Information Literacy for 10-14 year olds: The ISIS-21 Project

Name: Anne Wade, wada@education.concordia.ca
Title: Information Specialist and Manager

Name: Philip Abrami, pabrami@education.concordia.ca
Title: Director and Research Chair

Institutional affiliation: Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance, Concordia University

Date: 17 February 2010 at 1:00 P.M. (Eastern)
Mode: Elluminate Live!
URL: Please contact the secretariat at cnie-rcie@cnie-rcie.ca
Recording: http://elluminate.nait.ca/play_recording.html?recordingId=1261533499722_...

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ABSTRACT
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As technology and the internet become a pervasive part of everyday life, the importance of developing information literacy skills becomes increasingly more critical. Yet few school curricula specifically address the teaching of these skills, in many cases because the teachers lack basic information literacy skills themselves. Severe cutbacks in school library staff and teacher-librarian programs have also contributed to a gap in the teaching of information literacy (Whitehead & Quinlan, 2006). This problem is amplified and exacerbated when students complete homework at home as parents also lack information literacy skills to help the children with effective research and information evaluation strategies.

The Conference Board of Canada (2000) has listed a variety of critical skills needed to enter and function in today’s workplace. Among these are Communication Skills, such as the ability to “read and understand information presented in a variety of formats” and the ability to “locate, gather and organize information using appropriate technology and information systems”. Our educational system needs a systematic approach to teaching this set of skills, known as Information Literacy skills. Yet few school curricula specifically address the teaching of these skills, in many cases because the teachers lack basic information literacy skills themselves. Without a systematic approach, the majority of students will continue to construct poor search strategies, retrieve inappropriate material, and incorrectly analyze, synthesize, utilize, problem solve and make decisions based on the information found. These weak information literacy skills will follow them into the workplace and into their personal lives and, if uncorrected, will compromise the future for generations of Canadians in the Information Age and Knowledge Economy.

This presentation will provide an overview of a collaborative project between the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP), the Leading English Education and Resource Network (LEARN), the English Montreal School Board, the Quebec Library Association and the Canadian Association of Principals among others. The project entitled Inquiry Strategies for the Information Society in the Twenty-first Century (ISIS-21) has been funded by a $100,000 grant from Inukshuk Wireless. This project has resulted in the development of a beta version of the first two ISIS-21 modules—Planning and Searching which were piloted in a number of classrooms in Quebec and Alberta. These modules are designed to introduce late elementary/early secondary students (and their teachers) to the fundamental components of information literacy by guiding students through the enquiry process. Our pilot revealed that the longer the students used ISIS-21, the greater the development of their information literacy skills. Topics covered within the modules include, the articulation of a research topic and corresponding sub-topics, the selection of appropriate retrieval tool(s), introduction to search strategies for web retrieval tools, and criteria for evaluating the quality of the information found. The development of additional sub-skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and self regulated learning have also been addressed through a link to the CSLP-LEARN’s electronic portfolio entitled ePEARL. Modules have been designed according to current research evidence on effective pedagogical strategies for online learning and student centred, constructivist curricula.

Learning outcomes:

As a result of attending this session, participants will be able to:

• Use specific tools within the CSLP’’s Learning Toolkit which has been made available to the educational community at no charge.
• Understand the complexities of designing an engaging web-based environment that supports the development of important cross curricular competencies.

Speaker biographies

Anne Wade (M.L.I.S.) is the Manager and Information Specialist at the CSLP. She has been a lecturer in the Information Studies Program in the Department of Education, Concordia University for over 15 years and is a member of the International Campbell Collaboration's Information Retrieval Methods and Education Coordinating groups. She is currently coordinating the ISIS-21 research and development project.

Philip Abrami (Ph.D.) is a professor, research chair, and director of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance, a multi-institutional research centre of excellence with administrative headquarters at Concordia University. His interests include research synthesis, evidence-based practice, and effective educational software for learning.

Useful links:

CSLP Learning Toolkit (Promo): http://doe.concordia.ca/cslp/ICT-LTK.php
Provides access to the ISIS-21 promotional site.

CSLP Learning Toolkit (Demo version): http://grover.concordia.ca/epearl/demo/public/
Provides access to ABRA, ePEARL and ISIS-21.
UserID: anne (Level 2 - late elementary student)
Password: 123
User ID: wada (Level 2 teacher)
password: 123

ISIS-21 Resources: http://grover.concordia.ca/isis/promo/resources.php
Includes access to our final report to Inukshuk Wireless, funders of the ISIS-21 prototype.