ILI blog - Week 1 - Information Literacy

Here I start yet another series of posts for a course, this time a "Learning Blog" for my Information Literacy Instruction (ILI) class. Every week (almost) we will have guiding questions to answer in at least 200 words, with a reflection at the end of the semester. This post includes the first week's set of questions and answers, and a list below linking to all subsequent ILI posts.

Question(s)
What is information literacy? What is your experience with the 4 components of instructional literacy - reflective practice, educational theory, teaching technologies, instructional design?

Answer(s)
Information literacy, as I define it, is broadly the ability to find, examine, use, process, produce, and share information. It is a range of skills and actions that include research, critical thinking, close reading, being aware of bias and accuracy and relevancy, making and backing up arguments, taking notes, asking questions, organizing and sharing what's been found, and more. It's basically being able to obtain and use information, in whatever format or mode (verbal, visual, etc.), more critically than just some input-output information processing... process.

As I was thinking about it, I realized that information literacy is this ability that we want everyone to have, but it doesn't seem like you reach a level and you've got it, you're done. We can always foreaver work to improve our information literacy skills, generally and more domain-specifically, and I would think even very young kids have the beginnings of information literacy, the ability to find and use information. So, is there some set standard of what it looks like to be information literate, or is there a range, a bare beginnings and a sufficient and a masterful and an even better and wiser, that we all work to develop and achieve, and help others do the same throughout life? Is there an agreed-upon necessary/sufficient proficiency?

As for the second question, I have taken my education classes for the school library media specialist track, so my first-hand experience with the four components of instructional literacy feel mostly academic. I have done some observation/fieldwork, done some reflecting, taken a teaching technologies class, written a few lesson plans, and have done a very tiny amount of teaching.

 More ILI Learning Blog Posts

• Week 2 - Technology and Information Literacy
• Week 3 - Educational Philosophy
• Week 4 - Teaching and Learning Styles
• Week 5 - 
• Week 6 -