Validation Report - Schools Sector

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission

Validation Report in the Schools Sector Authors: Sabina Cisek, Maria Próchnicka

Ver: Final

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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION

SECTION 1: INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP “INFORMATION LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN THE SCHOOL SECTOR”, 8TH JUNE 2011, KRAKÓW, POLAND

1.1. VENUE, DATES, WEBSITE, AND PARTICIPANTS

1.2. WORKSHOP CHAIR, COMMITTEE, KEYNOTE SPEAKER, INVITED SPEAKERS, AND WORKSHOP RAPPORTEURS

1.3. AGENDA/PROGRAMME WITH SPEAKERS

1.4 BRIEF OUTLINE OF POINTS DISCUSSED

1.4.1 Scope, aims and goals of the workshop

1.4.2 Information Literacy development in schools

1.4.3 Planning and developing an Information Literacy programme in schools

1.4.4 Secondary school curriculum from the perspective of Information Literacy issues

1.4.5 Selected examples of IL good practices in the education systems in Europe. Information Literacy standards for schools of different levels and types.

1.4.6 Information Literacy development through the eTwinning projects

1.4.7 Various aspects of Information Literacy development in the international environment of Virtual Mobility

1.5 MAJOR ISSUES IDENTIFIED

1.5.1 Common goals, same learning outcomes, different national strategies

1.5.2 Issue of responsibility, central vs. local

1.5.3 "Digital natives" and Information Literacy

1.5.4 Value of cooperation, the key role of school teachers

1.6 MODIFICATIONS/ADDITIONS SUGGESTED TO CASE STUDIES

1.6.1 Cooperation of different stakeholders

1.6.2 IL education “mixed” with teaching/learning other competencies

1.7 FINALIZED BEST PRACTICES/CASE STUDIES FOR SCHOOL SECTOR

1.7.1 ALCE – Animation for reading and comprehension at school

1.7.2 CHILIAS – Children in Libraries: improving multimedia virtual library access and information skills

1.7.3 Information literacy skills – the link between secondary and tertiary education

1.7.4 Informatyka+: the interregional programme for the development of the secondary school students' qualifications in Information Communication Technology

1.7.5 VERITY – Virtual and Electronic Resources for Information Skills Training

SECTION 2: DESCRIPTION OF THE “REAL-‐LIFE” IL ACTIVITIES IN POLAND IN THE SCHOOL SECTOR

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2.1 Brief outline of points discussed

2.1.1 Information Literacy initiative in Sucha Beskidzka (based on Hanna Batorowska's presentation)

2.1.2 The acquisition of Information Literacy through the eTwinning projects (based on Gracjana Więckowska's presentation)

2.1.3 Education in the field of Information Literacy by the project method (based on Maria Mendela's post-‐workshop article)

SECTION 3 CONCLUSIONS

APPENDICES

Appendix 1 Workshop documents presented for discussion

Appendix 2 Workshop list of participants

Appendix 3 Workshop copies of presentations

Appendix 4 Copies of photos, press releases and media coverage from workshops

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INTRODUCTION

The present text constitutes the delivery D5.1 of the Workpackage 5: Validation, that is the ONLINE VALIDATION REPORT ON IL IN SCHOOLS, based on the achievements of the International Workshop “Information Literacy in the School Sector”, Kraków, June 8, 2011.

The main aim of the Workpackage 5 has been to validate models, standards, performance measures and case approaches developed within the previous stages of EMPATIC.

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SECTION 1: INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP “INFORMATION LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN THE SCHOOL SECTOR”, 8TH JUNE 2011, KRAKÓW, POLAND

1.1. VENUE, DATES, WEBSITE, AND PARTICIPANTS

Venue: Institute of Information and Library Science, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, 4 Prof. Stanisława Łojasiewicza Street, 30-‐348 Kraków, Poland

Date: 8 June 2011, 10am

Website: http://informationliteracyintheschoolsector.blogspot.com/

Participants: 36 people from Poland and abroad, including librarians, teacher-‐librarians, members of the Polish Library Association’s IL Committee, school authorities, university faculty specializing in Information Literacy, representatives of local authorities, and EU LLP Programmes.

1.2. WORKSHOP CHAIR, COMMITTEE, KEYNOTE SPEAKER, INVITED SPEAKERS, AND WORKSHOP RAPPORTEURS

Workshop Chair: Professor Maria Próchnicka, Director of the Institute of Information and Library Science, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland

Workshop Committee: Professor Maria Próchnicka, Dr Sabina Cisek, Dr Agnieszka Korycińska-‐Huras, Dr Monika Krakowska, Ms Magdalena Wójcik

Keynote Speaker: Professor Hanna Batorowska, Pedagogical University of Krakow, Poland

Professor Hanna Batorowska is a well-‐known IL researcher, an expert in the field of information culture, school media centres, media education, and a long-‐term leader of a few successful real-‐life initiatives in the school libraries’ sector. She is the author of the book “Kultura informacyjna w perspektywie zmian w edukacji” (Information Culture in the Perspective of Changes in Education, 2009).

