March 5, 2006

Revitalize your teaching: Judith Peacock, Queensland University of Technology

I attended a day-long information literacy forum waaaaay back in December here at UofT with Judith Peacock. If you ever have the chance to hear Judith talk - do! She's a very well-known speaker on the topic of information literacy, and dishes out Caramello Koalas to boot if you can answer some Australian trivia. I'm proud to say that I earned one by answering a question about beer - go figure!

Though it's been a while, I did jot down a few things and links to several resources that I hadn't previously known about. These are just some rough notes taken from the session:


University of Toronto: Information Literacy Forum
Judith Peacock, QUT Library
Revitalize Your Teaching: Creating an Information Literacy-Rich Learning Environment @ U of T

Australia has their own set of information literacy standards, they don't use ACRL standards like we do in North America. On a winning ticket if we can make the connections between 'lifelong learning' and 'information literacy.' The concept of lifelong learning is popular with governments, etc. Australian model stresses pre-school to post-retirement, enabling citizens to adapt to the knowledge-based world.

Take a look at the Prague Declaration if not already familiar with it: towards an information literate society.

Knowledge is doubling every three weeks!

Renamed 'graduate skills' 'graduate capabilities' that are made up of a number of skills that cover a broad spectrum of things. The Australian government cites 'information literacy' in its documents that is then tied to university planning.

Use a number of different models, and do not stick to just one (Bruce, Kuhlthau, etc). Need to focus and not learning. Not about teaching information literacy, but learning information literacy. Creating an environment that allows something to take place: learning! In becoming 'trained' and individual relinquishes autonomy. Training and instruction and not used in Australia, it implies that I am doing something to you. They don't instruct or train.

Greater Expectations: National Panel Report Some statements there that you can use!

Opportunity to recreate our profession through collaboration with faculty - we need to be more than just a service point and a collection.

QUT Information Literacy Policy
- ongoing (since 1999) strategic focus for QUT library
- undertakes a leading role in development and implementation of information literacy (proactive)

Statement of purpose for the library - written collaboratively with the liaison librarians.

Map skills that are inherent and not inherent to Australian standards. Use proficiency maps. This profiling exercise allows librarians and instructors to plug holes in the curriculum.

The online information literacy tutorial is called Pilot. There is also an online course called AIRS which is required for all graduate students.

Posted at 7:13 PM| Permalink

June 3, 2005

Knowledge construction through concept mapping

I've been pretty insanely busy at work these days and haven't had a lot of time to post. However, I read an interesting article in last weekend's Globe and Mail on concept mapping in education: Concept-mapping idea goes global as educational tool

I've been intrigued by the whole concept mapping idea, and have found it useful in some of my own work and thought organization. But how might concept mapping be translated into applications for library information literacy? I'm always on the lookout for new instructional methods and approaches as I tend to tire of the repetitive same 'ole same 'ole pretty quickly. Here's a snippet from the article discussing the rationale for using concept mapping in K-12:

"If you organize it as a concept map, then you have to understand the topic . . . We want kids to become knowledge constructors instead of just information consumers."

And while concept mapping can be used as a learning tool that encourages critical thinking, it can also be used as an assessment tool.

The software mentioned in the article is called CmapTools and is produced by IHMC (Institute for Human and Machine Cognition). The CmapTools client may be freely downloaded for use by anybody, for either commercial or non-commercial use.

Posted at 7:13 PM| Permalink

May 26, 2005

Five Instructional Design Principles Worth Revisiting

Five Instructional Design Principles Worth Revisiting by Brenda Sugrue outlines five basic principles of instructional design that we should keep in mind:

  1. Learning is not performance
  2. The medium is not the method
  3. Match external and internal conditions
  4. Authentic practice makes perfect
  5. One size does not fit all

By keeping these principles in mind, regardless of the context or final product, designers can be more confident that their designs are based on sound theory and research, and will maximize learning and performance.

Words to design by : )

Posted at 11:27 AM| Permalink

February 16, 2005

eSchool News: New test gauges ICT literacy

An interesting article by Robert Brumfield in eSchool News: New test gauges ICT literacy. It discusses the efforts of seven colleges and university systems in the US to design a test designed to measure what it means to be literate in the digital age. A snippet:

Officials began by establishing a definition of literacy for the 21st century that would become the basis for the examination. Twenty-first century literacy, they concluded, is "the ability to use digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks appropriately to solve information problems in order to function in an information society."

According to ETS, the web-based exam is "a testing program that measures postsecondary students' ability to define, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and communicate information in a technological environment."

Though the article claims that the test is 'the first of its kind,' ETS is hardly the first group to look at ways of evaluating basic literacy and IT skills. Take for example the work that the SCONUL Advisory Committee on Information Literacy has been doing in the UK with its 'Seven Pillars Model.' One of their latest papers has just been published on the SCONUL website:

There has also been some interesting work done in Ireland with The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) initiative. I first learned about this at the eLit 2003 Conference in a presentation given by Denise Leahy at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland. I haven't followed up recently to see what's become of the project, but this posting has reminded me to do just that!

Posted at 10:17 AM| Permalink