Information Literacy: the Defining Paradigm of Modern Education

National Forum on Information Literacy (1989)--- "Information literacy is defined as the ability to know

when there is a need for information, and to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use the information for the issue or problem at hand."

NCLIS - National Commission on Libraries and Information ScienceUNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)

--- "Information Literacy encompasses knowledge of one's information concerns and needs, and the ability to identity, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively create, use and communicate information to address issues or problems at hand; it is a prerequisite for participating in the Information Society, and is part of the basic human right of lifelong learning."

includes the skills of

reading, writing, speaking,

listening, counting,

calculating, perceiving and

drawing.

Every student need to understand the difference

between fiction and non-fiction.

Every student need to know how to effectively use

reference books and periodicals.

Students need to understand the Dewey Decimal

System as a useful, logical system of hierarchical

organization and recognize its similarities to other

such systems.

Students should use indexes and the library catalog

so often that it becomes a subconscious skill.

includes an understanding of the many different types of media and the purposes for which they can be used.

Students should be taught the difference between fact and opinion, and be able to distinguish between information, entertainment and persuasion.

They should learn that all information has a source and that knowing the source and its bases is an important part of understanding any information.

basic computer operations: booting the computer, saving

and retrieving files, loading a program, and perhaps some

rudimentary word processing skills such as "cut and paste".

Like basic literacy, technology literacy is a continuum of

skills that can always be improved, and, like library literacy,

students receive technology experience and instruction in a

hit or miss fashion depending on which teachers they may

have over the years.

Every student should be thoroughly grounded in both the

ethics and etiquette of technology use.

Most importantly, every student should have frequent

opportunities to use technological tools to create his/her

own information artifacts - in print, on the screen, and

online.

“Visual Literacy means the skills

and learning needed to view visual

and audio/visual materials

skeptically, critically and

knowledgeably."

The information-literate student can:

recognize the need for information

identify and locate appropriate

information sources

access information contained in those

sources

evaluate the quality of information

obtained

Most of the netizens surfing, hanging

about, prowling the web for study and

leisure presume that works uploaded in the

internet are true and valid and usable as

presented.

BJ Fogg, a social scientist from Stanford

University, found out that people do judge a

Web site rather than what it contains.

On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog. So how can you tell if the information is reliable or not? Since people posting information in the internet are not required to pass through traditional editorial constraints or undergo any kind of fact-checking required in conventional published print media, there is no limit, check, or balance as to what is uploaded in the WWW.

Thanks to cartoonist, Peter Steiner, whose cartoon became a constant reminder to all netizens to evaluate the validity of the information they use and check the credibility of the author using a set of criteria before they use the information they found.

We must be discriminating, judicious and smart users of information. That makes us information literate. Not only must we be discerning learners but we must be constantly learning.

Several scholars like Breivik and Jones (1993) have found that the traditional literacies of reading, writing and mathematical reasoning are insufficient for lifelong learning.

The increasing quantity of information from all sources and the pressure to remain in a constant state of conscious learning means that we must be dexterous in the use of information, too.

The need to handle and use information is present in all stages of life and the acquisition of the competencies of information literacy must be intertwined with the acquisition of the other literacies.

This section of the special topic on

Information Literacy provides some

background on the changing views of

education and explains the resulting

changes in teaching practices that are

required for information literacy

instruction.

is now perceived as a process, not a

product

"People do not quit learning when they

leave school, but remain lifelong

learners."

Now objectives are flexible, taking

individual and cultural differences into

account. Current events, local

resources and student's interests are

also taken into account as curriculum

objectives are adjusted to make

learning more relevant.

The classroom is viewed as an

environment where active learning takes

place. Overhead projectors, television

monitors, VCRs and computers are

standard equipment in the classroom.

Classroom environment is conducive to

learning and encourages students to

become self-reliant and responsible for

their own learning.

Educators today realize that students

need to be actively involved in

seeking information and using it in

some way as they create their own

unique concepts of knowledge based

on previous understandings and

experiences.

Students today are viewed as

information seekers, information

users, decision makers and problem

solvers. What they learn depends on

what they need to know to make a

decision or to solve a problem.

Now teachers are facilitators of the

learning process and are constantly

learning as they work collaboratively

with other teachers, library media

specialists, community members and

even with overseas teachers via

internet.

Now projects of all sorts are the rule.

Authentic assessments are intended to

gauge what students learn by

measuring how well they use the

information such as portfolios,

presentations and written reports.

Library media centers are designed to

provide not only efficient storage but also

equal access to information and the

convenient retrieval of it. Library media

specialists now work cooperatively with

teachers to plan units that integrate

information literacy skills into subject-area

curricula.

The identification of information literacy

skills needed for lifelong learning and

thinking promotes a change in what is

taught.

Brain - based research that shows how

students learn and the abundance of

information in all formats dictates a

change in how teachers teach.

Brian Ferguson in his e-book explains: Information Literacy skills are vital to fully participate in and contribute to the world we live in. The best hope for citizens to understand and function effectively in this data-intensive world is a comprehensive, hands-on, universal education in Information Literacy concepts and skills through schools.

This course of study can and should be integrated with the traditional school subject areas, but it should also be considered as a separate core discipline especially for purposes of goal setting, curriculum design and evaluation.

Today's educators are responsible for

preparing students to be effective users of

information. The goal is to prepare students

early on to "learn how to learn" and carry these

skills into other areas of their lives so that they

can be independent seekers and consumers of

information throughout their lives (Humes,

1999).

According to Lenox (1993), teachers must

be prepared to "teach students to become

critical thinkers, intellectually curious

observers, creators and users of information".

The goal is to prepare students early on to "learn how to learn" and carry these skills into other areas of their lives so that they can be independent seekers and consumers of information throughout their lives.

Teachers of all subjects must blend their traditional fact-based approach with an emphasis on learner-based inquiry and the scientific inquiry process.

This means shifting some of the responsibility of gaining knowledge from the teacher to the student and allowing students to develop questions, strategies to search for answers and formulate conclusions.

In order to produce learners who are

information-literate, schools will need to

integrate information literacy skills across the

curriculum in all subject areas beginning in the

earliest grades.

Educational institutions that wish to produce

lifelong learners should be engaged in some

fairly basic rethinking of how teaching faculty

and information specialists such as librarians

and media specialists can work together toward

this end (Brittingham 1994).