National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education
National Seminar Series 2014
Title: Demonstrating the Value of Information Literacy to Staff and Students
Theme (refer to the themes outlined on the Forum website): Learning to Learn
Date: June 11th 2014
Host institution(s): Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin)
Venue: Institute of Technology Tallaght
Contact: philip.russell@ittdublin.ie / 01 404 2202
Link to recording (if applicable): presentations and video recordings available here:
http://millennium.it-tallaght.ie/screens/il2014.html
Photos from the day are available here https://www.flickr.com/photos/31246949@N07/sets/72157644825366127/
Tweets from the day are available here https://storify.com/LibraryITTD/tweets-from-demonstrating-the-value-of-information
Key insights from the day (in bullets):
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Over 85 delegates attended, with local and national representatives from educational
institutions, community organisations and industry.
Speakers on the day included representatives from the educational sector (second level,
third level), current students / graduates of ITT Dublin and industry.
National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education
Key insights:
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Information literacy (the ability to retrieve, use and evaluate information effectively and
ethically) is regarded as a key academic skill / graduate attribute and a core skill for lifelong
learning.
Information literacy is one of a number of literacies in education which includes digital
literacy.
Students at second level and those transitioning into third level lack core academic skills
such as reading, writing and numeracy and the ability to use information effectively and
ethically.
Students need to develop information literacy skills from the earliest stages of education.
Need for information literacy to be integrated into the curriculum at 2nd level and third level.
Information literacy is best developed within the context of subject disciplines.
Learning to learn modules in HE are key resources to enable students to acquire information
literacy attributes.
Include explicit learning outcomes for information literacy in modules such as Learning to
Learn.
Ensure effective pedagogical practice and appropriate assessment mechanisms in the
design of information literacy courses.
Important to include the student perspective in the design of information literacy
programmes.
Information literacy practitioners need to ensure a more coordinated approach to develop
information literacy skills - more collaboration and joined up thinking from academics,
librarians, teachers & students and employers to develop these skills.
Importance of digital technology to enhance information literacy teaching and learning.
Need for further professional development of librarians to encompass teaching and learning
traning.
More advocacy amongst the library profession re the importance of information literacy.
Raise awareness on a national level to the strategic value of information literacy in terms of
the knowledge economy, transferable employment skills, social inclusion and lifelong
learning.
The need for guidelines / standards for information literacy / digital literacy to be developed
– currently no national policy exists for information literacy.
A more integrated approach and recognition to the value of information literacy by
policymakers, Government and employers.
Some feedback –
“This was a really excellent seminar. Each presentation linked very well together and there were
similar themes and concerns raised throughout. The second presentation “Information Literacy
in Schools” was an eye opener and will effect my role and development. It was also great to get
National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education
a real life experience from the last session. The importance of information
literacy as a lifelong necessity has never been so relevant. Well done and thank
you.”
“Fabulous day. Not often that all the speakers give such useful and relevant talks. Practical and
interesting”
“All sessions provided new insights and ideas... very good touch to get student viewpoint. Some
more of this would help information literacy projects”
“All presentations were very interesting- common themes but different perspectives, loved the
student/industry input outside the academic input”
“I really enjoyed all aspects, particularly the Learning to Learn presentation, will use this seminar
to further develop our information literacy training particularly to support those students in
transition”
“I will be presenting this Seminar to my colleagues as part of our CPD and incorporating the
ideas I’ve learnt about when we are developing our info skills classes”
“The event raised awareness of how closely 2nd level and 3rd level need to work together on
information literacy”
“The event has encouraged me to reflect..I am going to redesign my class plans for information
literacy teaching and lobby harder for collaboration with academic colleagues.”
“Any chance of a MOOC produced on a collaborative basis by interested stakeholders from
within 2nd level and third level spaces?”
Key contributions from the seminar to the broader Forum outlined theme (Max 300 words):
All presentations from this seminar focused on the value of information literacy to student learning
and highlighted the importance of developing these skills in students as they transition through the
various stages of education. As one presenter pointed out ‘the teachable moment for information
literacy is in transitions when student is aware they need new skills’.
National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education
The presenter from the Schools Library sector reinforced this and spoke about programmes they run
for information skills development in transition year which has proved very useful in terms of
imparting these competencies.
Speakers from third level at the seminar highlighted the value of a first year Learning to Learn
module in terms of developing information literacy attributes at a key stage in the student’s
academic development. Such a module has been developed at ITT Dublin – (information literacy is
one of the learning outcomes) - and the course has been key to developing these skills and
enhancing the first year learning experience.
Current students from ITT Dublin offered their perspective at the seminar on the teaching and
learning of information skills, in particular, emphasising the importance of these competencies being
taught in first year and how being equipped with such abilities has facilitated their ongoing
educational progression, enabling them to learn independently and conduct self directed research.
Graduates of ITT Dublin spoke about the value of information literacy as a transferable skill and how
it has improved their employment opportunities. The speaker from industry reinforced the
importance of information literacy as a key graduate attribute and transferrable skill which is highly
sought by employers.
The event also highlighted some best practice strategies and resources for information literacy
practitioners in terms of how they go about teaching information literacy skills, highlighting that any
information literacy instruction needs to be student centred and meets a range of learning styles.
The seminar underlined the importance of leveraging digital technology to support the delivery of
information literacy training.
What we plan to do in the future building on this event (Max 300 words):
The seminar has encouraged the library at ITT Dublin to take a more strategic approach in terms of
information literacy development and collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure that these skills
are embedded into the curriculum. ITT Dublin will continue to embrace digital technology to
enhance the provision of information literacy programmes.
ITT Dublin will investigate the possibility of creating a MOOC for information literacy / learning to
learn, the development of which could be enabled by inter-institutional or intra-institutional
collaboration.
This event did much to build capacity in terms of the sharing of ideas, knowledge and expertise
amongst information literacy practitioners. To reinforce this and establish a community of practice,
the aim is to ensure that this seminar takes place on an annual basis.
At national level, Philip Russell (Deputy Librarian, ITT Dublin) is chair of the Library Association of
Ireland’s Taskforce on Information Literacy (TFIL - https://libraryassociation.ie/library-association-
National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education
ireland/committees-panels-task-forces/information-literacy ) the goal of which
is to achieve a national policy for information literacy to include standards for
this competency for all levels of learners. This seminar will help to inform the ongoing work of TFIL
and will strengthen relationships with cognate groups nationally / internationally.
The outputs of this seminar will also be disseminated via relevant professional networks /
publications and at national and international workshops / conferences /seminars.