QQML 2011- EMPATIC Workshop

1. QQML 2011- EMPATIC Workshop Information Literacy in Lifelong learningAthens, 27 May 2011 Hellenic National Research Foundation

2. Workshop program Part I • Anthi Katsirikou: About Empatic • Mersini Moreleli- Kakouris: Information Literacy the Core of Lifelong Learning. Part II • Roundtable: Best Practices and strategies on IL. • Panelists: George Zachos, Albert Boekhorst, Serap Kurbanoglu, Eleni Mamma.

3. Information Literacy is a vital component of the future development of a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented European Information Society. A society in which everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge - enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life.

4. UNESCO’s Alexandria Proclamation on IL and Lifelong Learning • is crucial to the competitive advantage of individuals, enterprises (especially small and medium enterprises), regions and nations • … provides the key to effective access, use and creation of content to support economic development, education, health and human services, and all other aspects of contemporary societies • … lies at the core of lifelong learning. • … 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 of all nations” (Alex Proclamation, 2005).

5. It is a key competence that underpins many, if not most, of the EU's most important objectives and strategies, including i2010 and Education and Training 2010. It is therefore important that progress is made in all Member States and that expertise can be pooled and used to create maximum impact right across the EU. However, the potential of Information Literacy remains largely unrealized within mainstream learning systems in Europe.

6. Information Literacy: 3 perspectives of analysis/ 1 Information Literacy as a discipline of study Thesis 1: The Culture of information falls within the disciplinary field of Documentation-Information Science Thesis 2: The Culture of information is a knowledge independent from every application domain Thesis 3: The Culture of information is a kind of transversal knowledge Thesis 4: The Culture of information is distinct from the Informatics culture

7. Information Literacy: 3 perspectives of analysis/ 2 Information Literacy as social objective Thesis 5: Information Literacy is a requisite of the Information Society Thesis 6: Information Literacy is an objective of educational policy Thesis 7: Information Literacy implies a massive operation Thesis 8: Information Literacy refers to a minimum amount of competencies Thesis 9: Information Literacy requires changes in the education system

8. Information Literacy: 3 perspectives of analysis/3 Information Literacy as cognitive acquisition of individuals Thesis 10: Information competencies (or i-skills) must be certificated (Basili, 2008)

9. It is significant to say that/ 1 The potential of Information Literacy remains largely unrealized within mainstream learning systems in Europe. • Curricular integration at all educational levels is comparatively rare, •  Significant barriers inhibit its integration within curricula including: relevance and appropriateness of syllabus content, • negative stakeholder perception of the learning achieved,

10. It is significant to say that/ 2 • lack of awareness of the relationship with ‘neighbouring’ disciplines and approaches such as computer literacy, media literacy, digital etc literacy, • lack of competence by teachers, • concerns over suitability for adults, • Information literacy is also interpreted and implemented across Europe in different ways by different exponents - and according to different levels and disciplines of learning and different approaches to education.

11. EMPATIC Project aims to: • Improve current perceptions among policy makers in Europe regarding the role, value and implementability of Information Literacy in learning, • Pave the way for the extended piloting and eventual mainstreaming of information competencies in all levels of education and their integration in the reform of curriculum frameworks.

12. Core objectives of the project: • Draw together and valorise the results of previous Information Literacy initiatives and projects across the school, university, adult and vocational learning sectors, • Use this evidence to influence policy makers’ perceptions and actions to support a marked increase in piloting and mainstreaming of Information Literacy, • have a significant impact on validating new learning paradigms and strategic thinking on curriculum reform.

13. Workshop program/1 • Arrive at a practical definition of Information Literacy and an assessment of current thinking on its role in learner performance and learning outcomes at each level of education, taking into account the findings of LLP projects and other European initiatives. • Assess to what extent Information Literacy efforts are being employed within mainstream education. • Identify best practices in schools, higher education, adult and vocational educational bodies in formal and non-formal settings.

14. Workshop program/2 Second step in EMPATIC’s activities is (mainly) aimed to: • based on the results and analyses of the previous research activities in the project, to propound strategic models, standards and associated performance measures and illustrative case studies for information literacy, which can be tested in the validation phase. • design strategic models for information literacy development appropriate to formal and informal learning environments throughout people's lifetimes which are relevant to Europe and determine the implications for the training, continuing education and professional development of teachers and learning professionals.

