng dlscusslon a new more LrusLlng classroom cllmaLe developed Lo enhance learnlng
(Moore p7)" ln a longlLudlnal sLudy of Canadlan and Amerlcan sLudenLs lL was found LhaL elghL
year old sLudenLs appear Lo be more process orlenLed Lhan Lhelr slxLeen year old counLer parLs
1hls suggesLs LhaL unless lnformaLlon llLeracy ls LaughL conLlnually lL mlghL noL develop wlLh
furLher schoollng (Moore p 8) SLudenLs ln my school use Lhe 8lg6 meLhod of research and
whlle worklng Lhrough Lhe sLeps of 8lg6 Lhey musL evaluaLe web slLes Lo flnd Lhe correcL
sources for Lhelr papers
Why ls lL slgnlflcanL? SLudles have shown LhaL sLudenLs LaughL uslng lnformaLlon llLeracy
do beLLer across Lhe board ln oLher sub[ecLs SLudenLs read beLLer and wlLh more
undersLandlng and lL carrles over Lo oLher sub[ecLs
WhaL are Lhe downsldes? lf lnformaLlon llLeracy ls LaughL by a quallfled Leacher
llbrarlan Lhere are few downsldes ln a school slLuaLlon Coogle can be dangerous when
unwanLed slLes pop up We musL be vlgllanL and keep sLudenLs on Lhe rlghL Lrack We should
provlde safe search slLes for sLudenLs Lo use especlally ln an elemenLary seLLlng
Where ls lL golng? l expecL LhaL as lnformaLlon conLlnues Lo grow and Lhere ls more and
more sLuff Lo slfL Lhrough Lo flnd Lhe real Lrue lnformaLlon lL wlll be even more lmporLanL for
Leachers and llbrarlans Lo glve sLudenLs a good flrm background ln search Lechnlques
WhaL are Lhe lmpllcaLlons for Leachlng and learnlng? Cur LexL book encourages us Lo
conLlnue Lo learn for llfe lL ls acknowledged LhaL Lhere wlll be varled and new forms of Leachlng
and learnlng ln soclal and global conLexL 1here wlll sLlll be Lhe fundamenLal value of readlng
and core conLenL wlLh a masLery of skllls LhaL produce deep knowledge and undersLandlng as
well as porLable skllls LhaL serve lndlvlduals for a llfeLlme Lo become crlLlcal Lhlnkers problem
solvers and conLlnually evolvlng learners (AASL p 117)


eferences
Moore (2002 !uly) Ao Aoolysls of lofotmotloo lltetocy
Jocotloo wotlJwlJe dol10111309783
(2010) 7 1hlngs ?ou Should know abouL Cpen LducaLlonal esources
Jocoose eLrleved from hLLp//neLeducauseedu/lr/llbrary
/pdf/LLl7061pdf
8arneLL C ulcklnson C Lowe k 8arLow C (2009) 5tooJotJs
fot tbe 21st ceototy leotoet lo Actloo Chlcago Amerlcan
Llbrary AssoclaLlon
(2010) unlverslLy of ldaho lnformaLlon LlLeracy orLal eLrleved from
hLLp//wwwwebsuldahoedu/lnfo_llLeracy/
(2010) Wlklpedla lnformaLlon LlLeracy wlklpeJlo eLrleved from hLLp//
enwlklpedlaorg/wlkl/lnformaLlon_llLeracy