Education for Information literacy

Lakshmi Attygalle
Deputy Principal , Royal College
Colombo, Sri Lanka
lak44@sltnet.lk

Information Literacy was an alien word to both Sri Lankan students and their teachers merely a decade ago. But now every school-going child at least knows that there is a thing called a computer. They many not have opportunity to work with a computer, but there are so many applications in everyday life, that they can’t avoid the technology. With the rapid expansion of Information Technology, information literacy is becoming part and parcel of our daily lives.

However towards this end Sri Lanka has a very long way to go. To evolve information literate communities, esp. with the huge population and wide disparity in the economy of the country, is a major challenge. There is a serious inequity between the rich and the poor in our society. The huge variation in access to resources between suburbs and remote areas only tends to widen the gap in the learning processes.

Sri Lanka has been a leader in developing the Empowering 8 Problem-Solving model in the South Asia Region. It is a model which shows much promise in helping children become information literate, and encourages teachers to adapt their pedagogical approaches to meet individual needs. It will take a long time for this methodology to become integral to the teaching-learning process. We need model schools, and model programs to make it more visible to the stakeholders and to the Ministry personnel. The need to embed the skills of information literacy coupled with information communication technology into the curriculum as a responsibility of every teacher is imperative in developing countries.

The National Library has been taking an active role in encouraging reading and related activities across the whole country. International School Library Day has been celebrated in many schools. Recommendations for activities that all teachers can use are provided by the National Library staff.

Stakeholders must take up the challenge to encourage problem-solvers in our schools, and to help students become information literate citizens for the next generation. If we want to develop leaders, we must develop a community of readers. School libraries and quality school librarians are a vehicle to adapt the modern technologies to local teaching situations. Cooperative planning with teachers will make it possible to develop learning situations where students will become information literate, with good communication skills, and good reading habits.

Sri Lanka is on the threshold of change. Leadership from the Ministry and from the professionals in the field is imperative.

Creating Life-long Learners: one school’s use of IL in England

Anne-Marie Tarter, School Librarian
Ripon Grammar School
Ripon, North Yorkshire

In England there is at present no statutory requirement for schools to have a qualified librarian or even a library. While there are some very exciting developments in information literacy (IL)  happening in  schools, these are due to the work of individual librarians rather than any national educational imperative.  For although there are elements of IL embedded in the English National Curriculum, there is no official recognition of IL as a unique set of skills to be developed in any systematic way.  However, this may be about to change.

Earlier this year the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) published a document entitled ‘Good School Libraries making a difference to learning’ in which they identified factors that were evident in schools whose libraries were making a positive impact on   teaching and learning. Their conclusions were based on OFSTED’s inspection of thirty-two schools during the academic year 2004-05. One of the major conclusions of the OFSTED report was the importance of a coherent programme of IL skills development in the most effective schools:
 
The quality of pupils’ information literacy skills [in many of the schools visited] was often unsatisfactory.  Many pupils struggled to locate and to make use of information. The most effective schools had put in place systematic programmes for teaching these skills.[1]

The report goes onto to add that the most beneficial IL programmes were those that attempted to develop the skills in a variety of curricular contexts and progressively over time.   This official recognition of the value of IL skills development in individual schools by OFSTED may lead eventually to a more national acceptance of IL as part of the curriculum.

For the past sixteen years I have been the librarian at Ripon Grammar School, a co-educational, academically selective state school  with 820 pupils aged 11-18 and located in rural North Yorkshire.  In that time I have put in place a programme of IL development that is delivered to all pupils aged 11-14 via a wide range of curricular subjects.  I started simply  with one project for Year 7 pupils (aged 11-12) in which the pupils researched the earth’s place in the Solar System as part of the Physics curriculum. The Head of Physics was so impressed by the ways in which the project enhanced the pupils’ learning that she asked me to help the department to develop further research projects  for Years 8 and 9.  Other departments showed interest and gradually I built up a programme of 12 separate projects for all pupils aged 11-14.  These are delivered as part of the schemes of work of the Physics, Chemistry, Geography, ICT and English departments.  The structure of the research followed the PLUS model developed by James Herring[2].