Invited International Speakers (in alphabetical order):

Tibor KOLTAY (Hungary)

Monika KRAKOWSKA (Poland)

Serap KURBANOGLU (Turkey)

Anu OJARANTA (Finland)

Sheila WEBBER (United Kingdom)

Gracjana WIĘCKOWSKA (Poland)

Workshop Rapporteurs: Sabina Cisek, Magdalena Wójcik

1.3. AGENDA/PROGRAMME WITH SPEAKERS

9:30 – 10:15 – Organizational issues

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10:15 – 10:25 – MARIA PRÓCHNICKA, the EMPATIC project, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, Welcome

10:25 – 10:45 – SABINA CISEK, MARIA PRÓCHNICKA, the EMPATIC project, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, “The EMPATIC project – general characteristics. The scope, aims and goals of the International Workshop „Information Literacy Development in the School Sector”

10:45 – 11:15 – HANNA BATOROWSKA, Pedagogical University in Krakow, Poland, the keynote speaker, „Information Literacy development in Schools”

11:15 – 11:45 – SERAP KURBANOGLU, Hacettepe University, Turkey, „How to Plan and Develop an Information Literacy Program in Schools”

11:45 – 12:00 – Discussion

12:00 – 12:30 – Coffee break

12:30 – 12:50 – ANU OJARANTA, Åbo Akademi, Finland, "Information Literacy and a View of the Finnish Secondary School Curriculum"

12:50 – 13:40 – SHEILA WEBBER, University of Sheffield, Great Britain, TIBOR KOLTAY, Szent István University, Hungary, Opinions and discussion on selected examples of the IL good practices in the education systems in Europe (as in Document D4.2) and existing Information Literacy standards for schools of different levels and types (as in Document D4.1)

13:40 – 14:00 – Discussion

14:00 – 14:45 – Lunch

14:45 – 15:00 – GRACJANA WIĘCKOWSKA, Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji (the Polish national agency for LLP), Poland, „Information Literacy development through the eTwinning projects”

15:00 – 15:20 – MONIKA KRAKOWSKA, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, „Information Literacy development in the international environment of Virtual Mobility”

15:20 – 16:00 – Discussion

16:00 – 16:30 – SABINA CISEK, MARIA PRÓCHNICKA, the EMPATIC project, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Conclusions


Within the workshop eight presentations were given by seven invited speakers from four countries (Finland, Hungary, Poland, and United Kingdom): Hanna BATOROWSKA, Tibor KOLTAY, Monika KRAKOWSKA, Serap KURBANOGLU, Anu OJARANTA, Sheila WEBBER, and Gracjana WIĘCKOWSKA as well as two organizers, i.e. Sabina CISEK and Maria PRÓCHNICKA.

1.4.1 Scope, aims and goals of the workshop

The workshop has been aimed at:

- discussing strategies, models and methods of Information Literacy (IL) development in the school learning sector across the UE

- sharing experiences, opinions, advice on development of the information competencies and culture among students, teachers and other groups

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- validating the EMPATIC products up to date, in particular the Deliverables 4.1 and 4.2, related to IL development strategies as well as IL standards and performance indicators, and examples of good IL practice (cases)

1.4.2 Information Literacy development in schools

The workshop Keynote Speaker, Professor HANNA BATOROWSKA from the Pedagogical University in Krakow, Poland, discussed „Information Literacy development in schools”.

She started her speech with tracking the development of Polish concept of Information Literacy (IL) and noticed that many different terms are used in the area of information and digital literacies, and there are also a lot of different ways of perceiving those problems.

After theoretical reflections Batorowska described how Information Literacy had been developed in one school in Sucha Beskidzka (a town in the Southern Poland), using this as an inspiring case study. She depicted the initiative focused on “training the trainers”, that is training school teachers to become IL educators for their students, in order to create the generation of teachers who could really understand the IL problems. In addition, Batorowska strongly emphasized the importance of cooperation with local authorities and local institutions (such as local museums). She also stressed that all of the initiatives she talked about took 10 years to fulfil, so it was the long-‐term project, STRATEGIC in its very nature.

1.4.3 Planning and developing an Information Literacy programme in schools

Professor SERAP KURBANOGLU (Hacettepe University, Turkey) spoke about planning and developing an Information Literacy programme in schools. She drew attention to problems associated with the process of IL development planning and implementing the IL strategies. She carefully analysed potential challenges and planning pitfalls as well as opportunities and strengths of different approaches. She also stressed a crucial role of “human factor” in every strategy. At the end of her presentation she discussed some interesting examples of good Information Literacy practices.

