Presentation by Andrew Walsh on behalf of the Information Literacy Group at "Reading the Future", Manchester, 22nd September 2018
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Information Literacy (and a little bit on play) at "reading the future" conference
1. Information Literacy
(and a little bit on play)
Andrew Walsh
@playbrarian
National Teaching Fellow
University Teaching Fellow, University of Huddersfield
Training Officer, CILIP Information Literacy Group
3. Old CILIP definition:
Information literacy is knowing
when and why you need
information, where to find it and
how to evaluate, use and
communicate it in an ethical
manner.
New CILIP definition:
Information literacy is the ability to think
critically and make balanced judgements
about any information we find and use.
It empowers us as citizens to develop
informed views and to engage fully with
society.
Lost & found image from Max Pixel. Brain image from Good free photos
6. Information
Literacy and
Education
All stages of education
School, Further Education
and Higher Education
Critical thinking skills
Transition from school
to Higher Education
Equips learners with
intellectual strategies
8. Information
Literacy and the
Workplace
Knowing when and how to use
information
To help achieve
organizational aims
To add value
Interpret work related
information
Contributes to employability
Teamworking
Problem solving
Analytical skills
10. How we learn to be information literate
is *really* important
This is where I bring in playful learning
Play is inherently social, and provides a
safe place to experiment.
11. Playful learning has loads of benefits
I see the main purpose of games as delivering play.
Good for exploring ideas
Safe
Creative
Inviting
Low risk (for participants)
Thinking with your hands
Good for active learning
Construct own knowledge
Expose people to new ideas
Reinforce facts by repetition
Memorable!
12. Example playful activities
Mixing up groups in a playful way
Pass the parcel / Christmas crackers
Referencing games
Escape room ideas
Lego!
Exploring spaces
Playful challenge cards
Real cutting and pasting sources of info
Various card games
13. Nicole Scherer wrote a manual for staging an escape
room at your library
https://libraryladynicole.com/programs/escape-room/
and I have one focussed on
educational escape rooms
(plus I run workshops).
14. More from the Information Literacy Group
Twitter: @Infolitgroup
https://infolit.org.uk
More from Andrew:
Twitter: @playbrarian
http://innovativelibraries.org.uk
https://gamesforlibraries.blogspot.com/
These slides at:
Andrews most recent books:
The librarians' book on
teaching through
games and play.
ISBN: 9781911500070
The Mini Book of
Teaching Tips for
Librarians.
ISBN: 9781911500117
Editor's Notes
Talking about new definition of IL and how we can help people become more information literate through play.
Quick intro about me and my background. Flag up that I deal with *adult* learners, so whenever I mention play its with adults!
Mention the group?
Special Interest Group of CILIP
Current membership approx. 1,500
Journal of Information Literacy
LILAC (Librarians Annual Information Literacy Conference)
Workshops
Sponsor Teen-Tech & create related research guides to support teenagers
What is IL? Called different things by different groupings. All the same thing, just looked at through a different lens. Im a librarian, so I tend to think of the Information bit as most important but doesnt matter what its called really.
CILIP (explain) defined it in a quite functional way at the time that the group Im part of was just starting out (developed 2003 / 2004) so the sort of things that focus on an academic setting when people go off an find info and in a way that made sense for HE & FE librarians to teach the skills implied by it
Weve *just* updated it, launched Easter this year at LILAC, the information literacy conference
So still the same thing, but trying to expose that it isnt just a library thing, its something that lots of people need to input into.
Its about more than just working out how to find a book in the library and (if youre lucky), cite it in a reference list.
This is not a short definition!
High level definition which can easily be quoted. Secondary statement to give supporting information to the definition explaining further what Information Literacy is. Contexts Ill come on to in a minute
The role of Information professionals this is an important element, especially then there has been an erosion in school, public and college libraries of the professional Librarian. They are needed to advocate, support an and enable information literacy. Librarians dont just do this in isolation and works best in collaboration with other professionals to embed Information Literacy.
Weve done a series of outlines as to how IL might become apparent in everyday life just highlight the 3 probably most relevant here today.
so, for example, when we are thinking about life online, this comes out in how we manage our information, our privacy, our behaviours online.
Particularly relevant with Brexit, the most recent rise of the far right and characters like Donald Trump, the idea of being able to making informed choices in elections, referendums, and in our engagement with wider society, is an incredibly important part of being an information literate person. It show as well, that we can be information literate in one setting (e.g. find good information for homework at school) and fail to be in another (believing numbers written on the side of a bus).
Fake News and Alternative Facts
From Citizenship section:
IL allows individuals to acquire and develop their understanding of the world around them; to reach informed views; where appropriate, to challenge, credibly and in an informed way assumptions/orthodoxies (including ones own), and even authority; to recognise bias and misinformation; and thereby to be engaged citizens, able to play a full part in democratic life and society.Information literacy helps to address social exclusion, by providing disadvantaged or marginalised groups with the means of making sense of the world around them and participating in society.
When people leave school, we hope they take subject knowledge with them but we also hope they take more general skills (like these). The skills to think critically about information and not just take things at face value. To be able to deal with transition to the next level of learning, whether that is to Further Higher Levels of education (degree, masters, etc.), or into workplace learning as we hope it gives learners the intellectual strategies to help their lifelong learning journey.
From education definition:
In formal educational environments, information literacy can be seen as the critical capacity to read between the lines. It enables learners to engage in deep learning - perceiving relationships between important ideas, asking novel questions, and pursuing innovative lines of thought.
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So Information literacy isnt one clear thing that people learn, it comes out in lots of different contexts. What it means to be information literate in one setting (school?) isnt necessary the same thing as being information literate in another (politics? Social networking?). Its not a lonely, standalone activity, its one that is deeply social and contextual.
The way that IL is taught is also important, not just who it is taught by.
IL is socially constructed it develops based on the context you find yourself studying, working, or living within.
So the *best* learning happens in a way that is highly interactive and allows discussion.
It allows learners to build on prior knowledge and experience and apply the skills to those.
This is where I bring in playful learning
Play is inherently social, and provides a safe place to experiment.
We also slowly get to see play as less and less acceptable as we grow up in early years its the norm. By the time we finish school its incredibly hard to give ourselves permission to play, particularly learn through play, and we often play in very particular settings.
Possibly exclude?
But play has benefits for everyone! In relation to IL and learning, here are a few benefits (IMHO).
Mention escape rooms in libraries? Benefit of instant magic circle of play? Can be in a box or in a separate room known some libraries use a storeroom elsewhere in school / college (one used a storeroom that used to be the headmasters office and still had a fireplace and old desk in instant scene setting!)
DR Jeckyll and Mr Hyde theme (I think?) aimed at young non-readers for Aalborg they had a couple of rooms upstairs that were used for short-term exhibitions or meetings, or whatever so could be reserved for a this purpose. feed into next slide (resources to use).
Bring assortment of odds and sods to illustrate these things?