Information Literacy: the road to lifelong learning and empowerment

1
Information Literacy the road to lifelong
learning and empowerment

• Susie Andretta,
• London Metropolitan University
• http//www.ilit.org/ilresearch/indexilresearch.htm
  
• s.andretta_at_londonmet.ac.uk

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How relevant is Information Literacy to the real
world?
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Information overload in HE and Corporate sector

• Educause study of IL (Lorenzo et al, 2006 8)
• Increased access to information and
  familiarity with computers and the Internet are
  not translating into better .. informed college
  graduates ... It has become one of educations
  greatest challenge to teach students the skills
  needed to test reliability, currency and
  relevance of the information they find.
• Survey of 6,000 corporate workers - USA
  (OSullivan 2002 8)
• 80 went for free information on the Internet
  rather than using experts, resources provided by
  the company or libraries.
• End users dont know what information is
  available
• They have difficulties in determining the quality
  (credibility accuracy) of the information.
• The information they seek is too hard to find.

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Poor quality business information

• Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU, 2006 - 386
  senior executive worldwide)
• 4 very satisfied with data integration and
  analysis
• 40 say their workers often make poor decisions
  because of inadequate data
• For companies to truly maximise business
  information across their organisations, users
  must have accurate, consistent and timely
  corporate data - and the ability to act on those
  insights. (EIU, 2006)

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Conceptions of Information Literacy

• Higher Education - learning-to-learn approach
• To be information literate, a person must be able
  to recognize when information is needed and have
  the ability to locate, evaluate, and use
  effectively the needed information. ...
  Ultimately, information literate people are those
  who have learned how to learn. They know how to
  learn because they know how knowledge is
  organized, how to find information, and how to
  use information in such a way that others can
  learn from them. (ALA, 1998)
• Knowledge-based economy - lifelong learning
  approach
• The knowledge-based economy is characterised by
  the need for continuous learning of both codified
  information and the competencies to use this
  information. (OECD, 1996)

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Common misconceptions of Information Literacy

• IL is not just about information content or
  competences
• Learning is a qualitative change in a persons
  way of seeing, experiencing, understanding,
  conceptualising something in the real world -
  rather than a change in the amount of knowledge
  which someone possesses. (Bruce, 1997 60)
• IL is not just ICT skills
• A great deal of attention has been paid to the
  development of computer literacy, and computer
  literacy is now a core skill for many posts. The
  focus is on the ability to use computers and
  standard software applications, but stop short of
  being able to structure, find, evaluate and use
  the information to which a computer provides
  access (Abell and Oxbrow, 2001 131)

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Lifelong Learning and Information Literacy
endless cycle of reflection and practice

• Establish an equal relationship between
  facilitator and learner through the Pedagogy of
  the Question.
• Acknowledge and support diverse learning needs
  and through blended-learning environments
• Focus on retention and transfer of learning by
  fostering motivation through relevance and
  reflective practice.

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Establish an equal relationship between
facilitator and learner through the Pedagogy of
the Question
A pedagogy of the question, a practice that
forces and challenges the learners to think
critically and to adopt a critical attitude
toward the world Unlike the pedagogy of the
answer, which reduces learners to mere
receptacles for pre-packaged knowledge (consumers
of information), the pedagogy of the question
gives learners the language of possibility
(producers of information) to challenge the every
constraints which relegate them to mere objects.
(Bruss and Macedo, 1985) Internalising
information fosters ownership of learning Taking
it in (developing own guiding principles or
applying existing ones)
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Acknowledge and support diverse learning needs
and through blended-learning environments

• Start with the learner
• Motivation - establish what they know/dont know
• diagnostic strategies self evaluative test or
  more complex tasks (information production not
  just information use)
• In their own time and at their own pace
  (supported by blended, i.e. face-to-face online
  strategies)
• Relevance - information at the point of need
• Assessment driven (undergraduate)
• CPD oriented (postgraduate)

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Focus on retention and transfer of learning by
fostering motivation through relevance and
reflective practice - IM (postgraduate) provision
at Londonmet

• Applied Information Research (AIR)
• Develop IL as independent learning contextualised
  in action research and evidence-based information
  practice.
• http//www.ilit.org/air/indexair.htm
• Facilitating Information Literacy Education
  (FILE)
• Develop the competences and confidence to
  facilitate IL http//www.ilit.org/file/indexfile.h
  tm
• Based on the Alexandria proclamation on
  Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning, IFLA,
  National Forum on IL and UNESCO, November 2005.
  Available at http//www.bibalex.org/infolit2005/A
  lexProclamation.htm

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Empowerment through transformation

• Increased confidence and professional esteem
  (AIR)
• AIR has given me a greater confidence when
  dealing with academics/academia. It has made me
  look, increasingly, to evidence-based
  decision-making when confronted with changes in
  the work environment.
• Enhanced reflective practice of facilitation
  (FILE)
• As a result of the course I have given greater
  consideration to how we might ensure that
  learning outcomes have been achieved. We have
  redesigned some of our courses to allow more
  opportunity for this.

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Parallels between HE and corporate sector

• Both aim to achieve independent and lifelong
  learning - in practice skills and attitudes gap
  at employee (OSullivan, 2002) and student levels
  (Andretta, 2005)
• Problem of measuring/valuing impact of the
  changes in awareness
• IL seen as a response to information overload and
  dynamic information environment
• Competitive edge - enhances learning and
  innovation

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Attributes of a knowledge (information literate)
worker

• Ability to learn - curious, seeks new knowledge
• Self-initiation - acts like a business of one,
  does not wait to be told
• Collaborative - a team player, positive regard
  for other people, not status driven
• Intellectual linking - sees the big picture,
  makes connections
• Humility - recognises that other people know
  things, learns from mistakes
• Ability to think and do - with a focus on outcome
• (Extract from a discussion at TFPL, October 2000.
  Cited in Abell and Oxbrow, 2001 111)

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References

• Abell, A. and Oxbrow, N. (2001) Competing with
  Knowledge The Information Professional in the
  Knowledge Management Age, Library Association
  Publishing London.
• American Library Association, March 1998, A
  progress report on information literacy. An
  update on the ALA Presidential Committee on
  Information Literacy Final Report,
  http//www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/p
  rogressreport.htm (Accessed 7 March 2004).
• Andretta, S. (2005) Information Literacy A
  Practitioners guide, Chandos Publishing Oxford.
• Bruce, C. (1997) The Seven Faces of Information
  Literacy, Auslib Press Adelaide.
• Bruss, N. and Macedo, D.P. (1985) "Toward a
  Pedagogy of the Question Conversations with
  Paulo Freire." , Journal of Education, 167(2)
  7-21.
• Lorenzo, G. and Bziuban C. Ensuring the Net
  Generation is Net Savvy, Educause Learning
  Initiative, September 2006. Available at
  http//www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?IDE
  LI3006 (Accessed 2 October 2006)
• Office of Economic Co-operation and Development
  (1996) The Knowledge-Based Economy (OECD), Paris
  (OECD/GD (96) 102).
• OSullivan, C. (2002) Is Information Literacy
  relevant in the real world? New Library World,
  30 (1) 7-14.