Information Literacy

Discussion Topic for Two Weeks: We are bombarded daily with information from the media and the World Wide Web. Is all information equal? How do you decide which information to take in and which to discard? What is information literacy? How will you teach your students about information literacy? Use the following link to help guide your posts and comments: http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/infolit/overview/intro All the information from the media and the World Wide Web is not equal. With that being said, it is very difficult to determine which information to take in and which to discard. For example, CNN.com is more reputable than a personal blog. Another example is that The Huffington Post is more reputable than a school newspaper. I personally determine what information to take in and which to discard by my past experiences with the news outlet. For instance, if that particular news outlet had to recall a lot of information or they had to constantly change what they reported then I will use that news outlet less often. If I felt as though a certain news outlet was biased in the information they were reporting or I felt as though I was being swayed in a certain direction I would read or view that outlet less often. Information Literacy (IL) is a set of proficiencies needed to obtain, use and understand information. We are currently in the information age and it is important to use IL to become a lifelong learner. Being a teacher, it is important to teach my students about IL because they have to understand that they will not learn all the information they need in 4 or even 8 years of schooling. They have to be able to develop skills needed to utilize IL. I introduce activities where there is more than one right answer. I also use activities where the students have to use the internet and a textbook. I assign activities where there are several steps in order to find the most correct answer. information.