The article contends that these adolescents are amateur Internet searchers who lack skills in evaluating web content and using other resources other than Google. The premise of this article is to offer ideas and strategies to update both instruction and library service using the Internet as an instructional aid to introduce and develop information literacy skills.
Are these Teenagers Internet Experts or Novices?
Despite being the most electronically connected generation in history, many of these teens do not have a deep understanding of the inner workings of the Internet or how commercial search engines rank results. These youngsters are often just familiar with the tip of the Internet iceberg (Geck, 2006).
Many of them have never been taught how to compare the advantages, disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses of the Web and other informational tools such as books and print journals. These youngsters use Google confidently because they find tens of thousands of results in a few seconds (Geck, 2006).
These students have rarely had any formal instruction on locating and evaluating web pages. They spend an unusual amount of time browsing the Web which causes them to not use the Web very effectively. They tend to concentrate on the first few results of a search instead of scrolling to perhaps find better information. They believe that the top results are the best results.
According to the American Library Association's "information literacy standards for student learning" (1998), a student is only information literate if he or she "accesses information efficiently and effectively," "evaluates information critically and competently," and "uses information accurately and creatively" (pp.1-2). According to the above information, this generation is not information literate.
How can Teacher-Librarians promote Library Services and themselves and start helping Students become Information Literate?
1.Collaborate with classroom teachers to integrate the Internet with the curriculum.
The author states that the library homepage is a crucial element in attracting teachers as well as teens into the actual library. A well-designed web page that is information rich and interactive will capture both groups' attention and encourage them to visit the library (Geck, 2006).
She further states that teacher-librarians should take a lead role in establishing and designing online communities of learners.
The author also suggests that the teacher-librarian should offer to teach sessions on a research topic or information literacy skill of the classroom teacher's choice.
The purpose is for the teacher-librarian to make him or herself invaluable to his/her teachers both virtually and physically (Geck, 2006).
2.Provide students and classroom teachers with quality information from traditional library sources and from Internet resources.
Geck suggests that the teacher-librarian use the library homepage to offer curriculum-focused web bibliographies or lists of the best quality Internet sites to support the curriculum or grade coursework. Teacher-librarians should become school experts on the Web or even Google. The students can be taught how to recognize misinformation and bogus information on the Web. They need to be taught how to evaluate the quality of web resources.
3. Show the students and classroom teachers how to save time when searching.
Often Google is not the best or first choice time wise in many situations. Print resources and electronic subscription databases can be used effectively to find answers. Teacher-librarians can make students aware of the enormous amounts of time that may be wasted browsing and sorting through Google results (Geck, 2006).
4. Supply students and teachers with web page design technologies to deliver effective presentations.
Web pages can be used to teach the information search process. The students could present their projects using web pages as well as using programmes such as PowerPoint. Web pages are good starting points for research and can continue as centralized gathering points and as a sort of virtual filing cabinet or storage system when students do research over extended periods (Geck, 2006). Students could also use their main page for central ideas and then link pages for subtopics. This would force them to evaluate and organize what is that they have researched. According to Kuhlthau's study (1988) of the cognitive and affective aspects of the library search process, the collection, synthesizing, and organization of key concepts into finished web page products should provide students with increased confidence as well as feelings of satisfaction and achievement derived from completing the web pages before presenting (Geck, 2006).
5. Create communities of learners or electronic learning modules by linking classmates' web pages to a central page or starting point.
The author maintains that students would enjoy exploring and researching web pages created by their classmates. They would also take pride in seeing concrete representations of their research. The other benefits of e-learning delivery systems include convenience, the ability to manage one's learning and the opportunity to take advantage of learning opportunities any time of the day and from any Internet access point (Geck, 2006).
Geck concludes that implementing these strategies will help to bridge the generation gap between teacher-librarians and their students as well as provide effective collaboration with classroom teachers. She feels that these strategies will also assist in developing adolescents' information literacy skills to enable them to become independent lifelong learners.
REFERENCES
American Library Association. (1998). Information literacy standards for student learning. In Information power: Building partnerships for learning (chap. 2). Retrieved November 13, 2005, from www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/informationpower/informationliteracy.htm(2002).
Geck, C. (2006, February). the generation Z connection: teaching information literacy to the newest net generation. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 19-23. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database
Kuhlthau, C. C. (1988). Developing a model of the library search process: Investigation of cognitive and affective aspects. Reference Quarterly, 28(2), 232-242.
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