1.4.4 Secondary school curriculum from the perspective of Information Literacy issues

ANU OJARANTA (Åbo Akademi, Finland) presented a view of the Finnish secondary school curriculum from the perspective of Information Literacy issues. Anu Ojaranta is a school librarian and a PhD student at Abo Akademi (Turku, Finland). Her research focuses on IL issues as present in school curricula and teaching. She investigates teachers’, students’, librarians’, and headmasters’ perception of IL problems. During workshop she presented some of her research results.

1.4.5 Selected examples of IL good practices in the education systems in Europe. Information Literacy standards for schools of different levels and types.

The next speakers were SHEILA WEBBER (University of Sheffield, UK) and TIBOR KOLTAY (Szent István University, Hungary). They presented selected examples of IL good practices in the education systems in Europe (as in EMPATIC’s Document D4.2) and existing Information Literacy standards for schools of different levels and types (as in EMPATIC’s Document D4.1).

Sheila Webber is a faculty member of the Information School, University of Sheffield, UK and the Director of the Centre for Information Literacy Research there. She publishes a well-‐known

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“Information Literacy Weblog” at http://information-‐literacy.blogspot.com/ and participates in creating two other blogs: “Information Literacy meets Library 2.0” and “iSchool Blog”. Within the workshop she spoke about IL in school libraries, including progression of Information Literacy, models of IL and national frameworks for IL. Sheila Webber drew attention to the problem of librarians’ status and issues connected with approaches to teaching IL.

Professor Tibor Koltay is the Head of Department of Information and Library Studies, Szent István University, Hungary and the Course Director for LIS programs. He spoke about old and new questions connected with Information Literacy in schools and asked whether the present educational systems really prepare schoolchildren to use information consciously and “critically”. Tibor Koltay overthrew the myth of the high degree of IL skills among “digital natives”. At the end of his presentation Koltay showed the example of IL good practice in Hungary called “The Digital Fortress Game”. This is a part of the eMapps project, aiming at motivating primary school children to actively participate in creating opportunities through multimedia.

1.4.6 Information Literacy development through the eTwinning projects

GRACJANA WIĘCKOWSKA, discussed issues connected with Information Literacy development through the eTwinning projects. Gracjana Więckowska works for the Polish National Agency for LLP and is the editor of the portal www.etwinning.pl. She presented the most important features of eTwinning and discussed a wide range of advantages arising from the eTwinning projects. At the end of her presentation Gracjana Więckowska discussed examples of good practices, based on eTwinning projects realized in Polish schools and kindergartens.

1.4.7 Various aspects of Information Literacy development in the international environment of Virtual Mobility

MONIKA KRAKOWSKA (Jagiellonian University in Krakow) presented the idea of Virtual Mobility. Dr Monika Krakowska is a faculty member in the Institute of Information and Library Science of the Jagiellonian University, and conducts research in the fields of new communication tools in the Internet environment, the area of higher education in Europe, cooperation between libraries and other institutions within the European Union, and Information Literacy. In her presentation Monika Krakowska analysed various aspects of Information Literacy development in the international environment of Virtual Mobility and presented her IL-‐related experiences resulting from participation in the TeaCamp project (Teachers Virtual Campus: Research, Practice, Apply).

1.5 MAJOR ISSUES IDENTIFIED

The invited speakers’ presentations inspired the workshop participants, both foreign and Polish, “theorist” and “practitioners”, to formulate their own opinions and share personal IL experiences. The discussion turned out to be very dynamic, even hot, and productive. It concerned the IL development strategies in European countries, “taken-‐for-‐granted” but not necessarily valid IL policy assumptions, as well as examples of good IL practices. A few major topics, described underneath, have been identified.

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1.5.1 Common goals, same learning outcomes, different national strategies

The first and essential issue identified and discussed was if a Europe-‐wide, one d e t a i l e d Information Literacy strategy is really needed. The workshop participants observed that the educational systems, information culture, and experiences with IL development in every EU country are different, so what works in one part of Europe may not in the other. As a result it might be better to formulate the all-‐European Information Literacy standards in terms of l e a r n i n g o u t c o m e s , the set of IL goals to be achieved in different appropriate ways and by various means within formal, informal and non-‐formal learning environments. Also carefully selected and purposively analysed examples of IL development good practices should be prepared to serve as illustrative cases and inspiration for all.

In other words, the proper direction in the area of Information Literacy development is not “central planning”, but setting common European goals, to be accomplished in each country in their own way. The workshop participants expressed the feeling that aims should be the same across Europe (general), but the IL development strategies need to be national (particular). As the examples may serve the Scottish and Welsh Information Literacy strategies, presented during the workshop.

