INFORMATION SKILLS FAQ
INFORMATION SKILLS FAQ- What are Information Skills?
- Why should ALL teachers model, teach, and use the Information Skills Standard Course of Study?
- Where can I find detailed information Media and Technology Programs?
- Who do I contact with questions about Media Programs in my school/district?
- Who do I contact for comments and questions about the K-12 Information Skills Standard Course of Study?
- How do I identify quality instructional resources?
- Where do I find search strategy tutorials and materials appropriate for K-12 students?
- Where do strategies, model lesson plans, activities, and webquests to help infuse Information Skills into content areas?
- Why should my school consider using flexible scheduling in the media center and computer lab?
Developing the knowledge and skills at each grade level:
- to develop a love of reading
- to locate information and information resources
- to collect and analyze data to meet information needs
- to evaluate resources and information for quality and accuracy
- to synthesize and interpret information and data to meet information needs
- to communicate information and ideas in a variety of formats
- to be ethical and responsible users of information and information resources
Why should ALL teachers model, teach, and use the Information Skills Standard Course of Study?
Information Skills Standard Course of Study was designed to be used by all media coordinators, teachers, administrators, and K-12 students to use information and information resources effectively for academic and personal needs in the information-intensive 21st Century. Authentic practice of Information Skills enables students to realize their potential as informed citizens who:
- think critically and solve problems,
- observe the rights and responsibilities relating to the generation and flow of information and ideas, and
- appreciate the value of literature in an educated society.
Where can I find detailed information Media and Technology Programs?
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (2000).
Impact: Guidelines
for Media and Technology Programs. http://www.ncwiseowl.org/impact.htm
Impact for Teachers http://www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/impact/
Impact for Administrators http://www.ncwiseowl.org/impact/admin/adminimpact.htm
Who do I contact with questions about Media Programs in my school/district?
John Brim, Section Chief for Media Evaluation Services, jbrim@dpi.state.nc.us or call 919.807.3288
Who do I contact for comments and questions about the K-12 Information Skills Standard Course of Study?
Neill Kimrey, nkimrey@dpi.state.nc.us, 919.807.3270 or Gerry Solomon, gsolomon@dpi.state.nc.us , 919.807.3286, Information Skills and Computer/Technology Skills Consultants.
How do I identify quality instructional resources?
Instructional Technology Division of North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/
http://www.ncwiseowl.org/
Where do I find search strategy tutorials and materials appropriate for K-12 students?
NC Wise OWL is an excellent place to begin. http://www.ncwiseowl.org/ as well as CD ROM encyclopedias
Where do strategies, model lesson plans, activities, and webquests to help infuse Information Skills into content areas?
K-8 Instructional Strategies
http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/info/
Copyright Information http://www.ncpublicschools.org/copyright1.html
Why should my school consider using flexible scheduling in the media center and computer lab?
The advantages of flexible scheduling:
- Enables students to work on curricular, resource-based projects in the library media center and/or computer laboratory concurrent with their work in the classroom.
- Accessible to students and teachers at point of need.
- When media specialists and technology facilitators operate on a flexible schedule, they have more opportunity to plan and collaborate with teachers on cross-curricular instructional units.
- Where computer labs are available at the point of need, teachers have greater opportunity to integrate technology skills instruction into the entire education program. According to a study by Becker and Riel (2000), teachers who engaged in collaborative planning and sharing of instructional activities with other teachers most frequently demonstrated effective use of computers in classrooms. To provide this access and to meet the diverse learning needs of all students, schools need full-time professional library media specialists, technology facilitators and adequate support staffing and resources.
According to a comprehensive study conducted by Colorado's Library Research Service, test scores increased in schools where library media specialists spend more time planning collaboratively with teachers and the library staffing was sufficient to allow for the active participation of library media specialists in curriculum development, student instruction, and teacher education (Lance, 2000). Providing flexible access and flexible hours makes the library media program's resources and services, more accessible to the learning community.
Lance. K. (2000). How School Librarians Help Kids Achieve Standards: The Second Colorado Study. CO: Library Research Service. Available at http://www.lrs.org/impact.asp#colo.
Becker, H. & Riel. M. (2000) Teacher professional engagement and constructive-compatible computer usage (Report n. 7) Irvine, CA: Teaching, Learning, and Computing. Available at www.crito.uci.edu/tlc/findings/report_7.