Student acquisition of digital literacies

Ellysa Stern CahoyPenn State University Libraries

Project overview•Digital literacies & the future of

information literacy standards

•Embedding digital literacy outcomes within student multimedia assignments

•Collaborative partnership between librarians, instructors, educational technologists

•Research findings on student acquisition of digital literacy learning outcomes

Prisms of learning (Gibson)

Gibson, Craig. Prisms Around Student Learning: Information Literacy, IT Fluency,and Media Literacy. Educause, 2007.

Convergence of literacies

• Internalized searching / evaluation skills

• Deep technology fluency

• Knowledge building

• Reflection and self-assessment

• Understanding of ethical use of information

Faculty fellowshipIn collaboration with Penn State’s

Teaching and Learning with Technology staff, provide:

•Digital storytelling workshop

•Nutrition course project design

•Digital literacy acquisition research

Goals of faculty workshop

•Provide an understanding of fair use / copyright

•Encourage appropriate use of library resources for multimedia assignments

•Provide hands-on video creation / digital storytelling work

•Sample video from workshop

Nutrition course project

•Librarian / technologist / faculty collaboration

•Embedded digital literacy learning outcomes within a grading rubric for assignment

•Designed flow of assignment to include library instruction and technology instruction and related deliverables

•Collaboration with Nutrition subject specialist

Design of research study•Student survey on digital literacies

•Student focus groups

•Faculty feedback

•Subject librarian and technologist feedback

•Findings will be used to help other faculty / librarians / technologists develop effective, collaborative learning design for multimedia assignments.

Preliminary findingsWhich ability is most daunting to

students:

A) Using software (iMovie) to create a video

B) Finding and evaluating credible information sources

C) Understanding and applying the principles of copyright and fair use.

Preliminary findingsWhich ability is most daunting to

students:

A) Using software (iMovie) to create a video

B) Finding and evaluating credible information sources

C) Understanding and applying the principles of copyright and fair use.

Preliminary findingsWhich ability is least daunting to

students:

A) Using software (iMovie) to create a video

B) Finding and evaluating credible information sources

C) Understanding and applying the principles of copyright and fair use.

Preliminary findings

Which ability is least daunting to students:

A) Using software (iMovie) to create a video

B) Finding and evaluating credible information sources

C) Understanding and applying the principles of copyright and fair use.

Parallels with ECAR study• 83%: Used the library web site within the

last year.

• 76%: I know how to find the information I need (books, articles, web sites etc..) for my class assignments.

• 89%: I know how to evaluate reliable, trustworthy information for my class assignments.

• 67%: I do not feel confident in my ability to use multimedia software (iMovie or other) to create videos or other online material.

• 90%: I understand copyright and the ethical use of information.

Preliminary findingsWhat did the instructor note was the

area of greatest difficulty for students?

A) Using iMovie to create a video.

B) Finding and evaluating credible information sources.

C) Understanding and applying the principles of copyright and fair use.

Preliminary findingsWhat did the instructor note was the

area of greatest difficulty for students?

A) Using iMovie to create a video.

B) Finding and evaluating credible information sources.

C) Understanding and applying the principles of copyright and fair use.

Research questions•How can library instruction address

student over-confidence in information literacy skills?

•Does student confidence (or lack thereof) motivate instructors’ course design?

•How can assignments be structured to provide active opportunities for critical information evaluation?

•Has the current copyright / fair use environment led to instructor and student exclusion of library resources?

Fellowship outcomes

•Sample rubric for multimedia projects incorporating digital literacies

•Increased librarian / technologist collaboration

•Additional faculty workshops on digital storytelling / fair use / library resources

•Publication of research findings

Thank you!

•Ellysa CahoyAssociate Head, Library Learning ServicesPenn State University Librariesellysa@psu.edu

•This presentation and all cited resources available at: http://bit.ly/infolit