1.5.2 Issue of responsibility, central vs. local

Another important question has been: who is to be responsible for the introduction and development of Information Literacy in any of the European countries? Should it be the central national body or central goals? The answer is not simple. Generally, participants spoke out against the central body for the method of “small steps” and cooperative work of all interested parties/stakeholders on the l o c a l level, in local communities where real work is or can be done.

1.5.3 "Digital natives" and Information Literacy

Tibor Koltay's presentation was met with great response. Participants agreed that the young generation, so-‐called “digital natives” do not necessarily have the “inherent” culture of information; they also must undergo education and training in the field of Information Literacy.

1.5.4 Value of cooperation, the key role of school teachers

A very important theme in the discussion was the question of cooperation between librarians/information professionals, who everywhere are traditionally engaged in the IL-‐related matters, with other parties/stakeholders involved in the educational processes, i.e. headmasters, teachers, parents, students, local authorities, and other people having important social functions in their local communities (police officers, fire-‐fighters, priests, etc.).

Especially the key role of teachers has been repeatedly stressed by all participants. Teachers must be aware of what Information Literacy is, why it is so important and how to learn/teach IL in schools (the methodology). In other words, the school management and teachers are the most important stakeholders.

1.6 MODIFICATIONS/ADDITIONS SUGGESTED TO CASE STUDIES

The analysis of Polish and international IL “cases” discussed within the workshop, allowed verifying the examples of good IL practices, which were selected in previous stages of the EMPATIC project.

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1.6.1 Cooperation of different stakeholders

Discussed examples of Information Literacy good practices show that the development of IL competencies cannot be a unilateral effort of librarians. Modern education of IL competencies requires extensive cooperation of different stakeholders: schools, libraries, cultural institutions, local authorities, teachers, parents and students.

1.6.2 IL education “mixed” with teaching/learning other competencies

The analysed examples also showed a trend to combine “pure” IL education with teaching/learning of other skills, such as media or digital literacy competencies. Also, using a wide range of innovative methods and tools to make IL education more interesting and effective has been characteristic for all concerned projects.

1.7 FINALIZED BEST PRACTICES/CASE STUDIES FOR SCHOOL SECTOR

During the previous stages of the EMPATIC project five IL development best practices for the school sector have been chosen and described. Within the workshop these projects have been validated in a sense that none of them was considered to be inappropriate. But it has to be noticed that the workshop participants were much more interested in the IL development strategies, the roles of IL stakeholders on national and local levels, the real-‐life, ongoing IL enterprises and the work to be done in the near future.

Below there are descriptions of the validated cases.

1.7.1 ALCE – Animation for reading and comprehension at school

I: GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Country: Spain

2. EU funding programme: Comenius

3. Focus, initiative-‐type: project aimed at development of IL as social objective

4. Learning sector: Schools

5. Literacy area: Information Literacy

6. Geographical / social range: International

7. Type of institution, organization, and stakeholder: Foundation

II: CHARACTERISTIC

Consortium

The leader of project is Fundación Tomillo Capto – Centro de Actividades Pedagógicas. The other participants are partners from Greece, Italy and Portugal.

Background

The ALCE project is part of Socrates/Comenius programme which aims at developing young people and educational staff knowledge about the diversity of European cultures and

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languages and help young people acquire the basic skills and life competencies necessary for personal development, future employment and active citizenship. Information skills are one of the most important competences in the information society. The ALCE is also one of the EU-‐funded projects in the field of education of children of occupational travellers.

Core objectives

The ALCE project worked with secondary-‐age pupils and aimed to promote reading, bibliographical research and use of ITC to carry out schoolwork.

Details

The target group of this project are children of occupational travellers. The ALCE project worked in schools within deprived urban zones, where the concentration of immigrants, Gypsies and marginalized group of people is considerable.

Results

The main results of ALCE project, which was finished in 1999, were:

• supporting the education of secondary school students

• drawing attention to the problems of immigrants

• promoting the idea of cultural diversity.

1.7.2 CHILIAS – Children in Libraries: improving multimedia virtual library access and information skills


1. Country: Germany

2. EU funding programme: FP4



5. Literacy area: Media Literacy, Information Literacy

6. Geographical / social range: international, for children

7. Type of institution, organization, and stakeholder: Library

II: CHARACTERISTIC

Consortium

CHILIAS is a project of the European Commission within the framework of the Telematics Applications Programme 1994-‐1998 – Telematics for Libraries. The coordinator of project was Stuttgart City Library in Germany. The other partners, from Finland, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal and Spain, are: Gateshead Libraries and Arts Services, Athens College Library, Diputació de Barcelona, University of Helsinki, IT Centre for Schools, Vantaa City Library, University of Sunderland, Costeas Gitonas School, Akateeminen Tietopalvelu, Association of Finish Local Authorities, University of Turku, IBM Deutschland and Ravensburger Interactive Media.