This year for the first time I experimented with using IL in a cross-curricular context in which Year 8 pupils (aged 12-13) used their IL skills and their subject knowledge from   different areas of the curriculum to solve a practical problem.  Several departments, including Physics, Mathematics, Design Technology, ICT, and Economics, came together under my leadership to design a project that required the pupils to design and build a model of a new footbridge to cross a local river.  The pupils were taken off their normal timetable for 3 days and worked in small companies of ten pupils each. Each company had to research, design, build, and market their bridge to a team of civil engineers from the firm of Mouchel-Parkman.  The adults acted only as supervisors and were not allowed to contribute in any way.  The engagement and enthusiasm of the pupils for the project was outstanding; all twelve teams completed the work to a very high standard. They showed both the staff and themselves that they have the learning skills to solve real problems, and the ability to work as a team to develop something new.

 

One of my concerns has been  that our pupils’ IL skills were not continuing to develop once they moved into Key Stage 4 (aged 14-16). During these years pupils are preparing for their GCSE examinations (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and staff are reluctant to ‘sacrifice time’ for project work. However, in the past several years two teachers have adapted the PLUS model as a method of teaching pupils to revise.  I have worked with them to create an electronic revision planning sheet  based on IL skills that pupils can download at home to help them to organise their revision. The response from the pupils to this work has been very positive.

Once students enter 6^th form at age 16 they are expected to have the ability to work with  new information in quite sophisticated ways and to be able to be more independent in their learning.  At the start of their two-year course all of the 6^th form students are given a series of  refresher sessions on IL, with a particular focus on using online resources and external information providers more effectively.  One of the greatest indicators of how well our IL programme develops our pupils’ independent learning skills is the ease with which most of them tackle these new challenges in 6^th form.  Staff notice a huge difference between our existing pupils and those pupils who join the school in the 6^th form in terms of their confidence in attempting independent work. 

Partly due to the success of the IL programme delivered to the younger pupils, this year the school has added the subject of Critical Thinking to the 6^th form curriculum.  I have been asked to help to deliver this course as it is seen as a natural extension of the IL work that I already do with the younger pupils.  This is a very exciting addition to the programme of the IL skills opportunities already in place, and will ensure that our students leave the school more fully prepared to be life-long learners.

 

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[1]  Office for Standards in Education,  Good School Libraries making a difference to learning.  (www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=pubs.displayfile&id=4170&type=pdf  last accessed 2 September 2006).

[2]  James Herring,  The PLUS  Method,   ( http://farrer.csu.edu.au/PLUS/  last accessed 2 September 2006).

CrossEd: How University Libraries Support Information Literacy in Secondary Schools

Ray Lonsdale
Reader in Information Studies, Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales. UK
rel@aber.ac.uk

Since 2002, I have been exploring the nature of collaborations that are taking place between secondary schools and universities in the UK regarding the provision of information literacy skilling relating to the use of electronic resources. The project, which is known as CrossEd, was the first of its kind in the UK, and explored an aspect of information literacy development which has received little attention internationally – namely, how teachers and school librarians might work university librarians with to help prepare young people to exploit electronic resources when they move into post-16 education (tertiary education).

Our study identified twenty university libraries which are actively involved in working with secondary schools, from which we selected six as the basis of our case studies. Six types of training for school pupils were identified which ranged from facilitating access to the university collections of digital resources (with basic induction training in exploiting the resources), to more sophisticated developmental projects. Some of these projects were initiated by subject departments while others covered a variety of subject fields. Characteristically, the courses involved young people coming to the university library for varying periods of time to undergo systematic training in a range of information literacy skills including awareness of different kinds of electronic resources, developing search strategies, evaluation skills and  higher level skills of synthesising newly acquired information with existing knowledge. University librarians, often working with academic staff, would use the innovative types of teaching and learning methods that the pupils would encounter in tertiary education. A common feature was the use of university students who would be have been attached to schools and trained to work with school pupils.

There was an overwhelming positive response to the benefits of collaboration. University librarians’ responses can be summarized into the following groups:

Influencing work in school

• enhancing performance in the school
• encounter teaching and learning methods adopted in tertiary education
• expose students to large electronic resources of the university sector.

