Teaching Information Fluency: How to Teach Students to be Efficient, Ethical, and Critical Information Consumers

Teaching Information Fluency describes the skills and dispositions of information fluency adept searchers. Readers will receive in-depth information on what it takes to locate, evaluate, and ethically use digital information. The book realistically examines the abilities of Internet searchers today in terms of their efficiency and effectiveness in finding online information, evaluating it and using it ethically. Since the majority of people develop these skills on their own, rather than being taught, the strategies they invent may suffice for simple searches, but for more complex tasks, such as those required by academic and professional work, the average person’s performance is adequate only about 50% of the time. The book is laid out in five parts: an introduction to the problem and how search engine improvements are not sufficient to be of real help, speculative searching, investigative searching, ethical use and applications of information fluency. The intent of the book is to provide readers ways to improve their performance as consumers of digital information and to help teachers devise useful ways to integrate information fluency instruction into their teaching, since deliberate instruction is needed to develop fluency. Since it is unlikely that dedicated class time will be available for such instruction, the approach taken embeds information fluency activities into classroom instruction in language arts, history and science. Numerous model lessons and resources are woven into the fabric of the text, including think-alouds, individual and group search challenges, discussions, assessments and curation, all targeted to Common Core State Standards as well as information fluency competencies.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Tables Foreword Acknowledgements Prologue Part 1: Digital Information Fluency Chapter 1: Digital Information Fluency in an Age of Information Consumption Chapter 2: Information Fluency, Achievement and the Common Core Part 2: Speculative Searching Chapter 3: Self-taught Search Box Strategies Chapter 4: Internet Search Challenges Part 3: Investigative Searching Chapter 5: Investigative Searching Chapter 6: Investigative Case Study Part 4: Ethical and Fair Use Chapter 7: Ethical Consumption Part 5: Instructional Applications Chapter 8: Embedding Information Fluency Chapter 9: Curation: Applied Information Fluency Epilogue Appendix: Model Lessons Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Carl Heine earned his Ph.D. in education from the University of Chicago. He has over twenty years of teaching experience including both the College of DuPage and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy where he worked with the 21st Century Information Fluency Project. He speaks about digital information fluency frequently. Dennis O’Connor holds masters degrees in both Online Teaching & Learning and Technology Integration and Instructional Design. He has taught middle and high school for more than 25 years. He currently teaches at the University of Wisconsin – Stout.

Review :
We live in an era where much of the information we gather and share comes from digital sources and most young people today have grown up using electronic devises for their research needs. Research has shown, however, that just because they are skilled Web users does not mean that they are information fluent—meaning that they have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential to using this newfound wealth of information to make a difference in our world. This book, written by a Ph.D. in education who has worked with the 21st Century Information Fluency Project and a teacher at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, examines the abilities of students today in finding online information, evaluating it, and using it ethically to determine how information fluent they truly are. The book addresses information fluency in five areas: digital information fluency, speculative searching, investigative searching, ethical and fair use, and instructional applications. Along the way the authors provide tips to teachers to devise methods of integrate information fluency into their teaching, particularly in the areas of language arts, history, and science. For anyone interested in information literacy and information fluency this is a must read. 'Teaching' is in the title and the target audience is American, yet anyone using the internet can benefit from thumbing through these pages. Doing that will give you personal insight and strategies that will enhance any search, and raise awareness of the ethical dimension of dealing with what you find. Teachers of all subjects will enjoy the book’s practical suggestions for embedding aspects of information fluency in class. As digital natives most middle and high school students perceive themselves to be skilled web users. But when assessed, we found that even our most academically advanced students struggled with information fluency. Students conduct research in school, share resources with friends and family, and exchange a wide variety of information electronically via the Internet. Information fluency is critical, and the skills need to be taught. Since we initiated our information fluency program five years ago, the results have been impressive. With just a few hours of online work, students show significant gains. Our experience demonstrates that critical information fluency skills can be learned, and taught effectively in an efficient way. Heine and O'Connor use their experience with the highly respected 21st Century Information Project to create a book that is comprehensive, practical, and wise for educators who are serious about teaching both students and themselves to be truly information literate. Covering types of searches, the ethical use of information, instructional methods, and curation, this definitive guide lays out both strategies and tools critical for anyone working to find and use online information today. Teaching information Fluency has been a pleasure to read! I appreciate the lively style and chance to get inside the minds of seminal thinkers like Carl Heine and Dennis O'Connor. ... I was delighted to read [the] careful analysis of a small number of well-described tools in which they take the time to address 'why' the tools are worth using well.