UTS 2000

Ross J Todd

Transforming Learning through Action Research: Information

and Critical Literacies

Dr Ross ToddHead, Department of Information Studies

University of Technology, Sydney

Ross.Todd@uts.edu.au

UTS 2000

Ross J Todd

the age of information

dot.com age

dot.con age

age of the mind

info place info space

info space knowledge space

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Ross J Todd

CYBER SOCIETY

• cyber communities• cyber democracy• cyber language• cyber activism• cyber patrol

• cyber stress• cyber overload• cyber sense• cyber shopping• cybrarian

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Ross J Todd

The information environment

• complex and fluid

• connective and interactive

• diverse and unpredictable

• no longer constrained by time and place

info place info space

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Ross J Todd

Schooling ….

• is all about providing the best learning opportunities for students to make the most of their lives as sense-making, constructive, independent people

Students know how to be an active agent in their rich information space

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ACTIVE LEARNING

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CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE

Turning information into knowledge is the most intellectually challenging, time-consuming, and

potentially controversial process

SENSE - UNDERSTANDING - KNOWLEDGE

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CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE

• inquiring mind

• sense of curiosity

• critical spirit

• self evaluation

• commitment to reflection

• sense of personal agency

• repertoire of learning skills

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Ross J Todd

INFORMATION AND CRITICAL LITERACIES

Key to effective engagement with information space

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Ross J Todd

INFORMATION & CRITICAL LITERACIES

Reading and writing

Speaking and listening

Viewing and visualising

Touching and empathising (?)

Connecting with information

Interacting with information

Utilising information

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Ross J Todd

SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING

from toys to tools

10 KEY LEARNING PRINCIPLES

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1. Learning is about making and maintaining connections

• connect with information

• interact with information

• utilise a rich information world

We cannot learn effectively if we are not information literate

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2. Learning is an active search for meaning by the learner

• Discovery of knowledge

• Transform prior knowledge

• Constructing knowledge

• Demonstrate competencies and use of ideas

Active searching is underpinned by critical and information literacies

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Ross J Todd

3. Learning is developmental

• Intellectual growth is gradual: advancement, consolidation, reinforcement

Information and critical literacies provide a staged developmental process

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4. Learning is both individual and social

• Opportunities for co-operative learning

• Cultivating and inclusive community

• Information and critical literacies facilitate development of individual and

social needs

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5. Learning is strongly affected by educational climate in which it

takes place• Value academic and personal success and

intellectual inquiry

• Feeling connected, cared for and trusted

Mastery of information and critical literacies

develops self-esteem and belonging

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Ross J Todd

6. Learning requires feedback, practice, and use

• Feedback sustained learning

• Practice nourishing learning

• Opportunities to use meaningful learning

Information and critical literacies provide opportunities for evaluating progress

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Ross J Todd

7. Much learning takes place informally and incidentally

• Activities beyond classroom enrich formal learning experiences

• Mentoring relationships beyond the classroom

• Learning in a variety of setting and circumstances

Information and critical literacies foster independent learning

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Ross J Todd

8. Learning is grounded in particular contexts and individual experiences

• Requires effort to transfer specific knowledge and skills to new circumstances

• Unlearn personal views and approaches when confronted by new information

Information and critical literacies enable learners to read the world and the word

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Ross J Todd

9. Learning involves ability of individuals to monitor own

learning

• Understand how knowledge is acquired

• Awareness of own ways of knowing

• Ability to monitor own learning

Information and critical literacies provide an evaluative tool for learning progress

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Ross J Todd

10. Learning is enhanced by taking place in the context of compelling

situations

• Provides challenge and opportunity

• Stimulates brain to conceptualise, contemplate and reflect

• Amplifies the learning process

Information and critical literacies must be situated in meaningful situations

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Ross J Todd

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIPfrom toy to tool

• Shared learning

• Shared responsibility

• Shared development

• Shared celebration

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Ross J Todd

The Death of CPPT

CO-OPERATIVE PROGRAM PLANNING

AND TEACHING

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The urgency of shared learning initiatives

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Electronic Information Seeking(McNicholas & Todd, 1996)

• Design of research activities• Constructing an appropriate search• Working with search engines• Critiquing web sites and making quality

assessments of the information• Constructing personal understanding

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Ross J Todd

Electronic Information SeekingAitkin (1997) (Primary school children)

• high levels of information overload

• major coping strategies included: deliberate omission; making broad and quick selections based on superficial analysis; deliberately accepting errors; getting someone else to do the work

• confusion, frustration, depression

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Ross J Todd

Electronic Information Seeking(Dilal & Watson, 1998) (Year 7 Science students)

• Failure of students to retrieve Web documents based on aboutness: subject headings, key words, concepts

• Inability to make relevance judgements

• Inability to make quality judgements

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Electronic Information Seeking(Kafai & Bates, 1997)

• Inability to use search engines

• Difficulty in building a search strategy

• Difficulty in locating appropriate resources

• Dealing with “boring, uninvolving or irrelevant sites”

• “Retard the value of the experience”

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Electronic Information Seeking(Fidel, 1999)

• Absence of search strategies

• Inability to formulate effective search strategies

• Inappropriately favoured visual cues

• Navigational difficulties: Lost in Space

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Electronic Information Seeking(Hirsch, 1999)

• Limited patience - abort searches quickly

• Poor management of research process -repetition of searches

• Limited navigation of sites in depth

• Limited use of search features

• No skills in judging information quality and relevance

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ACTION RESEARCH

A key framework for setting up strategies and activities for implementing change in relation

to critical and information literacies

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

TRANSFORMING LEARNING

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ACTION RESEARCH

• A process through which educators work together to improve education by change through action and reflection on their daily teaching habits (Loerke, 1992)

• Systematic inquiry that is collective, collaborative, self-reflective, critical, and undertaken by participants in the inquiry (McCutchen & Jung, 1990)

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ACTION RESEARCHkey words

• inquiry• participative• shared• reflective• planned

• purposive• systematic• improving• leading to change• evaluative

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ACTION RESEARCH PHASES

• Problem identification

• Mutual commitment to improvement

• Plan for investigation of problem

• Implement actions / strategies to improve

• Effects of actions observed and recorded

• Reflect on outcomes

• Ongoing cycle of planning, action, evaluation

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ACTION RESEARCH OUTCOMES

• Promotes individual development

Personal renewal

• Shared knowledge and experience

Collective renewal

• Influence institutional change

Organisational renewal

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ACTION RESEARCH

• Responsive• Interactive• Constructive• Experiential• Reflective• Systematic• Outcomes Oriented

SHARED LEARNING

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The future …..

we construct the road by walking on it ...