Presented by: Carrie Doss, Ed.S. Candidate, MEDT 7469
What is Information Literacy & Why is it Important?
Information literacy is a person's ability to read information and make logical sense of it. However, reading the information and making sense of it is only the broad view of what information literacy truly is. Information literacy also involves appropriately identifying what is important from the material and locating information within it as well as supplementary information from other sources. Once information has been identified and located, the reader must be able to analyze what they have read in order to synthesize the information as a whole. The final component for information literacy is complete when the reader has the ability to effectively communicate about the information that they have read and what they have gleaned from it.
Why is the ability to identify, locate, analyze, and synthesize information and then communicate about it so important? As Doug Achterman (2010) points out in his article, "Literacy Leadership and the School Library," "literacy is a cornerstone of lifelong learning" (pg. 67). Those who have the ability to read and to be actively involved in the process of literacy become lifelong learners who share the love of learning and reading with others, creating a cycle of education and literacy for the future. Information literacy is not limited to books and print materials. In a day and age where "technology has fundamentally changed the definition of literacy" (Achterman, 2010, pg. 79), we must take into consideration this change in order to incorporate technology more appropriately into the framework of information literacy. Organizations such as the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) are on the forefront of helping navigate such change in the face of the continually evolving world of technology and literacy. |
The Global View of Information LiteracyThanks to the ever-evolving world of technology, information literacy is simply no longer restricted to print materials or the traditional idea of reading. The internet, cellular communications, and instant access to the world has created an even greater need for information literacy. While the mediums of literacy may have changed, the skills essentially have not. As the AASL (2009) states in their publication Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action, "learning in the twenty‐ first century has taken on new dimensions with the exponential expansion of information, ever‐changing tools, increasing digitization of text, and heightened demands for critical and creative thinking, communication, and collaborative problem solving. To succeed in our rapid‐paced, global society, our learners must develop a high level of skills, attitudes and responsibilities. All learners must be able to access high‐quality information from diverse perspectives, make sense of it to draw their own conclusions or create new knowledge, and share their knowledge with others" (pg. 8). With so much at stake for learners throughout the world, possessing successful information literacy is critical.
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