Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

Through the past eight weeks I have broadened my insight on information literacy skills and learned how to teach these skills to students through inquiry-based learning. Students need to hone-in on their internet skills. This does not mean faster ways to find their favorite internet games or selecting three random websites to use as references but, the proper way for searching, evaluating, and synthesizing the information from the internet.

As Beth Phillips (2007) emphasizes, students need to use the ABC’s approach when looking at a web site. The ABC’s of a web site have students look for important information to validate the web site such as the authors name, the basis and content of the site, dates the information was published, and if there is an editor. These ABC’s will help students validate the information and see if the information is safe to use. I feel it is very important for students to validate their information so they understand that they are not re-writing something that may not be valid.

One of my favorite assignments we completed was a think out loud evaluation on a website. I used a camcorder to record my think out loud evaluation where I went through and used the ABC’s approach to validate the site. Along with the ABC’s approach, David Warlick (2007) stresses to look at the URL and see where the web site is coming from. If a site has a .gov, .org, or .edu typically the site will have valid information. Dot-Com sites are different being they are commercial web sites.

I feel that students need to understand the proper way for searching, evaluating, and synthesizing the information from the internet. Students need to ask questions throughout any activity they work on. I agree with Eagleton and Dobler (2007) statement which is, “The most compelling inquiry questions are student-generated” (p. 82). They need to be able to evaluate and respect the digital information they find. First they need to validate the information then they need to give proper credit to the owner(s). Finally, they need to understand that synthesizing is gathering information on a topic and then transforming that information into answers through a process of deduction.

References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Information Literacy: Evaluating Information (DVD). New Literacies. Baltimore, MD: Author
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). A Teacher's Perspective: Evaluating Information Online (DVD). New Literacies. Baltimore, MD: Author
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.