the learner experience
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JISC RSW Summer Conference 09 - The Learner Experience - conference presentationTRANSCRIPT
The Scottish Information Literacy Project:working with partners to create an information literate Scotland
The Project and the ‘Learner experience’
Dr John Crawford&
Christine Irving
JISC RSW SW Conference Weston – Super - Mare 2009 16 -17th June 2009
But who are the learners and what is their experience ?
Craigholme School Pupils, Glasgow 2008
Where it all began
Drumchapel Project 2003 An exploratory project – initially ICT skills orientated Community ICT facilities little used - Library and Cybercafés –
implications only now being addressed School and School Library are main focus for IT use in
deprived areas Little integration of information literacy into the curriculum Levels of ICT ‘deprivation’ did not seem to be high Basic IT skills exist- WP, email, Internet Pupil evaluation of websites poor An asylum seeking issue An information literacy skills/transitional agenda emerged
Project objectives• to develop an information literacy framework, linking
primary, secondary and tertiary education to lifelong learning including workplace and adult literacies agendas
• Advocacy on behalf of information literacy for education and the wider community
• Working with information literacy champions both UK and worldwide
• Researching and promoting information literacy in the workplace
• Identifying and working with partners, both in education and the wider community
• Researching the role of information literacy in continuing professional development
• Researching the health and media literacies agenda
Previously on the Scottish InformationLiteracy Project …………….
• 2003 – The Drumchapel Project – where it all began• 2004 – The ‘one year’ Information Literacy, the Link between
Secondary and Tertiary Education Project launched • 2005-8 - the first draft of the National Information Literacy
Framework Scotland completed, piloted and evaluated• Contact and work with Learning and Teaching Scotland and
learndirectscotland• Extensive network of partners and contacts from school,
FE/HE, workplace, lifelong learning, Adult literacies + overseas• Website developed and more recently blog + PR activities• Initial health and media literacy contacts
Current key objectives (Esmee Fairbairn Foundation funded)
• Further develop the Framework to extend the early years, workplace, wider access and lifelong learning components to make it a genuine lifelong learning policy documents
• Research and progress the information literacy in the employability/workplace agenda
Information literacy in the workplace study Dec.2007- Jan.2008 – key findings
• The traditional ‘library’ view of information as deriving from electronic and printed sources only is invalid in the workplace and must include people as sources of information
• The public enterprise with its emphasis on skills and qualifications is a fertile area for further investigation and developmental work
• Advanced Internet training extends employees’ information horizons• A skill and qualifications based agenda is an important pre-condition • Most interviewees viewed public libraries as irrelevant for anything other than
recreational purposes• Information literacy training programmes must be highly focused on the target
audience An understanding of what constitutes information literacy is widespread in the
workplace but is often implicit rather than explicit and is based on qualifications, experience, and networking activities
Organizations which access a wide range of information, of high quality, including sources outwith their organization, will make the best informed decisions
• Contacts should be established with chambers of commerce, skills agencies and other organizations involved in workplace training
• Organizations’ information polices which are largely implicit should be made explicit and should include accessing a wide range of information, of high quality, including sources outwith their organization
• Preliminary skills audits should be carried out within organizations to determine staff information literacy skills and the organization’s information literacy policy
• The viability of developing information literacy training programmes should be further researched
• Information literacy training programmes should initially target sympathetic organizations
• Advanced Internet training programmes should be offered to all workplace employees
• The private sector should be researched further• The provision of information literacy training programmes by public
libraries should be investigated• Developmental work should be undertaken with Adult Literacies
agencies • NHS contacts should be expanded to progress the health literacies
agenda
Recommendations
Which led to meetings with: • Glasgow Chamber of Commerce – couple of meetings. Agreed to progress
by sending out a questionnaire devised by us to all Glasgow Chamber of Commerce members about their information skills training needs. Article written for their magazine
• CBI Scotland – one meeting to identify companies who might want to incorporate IL training into their CPD programmes but no takers
• Scottish Trades Union Congress – presentation to Everyday Skills Committee of STUC (composed of TU learning representatives) – well received
• Skills Development Scotland (Careers Division – old Careers Scotland) – meetings led to identification of IL as a career choice, progression, CPD and employability skill. Joint symposium with SDS 27th March
• Employability and Skills Division, Lifelong Learning Directorate – meeting which validated our strategy of targeting employers’ and skills organisation
Some outcomes • Public library services – contacts with three services including
Inverclyde Libraries who are currently running employability training courses (10 weeks). IL has been incorporated in the courses at our suggestion. (Basic skills courses run by public libraries have IT/Internet training from which IL training can be developed)
• Aberdeen Business School – secured £400,000 + EU funding to run ‘bite sized courses’ for local SMEs (up to 12 modules). 20 businesses and 70 learners so far – hope for 175. Exchanged information and role of IL – employers’ don’t know what training they need (RGU finding)
• Royal Society of Arts - Opening Minds Curriculum running in 200 schools in England – includes an IL component – Managing information – also strong focus on skills acquisition in education and the workplace
• Scottish Government Information Service – have set up advanced Internet searching skills courses for staff; developed an information strategy for the Scottish Government. Now on Scottish Government website – Education and Training (Information Literacies) – a first? www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/skills-strategy/progress/sg/supportingindividuals/InformationLiteracies/Q/forceupdate/on
And more recently • Information literacy case studies/exemplars of good practice in secondary
schools completed www.ltscotland.org.uk/informationliteracy/sharingpractice/index.asp
• Funding obtained from Learning and Teaching Scotland to develop learning materials and CPD materials for teachers aimed at Primaries 1-3 (5-7) - See Digital Britain report (2009), p.64
• Fruitful working relationships established with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce; Scottish Trades Union Congress; Learning and Teaching Scotland; Skills Development Scotland; public libraries; Royal Society of Arts; Scottish Government Information Service
• Study on the workplace and its consequences • Joint Open Space event with Skills Development Scotland• Post Open Space meeting• Internal focus
Skills utilisation ?