Background

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The Internet and multimedia give children new ways of searching information and learning but require a high level of information-‐seeking skills. The project refers to the idea of European children's libraries, which provide a stimulating environment for innovative learning and creative use of multimedia.

Core objectives

The project main aim was to strengthen the information competence of children using interactive multimedia and communication systems to improve their information seeking skills in new learning environments.

Details

The project was implemented through a website named InfoPlanet, containing:

A Virtual Library module

Storybuilder – an interactive application for creative input from children

Guestbook – a structured discussion and feedback tool for use by children

Infoton – an information skills tool

InfoPlanet was developed in six languages, one for each of the participating countries.

Results

Project results included:

• Creation of virtual children's libraries of multimedia materials, established in different countries.

• Integration of communications and media creation applications in the demonstrator.

• A prototype and demonstrator of tools for different information skills.

• Evaluations of usage of the tools and applications by children, teachers and librarians.

1.7.3 Information literacy skills – the link between secondary and tertiary education


1. Country: UK

2. EU funding programme




5. Geographical / social range: national

6. Type of institution, organization, and stakeholder: University

II: CHARACTERISTIC

Consortium

The Information literacy skills – the link between secondary and tertiary education project is a national pilot to develop an information literacy framework leaded by the Department of Learner Support at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), realized with secondary and tertiary

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partners.

The partners:

North Ayrshire Council, the City of Edinburgh Council Education Resource Services, Doon Academy, Govan High School, Firrhill High School, University of Abertay, Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU) and other.

Background

The “Information literacy skills – the link between secondary and tertiary education” project is a part of a National Information Literacy Framework. Research undertaken by Glasgow Caledonian University showed that students arriving at university have generally either poor or limited information literacy skills, for some these skills will be enhanced but many will leave as they arrived. According to the developers of the project solution, what can help to change this unfavourable situation is cooperation between the representatives of the second and the third sectors of education.

Core objectives

The aim of the project was to evaluate and develop information literacy skills of secondary school pupils. The main objective was to make sure that secondary school graduates completing secondary school education had a set of information skills, which then could be developed and used in the course of higher education.

Specific objectives were:

• identify student information literacy skills they bring to university

• convert identified IL skills an IL framework extending from secondary into higher education

• pilot and test developed framework

• identify barriers to and constraints on the development of a national IL framework

• test the link between IL, progression, and retention and the employability agenda

Details

Stages of project implementation:

1. Choosing focus groups from first year students at GCU to identify what information literacy skills, if any they bring to university

2. Interviewing university subject librarians to identify what information literacy skills, they believe new students bring from secondary and or further education

3. Working with partners identified information literacy skills converted to an information literacy framework extending from secondary into higher education

4. Developing and testing framework with secondary and tertiary participants

5. Identifying barriers on the development of a national information literacy framework

6. Developing of GCU's IL training strategy into an integrated strategy which combines ICT and IL skills.

Results

The result of project, which was finished in 2008, was to focus attention on an information literacy strategy which links secondary and tertiary education and encourages the secondary

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and tertiary sectors to work together. The final product was to create an information literacy framework.

The outcomes were:

• develop a viable, tested and piloted draft framework

• creation of expertise which can be rolled out further in secondary and tertiary sectors contribute to:

-‐ curriculum development in Scotland

-‐ the teaching and learning of IL skills within education

-‐ the understanding of the role of IL in the progression / retention and employability agendas

-‐ IL research within tertiary and secondary education

-‐ the development of the secondary /tertiary interface by encouraging partnership activity.

1.7.4 Informatyka+: the interregional programme for the development of the secondary school students' qualifications in Information Communication Technology


1. Country: Poland

2. EU funding programme: European Social Fund

3. Focus, initiative-‐type: project aimed at development of IL as cognitive acquisition of individuals


5. Literacy area: ICT Literacy

5. Geographical / social range: National

6. Type of institution, organization, and stakeholder: College

II: CHARACTERISTIC

Consortium

Informatyka+ is a cross-‐regional educational project in the field of computer science and information and communication technology initiated by The Academy of Informatics in Warsaw. The partners of this project are nearly 1,000 teachers from secondary schools.