 

Conditioning for transition to tertiary education

• encouraging pupils into tertiary education
• easing the psychological stress of moving from secondary education to tertiary education
• improving public relations.

Influencing work in university

• pupils entering tertiary education would be offered a more level playing field if some instruction were done in school
• facilitating greater and more appropriate use of e-resources in undergraduate and postgraduate education.

A major issue that we identified is the need for school and university librarians to develop a closer rapport, since there was considerable and demonstrable ignorance of each others’ work and of collaborative initiatives – something that we will explore further with the School Library Association

Contact details for further information:

Ray Lonsdale

Reader in Information Studies, Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth,  Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, SY23 3AS Wales. UK

Email: rel@aber.ac.uk

Supporting Science in the School Library

Marcia A. Mardis, MILS, EdD
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan USA
mmardis@wayne.edu

Reports like the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)[1] highlight lagging student science literacy and achievement worldwide. For many school librarians, supporting science learning can be challenging. Rapid developments in scientific discovery demand responsive collection development and in-depth content knowledge and skill. But, many school librarians are at a disadvantage in providing this support because they lack the financial resources and subject-matter expertise to engage with science teachers and to build exemplary science collections. But, as practitioners of library science, we can help kids gain many key skills for science learning.

An important inroad into a discussion with the science teacher may be to explain the overlap between the processes of science and research. Table 1 (below) compares the phases of the scientific inquiry model ( “The Scientific Method”) to those of the information inquiry model (“Inquiry-Based Learning[2]”).

Table 1.

Comparison of Inquiry Models for Science and Information.

The Scientific Method	Inquiry-Based Learning
Question	Ask
Hypothesis	Investigate
Experimental Plan and Predicted Result	Create
Experiment	Discuss
Comparison of Predicted and Actual Results	Reflect
Conclusions (Hypothesis Correct or Incorrect)

Both models begin with questioning, move investigating the question, employing a strategy for collecting evidence, and then, synthesizing and analyzing results. The school librarian has skills in many of these phases that the science teacher may not realize. Since “the librarian has the knowledge and skills regarding the provision of information and solution of information problems as well as the expertise in the use of all sources, both printed and electronic,[3]” school librarians are able to help kids to ask good questions, direct them to find high quality and relevant resources, and to facilitate discussions of how well the information meets the demands of the question.

In Internet-connected environments, digital libraries offer support for instructional innovation, curriculum, and equitable access to learning resources; they offer especially rich sources of support for science in schools. The United States’ National Science Foundation (NSF) has developed the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) (http://nsdl.org) that offers school libraries interactive simulations, research articles, data sets, video, and still images. Not only are these resources impossible to include in an traditional print-based school library collection, but also their expert sources and current creation dates can allow school libraries to facilitate the types of innovative learning that promote science literacy and support a variety of learning styles. Visit the NSDL and click on the Resources For K-12 Teachers link.

School librarians can use their skills in questioning, research, and analysis to help all students learn science better and to internalize replicable personal models for learning. Flexing your library science expertise in resources and processes is also a way to entice science teachers to help you build a good science collection. You’ll get the help you need and let them know that you value their content knowledge.

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[1] The results of this study are available at http://nces.ed.gov/timss/

[2] As articulated by Bruce, B.C., & Davidson, J. (1996). An inquiry model for literacy across the curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 28, 281–300.

[3] The IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines 2002, p.12.

Information literacy – an assignment for the library

Veit G:son Berg
Chief librarian, Östra Reals gymnasium, Stockholm
veit.berg@utbildning.stockholm.se

As the necessity of a scientific approach is not confined to year three, the Östra Real School management has decided to use 20 “project study hours” in year one. The students do basic training in scientific work, including a “mini project”. They also do a 4 point (hours) course in information retrieval, information evaluation and library knowledge. (Of course students are informed about how to seek information and use a library in both primary and lower secondary school, but we find that they often forget what they have learned).

The objective for this is that the students in Östra Real, getting a basic training in seeking and evaluating information in Year One, become more adapt at finding information, using it and viewing it critically.

