INFORMATION

LITERACY
The Defining Paradigm of Modern
Education
Objectives:
o Demonstrate an understanding of information
literacy by way of definition and illustration of an
information literate person;
o Explain how to apply information literacy in
teaching;
o Put in plain words why teachers and learners
should we be concerned about information
literacy; and
o Clarify the implications of information literacy to
teaching and learning, schools and workplaces,
libraries and librarians, and to society and culture.
INTRODUCTION:
 Filipinos are technology savvy and the Philippines
is well-known as the “texting capital of the world,”
referring to the very high per capital rates of text-
messaging via mobile pones. We equip our
homes, schools and libraries with the modern
electronic technologies to be better able to
obtain information. But are we preparing our
students and teachers for the information blitz that
is provided by these technologies? What should a
learner do when faced with information overload?
How would a learner know how to choose the
best information?
What is information
literacy?
National Forum on Information Literacy (1989) ---
"Information literacy is defined as the ability to know when
there is a need for information, and to be able to identify,
locate, evaluate, and effectively use the information for
the issue or problem at hand."
NCLIS - National Commission on Libraries and Information
Science UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization) --- "Information Literacy
encompasses knowledge of one's information concerns
and needs, and the ability to identity, locate, evaluate,
organize and effectively create, use and communicate
information to address issues or problems at hand; it is a
prerequisite for participating in the Information Society, and
is part of the basic human right of lifelong learning."
Why should we be concerned
about information literacy?
Most of the netizens surfing, hanging
about, prowling the web for study and
leisure presume that works uploaded in the
internet are true and valid and usable as
presented.
BJ Fogg, a social scientist from
Stanford University, found out that people
do judge a Web site rather than what it
contains.
 On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.
So how can you tell if the information is reliable or
not? Since people posting information in the internet
are not required to pass through traditional editorial
constraints or undergo any kind of fact-checking
required in conventional published print media,
there is no limit, check, or balance as to what is
uploaded in the WWW.
Thanks to cartoonist, Peter Steiner, whose
cartoon became a constant reminder to all netizens
to evaluate the validity of the information they use
and check the credibility of the author using a set of
criteria before they use the information they found.
 We must be discriminating, judicious and
smart users of information. That makes us
information literate. Not only must we be
discerning learners but we must be constantly
learning.
Change requires us to know more and
learn more about the world around us.
(Humes,1999)
the traditional literacies of reading, writing
and mathematical reasoning are insufficient for
lifelong learning. Breivik and Jones (1993)
Changing Views of Education
(Thompson and Henley, 2000)
This section of the special topic on
Information Literacy provides some
background on the changing views of
education and explains the resulting
changes in teaching practices that are
required for information literacy instruction.
Changing paradigms: OLD
Teaching (left) compared to
New methods/.
Old teaching mehod New methods
Lecture/listen Actively engaged
Individual effort Group effort
Subjects Integration
Facts Problem-centered
Sage on the stage Guide on the side
Spoken/Written All resources
RRR- Authentic/Portfolio
Recall/Recognize/Retain
(42hours)
Insular programs Community collaboration
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS:
The best hope for citizen to understand
and function effectively in this data intensive
world is a comprehensive, hands-on, universal
education of information literacy concepts and
skills through schools. This course of study can
and should be integrated with the traditional
school subject areas, but it should also be
considered as a separate core discipline
especially for purposes of goal setting,
curriculum design, and evaluation.
 This means shifting some of
responsibility of gaining knowledge from the
teacher to the student and allowing students to
develop questions, strategies to search for
answers, and formulate conclusion.
Teachers of all subjects must blend their
traditional fact-based approach with an
emphasis on learner-based inquiry and the
scientific inquiry process (Lenox 1993)
School will need to integrate information
literacy skills across the curriculum in all subjects
areas beginning in the earliest grades.