Information Literacy, Post #3

Information Literacy—What Does It Mean?

The American Library Association says that to be information literate a person needs to be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use the needed information effectively. Put another way, an information literate person is one who knows how to learn what they need to learn. They are prepared to be lifelong learners and can find reliable information with which to conduct their lives.

Why Is It Important?

We live in an information society with an amazing abundance of information available to us. People need to have the training to know how to gain access to the information they need, both personally and professionally. Our schools need to take the lead in equipping students toward this cause. Schools should teach not only how to locate information, but, given the plethora of information available on the Web from both reliable and unreliable sources, should also teach how to discriminate between the good and the bad.

How Will I Encourage It?

In the library at my sixth grade campus, I will teach students and teachers how to use both print and electronic information responsibly. I will demonstrate proper search strategies using the online catalog and databases to which we subscribe. I will also teach them to search the Internet in a way that ensures that they are acquiring accurate information from reliable sources.
Our campus houses many minority and at-risk students. It is a challenge to try to instill in them the desire to be lifelong learners and to try to break generational cycles of poverty and ignorance of information that can improve their situations. I am very cognizant of these factors when I work with them on a daily basis and will continue to look for ways to motivate and educate them so that they can become able seekers and users of knowledge.

How Does It Apply To My Vision?

Being information literate applies to my personal vision in that I desire to see students’ lives changed through information acquisition, sharing, and communication. I desire to teach the skills and processes needed to enable my students to find what is helpful and true on the Internet. I want students to learn to think critically and intelligently and to be well-informed users of knowledge.

What's a "Boolean?"

Hey, friends, I looked up on ask.com and they said that George Boole is the inventor of "Boolean" search techniques!

Educational Technology Organizations, Post #2

Department of Education Office of Educational Technology

Department of Education Office of Educational Technology (OET)
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/index.html

The Office of Educational Technology coordinates the U.S. Department of Education’s educational technology policies, research projects and national technology summits. Its main goal is to develop national educational technology policy and implement policy to support the goals of No Child Left Behind.

I selected this organization because I wanted to see what our federal government has to say about our subject. I have ordered a number of free resources from them in the past and was interested to see what they might offer us in this area. I noticed that this website offers a link to possible grants for technology. When I finish my coursework I plan to devote time to applying for grants for our financially-disadvantaged (poor!) school district. I also enjoyed looking through the links provided under “Federal Resources for Educational Excellence.”

EDUCAUSE

http://www.educause.edu/node/720

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. It provides professional development activities, applied research, policy advocacy, teaching and learning initiatives, print and electronic publications, and much more.

I know we’ve read the article on blogging from this site, but I wanted to mention it again because of how wonderful it is. My favorite part of this website is the “7 Things You Should Know About…” series. It gives a brief and practical explanation of various Web 2.0 applications beginning in 2005. It’s a great resource to keep up-to-date about new technologies. In these overviews you can also read about ways the technology can be used to impact learning in the classroom. It’s definitely one you might consider for tagging.

Changing the look...

In case you've been to my post before and might get confused...I'm changing this blog to be more "academic." I didn't quite "get it" when I designed it earlier. Thanks for your patience!