Forget Information and Communication Technologies and focus on Media and Information Literacy

Author(s):

Simão Elias Lomba(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES G 03, Media and Education

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-23

09:00-10:30

Room:

OB-E2.16 (ALE 3)

Chair:

Eduardo García-Jiménez

Contribution

The European Union is based on “values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights” (Article I-2, Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, p.11). "As access to information and participation are core principles of today’s society, MIL must be regarded as an enabler of human rights” (UNESCO, 2014). Education and in particular MIL is a key element to pursue the path of these values. Using Mooij’s ICT model 3 (Mooij, 2014, p.521), we assure “optimal educational conditions” and “optimal self-regulated learning” through ICT use, but to do that, we need a practical implementation of this model. If we prepare teachers to help students to develop MIL competences inside the curriculum using appropriate ICT tools this would be better than simply teaching how to use this tools. The effective use of ICT in education is not consensual; there are studies pointing in opposite directions maybe because the key element is not the use but what we do with them. The Paris Declaration on MIL in Digital Era, states, "there is a tendency to give more attention to computer literacy or IT literacy over MIL in many educational and policy contexts" but “it is neither useful nor efficient to promote a single literacy or single skill set without embedding it in the wider context of MIL” (UNESCO, 2014).

As an ICT teacher's trainer, the author of this paper has heard teachers say many times, "I have taken a course for this subject, but now I don't know anything about it."

Why does this happen? Perhaps because the continuing education of teachers focuses on technological tools rather than on the teaching profession. We live in a quickly changing world, in an era of information and knowledge. Technology provides the media for this change but change itself is a social phenomenon. So, learning how to use a specific technology shouldn’t be independent of the context of the specific use of this technology. If we focus too much on the mechanics of the technology we do not understand the full potential of a specific technology in the educational process and this is the aim of teachers’ training.

Our aim is to test two related training actions each with five teachers, in the form called stage, about digital technologies and MIL, one for science teachers and the other for librarian teachers. Is this training stage an effective way to embed ICT and MIL in the curriculum?

We adapted tools of Guided Inquiry (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007, 2012) to teachers’ training in order to use in the training stages a methodology similar to that which students will use in lessons with teacher-attended training. We started training with a discussion related to MIL practices, including ICT use in the classroom and in the school library. After that we presented Information Seek Process (Kuhlthau, 2004) and Guided Inquiry as a main theoretical framework of both training stages. Then teachers and school librarians did a project about sexual education like their students will do later. So, they used ICT tools while they worked in groups doing a research assignment according to Guided Inquiry Framework. Then teachers plan their intervention to implement with students and this is still part of training. Intervention is planned and implemented by the science teacher and librarians together. Reflection is an important component of Guided Inquiry that is used by teachers and students. In the last session of the training stages teachers and school librarians shared their feelings, thoughts and actions about all the process.

Method

We used qualitative data to assess teachers’ practices related to ICT and MIL, and all aspects related to the training stages and practical implementation of methods, procedures and tools assumed in the training actions, including intervention with students. We used testimonies of teachers that attended both training stages, documents produced by teachers and by students. Among these documents we have written reflections of students and teachers, and students’ portfolios, among others. At the last training session teachers shared some reflections about the training, the ISP and Guided Inquiry, and about project implementation with students. We made audio recordings of teachers testimonials in the first session and reflection in the last session. We are analyzing how each teacher and student used Guided Inquiry methods, techniques and tools. Then, we compare this data with a student’s evaluation made by teachers. We are using Grounded Theory to analyze our data with R and RQDA software package. At this moment we have only some preliminary results.

Expected Outcomes

This pilot study isn’t finished, but we have some preliminary results. Teachers and School Librarians that attended training courses referenced difficulty in applying Guided Inquiry. They claimed there was a lack of time and they related this to the fact that the curriculum is too long, teachers were overloaded with work and there was too much pressure to achieve goals. They found Guided Inquiry interesting but too complex. At the end of the training course all teachers said they felt insecure but some added that they also felt expectant, with positive expectations. Only one of the five science teachers finished students’ research assignments. Although this teacher claimed to have become a little discouraged with the work, she also stated that these students have made something that they had never before, to read, try to understand and then tell a classmate what they have read. In the teacher’s words, “students learned something that was positive because they learned how to search, where to search for information, trying to avoid plagiarism, and writing facts or ideas in their own words”. This class, which has finished the research assignment, contains 12th grade students from a professional course. Students that attend professional courses in general have low academic results. The teacher states that is the case. We can see in their assignments that their language level is very low for this grade. They have a lot of grammar and spelling inaccuracies and poorly constructed sentences. After the training course we expect the teachers to attend a new training course in order to consolidate their practice using Guided Inquiry. These preliminary results point to a need of some changes in future training courses’ structures. Almost none of these students have used Google Drive tools before but everyone was able to use them without major difficulties.

References

Kuhlthau, C.C. (2004). Seeking Meaning: a process approach to library and information serviçes (2nd ed.). Westport, Connecticut - London: Libraries Unlimited. Kuhlthau, C.C., Maniotes, L.K., & Caspari, A.K. (2007). Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. Wetsport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. ________ (2012). Guided Inquiry Design: a framework for inquiry in your school. Wetsport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Mooij, T. (2014). Self-regulated and Technology-enhances Learning: a European perspective. European Educational Journal. 13(5) 519-528. Doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/eerj.2014.13.5.519 Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (2004). Official Journal of The European Union, C310. 47. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C:2004:310:FULL&from=EN UNESCO (2014). Paris Declaration on Media and Information Literacy in the Digital Era. http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/news/paris_mil_declaration.pdf

Author Information

Simão Elias Lomba (presenting / submitting)

Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

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