• 'Skills utilisation is about ensuring the most effective application of skills in the workplace to maximise performance through the interplay of a number of key agents (e.g. employers, employees, learning providers and the state) and the use of a range of HR, management and working practices. Effective skills utilisation seeks to match the use of skills to business demands/needs.' (p.2)
• Skills utilisation literature review, a report by CFE for the Education Analytical Services, Lifelong Learning Research, Scottish Government (Executive summary and full text available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/12/15114643/0)
The role of the framework in the workplace and skills development• Framework skills and competencies (CILIP definition)– starting place– used as advocacy tool in discussions re skills strategy /
skills needs– link to work related learning– needs to be interpreted to meet the needs of different
• sectors , professions • organisations, departments, sections • employers, employees, learners• environments, resources (in all different formats and mediums),
experiences
– recognition of the nature of information literacy
The Nature of Information Literacy
Product
Change in behaviour
Change in understanding
ProcessPersonal development
Social participationSkills
Attitudes
Values
Means
End
A way of being An unappreciated way of being
NHS Scotland 2008
The Framework• Draft pdf further developed as a Weblog – static pages (background information, different
sectors, levels etc.)– interactive through postings (current activities,
developments etc.)
National Information Literacy Framework (Scotland)
• Still to be further developed– workplace case studies needed, SME’s, large
organisations (public and private), different professions
What we have learned• Different groups of people constantly reinterpret IL in the light of their
own qualifications, training, experience and needs• IL is a key career choice, progression, CPD, employability and workplace
skill • IL is not recognised in any government skills document produced since
2005 which recognises IL as an independent skill. It is rolled up with IT – but Digital Britain is an encouraging sign
• Target skills and employers’/employee organisations• IL skills training in the workplace is feasible but must be carefully planned
and targeted • The public library can offer IL training, developed from IT training but
again it but must be carefully planned and targeted. Public librarians must be involved in IL skills development
• Need to think cross sectorally - Govan High School’s ‘Future Skills’ framework of about 70 skills in association with local employers and involving the pupils. Includes IL. Blane (2008)
• Findings of workplace study have been validated
Who are (or should be) the learners?
• School children – Primary 1 onwards (nursery?) – and what about parents?
• Teachers - a CPD issue• University students – for course and workplace• Academics – an embedding and collaborative issue? • Learners in and for the workplace• Decision makers in the workplace• Those learning employability skills • Lifelong learners• Anyone concerned with promoting the skills agenda• But - apparently different groups of learners can be the same
people and their experience may be different in different circumstances
And what is (or should be) the experience
• Do we know what the need is and are we matching it to demand
• Pockets of good practice in all sectors with HE in the lead• Information recognised within a wider skills context e.g.
Govan Future Skills Framework • Active support from Government(s) and skills agencies• IL skills embedded and taught within organisations • Public libraries running IL courses• Helpful reports to support action – Digital Britain
www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digital_britain_interimreportjan09.pdf ; Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/heweb2.aspx
Some further information • Crawford, John and Irving (2008) Going beyond the ‘library’: the current work of the Scottish
Information Literacy Project. Library and information research, (32) 102, pp. 29-37 http://www.lirg.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/89
• Crawford, John and Irving (2009) Information literacy in the workplace: a qualitative exploratory study, JOLIS, (41 )pp. 29-38 http://lis.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/41/1/29?etoc
• McDonald, Natalie and Keenan, Peter (2009) The ‘stuff beyond Google: information literacy in a corporate setting . http://www.information-online.com.au/sb_clients/iog/bin/iog_programme_you_may_be_right_C1.cfm?vm_key=8EDF7462-D5A6-FFAA-AB89D511D74817DA
• Crawford, John et al, (2008) Use of information in the Scottish Government, Library & information update, Dec., pp. 48-49
• Interview with Philip Pothen, formerly of JISC, 28.11.08 about the work of the Project http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2009/02/podcast71johncrawfordchristineirving.aspx
Contact details Dr. John Crawford, Christine IrvingLibrary Research Officer, Researcher / Project OfficerMilton Street Building Milton Street BuildingMS004, (ground floor) MS005, (ground floor)Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University Cowcaddens Road Cowcaddens RoadGlasgow, G4 0BA Glasgow, G4 0BATel: 0141-273 -1248 Tel: 0141-273 -1249
Email [email protected] Email [email protected]
Project website www.caledonian.ac.uk/ils/Project blog http://caledonianblogs.net/information-
literacy/
Questions?