SLIS 761: 21st Century Information Literacy

According to the standards created by the Association of College & Research Libraries in the article, Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, information literacy is informed by technology and digital/media.  This is illustrated in an expanded definition of information literacy (p.3)

 Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities                                      encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the                        understanding of how information is produced and valued,  and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.

The learner’s understanding of how information is produced and valued is informed by the methods with which the information is created along with where it is shared.  The ACRL standards  explicitly state that the where and how of information will have an impact on who sees the information, and how the viewer will judge the authority of the information gathered.  The P21 Framework Definitions helped to define the intersection between technology, digital/media, and information literacy when they stated as part of the framework how a learner should, “understand both how and why media messages are constructed, and for what purposes” (p. 5).  This highlights, again, how vital understanding the vehicle information is conveyed in can alter the nature of the information and how it is shared.  The following are resources and readings included with this week’s assignment that are very helpful in teaching information literacy.

The game, Factitious, is a very entertaining, and enlightening method used to illustrate how articles found on the internet can be either real or fake news.  It trains the observer to become more discerning in checking sources, facts, and website (origin of information) to make sure the information given is legitimate.  When speaking in their podcast on Fake News & Media Literacy, The Liturgists’, had a wonderful 2-bit rap that came on in the middle and at the end of the show highlighting how gullible we can be when consuming information that we believe is factual, but is actually opinion-based.  I’m actually rather interested in reading the book featured on the blog, The Information Diet by Clay A. Johnson.

As a school media specialist, it is important that we know and understand a wide range of information resources and that we strive to incorporate kernels of information literacy into our interactions with students each day whether that be by formal presentations, casual interactions with students, or providing quality links on our school website.  Our information diet should consist of professional journals such as School Library Journal, Educational Leadership, and select variety (world wide) of news information outlets such as the BBC, Washington Post, and our local news information outlets besides popular culture news information so that we can understand student trends and concerns.

I will admit that one of my favorite sources that can be used to illustrate information literacy for our students is on the http://scdiscus.org website on the database entitled, Opposing Viewpoints in Context.  This is a site that offers links to vetted information sources on a wide-variety of topics and will allow for our learners to look at a range of opinions and material on a given topic without knowing exactly who is for or against the topic until the article has been read.  It is important that we, as professionals, help to guide ourselves and our students along information avenues that provide quality sources and materials for our consumption.

 

Sources

Association of College and Research Libraries. (February 9, 2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education. American Library Association. 3-11.                                                                                        doi: b910a6c4-6c8a-0d44-7dbc-a5dcbd509e3f

JoLT and AU Game Lab.  Facitious:  a game that tests your news sense.  Retrieved from http://factitious.augamestudio.com/#/.

Partnership for 21st Century Learning.  (May 2015).  P21 framework definitions.  Retrieved from http://www.P21.org/Framework.

The Liturgists.  (March 7, 2017).  Fake news and media literacy. Retrievedfrom  http://www.theliturgists.com/podcast/2017/3/7/fake-news-media-literacy.

2 thoughts on “SLIS 761: 21st Century Information Literacy”

  1. I think of technology and digital/media literacies as apart of information literacy so I would definitely agree that the related parts of information literacy are informed by them. I also thought that Factitious was a very useful tool to use in a classroom library visit or in general. I agree with all of the things that you mentioned that school librarians should have in their information diet but I also think that it is super important that we make sure we seek out the opposing viewpoints as they mentioned in the podcast, particularly when it comes to news outlets, but you already know this because you mentioned using the Opposing Viewpoints in Context database that is available through SC Discus with students. I had completely forgotten about it until you mentioned it in this post so I appreciate that.

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