21st Century Information Skills @Your Library

Learning today means more than memorizing facts. It means learning to learn for a lifetime. Savvy parents and educators know that the school library media center is key to teaching students not just to read but to practice the skills they need to seek, evaluate and use information throughout their lives. In fact, research shows those students from schools with professionally staffed, fully equipped libraries score higher on achievement tests.

In 2007, the American Association of School Librarians introduced Standards for the 21st Century Learner. These standards guide school library programs and the educators who lead them.

A set of common beliefs guided the development of the standards.

Reading is a window to the world.Inquiry provides a framework for learning.Ethical behavior in the use of information must be taught.Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs.Equitable access is a key component for education.The definition of information literacy has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed.The continuing expansion of information demands that all individuals acquire the thinking skills that will enable them to think on their own.Learning has a social context.School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills.

Learners use skills, resources and tools to:

Inquire, think critically and gain knowledge

Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new

situations, and create new knowledge

Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members

of our democratic society

Pursue personal and aesthetic growth

AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner

Skills

• Key abilities needed for understanding, learning, thinking and mastering subjects

• Key question: Does the student have the right proficiencies to explore a topic or subject further?

Dispositions in Action

• Ongoing beliefs and attitudes that guide thinking and intellectual behavior that can be measured through actions taken

• Key question: Is the student disposed to higher-level thinking and actively engaged in critical thinking to gain and share knowledge?

Responsibilities

• Common behaviors used by independent learners in researching, investigating and problem solving.

• Key question: Is the student aware that the foundational traits for 21st-century learning require self-accountability that extends beyond skills and dispositions?

Self-Assessment Strategies

• Reflections on one’s own learning to determine that skills, dispositions, and responsibilities are effective.

• Key question: Can the student recognize personal strengths and weaknesses over time and become a stronger, more independent learner?

Each of the four 21st century standards is measured by objectives in four basic areas:

Sample objectives for :Inquire, think critically and gain knowledge

1.1 Skills

Find, evaluate and select appropriate

resources to answer questions.

1.2 Dispositions in action

Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources

and formats.

1.3 Responsibilities

Contribute to the exchange of ideas

within the learning community.

1.4

Self-Assessment

Monitor gathered information and

assess for gaps or weaknesses.

Sample objectives for :Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new

situations, and create new knowledge

2.1 Skills

Use technology and other information

tools to analyze and organize information.

2.2 Dispositions in action

Demonstrate personal productivity

by completing products to express

learning.

2.3 Responsibilities

Consider diverse and global perspectives in drawing conclusions.

2.4 Self-Assessment

Determine how to act on information

(accept, reject or modify).

Sample objectives for :Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members

of our democratic society

3.1 Skills

Use writing and speaking skills to

communicate new understandings

effectively.

3.2 Dispositions in action

Demonstrate teamwork by

working productively with

others.

3.3 Responsibilities

Use information and knowledge in the

service of democratic values.

3.4 Self-Assessment

Assess the quality and effectiveness of

the learning product.

Sample objectives for: Pursue personal and aesthetic growth

4.1 Skills

Read, view and listen for pleasure

and personal growth.

4.2 Dispositions in action

Display curiosity by pursuing interests through multiple

resources.

4.3 Responsibilities

Recognize that resources are

created for a variety of purposes.

4.4 Self-assessment

Interpret new information based

on cultural and social context.

The following slides are examples of how four of these objectives might be taught in the Carmel Media Center.

Find, evaluate and select appropriate resources to answer questions.

After drawing a research question from a hat, students will determine which media center resource (internet, encyclopedia, atlas, nonfiction book, etc.) would be the best source for answering their question. After finding the answer, they must evaluate their source for authority, accuracy, relevancy and currency.

Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats.

Students will prepare a brief PowerPoint presentation about their favorite animal using information from websites, an encyclopedia, computer clip art, and quotes from a fiction book or poem featuring their animal.

Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community.

After reading Crossing Bok Chitto by Tim Tingle and Brothers by Yin, two picture books which explore cross-cultural friendships, children will participate in a group discussion about the challenges and rewards of having a friend of a different race, religion or ethnicity.

Monitor gathered information and assess for gaps or weaknesses.

Near the end of an in-depth social studies research project which will culminate in a paper, students will complete an evaluation checklist. The checklist will help the student determine whether they have the proper number of sources, if they have the information to properly cite their sources, and if the information they have found is current, authoritative, accurate and relevant. Students will meet one-on-one with the school library media specialist to discuss their evaluation before beginning their paper.

To view the complete list of objectives inAASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, please visitwww.ala.org/aasl/standards