A Holistic Approach towards Information Literacy: The Role of Parents, using the National Library Singapore Outreach Programme as a case study Ivy Lee Huey Shin & Sara Pek Leng Leng
May 11, 2015
A Holistic Approach towards
Information Literacy:
The Role of Parents, using the
National Library Singapore
Outreach Programme as a case
study
Ivy Lee Huey Shin & Sara Pek Leng Leng
Why Parents?
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Parents. The often forgotten missing
link in the equation for a student’s
successful learning journey.
children Parents are major influencers of
their children
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Teachers know the
importance of IL, but no
chance for individual
coaching. The parents
do not realise its
importance, and lack
the skills to do so, but
has the means to guide
children.
Example Example
Example Example
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end
Mismatch in guidance time and competency level to teach information
literacy
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HIGH COMPETENCY
LOW COMPETENCY
TIME for one-to-one
Parents
NO TIME for one-to-one
Teachers
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Beware of the Tiger Mummy
Carried to the extreme, many parents rob
their children of the opportunity to become
lifelong learners.
Defining the Role of Parents as Advocates of
Information Literacy
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Parent as Helper-Guide Term borrowed from Eisenberg & Berkowitz from
“Big6”
• Provide assistance and advice when
necessary
•Not to lead or partner the child
•Give the child space to develop his own
solutions
•Ask questions to help the child arrive at
solutions
Image courtesy of Susan Sermoneta via Flickr
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Unique Selling Point.
School Projects.
•Greater concern and awareness of weak
judgment and over-reliance on the Internet
•Change in emphasis on academic
excellence based on memorization to
critical thinking skills – fostered by project
work
Implementing the Parents Information Literacy Programme
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S.U.R.E.
Source. Understand.
Evaluate. Research.
Body copy minimum 12pt flush left 65% black.
Other half of area can be occupied by image,
charts, headline or information.
Body copy can be placed anywhere within the
slide space. However, as a rule of thumb, always
keep the slide clean and simple as possible.
• Ensure that headline message is clear.
• Ensure that message is not blocked by the icons
or clouds.
• However, a clean and a clear slide frame is
recommended.
• Flush left for bullet point is recommended as
flushing it right making the body copy looking
awkward.
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Ace Your Project Work! A
Parent’s Guide to Helping
Your Child Excel at School
Projects. Courseware development
•Coverage based on Big6, with emphasis
on evaluation techniques that is in-line with
S.U.R.E. campaign messaging.
•Emphasis on role of parents at every step
•E.g. Task definition stage: suggest
parent to ask the child to explain
assignment in his own words;
•E.g. Plan search strategies: suggest
parent to explain each source’s
relevancy and accompany the child
to the library to consult with librarian.
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Ace Your Project Work!
Parents’ Handbook.
Content Overview
Besides the Big6 and specific actions that
parents can take at each step, we also
introduce
•Commonly-used databases for local
history projects such as Infopedia,
NewspaperSG, Ebooks, A2O.
•Better search techniques with Boolean
operators
•Evaluating information using S.U.R.E. and
AACCO
•How to be responsible information users
with citation techniques
•Cyber wellness and what to do when
children are bullied on cyber space
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Ace Your Project Work!
Children’s Workbook.
Content Overview
As a companion to the Parents’ Handbook,
the Children’s Workbook covers similar
structure but with activities that get children
to learn:
•DDC, using library catalogue
•Fiction, non-fiction, articles, books,
databases
•Simple Boolean commands
•S.U.R.E. and AACCO on evaluating
information
•How to cite
•Cyber wellness
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Outreach.
Strategy.
Three-pronged strategy:
•Parents Support Groups in schools
•In-house workshops & parenting talks
•Partner Self-Help groups
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Outreach & Workshops
Workshops & Outreaches People
20 workshops 784 attendees
7 outreaches 1,852 attendees
Challenges & What’s Next
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Challenges implementing
programmes for parents.
•Lack of support from schools
•Parents want to leave the education to
educators
•Labour intensive
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What’s Next?
DIY Learning. Towards a sustainable business
model:
•Parents’ Handbook and Children’s
Workbook to be made available on
our portal for downloads to encourage
DIY learning
•E-learning modules made free to
encourage learning at own pace
•Provide face-to-face workshops only
when schools can commit audience of
a viable size
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What’s Next?
DIY Learning.
Thank You