A Hotlist on Information Literacy

A Hotlist on Information Literacy
An Internet Hotlist on Information Literacy

created by Kimberly A. Lawless
University of Illinois at Chicago

Introduction | Develping an Attitude | Creating a Rubric | Classroom Activities and Lesson Plans | Additional Information

Introduction

The American Library Assoication has defined information literacy as the ability to find and use information for problem solving and considers it to be the keystone of life long learning (1998). Within the ever growing and rapidly evolving sea of digital information presented to our students, now more than ever the skills of information literacy have a dominant presence in our classrooms. Recent surveys have illustrated that 94% of students between 12 and 17, with home access to the internet, used the internet for homework. Nearly 71% used the internet as the primary source for information on their most recent school report or project, while only 24% reported using standard library materials for the same task (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2001). Helping students to become critical consumers of the information found on the internet is a new and crucial literacy. Yet this important literacy is not always addressed in curriculum. Below are an orginzed set of links to help you develop a sense of information literacy with students in your classroom.

The Internet Resources

Develping an Attitude

http://www.anovember.com/articles/zack.html - Teaching Zack to think
http://www.zug.com/scrawl/smoking/ - Smoking is good for you
http://www.rickross.com/reference/raelians/raelians28.html - We've cloned a human being

Creating a Rubric

http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/online/eval.htm - Rubrics Online
http://147.129.226.1/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm - Hoax site created to demonstrate the issue of Web site accuracy
http://www.euthanasia.com/ - Site demonstrating bias

Classroom Activities and Lesson Plans

http://daphne.palomar.edu/tgsearch/ - Tips on maximizing search results using popular search engines
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/fournets.htm - Guidelines for better searching
http://mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us/~spjvweb/evalwebteach.html - Activity for evaluating Web sites
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.htmlhttp://scho ol.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html - Other activities on web evaluation
http://www.bcpl.net/~sullivan/modules/ - Index of K-12 lessons that integrate digital information literacy skills
http://questioning.org/module/module4.html - Exemplar lessons illustrating integrated information evaluation and synthesis skills

Additional Information

http://www.bcpl.net/~sullivan/modules/tips/index.html - General explanation of information literacy and tips for integrating it into your classroom
http://www.ala.org/aasl/ip_nine.html - Nine standards for students developed by the ALA
http://www.pewInternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report equals 39 - Article: “The Internet and Education: Findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project”

Content by Kimberly A. Lawless, klawless@uic.edu
http://www.kn.sbc.com/wired/fil/pages/listinformatki1.html
Last revised Tue Nov 4 11:50:52 US/Pacific 2003