Scottish Information Literacy Project

Aberdeenshire Library and Information Service started filming last week on their Libraries R 4 Learning Project: Multimedia clips. As one of those approached, I travelled north last week (2nd and 3rd February 2010) to do some filming. It was an interesting process writing the scripts for the introduction sections on Information Literacy, Information Literacy in schools and Information Literacy in the workplace and then filming them. A new experience for both myself and the film crew (Sue Cromar and one of the network librarians whose name I have forgotten – my apologises to her). I now have a great respect for news readers, it is not as easy as it looks.

During my two day visit I also had a meeting with some of the Aberdeenshire Library and Information Service staff – Primary School Librarian and Early Years / Young People in Schools Librarian plus one of Aberdeenshires Literacy Development Officers (Katherine who is an English teacher on secondment). We had an interesting session where I shared information on the information literacy work I’m involved with specifically the LTS Real and Relevant – Information and Critical Literacy Skills for the 21st Century Learner’ (Early and First Level) CPD Toolkit.

Katherine was amazed to hear that Aberdeenshire Library and Information Service is not just about books, they also have objects / educational tools – religious artefacts, puppets, costumes etc that teachers can use for lessons. As a teachers she is probably not alone in thinking that libraries are just about books. She was also not aware that tours of the service have been organised for probationer teachers and that several teachers have requested visits once they heard of the resources available from the probationer teachers. I made a note to myself to remember to include Library and Information Services as a resource for teachers in the Real and Relevant  CPD Toolkit.

I also had an interesting conversation with the network librarian at Meldrum Accademy about transition initiatives (primary 7 – S1) and also about my experience todate of information literacy in the early years specifically regarding my thoughts that information literacy involves all our senses (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing) plus our memories not just reading of text from books and or the Internet. I think we forget about the power of visual images and how this helps us learn languages, remember / recall past experiences, knowledge etc.

An open letter to the Prime Minister re UK School Libraries has been sent by various organisations, including the CSG Information Literacy Group,  in response to the statement made by the Government about the online petition to make school libraries statutory.

There was a posting on LIS-LINK@JISCMAIL.AC.UK by Karen Rolfe, Assistant Librarian User Services @ National Oceanographic Library summarising the information she received to a question she had posed about the technology\software\applications that people are using to support information literacy.  Which I thought might be of interest to some of you.

_______________

 Total number of responses received 10

 Questions and replies (number of responses in brackets)

1. Do you produce your own online learning objects to support Information Literacy skills?  – Yes (10)
2. Do you produce them just for computers or for computers and mobile phones? -  Just PCs (6), Just PCS but considering mobile phones (4), 
3. What applications or software do you use to produce your learning objects?  Articulate (1) + (1 – another respondent would like to use this instead of the application they are using) Audacity (1) Basic HTML (2) Camtasia (2) – screen and audio capture Captivate (4) CourseGenie (2) Echo 360 (1) – record lectures eXe (1) Flash (4) - animated learning objects Glomaker (1) Hotpotatos (4) - quizzes INFORMS (4) - real time tutorials Java script (2) Moodle (2) -VLE Sproutbuilder (1) TOIA (1) - quizzes Turning Point (1) Udutu (1) Viewlet builder (2) – screen and audio capture Wimba Create (1) – mini website tutorials Wix (1) Xml (1)
4. Why did you choose the software you are using?  – Cost / It’s Free/ Open access  (4) Staff expertise – e.g. in house developer (2) Easy to use (2) Recommended/ being used by others (3) Suitability for the task (3) Pedagogic ethos (1) Compatible with University network (2) Accessibility (1) Customisable/Flexibility (2)
5. Are there some examples of your learning objects that we could look at available on your website? 

*      Articulate tutorials with Captivate and Informs outputs embedded  http://libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk/pages/subject_guides/law/types_of_information/law_reports_and_other_case_info

*      Information Literacy Resource Bank – http://ilrb.cf.ac.uk<http://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/> which contains a variety of IL learning objects 

*      http://www.staffs.ac.uk/ask/

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/refzone

*      Some of our tutorials (many of these are a bit out of date now, so we need to update them) http://www.library.bham.ac.uk/searching/infoskills/Brum.shtml

*      This page should allow you to look at most of our Camtasia films http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/infoskills/libflicks/index.html

*      http://iskillzone.uwe.ac.uk/

http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/general/iskillzone/evalBook/book.html

http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/general/iskillzone/evaluate/wiki/Wikipedia.swf

http://iskillzone.uwe.ac.uk/FileStore/Constellations/Constellation69/broadcast.swf

http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/general/media/findbook/start.html

        6. Is there any information or advice that you would share with us about creating learning    objects for information literacy using your chosen software?