The project is supervised by Programme Board consisting of representatives of:

• University of Warsaw

• Warsaw University of Technology

• University of Wroclaw

• Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun

Background

The Informatyka+ project is a part of the Human Capital Operational Programme, whose main objectives include:

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• Raising the level of economic activity and employability of the unemployed and economically inactive

• Reducing areas of social exclusion

• Improving the adaptability of workers and enterprises to changes in the economy

• Promoting public education at every stage of education while increasing the quality of educational services and their link with the needs of the knowledge economy

• Increasing the capacity of public administration in developing policies and providing high quality services and strengthening partnership mechanisms

• The increase in territorial cohesion.

Core objectives

The main aim of that project is to increase the ICT competences of high school students by providing them with access to educational resources, lectures and workshops.

Details

The project provides a wide range of extracurricular activities for students in the form of lectures, workshops, courses and competitions. All activities will be implemented on the basis of an educational program developed for the project objectives. In total, the various forms of teaching in the period from September 2009 to September 2012 will be attended by 15 780 students (including 20% of students gifted in science or interested in studying in technical fields) and 180 teachers of computer science and information technology.

The project consists of a number of initiatives: As part of Visitors Morning and Afternoon, the Visitors will be invited for lectures and workshops at the Warsaw School of Informatics, including 3,000 students. As part of the Visitors on Wheels reach academics to give lectures to village schools away from Warsaw. This form of participation in the project will be covered by more than 8,000 students. Provision is also the 6th edition of specialized computer courses undertaken at the premises of the university and the Regional Centres Project. These courses will be implemented within a module of the program of advanced IT +. During holidays, the students will be invited to participate in summer camps. All participants receive teaching materials in electronic form and educational brochures. All the teaching resources developed by the project are available through the educational platform – Mila College Junior (www.webfronter.com/iplus/milacollegejunior). People who did not participate in the classes, and want to use the teaching materials for self-‐study can log in as a guest. In the course of the project also envisages the organization of conferences and the Knowledge Fair, which will be attended by a total of more than 600 participants (teachers, lecturers and students). Progress of the project will be documented.

Results

The main results of the project are:

• creation of a special educational program creation of educational web-‐based platform

• completion of lectures and workshops for over 3,000 students

• conduct lectures for more than 8 000 students from small towns

• performing specific computer courses for gifted students

• organizing academic summer camps

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• organization of conferences and the Knowledge Fairs

• evidence of good practice in the form of scientific notebooks, publishers of a popular science

• a collective work of prominent representatives from the fields of science and methodological guide for teachers.

1.7.5 VERITY – Virtual and Electronic Resources for Information Skills Training


1. Country: United Kingdom

2. EU funding programme: FP4

3. Focus, initiative-‐type: project aimed at development of IL as cognitive acquisition of individuals



5. Geographical / social range: international, for young people

6. Type of institution, organization, and stakeholder: University

II: CHARACTERISTIC

Consortium

The consortium headed by Information Services at the University of Sunderland comprises the University of Helsinki IT Centre for Schools, Stuttgart Public Libraries, Athens College Library and ISEGI based at the New University of Lisbon. The project was funded by the Libraries sector under the European Union's Telematics Applications Programme.

Background

The Verity project is connected with the idea of providing virtual library services that are creative, stimulating and educational for young people. Teaching the youth how to search and use information is compatible with concept of lifelong learning for information society.

Core objectives

The main aim of project was to help young people with their information seeking process by providing them "The Virtual librarian" system. The system provided virtual library services and tough students how to be independent learners in the information society.

Details

The target group for the project were young people aged 13-‐19. The Verity project first produced an English prototype of "The Virtual librarian" system called “Virtual Resource Finder” which had two parts: the resource finder and the infoskills. The resource finder guides users through a series of options that assist them in locating the correct bibliographic information both in the OPAC and from a database of selected web resources. Infoskills includes three sections: Learning material, Self-‐evaluation questionnaire and Teacher’s guide. The Learning material is a guide for information seeking designed for school assignment and project work. It teaches the user how to work effectively with information. The self-‐evaluation questionnaire provides a forty five questions questionnaire users can take to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in searching. The Teacher’s guide discusses the challenges of the

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future education and offers guidance in encouraging collaborative work. On the completion and verification of the first prototype in English additional prototypes were also produced in Finnish, German, Greek and Portuguese.

Results

The project finished in 2000:

• supported young people with their research projects in retrieving, selecting and evaluating the relevant information available in library catalogues and on the Internet

• contributed to the spread of the idea of lifelong learning

• gave young people ability to learn independently

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SECTION 2: DESCRIPTION OF THE “REAL-‐LIFE” IL ACTIVITIES IN POLAND IN THE SCHOOL SECTOR


Below there are descriptions of „real life trials” for the school sector in Poland.

