What are the key understandings in teaching about information? Think about how information is conceptualized, both within popular consciousness, and academia. Using Bruce's informed learning, as well as standards what do we think is important in understanding information?
I’m not really sure that information literacy as a term or the concept we in academia think of has really reached popular consciousness yet. I know that the academic world of people like Bruce (and us) have been talking about information literacy, and now informed learning, since the mid-1990s. The idea of information literacy, according to Bruce, began to emerge in the early 1970s with the “advent of information technologies [and has] grown, taken shape and strengthened to become recognized as the critical literacy for the twenty-first century” (Bruce, 2002). However, until I began working in academia and studying Information Science, I had not heard the term “information literacy”, and I still think that the term itself has not reached popular consciousness even today.
I mean, sure most Millennials (or Gen-Y’ers) know how to look up information on the Internet, and many of them even know how to find information on an e-database. However, I’m not too sure that most of them know that what they are doing has a name…information literacy. They not only need to be taught all of the different ways they can determine information needs and how to access the information, as well as evaluate and use it, but they also need to understand the importance of these skills and how they may be used in all facets of life. Not just to finish their homework or do a research paper. According to Bruce, and others, information literacy is the “key to lifelong learning”, which is why I feel that even Bruce’s conception of information literacy has changed over the years.
I found, and read, a paper from 2002 and a Powerpoint presentation from 2003, in which Bruce refers to her Seven Faces of Information Literacy. However, in 2008 she began to call them the Seven Faces of Informed Learning. Over time we, as teachers, have come to see that we do not need to teach information literacy so that students can simply know how to find information, but that we need them to understand how the skills they learn can affect all aspects of their lives and to motivate them to continue developing their information skills all their lives long. I also feel that our conceptions will continue to change as information sources continue to evolve.
References:
Bruce, C. S. (2008). Informed Learning. Chicago: American Library Association.
Bruce, C.S. (2002, July). Information Literacy as a Catalyst for Education Change: A Background Paper. White Paper prepared for UNESCO, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and the National Forum on Information Literacy, for use at the Information Literacy Meeting of Experts, Prague, The Czech Republic.
Bruce, C.S. (2003). Seven Faces of Information Literacy: Toward inviting student into new experiences. Powerpoint presentation, retrieved March 10, 2011, from http://www.bestlibrary.org/digital/files bruce.pdf
