DIGITAL INFORMATION LITERACY

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES
Storing information in a digital format, enable is to be accessed using a wide range
of devices, unlike other forms of analogue information. This flexible access makes
digitalization important and also underlines the need for digital skills to be learnt with
information skills. Essentially, digital literacy includes analyzing, locating, organizing,
evaluating, creating and using information using digital technology. Discuss the
advantages of having information in a digital format (effective transmission, storage,
search, manipulation, cross compatibility, etc.)

If teachers have limited or no knowledge of computers and software, plan a series of
computer lab sessions (physical or virtual). Guide the teacher to become familiar with
the basics of hardware, software, networks and servers. This could also include basic
keyboard and mouse skills, file types and filing. Teachers should also be exposed to the
basics of open-source software and low-cost technology. Provide teachers with a list of
proprietary software and popular computer hardware devices. Ask teachers to search
the Internet and list at least two examples of free open-source software and low-cost
computer hardware devices with similar functionalities to each of the propriotrary tools
selected. Critically assess the possible advantages and disadvantages of each.

ACTIVITIES
Search the Internet and other online resources, such as databases and e-libraries to
gather information on a specific research topic. Reduce the information sources to fit
the purpose of your search. Look for key words, logical operations (e.g. ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘and’)
and determine which work best and why
Produce an activity plan or a set of activities to get students to use various digital media
resources to prepare a project, assessment or homework. Discuss features provided by
new technologies for people with disabilities to access digital information (e.g. web
accessibility and the creation of digital documents in accessible formats)
Study an Internet site used to deliver a course on teacher education or any other
educational programme. Review how this information is organized and accessed on
the site. What online digital information resources are being used? How are digital
resources integrated with course materials? Practice using this site and discuss how
useful it could be to learning and what the limitations are. Discuss the advantages and
disadvantages
Visit various ‘blogs’ and ‘wikis’, which are put together by individuals or a collaboration
of individuals. What kind of information exchange is happening on these online media?
What purpose does the information serve? Who provides the information? What do you
think their motivations and motives are?
Visit an educational wiki site and analyze how it delivers its course or curriculum. Set up
a wiki site on a topical issue in education (e.g. improving reading and basic numeracy
skills in early primary school). Organize a discussion forum for a teacher training
assignment on the wiki, and review the benefits and limits of sharing information using
this platform
Experiment writing a blog on a topic related to education in your country. This should
be a topical issue that will attract interest and response (e.g. improving educational
access at primary or secondary level for the poorest in society, diversifying access to
information for secondary school students to improve quality of learning, why the poor
are getting poorer in an age of increasing knowledge and information, etc.)
Discuss which digital information, from students’ point of view, should be preserved?
What are the major selection criteria and available technical solutions, and how can
sustainability be ensured? What are other aspects of this preservation issue?
Identify international instruments available for the preservation of digital information
(e.g. UNESCO Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage, digital archiving and
preservation guidelines)
● Visit the World Heritage Library website
146Module 8
● Discuss the importance of preservation and promotion of documentary heritage
within the context of a natural disaster, such as the Haiti earthquake, and discuss
the work to be done by archivists from the National Archive of Haiti. Find an article
that illustrates a situation in Haiti after the earthquake in January 2010
● Ask students why web archiving is needed and how it is done