2.1.1 Information Literacy initiative in Sucha Beskidzka (based on Hanna Batorowska's presentation)

General information

The workshop for school librarians was organized from 5th to 7th March 2011 in Sucha Beskidzka (Southern Poland) by five cooperating institutions: Institute of Information and Library Science, Pedagogical University in Krakow, Valery Goetel's School in Sucha Beskidzka, Sucha Beskidzka City Museum, Pedagogical Library in Cracow – Regional Branch in Sucha Beskidzka, Suska Library.

The topic of workshop was “Information Culture and school libraries in the local environment”.

School librarians were the workshop's main target group but representatives of other groups were also invited. Among the participants were:

-‐ school librarians

-‐ representatives of local authorities

-‐ directors of schools, libraries and educational institutions in Sucha Beskidzka

-‐ teachers and students of Pedagogical University in Kraków.

Main objectives

The main goal of the workshop was to provide school librarians with the knowledge and skills that would enable them to take effective actions in the field of IL education in schools.

Details

The workshop participants could learn about such issues as:

-‐ theoretical and practical aspects of creating school information centres

-‐ new technologies impact on the functioning of school libraries

-‐ school libraries in the information society

-‐ information culture in the perspective of changes in education

-‐ risks of lack of information competences for sustainable student development

-‐ Multimedia Information Centres in the local environment

-‐ librarians involvement in the implementation of educational projects

-‐ library organizational culture and its influence on shaping their users information culture

Essence of good practice

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The essence of the good practice undertaken in Sucha Beskidzka was extensive cooperation of several institutions working together in the local environment. The success of the project was achieved thanks to close cooperation of school, museum, libraries and university. One of the most important elements was the inclusion of local authorities in actions taken, which provided the organizational and economic support. It is worth noting that a workshop organized in Sucha Beskidzka was one of the elements of long-‐term actions.

2.1.2 The acquisition of Information Literacy through the eTwinning projects (based on Gracjana Więckowska's presentation)

General information

eTwinning is a European co-‐operation of kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools through the electronic media.

Participants of eTwinning projects may be:

-‐ teachers in all subjects, pupils, headmasters, librarians, logotherapists and other school staff;

-‐ European Union countries schools and schools from Norway, Iceland, Turkey, Croatia, Macedonia and Switzerland;

-‐ kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools and secondary schools (age range of pupils 3-‐19 years).

Most important features of eTwinning projects are:

-‐ Using a computer, Internet, software, digital camera or other tools

-‐ Practising foreign languages, which are necessary for direct communication with the partner schools

-‐ Topic of project must be related to the curriculum objectives.

Within the framework of eTwinning project students carry out tasks such as:

-‐ Collecting information on a specific topic;

-‐ Filing of information;

-‐ Verification of information;

-‐ Developing information in the form of presentation, photo gallery, album, movie, book, blog, wiki, comic;

-‐ Developing a common material in cooperation with European partner school;

-‐ Inserting that material on the web platform TwinSpace (common space for all the project partners).

Among the main advantages of eTwinning projects are:

-‐ increasing ability to use modern technology;

-‐ enhancing motivation, enthusiasm for learning;

-‐ development of creativity and openness.

Main objective

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One of the main objectives of the eTwinning project is to develop information literacy and digital literacy competencies among students and teachers by giving them opportunities for creative collaboration with foreign partners.

2.1.3 Education in the field of Information Literacy by the project method (based on Maria Mendela's post-‐workshop article)

General information

The school library in the Economic and Chemistry School Complex (Trzebinia, Poland) works intensively in the field of IL education by using the project method. The initiator of these actions is the school librarian Maria Mendela.

Main objective

The main objective of undertaken actions was to develop students IL competencies as well as training teachers and parents. Another important aim was to fight against negative stereotype of school librarians and make teachers, parents and students aware of the importance of school libraries.

Examples of good practices

1) eTwinning project “Learn the world of professions”

Project aims were to gain or improve:

-‐ ability to use various sources of information available on the Internet

-‐ knowledge of methods of information retrieval

-‐ ability to search and organize information

-‐ ability to plan career paths

-‐ English language skills

-‐ understanding the cultures of European countries

Students worked together on the eTwinning portal using the TwinSpace tools and Web Quests. Through conversation and negotiation group members had to choose one profession to describe. Students had to make the division of roles and perform the task according to work schedule. Each student, to complete the task, had to learn the methods of information retrieval on the Internet. The whole project was very successful and gained a lot of awards and distinctions, such as:

-‐ National Quality Medal awarded by the National eTwinning Support Service in Poland

-‐ Turkey National Medal awarded by the National eTwinning Support Service in Turkey

-‐ European Quality Medal awarded by the Central eTwinning Support Service in Brussels

-‐ Second place in the competition “eTwinning in school library”

-‐ First place in the national contest "eTwinning in Turkey"

-‐ Place in final of international competition „Global Junior Challenge”

2)”Civil society in the lens of camera” project

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The main objective of the project was to increase the level of social activity of students and teachers in schools and raising awareness of the civil society, through using innovative and attractive methods and tools. The specific objectives were:

-‐ improving the knowledge on human rights as the basis for building the school's self-‐government as well as civil society

-‐ improving knowledge on social determinants affecting the equality of men and women

-‐ improving the knowledge about how to use the media to work for society

-‐ teaching young people the principles of group work and discussion.

