I
realized while browsing through sources after choosing to explore the topic of
information literacy, the irony of having to essentially research “how to
research.” As adults I think we often still struggle with being digitally
literate, as our education took place in a much different time. Despite being
rather early into my career and feeling rather up to speed on technology, I
still often find myself learning as I teach while learning TO teach. Yet another
example of how my second topic, inquiry based learning, is so intertwined. We
will always learn as we go, and learn what we must!
I
did find several interesting resources on information literacy, however with
the whole concept being such a buzzword lately, it was tricky sorting through
what was helpful and what was not. One article, from the publication Library Hi Tech entitled “Participatory
technologies, pedagogy 2.0 and information literacy,” by Meredith Farkas
definitely reaffirmed to me the importance of the topic. She states, “The
internet has made it possible for people to access information at the point of
need, rendering the ability to find information more important than mastery of
knowledge in any one area.” She goes on to discuss the impact this could and
should have on the idea of formal education, similar to the viewpoints of
Richardson in our class reading, “Why School?” Most interestingly she discusses
the need for a Pedagogy 2.0, which describes a new learning environment in
which the “community is the curriculum.” Again, concepts that are very
intertwined with inquiry-based learning.
Another journal, Feliciter had more
than one useful and relevant articles in it’s May issue of 2009. One example, “Practising
What We Preach: Information Literacy for Teacher-Librarians in the 21st
Century,” by Jennifer Branch has concrete suggestions for improving our Web 2.0
skills such as Diigo, Delicious and Slideshare, and encourages the idea of
learning along with our students. Another article in the same journal, “Our
Information Literacy Heritage: From Evolution to Revolution,” by Cory Laverty,
reviews how the idea of information literacy came about, how it has unfolded
and where we need to head in the future. Embracing those ideas is this Wordle
he created to illustrate.
The
other topic I began to research was inquiry-based learning, particularly for
primaries. As noted above, the correlation between these two topics is becoming
more and more enmeshed. A great blog I found, http://inquiry-based.blogspot.ca/,
demonstrated some excellent strategies for young children. The accompanying
pictures made the projects easy to understand and replicate and using ideas
that have been tried and tested by other teachers is always reassuring.
Both http://eduwebinar.com.au/web-tools-to-support-inquiry-based-learning
and http://www.inquiry-based.com/teacher-resources.html
were excellent websites for teacher resources that support inquiry-based
learning. The web tools page even organizes it’s tools into helpful categories
such as explore/locate, identify/define and create/share, making it easy to
pinpoint which tools will be most effective for your specific needs.
And
lastly I stumbled upon a great video in the UBC Library called “School Library
Programs,” which actually stars my former colleagues from last year, which
discusses BOTH information literacy and inquiry based learning in the library!
It has some great ideas for primary research projects and a graphic novels
unit, which combines student interests with effective research and Web 2.0
skills.
Luckily, in this age of
information I found no shortage of helpful resources, analyzing which ones to
use and how to do so effectively is precisely what I'm trying to learn :)
References
Branch, J. (2009) Practising What We Preach:
Information Literacy for Teacher-Librarians in the 21st Century. Feliciter, 55.3(May), 98-100. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/223158843/AE8042FB98A44B6PQ/10?accountid=14656
Farkas, M. (2012). Participatory technologies, pedagogy 2.0 and
information literacy. Library Hi Tech, 82-94. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/925975863?pq-origsite=summon
Laverty, C. (2009). Our Information Literacy Heritage: From Evolution to Revolution. Feliciter, 55.3(May), 88-91. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/223155710/3A615602E7407BPQ/7?accountid=14656
Richardson, W. (2012). Why school how education must change when learning and information are
everywhere / Will Richardson. New
York, NY: TED Conferences.
School Library Programs. Retrieved
Jan. 19, 2015 from http://guides.library.ubc.ca/inquirybasedlearning
Excellent work! Your articles are very appropriate and useful for your explorations and inquiry and will carry you forward as references for much of the work still to come in this course. One minor issue is that the links are dark blue on a dark background, so it makes them a little difficult to read, but that is only a formatting issue. Overall, your discussion, evaluation and appropriateness were impressive. Also worth looking into is alternative sources, like social networks, blog posts and other websites, as they can offer insight just like traditional journal articles.
ReplyDeleteWow! Great blog.The irony you mentioned strikes home every time I flip open my laptop these days. I am now motivated to go back and source out some more "homegrown"entries, especially around inquiry research. Thank you for linking the UBC library site.
ReplyDeleteLink font fixed!
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your articles, Melissa. I had not seen the phrase Pedagogy 2.0 before in my readings. New buzzword! Your point about how information literacy, Web 2.0 tools, and inquiry based learning are all inextricably intertwined is so true. Thanks for your post!
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