Information+Literacy

=How do we know if a student is information literate?=

In 1989, the American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy stated that "[t]o be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." [|http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/presidential.cfm] In 2001, the North Central Regional Education Laboratory defined information literacy as "[t]he ability to access and use information, analyze content, work with ideas, synthesize thought, and communicate results." http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.htm

While these definitions are accurate, they are not altogether practical in building a model for students to follow. I believe in using the 5WH formula because most students are familiar with that form of questioning. Rather than create something entirely new, I prefer to build upon that which is familiar to them. With all of these ideas in mind, I came up with the following definition.

An information literate student knows...

...what information they need. ...when they need information. ...where to find the information they need. ...why they need that information. ...how to assess and evaluate the information that they find. ...how to communicate the information that they find.

These tasks are not mutually exclusive, nor can they be viewed as a continuum or as a checklist. Student must think of each task as concurrent with the others. When students can accomplish this feat, then they are truly information literate.

=How do we teach students to become information literate?=

A large number of models exist for teachers to use when the begin teaching information literacy in the classroom. Specifically, I have been looking into [|Big6], developed by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, [|WebQuests], developed by Bernie Dodge, and the [|8Ws of Information Inquiry], developed by Annette Lamb. I have found a number of similarities and differences between the models (see table at right).

Each of the models are flexible for any content area, prescribes roles for the teacher and student, involve critical thinking skills, and can be used with group or individual projects. The real difference lies in their emphasis. WebQuests emphasize the use of information, Big6 emphasizes the location of information, and 8Ws seems to place the primary emphasis on the product. In addition, WebQuests are primarily web-based, a potential limitation, whereas Big6 and 8Ws approaches focus on skills that are more applicable to endeavors offline as well as online.

While I like the WebQuest approach, I believe its weaknesses can be overcome by incorporating elements of the other two models to form a cohesive model for web-based research that can translate into the students daily lives.

My model for teaching information literacy (see below) can be applied to educational pursuits as well as daily decision making tasks. The model has seven steps and is based on the premise that students benefit from seeing things in context before beginning a task, from planning things out during a task, and from assessing their performance at the end of a task.

The seven steps for this model are:


 * Perspective**--At this stage, students learn the context of the task that they will be assigned. This might be an introduction to a lesson or unit.
 * Defining the task**--Here, students learn their assignments. Teachers should involve the students in the selection of topics.
 * Webstorming**--Brainstorming on the web. At this stage, students should conduct research on a wide level. They should find resources and get a general idea about their topics.
 * Planning**--Students should decide how they will present their assignments, their audience, tone, etc. and begin organizing their thoughts into general outlines, storyboards, etc.
 * Conducting specific research**--At this stage, students should evaluate the sources that they found during the Webstorming phase. They should begin searching for information within those sources and start making decisions about how they will use that information in their final product.
 * Completing the final product**--Before completing their assignments, students should ask themselves whether they added anything new to the information that they found or if they simply repeated information that they found during the research phase.
 * Assessing performance**--Lastly, students should reflect and assess their own product. Are they happy with the product? How about the way they went about the task? What would they change? What would they keep the same?