Week 4 and 5: Information Literacy

We are bombarded daily with information from the media, newspapers, magazines, radio, and the World Wide Web. Is all information equal? Is it accurate, worthy of our attention? 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 on Information Literacy (written by a vocational education teacher in Australia) to help guide your response: http://knowledgetree.flexiblelearning.net.au/edition07/html/c_blackall.html

As defined by Blackall (2005), digital literacy (synonymous with information literacy) is related to a persons ability "to access the internet; find, manage and edit digital information; join in communications; and otherwise engage with an online information and communications network".  In a CTAE program digital literacy is very important as technology is constantly changing and everything in a textbook is not always the most updated information.  As a teacher I decide what is relevant (what to keep and discard) based on the source that the information comes from.  One thing about the internet is that good information is typically going to be available on multiple web pages, therefore cross checking sources is a possible option. Looking at dates is also key.  Information needs to be accurate and up to date. 

Every day my students use the internet to research a new technology and then write about it, to later share with the class.  This has been a very valuable experience not only in that we learn about a lot of new technology, but also that I can spend this time discussing and building digital literacy skills.  At the beginning of the year I provide them with credible sources that they can choose from, but they also are able to find sources on their own.  When presenting the students are required to provide the source. If information seems far fetched or not accurate we could use this time to check the source, and its credibility.