Information Literacy

So far we've looked at two aspects of literacy in the digital era- 'language based' literacies (print literacy, texting literacy and hypertext literacy) and 'multiliteracies' (media literacy, podcasts etc.) For our third and final installment on literacy in the digital era, we investigated the topic of 'information literacy.'


Information Literacy:
In the digital era "online materials shouldn't be approached as if they were print materials" (Pegrum, 2009, p.37). Hence, students must be made aware that not everything that read online is accurate or true. It is the role of teachers to assist  their students 'information literacy' or 'critical literacy' skills. This involves teaching students to evaluate a source of information based on:

• Origins
• Author 
• History 
• Accuracy
• Objectivity
• Completeness 
• Currency
• Relevance of digital documents
• As well as, triangulate (compare and cross reference them with at least 2/3 other documents) to verify its accuracy (Pegrum, 2009).

(However, students will not understand the concept of 'objectivity' or 'completeness' if they lack a baseline knowledge).
Information literacy skills can be summarised into 3 main skills:

• asking key questions
• having a baseline of knowledge
• triangulating

When and how should we teach students information/ critical literacy? 
As mentioned in my previous blog on multiliteracies, I feel that students should be taught the foundation skills of critical thinking from as early as possible. Hence, young students should learn to ask questions such as 'how' and 'why' an author has constructed a text to influence the reader. A useful powerpoint presentation I found covers how to teach critical literacy skills to early primary students. It also includes an example of using a venn diagram and an alternative story of the three little pigs.



Retrieved from: http://sites.google.com/site/criticalliteracyeduc5765/what-does-critical-literacy-look-like-in-the-classroom


The site where I got the powerpoint from provides some great ideas for developing primary students critical literacy skills in the classroom which include: teaching the 3R's (review, reflect and react) for reading and activities where the concept of 'voice' is expressed- Critical literacy in the classroom

Bogus websites:

During history lessons in secondary school, we were taught the skills to critically analyse a text/image/ video etc from a text book or school video, based on the author, purpose of the text and even its historical and cultural context. However, times have changed and most students now do their own independent research online. Therefore, a superb way of engaging students in middle-upper and help develop critical evaluation skills is through investigating various websites on the internet. The Department of Education Bogus Websites link has a list of some sites which can be used in class. I am sure, many students will believe that the evidence presented on these sites are true as the sites are well presented and have plenty of information available.

To conclude, due to the rapidly increasing array of materials available online, students need to be taught how evaluate the usefulness and reliability of a source. Helping students develop critical literacy skills should not only involve explicitly teaching such skills (according to students' age and abilities) but also, should be treated as an ongoing progress throughout their schooling. Even somewhat small things such as, on a daily basis, teachers should present a neutral viewpoint on an issue/topic to avoid students developing biases.