information literacy in the digital age

Information Literacy in the Digital Age: An

Evidence-Based Approach

Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D.

[email protected]

Questions to be addressed:

1. Why is information literacy important?

2. What is information literacy?

3. What research is related to information literacy?

4. What learning theory is related to IL?

5. How can IL research & theory inform teaching?

6. How can IL be assessed?25 May 2011 QQML11, Athens, Greece 2

25 May 2011 QQML11, Athens, Greece 3

Why is Information Literacy important?

"Information is the new world currency and wealth will be measured by how much information a company, individual, or country can create, distribute, accumulate, and mine."

Mark Dean, PhD, IBM Fellow, Inventors Hall of Fame

Cartoon by Bill Waterson

According to ALA, information literacy is “increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources…”

“Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning and is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education.”25 May 2011 QQML11, Athens, Greece 4

Why is Information Literacy important?

What is Information Literacy? “Information” is

from Latin informatio, meaning concept or idea.

“Literate” is from Latin literatus, meaning learned or lettered.


www.TechKnowLogia.org

How is Info Literacy defined by LIS?ALA, ACRL: IL is “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”

Determine the extent of information needed Access the needed information effectively and efficiently Evaluate information and its sources critically Incorporate selected information into one's knowledge

base Use information effectively to accomplish a specific

purpose Understand the economic, legal, and social issues and

use information ethically and legally.



National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE): “21st century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies.”

Develop proficiency with technology tools Build relationships with others to pose and solve

problems collaboratively, cross-culturally Design and share information to meet a variety of

purposes Manage, analyze, synthesize multiple streams of

simultaneous information Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media

texts Attend to ethical responsibilities required by complex

environments.

Information Literacy: A Meta-Literacy

Information Literacy: A Meta-Literacy


http://uniedtechdesign.blogspot.com/2011/03/information-literacy.html

Research: The Google GenerationResearch on Google Generation (those born after 1993) conducted by CIBER (UCL Centre for Information Behaviour & Evaluation of Research) indicates:Online searching tends to be shallow, information-skimming, not in-depth searching60% visit a site once only and view each Web page only a few secondsPrefer quick information in form of easily-digested short chunks rather than full-text.


Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future. London: CIBER, 2008.


Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future. London: CIBER, 2008.

OCLC Research: College Students 89% of college students use search engines to

begin an information search (2% start from library Web site)

93% satisfied with using a search engine (compared with 84% for librarian-assisted search)

College students still use the library, but less (and reading less)

Books still primary library brand, despite investment in digital resources, of which students are largely unfamiliar.


College Students’ Perceptions of the Libraries and Information Resources: A Report to the OCLC Membership. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 2006.

Kent State Library Research: TRAILSTool for Real-Time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (free online assessment for grades 3, 6, 9 or 12)Boswell (2007) TRAILS study:

Greatest weaknesses of students in evaluation of information and in using Boolean search techniques.

Supported by CIBER research (2008): Little time spent in evaluating information, either for

relevance, accuracy or authority Poor understanding of information needs so students

find it difficult to develop effective search strategies.


http://www.trails-9.org/

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber/downloads/


Qualitative Study by New Media Consortium1. Abundance of Internet resources are increasingly

challenging for sense-making, coaching, credentialing.

2. People expect to work, learn, and study whenever, wherever they want.

3. World of work is increasingly collaborative, giving rise to reflection on structure of student projects.

4. Technologies are increasingly cloud-based, and notions of IT support decentralized.

2011 Horizon Report: Emerging Trends

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf


1. Digital media literacy continues rise in importance as key skill in every discipline and profession.

2. Evaluation metrics lag behind emergence of new scholarly forms of authoring, publishing, research.

3. Economic pressures, new models of education present competition to traditional models.

4. Keeping pace with rapid proliferation of information, tools, & devices is challenging.

2011 Horizon Report: Challenges



Now: 1 year or less:e-books (NetLibrary, ebrary)Mobiles (i-Phone, Android smart phone, i-Pad)

Near-term future: 2-3 YearsAugmented reality: “computer-assisted contextual layer of information over the real world, creating a reality that is enhanced or augmented.” (http://www.layar.com/)

Game-based learning (http://gaming.psu.edu/).

2011 Horizon Report: Tech Adoption



http://info.xplana.com/report/

Xplana Report


Longer-term future: 4-5 YearsGesture-based computing (Kinect, SixthSense, Tamper)

Haptics touch-surface technology such as Mudpad (http://hci.rwth-aachen.de/mudpad)

Eye movement technology such as EyeDraw (http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/research/cm-hci/EyeDraw/)

Analytics: new data-gathering tools and analytic techniques to study student engagement, performance, progress (http://www. google.com/analytics).

