Information Literacy

Information Literacy is an umbrella term for a basket of skills and behaviors relating to an individual's use of information.  These skills empower individuals to identify, locate, access and synethsize information to create knowledge and to build understanding.  

What does this mean for educators?

As with most skills, mastery requires effective instruction and lots of opportunities for practise.  Research indicates that students develop information literacy (IL) skills best when they are taught in context.  Additionally, when students are prompted to be meta-cognitent and given time to be reflective on their learning, these skills become transferable.

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"Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all nations." (The Alexandra Proclation, UNESCO, 2005)

“21st Century learners need cognitive strategies, which are patterns of intellectual behavior that lead to the development of mental processes and capabilities necessary for college-level work.  these strategies include problem solving, research, analysis, interpretation, reasoning and precision and accuracy.  Students must be able to think about the world in complex ways.” (Conley, 2007).