“Information literacy is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner.”
Learning Resources in Schools, Library Association Guidelines for School Libraries (1992).
Research skills, or information literacy, is an essential part of today’s education. In a society where so much information is available it is vital that all children learn how to discover, evaluate and ethically use information.
It may come as a surprise, but Google only catalogues a tiny percentage of what is available on the internet – estimates vary from between 0.4 – 18% (for an example see E-Resources below). And it has been estimated that only 6% of the information on the internet has an educational purpose (Henninger, 1922).
Learning how to learn, and how to teach yourself new skills is incredibly important as most people now have a number of different careers within their working life. Information literacy and research skills empower pupils to engage in their learning and become thoughtful and decisive young people.
The process we use here is called Stripling’s Model, and it is used internationally. Within this framework each Year has their own specific targets – this allows their skills to develop as they progress, and they receive credit for showing that they have engaged with the process.
This process also discourages students from reverting to a ‘copy and paste’ method of research through engaging their previous knowledge and independent interests. It also places key importance on the Construct stage, which is the point at which intellectual questioning and then understanding come about.
Google can’t search E-Resources because they are password protected. The saying goes that ‘information is power’ – and this can be seen because people are willing to pay for accurate information.
Cambourne Village College subscribes to various e-Resources so that pupils have access to reliable and accurate information. The different resources are explained below.
This includes;
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