Educ 6712: Informational Literacy Reflection

Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom was one of those courses that I found to be useful for my profession. It definitely helped me to think about and understand the concepts and responsibilities of informational literacy. Internet connectivity and social networking has exploded in recent years, but most of our school districts are lagging far behind in providing professional training for our teachers. Most educators do not realize the importance of properly evaluating websites for information. As a result, they cannot train their students to properly find the information that they need in a quick, efficient manner. This results in wasted time and frustration among researchers. In the video, It’s Not About Technology (2009), David Warlick states that technology increases the ability for students to connect to each other, connect to experts, connect to other classes, and to connect to online content. These connections allow students to learn to work with information and this should be a priority for all of our school districts in the 21st century.


I have already noticed a difference in how I research the web and what I teach my students to look for in a web site. I am more careful in the information that I use for my own research and I have been teaching my students to take the same precautions. They realize that the information, found on any web site, needs to be evaluated critically, and they have been given the tools to successfully accomplish this. My students have also been trained to search for information in an efficient manner and not haphazardly. These teaching practices are slowly helping my students to become better researchers and consumers of information.

One professional development goal that I would like to investigate involves course management systems. I would like to find out how I can utilize connectivity to facilitate social networking, curriculum development, and electronic portfolios. I have skimmed the surface of a couple of these topics, but I would like to investigate a little deeper to see how I can make better and more efficient use of them in the classroom and in our district. To date, a few of my master’s courses have helped me to accomplish this goal; however I need to locate some professional development to further my education on these topics. I will also continue to utilize and practice with these tools when possible. I am confident that I can increase my knowledge and, in the process, help the teachers and students in my district to become more efficient and responsible with information literacy.



Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). It’s not about technology. Baltimore: Author.