digital digs - Latest Comments in The challenge of information literacy? the faculty

Re: The challenge of information literacy? the faculty

Information Resources — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:05:45 -0000

Information Resources

News Internet Resources in Tennessee and the

Re: The challenge of information literacy? the faculty

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 23:37:18 -0000

Alex,
Your right about the illiterate masses. That is why the power during the middle ages was with those who had the ability to read and write. Having said that, the advent of moveable type did not have the same impact as the changes we are now seeing with technology because so many people can communicate with alternate methods and the technology is just another mode of communication, although preferred by certain segments of the popular culture. The ability to access this technology does not eliminate you from gaining knowledge, communicating with others or obtaining a very high level of education. In fact, one still must be able to read in order to obtain education, regardless of what method one is using. Power is still with those who can read as is evident in the various studies done that demonstrate the significance that reading has on poverty level and achievement.
I agree that many people are information illiterate. However, I notice that many of the technologically literate are not always inforamtion literate which creates somewhat of a problem, especially at the school level. Example, our IT person can fix just about anything but doesn't have much of a clue when it comes to using or applying programs in the school environment. In fact, I'm constantly having to argue for the use of x or y program, especially if it is webbased. Will that change or will that continue? Not sure. Another thing I see, especially in students, is that if it isn't x program or y program like they have used, then they have a hard time adapting to the new program. We tried one of the alternate word processing programs last year but went back to the standard because we had so many kids who complained and couldn't make the adjustment. Maybe we should have toughed it out but it sure didn't seem worth it. As you state, I think that some of the skills we have today, like writing, may disappear as technology improves and we don't need written signatures or even writing. Saying that, I think that some of our current literacy skills will become even more important, like skimming for meaning, paraphrasing, summarizing and such. And I agree, the next few decades will see a switch regarding which literacies are needed but we may require a greater number of skills than at present. I'm still concerned that, at the end of the day, economics will continue to a divide the people and the divide will get bigger. I sure hope it doesn't and I'm wrong but I'm seeing third generations of families on social assistance - it has become a way of life and I can't see it stopping unless we switch society around a little. You may be right, though, a lot can change in 5 years now.
K

Re: The challenge of information literacy? the faculty

Alex Reid — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:30:23 -0000

It's a good point K. It may be a quixotic pursuit to train all or the majority of the faculty. And you're right there's a big difference between understanding the technology yourself and figuring out how to teach with it. And one of the biggest obstacles there is that we really don't do anything to train new teachers to teach with technology and even if we do there's a whole lot of resistance there.
I guess part of the point here is how we envision the future. Right now we'd say we imagine that every teacher is print literate, though certainly there are degrees of literacy. This print literacy is what we hope students will acquire, and it's what we believe they will need in the workplace.
The question is... do we foresee a future in which the ability to compose video, audio, and image will be as necessary as the ability to compose text? Do we foresee a future (perhaps closer) when the ability to negotiate networks we be as necessary as the ability to read a book?
There's a lot in such questions. For instance, how important is it really that the average American be able to write? And what do we mean by writing? Fill out a form?
On the other hand, perhaps information literacy will be more essential than print literacy ever was. After all, there are plenty of information illiterate people in the world: do you want to be competing in that job market trying to earn US dollars?
Getting back to your comment. I agree: there don't appear to be many people who can do the kinds of things we're talking about. But how many print literate folks were there in the US in 1830? Perhaps someday the kind of literacy I'm talking about here will be as common as print literacy. But we won't get there by magic.

Re: The challenge of information literacy? the faculty

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 22:42:13 -0000

Alex, some interesting ideas and comments. I wish that it were so simple as to just hire new people with the skills. I'm an administrator in a small rural k - 12 school. We just recently had some interns in our school, direct from the university and most had little to no knowledge of how to use the tools you mention. They know what they are and, like some of my students, are pretty good at using them but, when it comes to using them in the learning realm, it is much different. As I've mentioned on Will Richardson's blog, there is more to this than just giving people the training or having them have the skills. It's having those people who have that knack to combine the tools with the learning. Like someone who teaches art. To really touch the students, you have to do more than just have the tools, you have to be able to use them and see ways of doing things at the spurr of the moment. Similar to the difference between a regular weekend athelete and a pro. Both have the same skill set but the pro is able to do so much more and in such a better way. I've been at this technicology thing for years. I've strayed away due to various life events but when I get back to it, it doesn't take long to get back up to speed, whatever the speed happens to be. Not so for most of the public. And, the general public sticks to things with which they are comfortable unlike, I'd gues, you and I and others like us who see something and want to know how to make it work in the world of my classroom or the world of the classroom. Trying to get all staff to that point is, I believe, a colossal waste of time. Let those who can teach art, teach art and those who can work with certain tools, use them. Best case, mix the two in an integrated curriculum so that they students can experience both.
K

Re: The challenge of information literacy? the faculty

Alex Reid — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 10:29:44 -0000

Thanks Laurie, I'm going to go comment on that blog as I think it misrepresents me. Anyway, to answer your question, I work quite closely with the librarians and other information resources staff at Cortland. We have a strong, positive working relationship. And I think they do a good job.
That said, the librarians are just as challenged by this shift as the faculty (in fact, I would consider librarians as part of the faculty, for what it's worth).
Yes, there are a couple librarians who could provide support for other faculty if they wanted to incorporate video production (for example) into their courses, but not nearly enough to meet the kind of demand I'm talking about in this post.
I'm afraid the answer can't be that you hire X number of librarians to support this kind of literacy anymore than that answer works in terms of print literacy. Yes you need librarians and they are an important part of the campus, but if the faculty in the classrooms weren't print literate you'd still be in a hopeless situation.
You still need literate faculty.

Re: The challenge of information literacy? the faculty

Laurie Woo — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 10:15:26 -0000

I found this post via a blog by ACRL
http://acrlblog.org/2006/11...
I am a librarian in a Mass. public library, very interested in the challenges you address in your post. Have you considered partnering with the librarians at SUNY Cortland? -- both personally (for you), and having them work with students, as a classroom presence .... just a thought