How to Plan and Develop Information Literacy Programmes

How to Plan and Develop Information Literacy Programmes in Schools Prof. Dr. Serap Kurbanoglu Hacettepe University Department of Information Management

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind Seneca

Getting started • Don’t reinvent the wheel: – Identify the IL model that works best for your institution – Adapt information literacy standards and practices • Design a programme based on the standards and experiences • Work on a strategic plan • Identify and focus on library responsibilities toward IL and develop library instruction programs accordingly • Ensure to teach the research process and its concepts, and do more than introducing electronic tools and technology • Be prepared for challenges & be aware of planning pitfalls June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 3

Key planning issues • Plan your Information literacy program in concert with overall strategic library planning • Make sure that your plan is tied to library and institutional development plans • Review past performance and try to understand reasons for past failures • Identify opportunities • Determine learners’ needs and preferences • Understand the impact of IL training on existing operations and staff function June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 4

Potential challenges & planning pitfalls • • • Obstacles such as limited facilities, financial and human resources Inability to get management and/or teachers involved Lack of clear objectives Assumptions The status problems Resistance towards change Obstacles in communication (different vocabularies) Student motivation (students don’t want to do anything extra) Perfectionism June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 5

Planning • Statement of purpose • Action • Environmental scan • Opportunities and challenges • Resources • Budget • Administrative and instutional support June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 6

Planning • Integration with the curriculum • Collaboration and partnership • Pedagogy • Outreach and promotion • Evaluation • Characteristics of the learner • Mode of instruction June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 7

Mission statement • Mission statement describes the overall purpose of the program and may reflect the values and priorities • Write a mission statement for your IL program • Make sure that the mission statement – – includes a definition of information literacy is consistent with the “Information Literacy Standards” corresponds with the mission statements of the institution clearly reflects the contributions of and expected benefits to institutional community – appears in appropriate institutional documents – is reviewed periodically and, if necessary, revised June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 8

Goals & Actions • Goals are the qualitative and quantitative statements of what the organization wishes to achieve over a measurable future • State the goal(s) to achieve and make them specific • Make sure that goals for your information literacy program: – – – are consistent with the mission and goals of the institution are consistent with the mission statement of the IL program apply to all learners, regardless of delivery system or location reflect the desired outcomes of preparing students for lifelong learning are evaluated and reviewed periodically • List all actions required to achieve each goal • Write actions in the order they need to be completed June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 9

Enviromental scan • Scan both internal and external environment – SWOT/TOWS analysis can be used • Environmental scan – Detecs social, economic, and political trends that may affect organization’s future – Detects trends and events important to your plan – Detecs institutional factors that can help or limit the program – Provides early warning of changing external conditions – Defines potential threats and opportunities implied by external factors – Promotes a future orientation in the thinking of management and staff – Enables to understand current and potential changes to determine organizational strategies June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 10

Internal & external factors • Internal = Strengths and Weaknesses – Evaluate the weaknesses and strenghts in terms of human, economic and physical resources available in the library for the IL program • External = Opportunities and Threats – Anticipate and address current and future opportunities and challenges June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 11

SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 12

TOWS Analysis External Opportunities External Threats Internal Strengths Strategies that use strengths to maximize opportunities Strategies that use strengths to minimize threats Internal Weaknesses Strategies that minimize weaknesses by taking advantage of opportunities Strategies that minimize weaknesses and avoid threats June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 13

Resources • Identify what is required to implement the program • Describe the human resources required for each action • Describe the physical requirements for each action (e. g. classroom, office space, furniture, equipment, etc. ) • Address, with clear priorities, human, technological and financial resources, current and projected June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 14

Human Resources • Build up your team • Employ, develop, or have access to sufficient personnel with appropriate education, experience, and expertise • Identify and assign leadership and responsibilities within the team June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 15

Human Resources Make sure that the staff • develop experience in teaching, assessment of student learning, and curriculum development • develop expertise to develop, coordinate, implement, maintain, and evaluate IL programs • use instructional design processes • promote, market, manage, and coordinate diverse instruction activities • collect and interpret data to evaluate and update instruction programs • integrate and apply instructional technologies into learning activities • produce instructional materials • employ a collaborative approach to working with others • actively engaged in continual professional development and training • respond to changing technologies, environments, and communities June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 16

Budget • Tie your plan to library and institutional budgeting cycles • Estimate your budget. Determine how much funding the program needs • Be flexible in estimating costs June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 17