*      Keep text short and simple where possible, enable interactivity wherever possible, get colleagues to test afterwards.

*      Be aware of the need to maintain LOs which are up-to-date and relevant, plus the need to train or have staff  with skill set required to use software.

*      Currently we have concentrated on specific IL skills for certain subject areas where student numbers made IL teaching nearly impossible, however we are starting a project just now on developing an assessed stand alone IL tutorial based on our Little Book of Information Skills. This will again utilize Articulate instead of web pages as we prefer the interactive nature and free navigation this software offers us. The software does not require any formal IT skills, and we currently just have two people working very few hours on our output. As with most things you can spend as long or not creating your tutorials, but most people know how to use PowerPoint so can easily transfer work into a more interactive openly navigable output.

*      We feel that the key to a successful learning object is to keep it fairly bite-size, try to keep the content as generic as possible and keep branding to a minimum.  This helps to ensure its suitability to a wide range of teaching and learning scenarios.

*      Some quick and dirty advice would be to avoid creating a scroll of death, interminable pages of text students and staff simply won’t read. Contextualise any skills development.   Incorporate self assessment and possible peer review evaluation – wiki or live chat 

*      CourseGenie was very basic, which was good, because it was quick to learn how to use it, but unfortunately means it is not very sophisticated.  For example, if you wanted to put photos on, it was almost impossible to line them up to where you would like them.  There has been very little use of this learning object by the students – I think we might have had more usage if the program had been more interactive.

*      Ask your students/ users what they need first (not what they want) before doing anything and assume nothing. Make sure that any text you use is in plain English. Use a balance of textual/ visual/ animation/movie media (ASK is still too text heavy). What ever time you put aside for development multiply by 3! Keep it simple.

*      Regarding eXe: I would undertake basic training and talk to IT about it’s limitations (we wasted a lot of time trying to solve technical issues ourselves). We’ve had problems when trying to play videos on our SunRay PCs (the servers which support these PCs haven’t got the right media player application), which only became apparent when we were well into the project.

*      What we have learnt so far though, is that we don’t have enough time to spend on this at the moment and that we need some training on the software and on the pedagogical implications of what the software can do.

The latest issue of Library and Information Research is now available online

Issue 105 contains a number of invited contribution papers (from the projects partners so) is focused on current information literacy initiatives in Scotland especially in the schools sector. 

Libraries R 4 Learning: supporting the Curriculum for Excellence in Aberdeenshire - Sue Cromar

Collecting case studies / exemplars of good practice to enrich The National Information Literacy Framework (Scotland) - Christine Irving

The future is skills - Ian McCracken

Congratulations to both Sue and Ian for their informative and interesting articles – keep up the good work.

Library and Information Research is published by the Library and Information Research Group. It publishes both refereed and non-refereed submissions. It is particularly keen to encourage

• new writers
• reporting of research (including informal or in-house research) by practitioners

So if this is you – why not contact them, they are very helpful and provide a template to aid your writing.

Debbi is well known to the project through her involvement as Chair of CILIP’s Information Literacy Group and LILAC (Librarians’ Information Literacy Annual Conference) which is now in its sixth year and attracts international delegates.

Currently Deputy Director of Information and Learning Services at the University of Worcester since 2007 and prior to that was a Faculty Team Leader at Imperial College and Academic Liaison Librarian at the University of Luton. 

Debbi will start her new position on 22 March  2010 and we wish her well in her new post and welcome her back to Scotland where I’m sure she will be an enthusiastic active player in Information Literacy, Libraries, Learning and Teaching.

Just finished reading  A Vision for Scotland  report and identified a few items that tied in with the projects thinking and with the current project Real and Relevant – Information and Critical Literacy Skills for the 21st Century plus the work of our partners:

• ‘it is necessary to start literacy programmes from a very early age’ (p13)
• ‘good CPD is an essential element of any successful programme, as it develops teachers’ skills, puts the teacher in charge and so helps build the necessary commitment at school level’. (p13)
• moving beyond basic literacy - “the need to move children beyond a basic level of literacy in order that they can fully engage with modern society and the workplace” (p14-15)

As indicated earlier, the Commission agreed from the outset that literacy is a continuum that extends beyond basic literacy skills. Different levels of literacy are needed; for example, for undertaking a modern apprenticeship, for most jobs (SCQF level 5) and for Further and Higher Education. In this age of information overload via the Internet, it is important that all youngsters are equipped with analytical skills so that they can understand not just the information that is provided but also its validity. Did the author of the information have a vested interest in persuading the reader of a particular version of the truth? Literacy is also not the sole responsibility of local authorities and schools. Literacy should go beyond the remit of formal education and become embedded across society in order to ensure continuous development. Partnership working, involving the public, private and voluntary sectors, is key if poor literacy across society is to be challenged. (p14 – 15).

