Information

Traditional Information

Directs students and teachers to information in books, magazines, and reference sources.

+

Cutting Edge

Emphasizes the curation, consumption, and creation of high quality information as a part of the student’s personal learning environment.


Tips About Information in the Library Learning Commons


The sheer volume of information coming at any young person connected to social media challenges the professional staff of the LLC in ways never before experienced. As these adults educate children and teens into the world of databases, websites, blogs, and a host of other “educational and informative” resources, this question becomes ever more important:

Who is saying what to me, for what reason, for what gain, and with what evidence? (The STIC Model by David Loertscher)

The main question has become whether we as adults can assist young people to come into control of their own world of information, or will the ads and algorithms take over? For sure, most of our youthful clients come with expertise in social media and gaming, but they have little knowledge of how to bend that expertise over into the world of learning. Without some mentoring and effort, the schemes and scams on the web just overwhelm even the most sophisticated user.

Since the emergence of the Internet, personal devices, and computers (either furnished to the school’s campus or provided directly to students, many strategies have been used and tested to protect students from or allow them access to information resources on the web. Total lock down systems have generally failed over time, because students have learned very quickly how to get around virtual walls. Total open access to anything has not been a popular strategy because of the looming threat of lawsuits by parents should their children encounter predators. Most school districts try to select the “safest” information systems, block the worst of the worst, and allow blocked sites upon request. Instead of a very select few persons who decide what can be accessed, the policy of listening to teachers, LLC professional staff, and the voices of the students themselves, seems to be the most workable strategy. Information access evolves as the web itself evolves, so a single policy must evolve as that world evolves.

If I have access to a Siri-type virtual reference librarian, Wikipedia, a few favorite apps, and a favorite search engine, is there really anything else I need? Add to this mix a content management system and a public library down the street, and the simple but simplistic answer comes that we really don’t need the LLC any more. Another simplistic answer given by many commercial vendors is to just supply the sum total of information to the student and eliminate the need to offer the larger web as a resource. Put all the learners into an information cocoon from which they can graduate after schooling is over.

Information professionals, on the other hand, favor the opening of the world of information in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson thinking about a democratic society when he said: "For I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” They prefer open to closed, broad over narrow, choice over control, diversity over tribalism. The information professional should consider assisting young people confront the information challenge as an incredible opportunity and role.


Check out the STIC Model by David Loertscher with resources that teens of any age can yse to jusdge the quyality of information and whether to let some information "tick" or, flush. The website is at:

https://sites.google.com/view/theinformedlearner/home

Information work with young people might be classified into the following main categories:

  • The structure and evolution of the world of information.

  • The coming into command of the world of information by every adult and young person.

  • The curation of quality information by adults and students.

  • The understanding, analysis, and synthesis of information.

  • The acceptance of newer supportable ideas to replace what has been known before.

  • The ethics and productive use of information.

  • The creation and communication of high quality information by young people for the benefit of others.

The implementation of such major ideas requires a culture shift in most schools among not just the students, but also their teachers. They are accepting of the idea of students reaching out into the world of information in order to accomplish the goals of a learning experience. The concepts of personalized education, critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving beg for students being encouraged to reach out into the world of ideas to wrestle with them, massage them, argue them, accept or reject them, and even change them. It may be chaotic and messy, but with both teachers and LLC professionals mentoring, it is the stuff of real education.

If a major information cultural shift is needed in your school, then it will require multiple attack plans in order to change minds. You will need allies among administrators, faculty, the students, and the parents in a broad coalition. There are a plethora of strategies and battle plans out there. Here are but a few to whet the imagination:

  • Multiple short tip videos created by the students that are on the LLC’s YouTube channel.

  • Mini lessons that can be fit into a learning experience at a moment’s notice.

  • A two-minute showcase segment in every faculty meeting.

  • A demonstration exhibit for parent nights run by the students.

  • A school-wide information problem competition every week for a month.

  • Lots of tip ideas on the LLC virtual learning commons.

  • Purposeful embedding of an information skill in every co-taught learning experience done in the LLC.

  • The curation by teacher librarians, teachers, and students of the best of the best OERs (open educational resources) that are a part of the online public access catalog (OPAC).

  • The infiltration of the school by techsherpas with a rotation group of information tips they are spreading every month.

The Personal Learning Environment

As a part of a total cultural shift toward the idea of coming into command of my own learning, whether I am an adult or a child just starting out, I start to realize who, how and why others are trying to horn in on my attention span. Perhaps, I should rebel at this loss of ownership. At the moment, in the way the information systems work, in order to take command of my own learning, I have to take positive steps to gain and preserve that role in spite of what the algorithms are doing as they pull me in directions I do not care to move toward.

One useful strategy for both adults and young people is to develop a personal learning environment that has three parts:

  • A portal on each of the major devices that I use daily such as my phone, tablet or computer. I want to control my own entry into the world of information, so I build my own preferences rather than just accepting what others have constructed for me. For example, on my cell phone, I put apps on the first screen that I need to operate during the day and put other helpful, but less used apps on additional screens. However, if I am on a computer as well as a cell phone, I need to construct a similar set of tools that assist me in being in control of my life. Thus, I have a set of apps on my cell phone, but use a program, like Symbaloo, to govern what I use and need running from one setting to the next (from school, to work, to family, and even just for fun).

  • A personal network that includes what I want to learn and from whom. Examples include the blogs I read, the news media I consult, the short courses or professional development that I am taking and access to the latest in the hobbies I enjoy. I want to listen to the voices I want to hear, and while I can get siloed or narrow, I can construct my network in such a way to broaden my perspective and introduce myself to new ideas and experiences.

  • My portfolio. I will want to have both a public and private space that contains what I am currently working on that should remain private and also a public face where I am sharing with the world what I know and can do.

A graphic illustrating the personal learning environment model is below.

Resources