As a school librarian it is my task not only to disseminate library materials but to also teach information literacy skills. I'm not going to go into detail as to what all that entails. Briefly though, information literacy skills include the abilities necessary to locate, access, and use information. There are various formal research methods that are taught such as the Big 6, I-search, and Flip-it. I teach the "Big 6 Information Problem Solving Method" as this is the model adopted by my district. The Big 6 has six clearly defined steps. Recently I came across the phrase Information Communication Technology Literacy.
Hhhmmm I thought. So I went exploring. I found a couple of websites:
Information and Communication Technologies ICT Literacy; ..your portal to Digital Literacy and
iSkills (click on research link). I learned that tests are now available for
ICT Literacy through
ETS (Educational Testing Service) for use by universities. I also learned that the skills being tested are the very skills that I teach via the Big 6.
******Big 6 steps...............................
ICT Literacy skill sets******
- Task definition.......................................Define
- Information seeking strategies................Access
- Location and access
- Use of information..................................Manage, Evaluate
- Synthesis................................................Integrate, Evaluate, Create,
- ..............................................................Communicate
- Evaluate.................................................Evaluate
Of course the ICT skills are higher technology focused skills and the Big 6 is used with or with out technology, but still I was amazed at the similarities. Reconfirms the importance of what I teach!
