What I got out of the readings from chapter 5 is that school teachers need
to be trained in certain essentials of information literacy instruction to
support learners in today’s information-rich environment.
According to Jonassen’s article, he mentioned about the components of a Constructivist Learning Environments on the Web. One of them is Social/Contextual Support. The paper emphasized the importance of training the teachers who will be supporting the learning. I was quite amazed at the one sentence that is what throughout the history of instructional design and technology, projects have failed most often because of poor implementation.
From chapter 5 I read about searching, researching and evaluating internet information. Before I read this I thought information literacy was an easy and simple procedure. But now I believe that information literacy is fundamentally important because it‘s a first step in e-learning classroom and an essential basic skill in information society.
According to Jonassen’s article, he mentioned about the components of a Constructivist Learning Environments on the Web. One of them is Social/Contextual Support. The paper emphasized the importance of training the teachers who will be supporting the learning. I was quite amazed at the one sentence that is what throughout the history of instructional design and technology, projects have failed most often because of poor implementation.
From chapter 5 I read about searching, researching and evaluating internet information. Before I read this I thought information literacy was an easy and simple procedure. But now I believe that information literacy is fundamentally important because it‘s a first step in e-learning classroom and an essential basic skill in information society.
Information resources are mentioned as one of the key element of a
Constructivist Learning Environments on the Web on the Jonassen's article. I certainly agree with his statement.
Rich sources of information are an essential part of the CLEs and the resources
can allow student to think for solving the problem. That why students are
supposed to learn the information literacy.
First of all, students need to learn how to search for information online.
When students are searching for information online they will first consider
using the search engine. There is so much information on the Web and also there
are various web searchers. Web searchers don’t always find what they are
looking for online. This is why students need to be taught about using different
search tools and teachers need to allow students to explore them to know what
search engine is best fit for a topic.
Second, I’m sure it is necessary for students to learn how to evaluate the
information they search. Often, the Internet is likely to offer resources where
the information is not both current and accurate. I think the criteria listed
in chapter 5 for evaluating web resources are really informative for me and I
will plan to teach the criteria to my students. Accuracy, authority,
objectivity, currency and coverage are key elements in determining the quality
of online information.
I think the internet is one of the best ways to retrieve information. Students
are supposed to learn about information literacy and teachers are supposed to
be trained in information literacy instruction.
Q1) Should all teachers who are single-subject specialists also be specialists
in information literacy in their classrooms? Alternatively, do we need teachers
who only specialize in teaching information literacy at schools?
Q2) What do you think about more than anything else in determining the
quality of online information?
Jean, I like your first question. I believe all teachers need to be specialists in information literacy no matter what subject area because students will eventually have to present research or some type of information from the computer in class. It's inevitable. As for the second part of question one, I believe we do need some type of technology class to assist our students with information literacy skills in school. As an English teacher, I can present the skill of citing works for research and providing various websites for credibility. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to show students how to type a research paper due to the rigid curriculum. Shouldn't we have a teacher who can specialize in those skills to teach students? I also think we don't have teachers who specialize in teaching information literacy at schools due to the budget.
ReplyDeleteDue to the massive quantity of information from the Internet, quality is very difficult to find. In searching for quality, I would have to verify websites by finding the official author and comparing it to other sites. It's a difficult process and very time consuming. I also worry about students and plagiarism. Plagiarism can be taught, but somehow it always occurs.
To answer your first question, I believe that all teachers should be specialists in information literacy in their classrooms. I also believe that along with art, science,drama, and music cluster teachers there should be informational literacy teachers who dedicate a period once a week to teach students about accessing and assessing internet information. The regular classroom teacher may not have time to incorporate and teach information literacy but they should be knowledgeable about it especially in classrooms where students have to do research. Students should start being exposed to informational literacy as young as elementary school, because this will be a valuable skill to have for middle school and beyond.
ReplyDeleteI would not be opposed to having teachers who specialize in teaching information literacy in schools. I think it would be quite valuable to our students to have a class that is exclusively for learning about new technologies and how to implement them in their daily lives (including in academia).
ReplyDeleteHey Jean. Great Post.
ReplyDeleteI believe that all educators should familiarize theirselves with information literacy because as educators we are always learning and each year there are changes being made to provide a better education for our students. I believe that single subject specialist should embrace learning information literacy because it would benefit their classrooms and also assist them when it comes time to project based learning. Currently we are at a race with our students when it comes to Technology because they are learning how to use it on a fast paced system. I believe having a specialist in information literacy at a school will be beneficial to all staff members. The specialist will be able to conduct meetings and help those teachers that are having trouble. A monthly meeting and workshop on technology itself would help educators in their effective lesson planning .