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April 25, 2005
NPR story about testing for technology competence
NPR's Morning Edition show today featured a story about a new standardized test created by the makers of the SAT to be used to test for computer literacy. Several students were interviewed; one stated that "everyone in my generation is expected to know how to use computers and make Power Point presentations, but not all of have those skills."
The story was a bit muddled from a librarian's standpoint, because the issues of computer literacy and information literacy were compared interchangeably, which they are not, in my mind. Computer literacy relates to specific technical skills of using computer technology and software; information literacy refers to the ability to make judgments about the sources and quality of information resources. One can have outstanding computer literacy skills while being information illiterate. One student interviewed for the NPR story described his primary source of information as Google, and that his professors "didn't care" about the quality of his information, as along as he cited it correctly. The NPR reporter went on to say that the faculty of this student's institution did, in fact, care a great deal about the information, but was at a loss to know how to bring these skills to the students.
KSL librarians are trying to work closely with faculty (particularly those involved with SAGES) to bring these information literacy skills to undergraduate students. Click here for a current project sponsored by KSL relating to information literacy. (Maybe win an iPod Shuffle too!)
Posted by tdr at April 25, 2005 05:43 PM
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