2011 Horizon Report: Tech Adoption


Learning Theory: Connectivism Learning:

Process of connecting specialized nodes/information sources

Rests in diversity of opinions May reside in non-human appliances Requires nurturing, maintaining connections Requires accurate, up-to-date knowledge Includes decision-making.

Capacity to know is more critical than what is known.

Core skill is ability to see connections between ideas, concepts (Siemens, 2004).


Learning Theory: Active Learning Opposite of passive

learning through lectures

Process of active engagement in learning

Involves reading, writing, discussion, engagement in solving problems, analysis, synthesis, evaluation

Class discussion, demonstration

Storytelling Game-playing Group project Field trip, study-abroad Practicum or internship Short, evaluative or

reflective post or paper Creation of Web content


Cultural Literacy

Latin cultura meaning “to nurture or cultivate”

Awareness and ability to converse fluently in the history, allusions, and informal content that constitutes ones own culture or another culture.

Cultural Literacy Quiz Essay on origins of words,

alphabet, public schools Newspaper item on day of

birth (microfilm or online) Family tree, family history Short essay or post on

local cultural exhibit Short essay on local

history Travel/study abroad.


Library Literacy

Latin liber, meaning “books”; also means “free”

Latin adjective librarius, meaning “of books”

Essay or post on ancient library

Post on 1st school library, 1st public library, oldest univ. library

Library tutorials Library scavenger hunt Information tutorial

Primary sources Secondary sources Tertiary sources


Ethical Literacy

Ethics is from Greek ethos, meaning “character”Moral principles or valuesCode of Honor

Plagiarism tutorial Code of Academic Co

nduct Copyright tutorial Citation Machine Submit papers to

Turnitin.com Collaborative

Institutional Training Initiative (citiprogram.org) tutorial


Computer Literacy Development of

computer, Internet, WWW

PC hardware, operation

email, attachments PC software:

Word-processing (Word) Spreadsheets (Excel) Presentations

(PowerPoint)

Explore Computer History Museum

Create a resume in Word

Create a budget in Excel

Create PPT presentation

HTML Tutorial Create a simple

webpage Evaluate webpages


Network Literacy

1. Search engines (robotic)

2. Directories (human-indexed)

3. Databases Online searching Boolean, nesting “Bound phrase” Truncation, wild card Field search Visual search

Compare results of search engine & directory Google.com Internet Scout Project

Database tutorials Database search exercises

General keyword search Add Boolean AND, OR Add limiter “peer-reviewed” Add limiter “references

available” or “feature article”

Search in subject or abstract


Media Literacy“… ability to decode, analyze, evaluate, & produce communication in a variety of forms.” Trent Think Tank on Media Literacy

Web 2.0XMLUGCBlogs, glogs, wikisSocial mediaPhoto/video-sharing

Create a blog Create a glog Post to discussion

board Create or participate

in a wiki group project

Join Facebook group Create, share photos

and/or videos



Information Literacy Assessment

Tool for Real-Time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (for grades 3, 6, 9 or 12) http://www.trails-9.org/

Pre- and post-assessment surveys based on ACRL standards such as one developed by Marshall (2006): http://www.literacyandtechnology.org/volume7/marshallJLT2006.pdf

Information and Communication Technology Exam

Certiport IC3 to assess computer competency.


Information Literacy Assessment Walsh (2009) identified 9 commonly used

types of assessments for information literacy skills:1. Bibliographic analysis2. Essays3. Final grades4. Multiple choice surveys5. Observation6. Portfolios7. Quiz/test8. Self-assessment9. Simulation.


Information Literacy AssessmentResearch paper

Argumentative paperObjective paper on an approved topic

Use of Standard English, proper grammar

Use of scholarly sources, appropriate parenthetical references, citations.

Purdue Online Writing Lab OWLTurnitin or other plagiarism software.


BibliographyACRL (2011). “Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education”. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm

National Council of Teachers of English. (2008). “NCTE’s Definition of 21st Century Literacies”. http://www.ncte.org/announce/129117.htm?source=gs

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2011-Horizon-Report.pdf

CIBER (2008). Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future. London: CIBER. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber/downloads/

Welsh, T.S., & Wright, M. S. (2010). Information literacy in the digital age: an evidence-based approach. Oxford, Chandos. http://neal-schuman.com/blog/2010/08/23/new-book-gives-readers-the-tools-they-need-to-evaluate-and-understand-information-through-a-digital-lens/


Thank you for your attention.

Please email me at:

[email protected]