Administrative and institutional support • No information literacy program can be developed and sustained unless it has a strong base of support • Support for a successful instruction program has many interdependent facets • The level of support necessary will depend on – the scope of the program – the size of the program – its connection with other institutional units June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 18

Administrative and institutional support Convince the administration within your institution: • that IL is a learning issue not a library issue and that teachers must also be responsible for students acquiring IL abilities • to assign information literacy leadership and responsibilities • to plant IL in the institution’s mission, strategic plan, and policies • to provide funding to establish and ensure ongoing support for teaching facilities and resources, staffing, professional development opportunities for librarians, faculty, staff, and administrators • to recognize and encourage collaboration among instutional community (teachers, librarians, and other staff) • to communicate support for the program • to reward achievement and participation in the information literacy program within the institution’s system. June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 19

Integration into the curriculum • Ensure that IL is incorporated into the curriculum • Use institutional decision making mechanisms to ensure institutionwide integration into programmes • Identify the scope (i. e. , depth and complexity) of competencies to be acquired on a disciplinary level as well as at the course level • Sequence and integrate competencies throughout a student’s school career, progressing in sophistication • Specify programs and courses charged with implementation • Merge the IL concepts with the course contents June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 20

Collaboration & partnership • Collaborate with teachers, librarians, other program staff and administrators • Establish formal and informal mechanisms for communication and ongoing dialogue across the institutional community • Collaborate at all stages (planning, implementation, assessment of student learning, and evaluation and refinement of the program) • Center your collaboration efforts around enhanced student learning and the development of lifelong learning skills • Work with teachers to develop curriculum, syllabi, and assignments that focus on the research • Collaborate with teachers to incorporate information literacy concepts and disciplinary content • Collaborate with teachers to identify opportunities for achieving information literacy outcomes through course content and other learning experiences June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 21

Developing partnership • Focusing teachers’ attention on information literacy and creating a partnership can present challenges – Teachers have many competing interests – Most teachers feel that they have established a partnership with librarians – It is not at the top of their agenda • Strategies in Developing Partnership – Identifying the partners – Creating awareness of the issue of information literacy – Avoiding partnership pitfalls June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 22

Creating awareness • Support can only come when teachers are aware of what IL is, why it is important, and what problem it is solving • Creating awareness in the minds of teachers is not a one-time event • Teachers’ awareness of IL can be raised in the following ways – Make a powerful link between critical thinking and IL – Talk about IL as a lifelong learning skill – Talk about how IL helps students with their current academic endeavors – Talk about IL as one of the essential skills of student academic life – Provide data about the current level of student IL skills June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 23

Avoiding partnership pitfalls • It is imperative that librarians respect teachers’ authority over the curriculum • IL program should be introduced as an enterprise-wide solution to an enterprise-wide problem • IL program should have goals that are agreed on by the teachers and the librarians • Avoid giving the message of exclusiveness to teachers • Be mindful of the compactness of the curriculum • Do not exhaust teachers by inundating them with a full array of IL standards • When introducing an IL program choose the time wisely • Be prepared to define IL June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 24

Pedagogy Make effective use of instructional pedagogies – support diverse approaches to teaching – make effective use of instructional technologies and media resources – foster critical thinking and reflection – support multiple learning styles – support student-centered learning – determine learning outcomes – assess progress against learning outcomes – build the program on students’ existing knowledge – link information literacy to ongoing coursework and real-life experiences appropriate to program and course level June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 25

Outreach & promotion Outreach / promotional activities for an IL program are the responsibility of all members of the institution, not simply the librarians • Emphasize the importance of IL and communicate a clear message defining and describing the program and its value to targeted audiences; • Gauge the method most appropriate to the institution; • Timing is crucial for successful promotion. Be well informed and involved with the work of the instution; • Provide targeted marketing and publicity to stakeholders; • Target a wide variety of groups; • Use a variety of outreach channels and media, both formal and informal; • Offer IL workshops and programs for teachers and staff June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 26

Promoting strategies • Make contact with key members of the staff • Take advantage of available opportunities. Make links, where appropriate, to information literacy when attending meetings • Try to integrate an IL session into existing staff training programme • Offer to train teachers in an aspect of IL, e. g. the use of a particular database and its new features, and then use this as a selling point • Offer to deliver a session in partnership with a teacher, e. g. in a session on plagiarism and referencing • Invite staff to IL events • Tie-in discussions on IL with other school priorities such as combating plagiarism • Prepare a formal paper for the management • Bring appropriate sections of official reports by educational and library bodies to the attention of the institutional community June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 27

