Teaching the Big 6

Promoting Student Information Literacy

Melissa DowComputer Teacher

Villa Maria Academy Lower School

Things to Think About

There are 540,000 words in the

English language – 5 times more

than in Shakespeare’s time.

A single modern-day newspaper contains more information than an average person in the 17th Century was likely to come across in their entire lifetime.

By 2010, it is predicted to double every 72 hours!The amount of technical

information is doubling every

two years.

In 1971 the average American

was targeted by at least 560

daily advertising messages.

Twenty years later, that number

has risen six fold, to 3,000

messages per day.

Number of web pages in 1995: 1.3 millionNumber of web pages in 2000: 1 billionNumber of web pages in 2005: 19.2 billion

An Example…….

When We Were in School Today

BooksEncyclopediasMagazines/JournalsTelevisionRadio

All of these PLUSPersonal Computer

IM Email websites Discussion Boards Blogs wikis

Cell PhonesEtc, etc, etc

Let’s Compare

A term coined by author David Shenk, it refers to the idea that too much information can create a barrier in our lives. This data smog is produced by the amount of information, the speed at which it comes to us from all directions, the need to make fast decisions, and the feeling of anxiety that we are making decisions without having ALL the information that is available or that we need.

Data Smog

What is Information Literacy?

Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." (American Library Association)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIUhvFxQ8C4

Why Teach Information Literacy?

Amount of information out there And it’s getting larger every day!

Gives students tools that will help them become life long learners Real world situations Future academic situations

Connections between academic areas Life is not compartmentalized

More and more important to communicate effectively on today’s terms

How Do You Teach Information Literacy?

A way of making sense of information literacyA process model of how people 0f all ages

solve an information problemA “framework” for solving problems

Real world Academic

20 years old – technology has now been incorporated into it

The Big 6

The Big 61. Task Definition

1. Define the problem2. Identify the Needed

Information2. Information Seeking

Strategies1. Determine possible

sources2. Select the Best Sources

3. Location & Access1. Locate sources2. Find information within

sources

4. Use of Information4. Engage5. Extract information

5. Synthesis4. Organize information

from sources5. Present the result

6. Evaluation4. Judge the result5. Judge the process

Lessons/ProjectsIntroductionCitizenship: 6-8Explorers: 7Immigration - Digital Storytelling: 8

How Can You Get Started?

Collaborate, collaborate, collaborateStart smallFocus on ONE Big6 step at a timeGet your administrator’s buy inEvaluate, evaluate, evaluate

Resourceshttp://www.big6.orghttp://www.linworth.com/big6/http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/

issues/infolit/informationliteracy.cfmhttp://nb.wsd.wednet.edu/big6/

big6_resources.htmhttp://janetsinfo.com/big6info.htm

Thank You

mdow@villamaria.org