Information Literacy: the future

With increasing pressures falling on the education systems in place to demonstrate a purpose beyond schools, nowadays educators are compelled to teach students to develop a love for learning and to harbour within them the love for lifelong learning. Hence the need to make all students Information literate, especially when Information Literacy is the 21^st century educators’ critical component. As there is a greater need for teachers to incorporate information literacy in teacher education programs a collaboration between librarians and the faculty in the teaching of information literacy skills is the way to go.

Australian Curriculum states that “Literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to access, understand, analyse and evaluate information, make meaning, express thoughts and emotions, present ideas and opinions, interact with others and participate in activities at school and in their lives beyond school.” Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning states, ¹³“Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all nations.” The Joint policy of Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Australian School Library Association (ASLA) emphasizes on the promotion of ¹⁴“the free flow of information and ideas in the interest of all Australians and a thriving culture, economy and democracy.” Therefore, it becomes mandatory for each participating teacher to program lessons which provides learners’ opportunities to equip themselves with information literacy skills as tools for lifelong learning; an observation which echoes the California Commission’s Teacher Credentialing statement. Teachers should teach students to identify when to look for information, where to find it, how to organise the gathered information and use it for their needs and evaluate the accuracy, authority, objectivity and the wide acceptance of the sources from which the required information has been gathered.

Consequently, in this Information Age, technology based collaborative learning with emphasis on co-operative teaching and learning strategies, 21^st century skills and teamwork would be the solution to the problem of engaging challenging or unmotivated learners of all types in mainstream classes. As educators and learners cruise through the different phases of life, situations where they have to look for new knowledge, learn about it or acquire new skills would continue to arise and it is expedient for both the parties to have the skills to use new knowledge, to create and be innovative in future enterprises and hence the connectedness of Information Literacy to lifelong learning.