Promoting to students • When IL sessions are embedded in curricula, students have a strong impetus to attend • Otherwise, some well targeted publicity will be needed • In order to maximise attendance: – Get involved in starting the academic year events and highlight the importance of the IL sessions students will be attending – Ensure that the library orientation session is included in the starting the academic year events – Advertise training sessions on Blackboard or the school intranet – Create a promotional flyer to distribute students and display on school notice boards – Use the orientation session as a promotion opportunity to advertise further events tailored to the particular needs of the student group June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 28

Evaluation • Systematic ongoing process that should gather data regarding the progress of instruction program toward meeting its goals and objectives • Influences decisions, guides allocation of resources, helps to decide what to emphasize in the classroom • It is not an end in itself; it is a way to get answers to important questions that have to do with educating students effectively June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 29

Evaluation • Prepare an evaluation plan which addresses multiple measures (needs assessment, participant reaction, learning outcomes, teaching effectiveness, and overall effectiveness of instruction program) • Articulate the evaluation criteria in planning documents • Use multiple methods for assessment/evaluation • Address specific learning outcomes • Focuse on student performance, knowledge acquisition, and attitude appraisal • Assess both process and product • Develop assessment instruments • Coordinate with faculty to explore and implement performance-based assesment methods • Use assessment data in the revision and improvement of the program • Periodicaly review the assessment/evaluation methods June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 30

Characteristics of the learners • Keeping the prospective users in mind is essential in the development of instructional programs • Characteristics of next generation learners: – They were born during the computer age and grew up in a technological world – They are a much more technically sophisticated generation than previous generations – The visual image is the primary means of communication – Multimedia – music, graphics, and video – is the preferred learning and entertainment experience for many of them – They have native ability to multitask – They can handle the nonlinear approach (they are interactive and experiential, and learning occurs through trial and error) – They are computer literate, but are not information literate. June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 31

Modes of instruction Instruction takes place in many ways, these may include, but are not limited to, providing: • • • Course-integrated instruction Drop-in workshops Handouts and guides (print & electronic) Web based instruction Stand alone courses – Credit / non-credit – Requested / elective • Subject specific instruction • Tours • Video presentations June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 32

Identification of modes of instruction • The modes selected should be consistent with the content and goals of IL instruction • Where appropriate, more than one mode of instruction should be used based on knowledge of the wide variety of learning styles of individuals and groups • When possible, instruction should employ active learning strategies and techniques that require learners to develop critical thinking skills in concert with IL skills June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 33

An example of best practice June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 34

http: //old. oslis. org/index. php June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 35

OSLIS – Elementary June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 36

OSLIS – Elementary http: //old. oslis. org/elementary/tutorials/elementary. General. htm June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 37

OSLIS – Middle & High School June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 38

OSLIS – Middle & High School http: //old. oslis. org/secondary/tutorials/Mid. High. General. htm June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 39

OSLIS – Teachers & Librarians June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 40

Public domain June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 41

References • • • ACRL. (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education. http: //www. ala. org/ala/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency. htm ACRL. (2003). Characteristics of programs of information literacy that illustrate best practices: a guideline. http: //www. ala. org/ala/acrlstandards/characteristics. cfm ACRL. (2003). Guidelines for instruction programs in academic libraries. http: //www. ala. org/ala/acrlstandards/ALA_print_layout_1_192693. cfm Gaunt, J & et al. (2007). Handbook for information literacy teaching. Cardiff: Cardiff University. Iannuzzi, P. (1997). Assessing libraries in support of campus missions: the information literacy imperative. American Association of Higher Education Conference on Assessment and Quality. Keiser, B. E. (2008). Designing information literacy training programmes and action plans. UNESCO IFAP Workshop, May 30 -June 1. Montego Bay, Jamaica. Lau, J. (2004). International guidelines on information literacy. IFLA. Rockman, I. F. (2004). Integrating information literacy into the higher education curriculum: practical models for transformation. San Francisco: John Wiley. Snavely, L. (2001). Information literacy standards for higher education: an international perspective. 67 th IFLA Council and General Conference, August 16 -25. June 2010, Empatic, Krakow - Poland 42

Thanks Prof. Dr. Serap Kurbanoglu serap@hacettepe. edu. tr Hacettepe University Department of Information Management