Comments on Big questions on information literacyTypePad2006-05-24T09:43:33ZEwan McIntoshhttps://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2006/05/big_questions_o/comments/atom.xml/David Warlick commented on 'Big questions on information literacy'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451f00f69e200d834c2ed5369e22006-05-24T13:46:20Z2007-04-26T11:59:37ZDavid Warlickhttp://2cents.davidwarlick.comI'd like to take a stab at this, Ewan. How do we define literacy in a world where we must...<p>I'd like to take a stab at this, Ewan.</p>
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How do we define literacy in a world where we must not only know how to read and write but to edit and create and publish?
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<p>We redefine literacy by ramping it up, not by starting from scratch. The tree R's (first coined by a Brit) produce a structure that remains relevant. We teach reading so that people can access information. We teach arithmetic so that people can process that information when it comes in numbers. We teach writing so that people can communicate information. What's changed is that information has changed. It's become digital, networked, and overwhelming. Because it's networked and can come from anywhere and from anyone, we must teach students not only how to read the text, but how to expose the truth about the information. </p>
<p><b>We must teach them to expose truth</b></p>
<p>Because it's digital, meaning that all information is made of numbers, we must teach students not only how to add, subtract, count, and measure, but also how to process thousands of numbers, and also how to process the numbers in text, music, video, images. It's all process-able. </p>
<p><b>We must teach them to employ all information</b></p>
<p>Because information is overwhelming, we must not only be able to manage all of that information, but also be able to get our messages through that storm of information. Our information must compete for attention in order to be valuable. This means that as we teach students to write, we must also teach them to communicate with images, with sound, with animation, and with video.</p>
<p><b>We must teach them to express ideas compellingly</b></p>
<p><b>And, finally, the ethical use of information must, must, must be an explicit part of being literate.</b></p>
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Does changing the way we teach make us lose power? How can we make changes when the system seems to be against us?
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<i>Answer from the presentation:</i> Small changes, little by little is the way to go. It's also vital to share what you're doing. A third element is discussing what is going on in your classrooms with new technologies. <i>(Ewan's note: I'd say that by not engaging in these new technologies teachers are already losing power in the classroom. It's time to engage and be engaging with what is available rather than running away from it)</i>.<br />
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I would tend to disagree, though conditionally. It is probably true that teachers are losing power, as individuals. However, what's gaining in power, enormously, is the classroom. What students can accomplish in skills and knowledge and production of artifacts; when they are exposing truth, employing information, and expressing ideas compellingly, could completely overshadow our old notions of teacher-desk power.</p>
<p>Empowered to turn a flattened classroom into a learning engine, could result not only in better life-long-learners, but that classroom becomes the new story about teaching and learning in the 21st century.</p>
<p>I also think that small steps are not the answer. Times require something more. I suspect that teachers will not retool for the new information environment until we take away the old, and replace it with the new. Remove all the paper, and put digital, networked information tools into every classroom and then say, "teach!"</p>
<p>2ยข Worth</p>