INITIAL WORK ON ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGY LITERACY SKILLS
Draft 1.0 October 24, 2003
NOTE: THIS IS A WORKING DRAFT AND WILL BE UPDATED PERIODICALLY
WITH NEW RESOURCES.
The document called "Being Fluent with Information Technology" (reference below)
discusses the justification for technology literacy and also specifies some learning
outcomes. It describes intellectual capabilities, which are useful when discussing the
justification for TL. Here is a listing (more details in Chapter 2 of this document.)
1. Engage in sustained reasoning.
2. Manage complexity.
3. Test a solution.
4. Manage problems in faulty solutions.
5. Organize and navigate information structures and evaluate information.
6. Collaborate.
7. Communicate to other audiences.
8. Expect the unexpected.
9. Anticipate changing technologies.
10. Think about information technology abstractly.
Reference: Being Fluent with Information Technology. (1999). Committee on
Information Technology Literacy, National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue,
NW, Box 285, Washington, DC 20055, http://stills.nap.edu/html/beingfluent/notice.html.
Other Listings:
ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries): Compilation of Core
Information Literacy Competency outcomes:
1. Ability to develop effective search strategies: Students identifies relevant sources
and develops a plan to search them.
2. Ability to locate and retrieve sources: Students know how to interpret bibliographic
citations (print and electronic) and Internet equivalents and know how to cite sources.
Students use interlibrary loan, documents delivery and other electronic transmission to
obtain the material.
3. Ability to analyze and critically evaluate information: Students know how to
evaluate the results of a search (relevancy, authority etc). Students know how to
differentiate between fact, opinion, and point of view.
4. Ability to organize and synthesize information
5. Ability to use and apply information: Students can apply information to critical
thinking and problem-solving situations. Students can integrate information into
academic discourse. Students produce and communicate information in appropriate
formats.
6. Awareness and attitude formation about information and information
technology: Students are aware of ethical, legal, and socio-political issues surrounding
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information and information technology. Students are aware of the structure and
dissemination channels of the global information environment. Students are aware of the
difference between information and knowledge. Students appreciate that information
competence skills enable lifelong learning.
Reference: Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning. Prepared by the
American Association of School Librarians/Association for Educational Communications
and Technology. (Chicago: ALA, 1998)
Six Skills Listing:
1. Task Definition: Define the problem, identify information requirements of the
problem.
2. Information Seeking Strategies: Determine the range of possible sources. Evaluate
the different possible sources to determine priorities.
3. Location and Access: Locate sources (intellectually and physically). Find information
within sources.
4. Use of information: Engage (read, hear, view) in a source and extract information
from a source.
5. Synthesis: Organize information from multiple sources; present information
6. Evaluation: Judge the product (effectiveness) and judge the information problemsolving process.
Reference: Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz. In Information
Problem-Solving: the Big Six Skills Approach to Library & Information Skills Instruction.
(1990).
ASSESSMENT TOOL:
You may also want to check out an assessment tool called tek.xam.The Virginia
Foundation for Independent Colleges created this tool, its Web site is at:
http://www.tekxam.com/, whereby students can become certified in technology
competencies. If you visit the tek.xam site, you will see what core competencies are
tested. Some additional links regarding colleges that were involved or use the tekxam
tests for assessing technology literacy:
http://technology.sbc.edu/tekxam.html (Sweet Brior College)
http://www.oit.umd.edu/units/as/TEKEXAM/ (University of Maryland)
http://www.departments.dsu.edu/assessment/executive_summary_sectionsix.htm
(Dakota State University)
PIT’S RESOURCES:
Here is Pit’s list of resources regarding how other universities manage the functional tech
literacy issue. Resources are listed in order of relevancy.
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http://www.ncsu.edu/itfluency/biblio.html
http://www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/~tsmalley/DefiningInfoLit.html
http://www.fiu.edu/~library/ili/iliweb.html
http://www.cis.gsu.edu/~mgalliva/mba8473/education/Computer%20Literacy%20in%20
Colleges.html
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/admissions/tech.htm
http://istweb.syr.edu/prospective/graduate/literacyreq.asp
http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/cscc/bibliography.html
http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:ZpNp0fqClrkJ:www.indstate.edu/gened/PDF/ITL
%2520and%2520QL%2520Guidelines%2520for%2520Proposals.pdf+technology+literac
y+requirements+university&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
http://www.usd.edu/acadaffairs/acadAssessment/itl.cfm
Another useful source of information: Information Literacy Competency Standards for
Higher Education.
http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ACRL/Standards_and_Guidelines/Informat
ion_Literacy_Competency_Standards_for_Higher_Education.htm
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