Jennifer Schwelik, MEd, WVIZ/PBS ideastream®
TRAILS Project Manager
Cool New (Free) Tools to Assess Information Literacy
OELMA ConferenceOctober, 2010
1. What is Information Literacy
2. What is TRAILS
3. Getting Started with TRAILS
Providing an Introduction
Access and Evaluate Information
• Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources)
• Evaluate information critically and competently
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Information Literacy 21st Century Skill
Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand
• Manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources • Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Information Literacy 21st Century Skill
TRAILS is:
• Tool to measure information literacy competencies
• Assessments based on 3rd, 6th and 9th and 12th grade standards available
• Freely available on the Web
What is TRAILS?
Information Literacy Categories
Standards categorized into five measurable information literacy categories:
• Develop topic
• Identify potential sources
• Develop, use, and revise search strategies
• Evaluate sources and information
• Recognize how to use information responsibly, ethically,
and legally
• Developed by library media specialists
• Field tested in classrooms with students • Are the items understandable ?• Are the items measuring what was intended?
Test Items
TRAILS-3:
• Two 15-item general assessments covering all five of the information literacy categories.
• One set of 10-item assessments for each of the five categories.
TRAILS-6:
• Two 20-item general assessments covering all five of the information literacy categories.
• One set of 10-item assessments for each of the five categories.
Available Assessments
TRAILS-9:
• Two 25-item general assessments covering all five of the information literacy categories.
• One set of 10-item assessments for each of the five categories.
TRAILS-12:
• Two 30-item general assessments covering all five of the information literacy categories.
• One set of 10-item assessments for each of the five categories.
Available Assessments
1. Create an Account
2. Create a Session
3. View Assessment
4. Manage a Session
Getting Started
www.trails-9.org
Create an Account
Create an Account
NOTE:To activate account, you must respond to the confirmation e-mail.
View Assessment
Each item includes •AASL
Standard•OAC Standard
•21st Cent.Learner
Standard•TRAILS Objective
Red text is the correct
answer.
Create a
Session
Create a
Session
Review Session
Manage a
Session
CSV File Sample
How TRAILS has been used to integrate information literacy
• Collaboration with classroom teachers for a specific class
• With a particular grade level• To target librarian instruction• To share results with administration• As part of an overall school improvement plan• As a professional development opportunity• For personal development• With response system as instructional tool
Response System
Response System
Response System Data
How TRAILS has been used to integrate information literacy
“I am an Illinois high school media specialist and have been using TRAILS with my ninth grade students. Thank you for your work. TRAILS provides an objective evaluation of information skills that would otherwise be difficult to achieve by sole practitioners.” [Illinois]
“I have been using a couple of the #2 assessments with Seniors taking a Research Paper class. They have been extremely helpful to reinforce specific information literacy skills for which they have received instruction.” [Minnesota]
“We are using Trails 9 to gather baseline assessments. I'm setting up logins by grade level but we are not tracking each student by name. Our goal is to find out where our students currently stand with competencies.” [New York]
Users Report
Bench-mark Data
TRIALS9
http://www.trails-9.org
TRAILS: Tool for Real-Time Assessment of
Information Literacy
Top Related