• ‘If young people are to develop these higher-order intellectual skills, it is crucial that they are explicitly taught’.

Young people should be made aware at the outset what skills they are going to acquire and why they are important. At the conclusion of any unit of work, they should be reminded of what they have learned and be made aware of its application. This element of metacognition is a crucial part of sound learning at any level. It is no less significant when dealing with learning at an advanced level. (p16)

Govan High School (project partner) is actively doing this with their co-ordinated system of skills, called “Future Skills” see posting about Ian McCracken, Learning Resources Manager, Govan High School presentation at the 2009 Project Open Meeting .  

It is important that the skill is seen as being of widespread application. The ability to use knowledge, understanding and skills in areas other than the one in which they were acquired is essential. In some highly specialised areas of learning, skills may be needed for very specific purposes and have few applications in other contexts. The higher-order skills, like analysis and critical thinking, which are associated with advanced literacy, are not like this; they have everyday significance in much the same way as basic decoding. They are the transferable skills of the 21^st century. (p16)

Within the recommendations are the following which we would certainly endorse and support:

• A national strategy should set priorities for assisting children to move beyond basic literacy by improving standards of comprehension and higher-order literacy skills. This strategy should be informed by research and by good practice.
• Progress of local schemes should be carefully monitored and good practice shared in a systematic process of continuous improvement and professional development.
• Raising levels of higher-order literacy-related skills should be a priority objective within the Curriculum for Excellence development programme. (p18)

Jorum has now opened up for the sharing of resources, created under Creative Commons (CC) licences, through its new collection JorumOpen.

Jorum provides access to free learning and teaching resources, created and contributed by teaching staff from UK Further and Higher Education Institutions. Jorum offers two collections – JorumOpen and JorumUK, containing a wide variety of resources, including open educational resources that are freely available to all.

Copyright is a big problem so thanks to Carol Stewart for notifying me about news on the LTS website about New copyright proposals look to benefit educational and research institutions  .

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has opened the second stage of a consultation looking at specific amendments to UK copyright legislation, as identified by Andrew Gowers in his review of Intellectual Property.  

It is important that universities, schools and libraries have the tools to equip the students of today with the skills they need to complete their studies. 

The proposed changes will better reflect the needs of the modern education system by allowing the use of sound recordings, films and broadcasts which are not currently covered by the exceptions. 

The main proposals include: Educational Exceptions , Research and Private Study Exception, Archiving and Preservation Exception.

The consultation and its proposals are now available. Stakeholders are invited to consider the details of the proposed legislative changes and respond by 31 March 2010.

Have a look at the rest of the information on the LTS website plus engage with the consultation.

Thanks to Lesley Thomson and Jenny Foreman (Scottish Government) for highlighting the following article in the Information Literacy Community of Practice

Article from the New York Times reporting on research sponsored by Google and developed by the University of Maryland and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, “aimed at discerning the differences between how children and adults search and identify the barriers children face when trying to retrieve information.” Lesley Thomson

A very interesting article and not just relevant to understanding how children search. In our experience re: training in the Scottish Government, sometimes adults don’t always understand the ‘multi step question’ as described in the article.

As for the ‘Wonder Wheel’ (see below) also mentioned, we have recently requested that our IT services enable this feature to be available in our training rooms so that we can demonstrate it. At present we are unable to view the ’Wonder Wheel’ from our desktops because Active X isn’t facilitated. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to use it at least in the training rooms in the near future.

“In May, Google introduced Wonder Wheel, a graphical search tool aimed at making browsing easier. (To find it, click on “show options” on a page of search results; it appears halfway down the left column.) For a search on “apple,” the wheel shows prongs pointing to “apple fruit” or “apple store locator” in the left panel.” Jenny Foreman

As they say it is an interesting article and there comments in relation to their experience of adults within the Scottish Government are interesting and useful. I did a search on Google for information literacy and had a look at Google’s Wonder Wheel (see link below) which was great it’s like a mind map of results. I also liked the options available for viewing your results:

• All results: Images; Videos; News; Blogs; Updates; Books; Forums 
• Any time: Latest; Past 24 hours; Past week; Past year; Specific date range
• Standard view: Related searches; Wonder wheel; Timeline
• Standard results: Images from the page; Fewer shopping sites; More shopping sites; Page previews; Translated search

Sheila Webber has posted her presentation – International Perspectives on IL from the meeting on an Information Literacy Strategy for Wales on 30 November 2009 at Gregynogg Hall in Wales. John also spoke about the work of the Scottish Information Literacy Project and the lessons which Wales can learn from us his thoughts on the event were posted on the project blog .

Her presentation cover useful pointers for everyone and contains some amazing school librarian quotes. Worth a look.