federated library services
TRANSCRIPT
Bringing Information Literacy into the Social Sphere
A Case Study Using Social Software to Teach
Information Literacy at WFU
Plan for Today• Overview• History/Background• Theoretical Framework• Case Study• Findings• Future Plans
Who is Wake Forest University?
• Private, co-ed liberal arts institution
• Located in Winston-Salem, NC (since 1956)
• Total enrollment: 6700• FT faculty: 487 / Adjunct faculty:
267
History of IL @ WFU• One-credit elective class began in
2003 with 9 sections• 14 classes covered traditional IL
topics• Curriculum template developed for
Blackboard• Increased demand – now 12 classes
per semester• Over 1500 students so far
What is IL?• A foundational approach to
learning and education?• Skills and competencies related to
information seeking and use?– Contextual skills– Generalized process knowledge
• An dialogue between individuals, social contexts, and technology?
Models & meta-models• Popular Models
– ACRL • Know, access, evaluate, use, and ethical/legal
– UNESCO • Process, information consumer
– Socio-technical model • Communication, connections, interactions
• Meta-models– Shapiro-Hughes
• Tool, resource, social- structural, research, publishing ,emerging tech, critical)
– Sundin • Source, behavioral, process, communication
Who are our Students & What Do They Know?
• Next generation information seeking– "Why Professor Johnny can’t read"– "Is Google making us stupid?"– The Google generation
• Our philosophical assumptions– They have specific but not generalized IL
skills– Research has changed, format driven IL is
not relevant– Focus on info current issues/context, use
skills to connect concepts– The course should occur in student’s
information space
Our Emerging Model• Our first classes
– “instructors lacked enthusiasm for the topic”– Tech-centric, but skill based
• EndNote Enters the Picture– Continues to be “most valued” skill
• Student-Driven– Attempt to leave instructor managed CMS
behind– Student shaped research on Information Issues– Incorporated theoretical content
• Rapid course development– Current issues– Shared editing
Our Current Model
Technologies Used in ZSR IL• Google Docs• Clickers• Videos• Skill quizzes• Libguides• Blogs• Endnote• Zotero
• Freemind• Jing• ZSR Library Toolki
t• Flickr• Google Image lab
eler• Wikis• Facebook
facebook Case Study
CMS Components• facebook components– facebook group as our primary location– The Wiki Project as our course syllabus &
student work area– Discussion board– facebook applications
• Non facebook components– ZSR wiki for Freemind presentations– Endnote– Blackboard for grades
Class Content Highlights• Class 6 - Remix Class
– Concept: Intellectual property,– Skill: Citation
• Class 7 - Research Management – Concept: Research management– Skill: Endnote
• Class 8 -Information Organization– Concept: Indexing impacts discovery– Skill: Connecting the descriptive act &
complex searching, Google image labeler
Assessments• Mix of individual & group work– Define a research question– Scope statement/background
information– Find/evaluate/cite information
resources– Presentation and essay
• Blog posting/class discussion
Reactions – What did they like?• Research tools,
organization/searching, scholarly vs. popular resources
• EndNote, privacy, evaluation, research process
• Alerts/RSS, overviews, presentations, remix culture
Reactions – What is IL?
• Emphasis on skills• Resource discovery, working
with electronic formats, citation• Conceptual knowledge• Direct relationship to skills• Evaluation (90%), information
issues (76%), organization standards (62%)
Reactions – Tool familiarity
Pre-course Academic facebook use
Post-course facebook reactions
• 67% would encourage facebook use in classrooms
• Themes– Familiarity with technology– Novelty/fun– Interface design– Academic vs. social space
Observations & Next Steps• Building on overall positive feedback• Problems with free platforms • How are we approaching this fall?– Moving back into library
owned/licensed space– Keeping distributed CMS model– facebook as launch point, blog platform– Libguides as syllabus– Wiki as collaborative workspace
