Information Literacy, Technology, and Digital/Media

         Information literacy, technology, and digital media are a major part of today's society. In a growing world of technology and internet there are many fake stories that circulate. Many times people can create an account and post what they want without any truth to it. Then someone else reads it, doesn't research it, reposts it, and disinformation is spread. In Valenza's (2016) article, she states that in a series of tasks given to high school students, to determine trustworthiness of tweets, distinguish between news articles and opinion articles, and determine whether a website is can be trusted in an open web search are just a few, students were not prepared for these tasks. As an educator of younger students (second grade) I can see how this is an issue. Students will believe anything you give them because you are the holder of all information. I can tell students the grass is green because someone painted it and they will more than likely believe me. It is my responsibility (and a school librarian's) to ensure students are given the tools they need to determine whether information in valid or not. 

        I have never heard of the term information diet before and was trying to figure out what it was before I read and listened to the pod cast this week. It was nothing like I thought. Now that I have an understanding I am able to reflect on my own information diet and what I think it should look like for a school librarian. For me, my information diet looks like this... I don't believe anything the first time I read it. I often read something (even from a news station) and automatically think "that can't be real". The next thing I do is turn to Google and search what I just read. If I see it pop up on multiple news sites then I assume it is real. I know this isn't the best approach but it works for me right now. When it comes to being an educator I tend to research a little bit better. I will look at the source and determine if it comes from a valid source or not. A school librarian's information diet should look similar to the Big 6 when teaching. Identify the problem, select the sources, find information, engage, organize, and then judge the product, If the Big 6 is introduced and taught effectively then students will learn how to effectively evaluate information literacy, digital media, and technology (n.d.).

References

The Big 6. (n.d.). The Big6 and Super3. https://thebig6.org/thebig6andsuper3-2

Gungor, M., & McHargue, M. (Hosts). (2017, March 7). Fake news & media literacy [Audio 

podcast episode]. In The Liturgists. https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/the-liturgists-podcast/episodes/Fake-News--Media-Literacy-eutfrm/a-a58d433

Valenza, J. (2016, November 26). Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a 

“post-truth” world. School Library Journal. 

https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2016/11/26/truth-truthiness-triangulation-and-the-librarian-way-a-news-literacy-toolkit-for-a-post-truth-world/

ISCI 761 Blog #1 ISTE and AASL Standards

        While reading through Knowledge Quest I really enjoyed reading the articles. I have always been interested in technology in the classroom and do everything I can to implement it. In the article Now Serving: An appealing menu of digital literacy tools and resources (O'Connor, 2019), I enjoyed seeing how O'Connor uses menus and digital literacy in her library. Using menus is something I enjoy using during stations times and can see how I can implement it even further after reading this article. O'Connor creates her menu based on the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) standards and divides the menu up into the Shared Foundations of inquire, engage, curate, engage, explore and engage. Each of these shared foundations include digital tools that students can use.

        When looking at both the ISTE and AASL standards there are many similarities and differences. AASL standards and ISTE standards both have an overall foundation and each of those foundations is broken down into domains. For example, The AASL foundation of Inquire breaks down in ways to think, create, share, and grow. In ISTE the foundation Digital Citizenship is broken down into digital footprint, online interactions, safeguard well-being, and digital privacy. Another thing I noticed when looking at the AASL and ISTE standards was how closely they relate. Many times if you correctly implement an ISTE standard you will also implement an AASL standard. In my opinion, ISTE standards are easier to understand. They are set up like content standards that an educator would see in the classroom. Each standard has an indicator that needs to be met. I feel that it has a more straight-forward approach whereas the AASL standards are more broad.

        The article written by O'Connor did a great job explaining how these standards can work together. She was able to create a menu for students that allowed choice through digital content but also met AASL standards. In a library setting, conducting an interactive read-aloud for elementary students and then completing an activity to go along with it can meet content standards from the classroom, AASL standards, and ISTE standards. In the past when working with ISTE standards I have noticed that if you teach the digital literacy tool and model how it can be used appropriately you will meet ISTE standards. While I have not worked with AASL standards in the classroom yet I know that many of the standards can also be met. Therefore creating an interactive read-aloud followed by a digital literacy activity that encourages a child to create and work with others will meet both AASL and ISTE standards. Technology has become an important part of a library. As a future librarian it will be important to implement aspects of digital literacy to ensure standards are being met and also students are getting the most out of their education.

References:

American Association of School Librarians: National School Library Standards. (2018, August). National School Library Standards crosswalk with ISTE Standards for students and educators. https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf 

O'Connor, M.L. (2019) Now serving...an appealing menu of digital literacy tools and research. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 16-21.

ISTE Standards. ISTE. (n.d.). https://iste.org/standards