Over the course of the last few months as I’ve begun my teacher librarian journey I have developed my thinking and my understanding of information. That isn’t to say that I now understand what information is and how best to teach future generations to read and use it. Instead, I believe I am now starting to constantly reflect, refine and rethink about what information is, what information is important and how we should be accessing it.
At the very start of this journey I was faced with the question of what is information? I had never thought about this before. The term information is so hard to pin down and define with one definition that covers everything, yet it is a term that we use nearly every day (Owen, 2006). I found myself having multiple answers depending on the context. This got me thinking that if I can’t define it, how am I teaching information literacy effectively?
Even looking back on my own blog post from the 16th of March, my understanding and perceptions about information have changed dramatically in just two months. For teachers who graduate university I believe it is of the utmost importance that you continue to reflect on your own practice and stay life-long learners so that we can keep up with the new generation and their new needs and learning styles in the classroom.
Thankfully, throughout the weeks and the modules, I was given tools, models and definitions that would shape and morph my understanding of information literacy. At first I was overwhelmed with the amount of different Information Literacy Models that are out there that we can use in the classroom. I found myself questioning “If I can’t get my head around all of these models, how will my students?” Thankfully when I came across the Department of Education’s Information Process (ISP), something clicked in my thinking and I understood it. I was finally able to understand the steps needed to ensure that you could process information correctly.
I found myself reflecting on my own education journey and wondering how different things would have been if I had of had access to this ISP earlier. Would I have been able to understand more complex ideas in my teaching degree earlier? Would that have made me a more effective teacher? These questions have driven me to incorporate this ISP into my teaching now.
When I am helping senior students research for assessment tasks and study I find myself pointing out the six steps of the ISP and asking the guiding questions of each step (Department of Education and Communities, 2017). I have found that this has helped students become more student directed in their learning which has helped them learn how to guide their own investigations into the information. Before I was using this model students would often get lost in the amount of information that would come up when looking on the internet. There is too much information for these students at times to be able to learn effectively (Mosbergen, 2016). Now that my students are become more familiar with this ISP I can see them asking themselves the questions during each stage of the information literacy intake which is helping them to eliminate unnecessary information.
Thanks to my participation in this course I am able to see that it is my role to help teach the students how to read the information and interpret it correctly to ensure that they become well-informed and educated members of society (Floridi, 2007). I have also realised that information is ever-changing and that if I ever stop learning about how to interpret and use information that I will be failing my students by not giving them every possibility to succeed and thrive in this modern world. This course has opened my eyes to so many things and I find myself constantly questioning the ideas, terms and concepts within my classroom now which is making me a better educator and human being.
Reference List
Department of Education and Communities. (2017, May 17). The information process. NSW Department of Education. Retrieved from https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/school-libraries/teaching-and-learning/information-skills/the-information-process
Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23, 59-64. CSU Library.
Mosbergen, D. (2016). French legislation suggests employees deserve the right to disconnect. The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 2016.
Owen, D. (2006). Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior. Emerald Publishing Limited.
