Information Literacy

1. Information Literacy A whole School Approach

2. Our proposal is that the XXXXX (insert school name) community would greatly benefit from having an integrated, staff designed, united approach to the Information Process and Information Literacy skills. Library Proposal

3. “Information literate learners are able to access, process, organise, create and present information in a range of ways that make meaning for them and all the construction of personal knowledge.” (ASLA) • know how and where to find information, and once we find it, discern what is appropriate, authentic, valid and reliable. Then we need to decide how to decipher it, analyse it, process it, organise it, create it, incorporate it, make meaning of it, present it, store it and apply it. What is information Literacy?

4. “Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. • It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. • It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.” (Pinto, 2008) Why do we need to be Information literate?

5. Wallis (2005) commented that vast sums of money arepoured into communication and information technological development, so a comparative amount should be invested in information training, at all levels of society, in order for individuals to reach their full potential. ICT Literate, but not IL!

6. Students in primary and secondary schools are also mostly self-taught in using ICT. • They have grown up with computers and the internet and are comfortable and confident in using them, however, research shows that they are not very information literate. • Hipkins(2005) found that secondary school students “felt that they had not been taught the skills they needed to carry out their own research projects and also observed that much of the research appeared to be mainly information retrieval and repackaging”. Students and IL

7. “Information skills must be embedded across the school curriculum and explicitly taught in the context of teaching and learning programs” (ASLA, 2006) Embedded

8. Learning new skills and knowledge takes reinforcement. • “Learning to be information literate involves practicing the use of the system, or the steps, when engaged in learning tasks” (Bruce, 2004). • If a school has a unified approach to information literacy, with a common research method and integrated training of the skills, then success is more likely. How to create IL students?

9. This could help eliminate confusion and time-wasting efforts as students try to meet the different requirements within the school. Probert (2006) reported that teachers recognized the need for a “school wide research method and to be provided with strategies for skill development”. Why a “Whole-school approach?”

10. Create a Community of Practice for staff to contribute their ideas and existing resources that they would like the students to use across the school related to the information process. The CofP and wiki can be established and led by the Library Staff. Step 1

11. Establish best practice information literacy processes and related formats, • Unite the college in a consistent approach to the information process (sometimes called the research method or enquiry model) and • Encourage the implementation of these in the classroom by staff and students. Aims of CofP

12. Learning areas that already have preferred approaches and templates . • All staff will have the opportunity to contribute to the creation of templates and guidelines to be used in their lessons and by students. • Coordinated by Library staff. Who can be involved?

13. Collect, design and collate a set of resources that can be easily accessed and used by staff, students, parents and tutors on the requirements and approaches to the information process, internet research, note-taking, study methods, essay writing, report writing, review writing, referencing, bibliographies, feature articles, setting presentation criteria etc. What they’ll do.

14. Once a consensus is reached within a set time frame, the teacher librarians will collate the results, which can be trialed by a small group of students and teachers if desired. Required changes will be made before making available to whole school community. Time line

15. Establish an electronic space where knowledge from the previous CofP is stored and information shared within the school community. • This would be on the school website. Step 2

16. All members of the XXX community: staff, students, parents and tutors, access the Information Process, guidelines, templates and all aspects of Information Literacy to establish and reinforce strong IL skills. Result

17. Students need to be information literate in order to achieve the best results at college and to be prepared for life outside of school becoming lifelong learners. • This approach is greatly enhance the chances of this. Success