Librarians as teachers_secker

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Librarians, learning and information literacy in the digital age Dr Jane Secker, London School of Economics Librarians as Teachers, ARLG West Midlands 10 th June 2015 Image: Kevin Dooley, flickr.com CC BY-NC 2.0

Transcript of Librarians as teachers_secker

Librarians, learning and information literacy in the digital age

Dr Jane Secker, London School of Economics

Librarians as Teachers, ARLG West Midlands

10th June 2015

Image: Kevin Dooley, flickr.com CC BY-NC 2.0

2015: time to reflect

What has changed in the last 5 years in your role? Are you more or less recognised

as a teacher?

#LibTeach2015

Librarians as teachers ...

We are talking about information literacy (IL) in the digital age

But what do we mean?

Librarians as teachers ...

We are talking about information literacy (IL)

But what do we mean?

Library instruction

Librarians as teachers ...

We are talking about information literacy (IL)

But what do we mean?

Library instruction User education

Librarians as teachers ...

We are talking about information literacy (IL)

But what do we mean?

Library instruction User education Bibliographic training

Get outside the library bubble

Kitty behind the bubble by Beatnik photos licensed under CC-BY

The role of the teacher in the digital age

Signpost by thepicturedrome licensed under CC-BY-NC

Threshold concepts & liminality

“A threshold concept can be considered as akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something.” - Jan Meyer & Ray Land

Information literacy ...

… supports transition

Higher education is “not just more education, but different”. Students coming from school are not

sure what learning is - it’s always been managed for them.

(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011, p.20)

Secker and Coonan, 2011

Information literacy ...

… develops independent learners

It involves students being able to articulate the expectations of a new information context, and also being able to reflect on their own learning. Part of the process of becoming an independent learner also involves helping a student understand more about the process of learning.

(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011, p.22)

Secker and Coonan, 2011

Information literacy ...

… includes the social dimension of information

As a profession, we need to think about what students need to know and be able to apply in the information environment. Our commitment should be to life-long

learning rather than the longer life of our library resources.

(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011, p.28)

Secker and Coonan, 2011

Information literacy is a continuum of skills, behaviours, approaches and values that is

so deeply entwined with the uses of information as to be a fundamental element

of learning, scholarship and research.

It is the defining characteristic of the discerning scholar, the informed and

judicious citizen, and the autonomous learner.

(ANCIL definition of information literacy, 2011)

ANCIL: Rethinking IL

Secker & Coonan (2011)

Technology

http://www.public-domain-image.com

Challenging perceptions of IL

“… if the teachers, whether they’re school or university teachers, don’t have the same view of IL that we do, it’s always going to be [about] the skills. And the

skills are fine but anybody can teach the skills; it’s teaching the changing attitude and the different approach that I think

has to come from the teachers.”

(ANCIL Expert Consultation Report, 2011)

Credibility not capability

“Being able to use different ways of finding information and being able to

judge whether the information is trustworthy or accurate is vital: it opens up choices, empowers us and can give

us more confidence.”

(Welsh Information Literacy Project, 2011)

Qualifications and staff development

“Information literacy .... empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use

and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human

right ... ”

(UNESCO, 2005)

‘Victorian mindmapped man’ by LukePDQ, flickr.com CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

“If the learner/user becomes information literate, that is, self-sufficient, then the

role of the information professional is necessarily redefined as the one of

facilitator of learning, rather than provider of information.”

(Andretta, 2005)

Image credit: Gungahlin Public Library(reproduced by permission of Libraries ACT)

Image © Gungahlin Public Library(reproduced by permission of Libraries ACT)

The challenge becomes, not finding that scarce plant growing in the desert, but finding a specific plant growing in a jungle. We are going to need help navigating that information to find the thing we actually need."

- Neil Gaiman

The SADL Project 2013-2015

Collaborative Project: Library Learning Technology

and Innovation (LTI) Teaching and Learning Centre Student Union IT Training

Engagement with 4 academic departments Social Policy, Statistics,

Law, International Relations 40 student ambassadors

Undergraduate support at LSE 2012 Audit of undergraduate

support proved a catalyst Used ANCIL as audit tool Report: Bell et al (2012)

Found support was ‘patchy’ Transition was offered by all / none Help offered at point of need / crisis Assumptions that others were responsible Assumptions : dangerous!

Working with students as partners

Key focus in UK with Jisc Change Agents Network

Building student engagement in conjunction with the ‘top down’ approach ie having a strategy

Digital literacy is a key area were we have a lot to learn from students

Avoids falling for the digital native rhetoric

SADL workshops Workshop 1: Introduction to the SADL

project: finding and evaluating information

Workshop 2: Reading and research practices

Workshop 3: Managing and sharing information

Workshop 4: Managing your digital identity

All resources on project website: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl/resources/

How do you approach an assignment?

Workshop 2: reading and writing in your discipline?

Workshop 4: Managing your digital identity

Digital Footprint: why does it matter?

SADL Senior Ambassadors Senior ambassadors

appointed to mentor students

Planned and helped teach each workshop

Invaluable source of advice and support for teachers

Useful experience for students

Our greatest champions?

Lessons learnt to date

Developing relationships with students takes time and need to build trust

Workshops require: Clear aims and objectives but flexibility A lot of preparation time A suitable learning space

Valuable staff development – new techniques, activities

Ambassador role requires clear expectations and ways to facilitate peer support and mentoring

Need greater support from academic departments and other students to make a wider impact

The librarian as teacher?

Photo by Andrew_Writer licensed under CC-BY-NC

What did the little bird tell us?

http://visibletweets.com/

There are no answers, only more questions...

[email protected] / @jsecker

http://janesecker.wordpress.com

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl

http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com

Further reading

Bell, Maria and Moon, Darren and Secker, Jane (2012) Undergraduate support at LSE: the ANCIL report. The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/48058/

Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy http://www.ilthresholdconcepts.com/

LSE SADL Project website and resources (2014) Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl/resources

Secker, J and Coonan, E (2011) A New Curriculum for Information Literacy. Available at: http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com

Secker, Jane, Karnad, Arun , Bell, Maria, Wilkinson, Ellen and Provencher, Claudine (2014) Student ambassadors for digital literacy (SADL): project final report. Learning Technology and Innovation , London, UK. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59479/