Inform(ed)ation Literacy or Learning? The same concept?

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

Literacy or Learning? (Big Idea #2)

Before I began studying in the SLIS program to become a Librarian (or Information Specialist) I can't really remember hearing the term "Information Literacy" very often. I'm not even sure the term existed back when I was an undergrad. Until now, five semesters into the SLIS program, I've only considered information literacy to be the ability to find needed information. Upon further consideration I think that information literacy can be considered a tool which is necessary for learning. It also spans more than just finding information.

Merriam-Webster defines information as:

1. the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence, or 2a. knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction.

 And it defines literacy as:

knowledge that relates to a specified subject.

Bruce's (2008) definition of informed learning [my emphasis] is "using technology for awareness or communication, identifying sources of relevant information, organizing information, developing...personal knowledge bases, and using the information acquired with wisdom or professional judgment." (p. 1) The ALA states that information literacy is "a set of abilities requiring individuals to 'recognize when information is needed and to have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information'"(ACRL, 2000). These two definitions sound very much alike, but one refers to learning while the other refers to literacy. The two go hand-in-hand, and one cannot exist without the other.

Just as we discussed earlier this semester, knowing is part of learning. However, understanding is, in my opinion, the ultimate goal of learning. The real goal of information literacy is not just that someone "know" how to find information, but that they also "understand" how to use it effectively. Someone can be shown how to find information on a database, on a web page, or in an index, but do they understand how to use the information that is found? Knowing how to find the information is only the first step in learning, or becoming literate. The ultimate learning outcome is not just to know when we need information and how to find it. It's also understanding how to use it. An assumption made by some instructors is that a student will understand how to use information. But do all instructors know the Standards set forth by the ALA? There are still schools that do not require that students take information literacy courses, nor do they incorporate these Standards into other courses. For instance, at the college I work for, the English 1A curriculum states that:

Students will also be expected to locate and effectively evaluate sources used to write essays and the research paper, whether the sources are print sources, online database sources, or Internet sources. Students will also be able to precisely document outside sources in the essays and the research paper using current MLA form.

However, the college does not require that students take the information literacy (LIBR10) course before taking English. Do the instructors of the English courses really have the time to incorporate information literacy into the semester in a way that students will not only know how to find information they need, but also understand how to use it? I used to work closely with the English department, and I would often hear instructors talking about how students still plagiarized, even at the college level. So, I think that by the time students reach college-level, it is assumed that they have learned enough to understand how to use information in completing their assignments. I'm not so sure about that.

If I was teaching a course focused on information literacy, I would want my students to know how to identify their information need and how to locate the information. I would also want them to understand how and when to use the information in order to enhance their own thinking and communication of ideas. But, most importantly, I would want my students to also understand how being information literate not only will help them in school, but also help them in life. I would want them to understand how to transfer the concepts learned in my class to all areas of their lives, be able to seek information anywhere and anytime to satisfy any question or enhance any idea they may have, whether it be in future classes, their careers or even their personal lives.

Bruce (2008) states that "if we understand information literacy as being about using information to learn, we can draw on information use or information practices to help secure the learning outcomes we seek." (p. 15) To me this can refer to the learner as well as the teacher.

References:

Association of College & Research Libraries (2000). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm#f1

Bruce, C. S. (2008). Informed Learning. Chicago: American Library Association.

"Information." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Merriam-Webster Online. 26 February 2011 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/information

"Literacy." Merriam-Webster's Learning Dictionary. 2011. Merriam-Webster Online. 26 February 2011 http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/literacy

Knowledge is Power?

Many of us have heard the quote, "knowledge is power", which has been attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, though no one really knows where it originated. It's a quote that has been used for many years to equate learning with the acquisition of power, whether it be in the classroom, the military or in a career. Knowledge is defined by Merriam-Webster as 

the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (2010).

The more I think about it, I begin to wonder if knowledge is really power. Is simply knowing something really powerful? When compared to understanding, I'm not sure that simple knowledge is where the power lies. Merriam-Webster defines understanding as

the power to make experience intelligible by applying concepts and categories (2010).

Our readings in the Wiggins and McTighe text discuss understanding as the ability to transfer something we know or have learned to new settings (p. 40). When I think of knowing something, it's like knowing that E=mc2 and that a man name Albert Einstein came up with this equation. This is something my science teacher told me. However, do I understand E=mc2? Can I actually describe the concept or apply it in the "real world"? It's knowledge I have, but I haven't been taught how to use it, so I don't really understand it. Therefore it might be useful as an answer on Jeopardy or a quiz question that asks "What is Einstein known for?", but in answering I would just be reciting a fact I learned without having any real understanding of it's importance.

I feel that learning is a two-phased process. The first phase comes when the student is told a fact which is committed to memory through note-taking or reading (knowledge). The second phase comes when the student takes this fact and  applies it, or uses it, in other situations or tasks (understanding). In one of the articles I read on Situated Learning theory, there is discussion about learning mathematics in the classroom and how it can also be learned or used in the "real world". One example discusses how students used problem solving methods they invented or brought into the classroom in order to complete daily practice assignments versus the methods taught by the instructor. Students got the right answers, but they didn't arrive at them using the knowledge as exactly taught by the instructor. Many of them got to the correct answers by applying different techniques from their own experiences. The fact that they could do this, to me, shows understanding of the concepts they've been taught.

By truly understanding something we've learned and then begin about to turn around and use that understanding to apply what we've learned to another aspect of our lives, we then have a sense of empowerment. Simply repeating a fact may show that we are knowledgeable, but being able to use what we know to show someone else how to do something or make something happen because of what we know is real power.

References

Greiffenhagen, C., Sharrock, W. (2008). School mathematics and its everyday other? Revisiting Lave's 'Cognition in Practice'. Educational Studies in Math, 69, 1-21.

"Knowledge." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Merriam-Webster Online. 12 February 2011 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knowledge

"Understanding." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Merriam-Webster Online. 12 February 2011 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/understanding

Wiggins, G., McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.