The school management has decided to delegate to the library and the staff there, two trained fulltime librarians (there is no clerical staff), to be in charge of the basic training in information retrieval and associated subjects.

The Library part of the 20 points, the four hours, comprises several different sections. One is a general library part, one an Internet part and also a part with an introduction to criticism of sources. As there are 11 classes in year one, it means that the librarians devote 44 hours to this, not counting time for preparation. We use both classrooms, computer halls and, of course, the library itself with its resources.

We start the first section, Library introduction (5-10 minutes), by talking about the library resources, opening hours, staff and terms of use. We put emphasis on the personal responsibility our users have for their loans and that they must replace or pay for lost books.

After that follows a section, What is information?, (70-90 minutes), when we discuss different forms information can take, with emphasis on printed sources, and the difference between them. We also discuss, fairly extensively, how to formulate questions, use the computerised library catalogue and how to use the information you find. How to navigate the library shelves is naturally also a part.

Included in this section there is a comprehensive session of practical exercises and a brief discussion. The exercises may be formalised, but are tailored to each class, the miniprojects the students do and themes the teachers want to emphasise.

Section three, Internet and searching the Internet, (90-110 minutes) starts with a recapitulation of the different kinds of information, but now with emphasis on Internet based material. We explore various search structures and stress the advantages of using the possibilities offered by the Östra home page. (Some search engines are paid for by the school and only available when using computers in the school).

The next session, Evaluation of sources (15-20 minutes), deals with the reliability of different kinds of sources and criteria to observe when evaluating your sources. We put special emphasis on the difference between ordinary printed material and what you find on the Internet, when it applies to general credibility. We stress the importance of using both traditional, printed matter and the new opportunities offered by the Internet.

Finally References. Here we discuss how to write a list of references, i. e. what to include and how to write, both with printed sources and those of a less permanent kind. We stress the importance of including all important facts in the list and, when “net sources” are used, that the students copy pages referred to, on paper or on discs.

To conclude the “Internet” part of the course and give the students a chance to practise this there are exercises (as before tailored to topics relevant to the class), followed by a brief but important discussion of the sources found.

These four hours form the basis for the students search for and using information. It also establishes the library, its resources and staff as a friendly, helpful and reliable partner for student use. (Of course the teachers in their teaching also talk about information retrieval and use as it applies to their subjects, stressing the importance of using the library and its staff).

In the years that follow, the library plays a central part in the students work, helping them define problems, formulate questions, decide on relevance in material and how best to present results, both with all the minor tasks they have and with the 100 point project that they have to do by the end of year three, of which the four hour course in year one is an integral part..

It might also be interesting to know that the library is in charge of handling all the text books the students use, which means that all students have to visit the library frequently.  (Since we started this, loans have soared from 4500/year to 26 000/year).

In the school evaluation each year the library comes out as the most popular institution in the entire school.

 Östra Reals Gymnasium, in central Stockholm, is a Swedish upper secondary school with 1050 students aged 16 – 19 (350 students in 11 classes in each year). The curriculum is theoretical, with programs in Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. Östra Real is very popular and the students come from all over the Stockholm area

Background: Since 2002, it is compulsory for all students in the third grade in Swedish upper secondary schools (their twelfth year in school, when they are approx. 19 years old), to do a major project normally with a scientific approach. The curriculum awards this project 100 points, equivalent to 100 hours. The result can be presented in various ways, e.g. orally, as a movie or as a play. There must also be a written report. To get the higher grades Non sine or Cum laude the result must be very good and the report must meet very exacting requirements. It is up to every school to decide how to distribute the 100 hours over the years 1-3.

Newsletter issue #43 – Theme: The school library + Information literacy: the perfect combination

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Chairs report 06 2-3
Sekretary report 06 3
Information Co-ord 4
Minutes of meeting 5-8
Theme pages
Canada 9-10
Denmark 10-11
Germany 12-14
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Jamaica 15
Romania 15
Australia 16
Netherland 16-17
Sri Lanka 18
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USA 21
Sweden 22

Presentations 23-24