During the project, students took part in multi-‐day workshops, held on the Wolin Island. The aim of the workshop was to stimulate participants’ creativity and sensitivity. Workshops were divided into several thematic blocks in accordance with established objectives of the project. Then, students’ task was to design and implement a project of the social campaign for the local community (each campaign consisted of a short reportage and promotional action -‐ posters, reports, and press releases).

As a result, students gain practical skills how to:

-‐ search information

-‐ create public awareness campaigns

-‐ approach problems creatively

-‐ create films and documentaries

-‐ create other promotional materials.

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SECTION 3 CONCLUSIONS

I. The main conclusions of the workshop, related to the issue of IL development in the school sector, combined with the EMPATIC observations to the moment are:

-‐ Do not believe in the myth of “digital natives” and do not base on it, children and young people in schools might be ICT literate and may consider themselves also information literate but in most cases they are not.

-‐ Identification of roles and multi-‐dimensional cooperation of different IL stakeholders (local authorities and other local figures, parents, school authorities, students, teachers) is crucial.

-‐ If you want to make change you must convince and train school teachers, they are the basis of the educational systems and send the most influential message to their students/children in schools.

-‐ National IL development strategies should be flexible and built on the all-‐European scheme of IL standards, and those in turn should be formulated in terms of learning outcomes. Consequently it is strongly advised to prepare such a scheme.

-‐ Real work on the local level is the most important factor of IL development in the school sector in Europe, and as a result it has to be strongly supported by national and European law and policy makers.

II. Also, “illustrative case studies”, the Information Literacy best practices, i.e. selected examples of the IL development projects in the four learning sectors in different European countries, should be made available for future reference.

But, if these are to offer r e a l a d v i c e , then c o m p r e h e n s i v e and i n -‐ d e p t h information about them must be published and made accessible (not just a project’s title, dates, goals, and main events).

As we have noted before (Deliverable 4.2), in case of completed EU-‐funded Information Literacy projects there is frequently a lack of data concerning further development of the given IL initiatives or the projects’ impact on educational policy and other actions related to teaching information skills. Furthermore, one gets the impression that most of the IL projects did not bring lasting results due to the lack of a wider reflection and overall project management policy.

It is therefore necessary to develop strategic solutions that will ensure the viability of the project results after the termination of funding. Also, as it has been mentioned earlier, all organizations participating in the Information Literacy projects should do much more to provide access to complete and good-‐quality information about their initiatives, particularly through the creation of functional websites and maintaining them not only for the duration of the projects but also afterwards.

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 WORKSHOP DOCUMENTS PRESENTED FOR DISCUSSION

The invitation for the workshop, containing active Web links to documents presented for discussion is available online through the webpage “The workshop invitations and programs in English and Polish / Program i zaproszenie” at http://informationliteracyintheschoolsector.blogspot.com/2011/06/httpsdocs.html

APPENDIX 2 WORKSHOP LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Available in print, will be attached if needed

APPENDIX 3 WORKSHOP COPIES OF PRESENTATIONS

The workshop presentations are available online through the webpage in English and Polish “The workshop presentations (in alphabetical order) / Prezentacje (alfabetycznie wg autorów)” at http://informationliteracyintheschoolsector.blogspot.com/2011/06/workshop-‐presentations.html

APPENDIX 4 COPIES OF PHOTOS, PRESS RELEASES AND MEDIA COVERAGE FROM THE WORKSHOP

The workshop p h o t o s are available online through the webpage in English and Polish “Photos / Zdjęcia” at http://informationliteracyintheschoolsector.blogspot.com/2011/06/photos-‐zdjecia.html or http://skryba.inib.uj.edu.pl/galerie/2011/2011-‐06-‐08/index.html.

Here we give only selected examples.

Hanna Batorowska (Poland)

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Sheila Webber (UK) and Anu Ojaranta (Finland)

Tibor Koltay (Hungary)

Serap Kurbanoglu (Turkey)

Participants

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P r e s s r e l e a s e s and m e d i a c o v e r a g e of the workshop are accessible online through the webpage “Other websites related to the workshop / Inne strony związane z warsztatami” at http://informationliteracyintheschoolsector.blogspot.com/2011/06/other-‐workshop-‐sites.html

http://empat-‐ic.eu/eng/

Project funded by the European Commission

under the Lifelong Learning Programme

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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