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UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Transforming Learning through Action Research: Information
and Critical Literacies
Dr Ross ToddHead, Department of Information Studies
University of Technology, Sydney
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
the age of information
dot.com age
dot.con age
age of the mind
info place info space
info space knowledge space
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
CYBER SOCIETY
• cyber communities• cyber democracy• cyber language• cyber activism• cyber patrol
• cyber stress• cyber overload• cyber sense• cyber shopping• cybrarian
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
The information environment
• complex and fluid
• connective and interactive
• diverse and unpredictable
• no longer constrained by time and place
info place info space
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Schooling ….
• is all about providing the best learning opportunities for students to make the most of their lives as sense-making, constructive, independent people
Students know how to be an active agent in their rich information space
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
ACTIVE LEARNING
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE
Turning information into knowledge is the most intellectually challenging, time-consuming, and
potentially controversial process
SENSE - UNDERSTANDING - KNOWLEDGE
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE
• inquiring mind
• sense of curiosity
• critical spirit
• self evaluation
• commitment to reflection
• sense of personal agency
• repertoire of learning skills
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
INFORMATION AND CRITICAL LITERACIES
Key to effective engagement with information space
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
INFORMATION & CRITICAL LITERACIES
Reading and writing
Speaking and listening
Viewing and visualising
Touching and empathising (?)
Connecting with information
Interacting with information
Utilising information
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING
from toys to tools
10 KEY LEARNING PRINCIPLES
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
1. Learning is about making and maintaining connections
• connect with information
• interact with information
• utilise a rich information world
We cannot learn effectively if we are not information literate
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
2. Learning is an active search for meaning by the learner
• Discovery of knowledge
• Transform prior knowledge
• Constructing knowledge
• Demonstrate competencies and use of ideas
Active searching is underpinned by critical and information literacies
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
3. Learning is developmental
• Intellectual growth is gradual: advancement, consolidation, reinforcement
Information and critical literacies provide a staged developmental process
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
4. Learning is both individual and social
• Opportunities for co-operative learning
• Cultivating and inclusive community
• Information and critical literacies facilitate development of individual and
social needs
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
5. Learning is strongly affected by educational climate in which it
takes place• Value academic and personal success and
intellectual inquiry
• Feeling connected, cared for and trusted
Mastery of information and critical literacies
develops self-esteem and belonging
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
6. Learning requires feedback, practice, and use
• Feedback sustained learning
• Practice nourishing learning
• Opportunities to use meaningful learning
Information and critical literacies provide opportunities for evaluating progress
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
7. Much learning takes place informally and incidentally
• Activities beyond classroom enrich formal learning experiences
• Mentoring relationships beyond the classroom
• Learning in a variety of setting and circumstances
Information and critical literacies foster independent learning
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
8. Learning is grounded in particular contexts and individual experiences
• Requires effort to transfer specific knowledge and skills to new circumstances
• Unlearn personal views and approaches when confronted by new information
Information and critical literacies enable learners to read the world and the word
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
9. Learning involves ability of individuals to monitor own
learning
• Understand how knowledge is acquired
• Awareness of own ways of knowing
• Ability to monitor own learning
Information and critical literacies provide an evaluative tool for learning progress
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
10. Learning is enhanced by taking place in the context of compelling
situations
• Provides challenge and opportunity
• Stimulates brain to conceptualise, contemplate and reflect
• Amplifies the learning process
Information and critical literacies must be situated in meaningful situations
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIPfrom toy to tool
• Shared learning
• Shared responsibility
• Shared development
• Shared celebration
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
The Death of CPPT
CO-OPERATIVE PROGRAM PLANNING
AND TEACHING
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
The urgency of shared learning initiatives
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Electronic Information Seeking(McNicholas & Todd, 1996)
• Design of research activities• Constructing an appropriate search• Working with search engines• Critiquing web sites and making quality
assessments of the information• Constructing personal understanding
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Electronic Information SeekingAitkin (1997) (Primary school children)
• high levels of information overload
• major coping strategies included: deliberate omission; making broad and quick selections based on superficial analysis; deliberately accepting errors; getting someone else to do the work
• confusion, frustration, depression
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Electronic Information Seeking(Dilal & Watson, 1998) (Year 7 Science students)
• Failure of students to retrieve Web documents based on aboutness: subject headings, key words, concepts
• Inability to make relevance judgements
• Inability to make quality judgements
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Electronic Information Seeking(Kafai & Bates, 1997)
• Inability to use search engines
• Difficulty in building a search strategy
• Difficulty in locating appropriate resources
• Dealing with “boring, uninvolving or irrelevant sites”
• “Retard the value of the experience”
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Electronic Information Seeking(Fidel, 1999)
• Absence of search strategies
• Inability to formulate effective search strategies
• Inappropriately favoured visual cues
• Navigational difficulties: Lost in Space
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
Electronic Information Seeking(Hirsch, 1999)
• Limited patience - abort searches quickly
• Poor management of research process -repetition of searches
• Limited navigation of sites in depth
• Limited use of search features
• No skills in judging information quality and relevance
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
ACTION RESEARCH
A key framework for setting up strategies and activities for implementing change in relation
to critical and information literacies
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
TRANSFORMING LEARNING
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
ACTION RESEARCH
• A process through which educators work together to improve education by change through action and reflection on their daily teaching habits (Loerke, 1992)
• Systematic inquiry that is collective, collaborative, self-reflective, critical, and undertaken by participants in the inquiry (McCutchen & Jung, 1990)
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
ACTION RESEARCHkey words
• inquiry• participative• shared• reflective• planned
• purposive• systematic• improving• leading to change• evaluative
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
ACTION RESEARCH PHASES
• Problem identification
• Mutual commitment to improvement
• Plan for investigation of problem
• Implement actions / strategies to improve
• Effects of actions observed and recorded
• Reflect on outcomes
• Ongoing cycle of planning, action, evaluation
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
ACTION RESEARCH OUTCOMES
• Promotes individual development
Personal renewal
• Shared knowledge and experience
Collective renewal
• Influence institutional change
Organisational renewal
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
ACTION RESEARCH
• Responsive• Interactive• Constructive• Experiential• Reflective• Systematic• Outcomes Oriented
SHARED LEARNING
UTS 2000
Ross J Todd
The future …..
we construct the road by walking on it ...