15. Third step in EMPATIC’s activities aims Analyze a set of best practices for each of the four educational segment (Schools, Higher Education, Vocational Education and Adult Education). Discuss, modify and propose strategic models for information literacy development, appropriate to each learning environment which are relevant to Europe educational system and lifelong learning area.

16. EMPATIC will provide innovative solutions by: • Taking a political approach to Information Literacy for the first time. Focusing on policy makers as the key actors who can bring about change and convincing them that Information Literacy is a vital component of the future development of a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society,

17. Effectively exploiting the results of previous research in Information Literacy for the first time, •  Making the lessons learned and techniques developed by campaigners in other fields accessible to support and encourage advocacy by practitioners and others on behalf of Information Literacy.

18. Culture of Information Information skills Education to information IL universe of discourse Cognitive perspective Socio-political perspective Disciplinary perspective

19. Thank you, anthi anthi@asmda.com

20. Empower Autonomous Learning through Information Competencies Best practices ADULT / LIFELONG LEARNING SECTOR

21. Europe’s New Libraries Together In Transversal Learning Environment • multilateral project • support and extend Europe’s public libraries in supporting learning for all age groups and sections of society, • by disseminating, consolidating and enhancing the work of key existing networks, projects and initiatives in this area. • contribution through informal learning settings in libraries to lifelong learning, combating digital illiteracy and social exclusion, paying special attention to gains achieved through the applications of ICT.

22. ENTITLE … aims to provide library and partner adult professionals, researchers and decision makers in Europe with a common, validated means of collecting and presenting data on the impact of their learning provision on learners, across their major target learning 'sectors' and to establish a basis upon which they can in future establish trends and developments in a manner which is convincing to strategic policy makers, funding bodies in the education, culture employment sectors etc.

23. ENTITLE The core document is the expert-validated impact assessment framework designed for use at institutional, regional/national level in supporting quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the impact of libraries' learning activities and services on learning participation, outcomes etc for children/schools, adult learners in general and learners involved in vocational education. The framework is adaptable for the conducting of comparative studies in future at each of the levels described up to and including pan-European level.

24. Information And Media Literacy/ Unesco The aim is fostering information and media literate societies by encouraging the development of national information and media literacy policies, including in education. That means the impact on actions for different bodies official and non-official, especially connected with educational and lifelong learning sector.

25. Information And Media Literacy/ Unesco UNESCO.s mission in this area consists of fostering information and media literate societies by encouraging the development of national information and media literacy policies, including in education. A particular focus is on training teachers to sensitize them to the importance of information and media literacy in the education process, enable them to integrate information and media literacy into their teaching and provide them with appropriate pedagogical methods and curricula.

26. Information And Media Literacy/ Unesco • An essential element of the strategy is the integration of libraries into the programmes as they provide an environment with resources and services for free and open learning and play a key role in people’s life-long learning. • Media literacy section of UNESCO is the action to provide critical knowledge and analytical tools, empowering media consumers to function as autonomous and national citizens, and enabling them to critically make use of the media.

27. The curriculum aims to integrate media education and information literacy in the initial training of teachers at secondary school levels, and will be designed for application and adaptation worldwide, according to the needs of each country. The framework will assert the desired competencies of teachers in this field and will focus on raising the awareness of youths in using information and media.

28. The curriculum aims to integrate media education and information literacy in the initial training of teachers at secondary school levels, and will be designed for application and adaptation worldwide, according to the needs of each country. The framework will assert the desired competencies of teachers in this field and will focus on raising the awareness of youths in using information and media.

29. The initiative is dedicated for Lifelong Learning, but could be addressed to students (all levels of education), educators, trainers and other users for whom media and information literacy is important part of holistic understanding of information literacy competences education. • The action held to provide people with the skills and abilities for critical reception, assessment and use of information and media in their professional and personal lives.

30. Results • The project contributes to the spread of information and media literacy in lifelong learning. The resources – documents, publications (concerning education, indicators, new technologies for IL development, etc.) are available on the website.

31. IFAP – Information For All Programme The overall goal of IFAP is to help UNESCO Member States develop and implement national information policies and knowledge strategies in a world increasingly using information and communication technologies (ICT). In order to achieve this goal, the Programme concentrates also its efforts on Information Literacy that empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goal.

32. IFAP try to: • promote and widen access to information in the public domain through the organization, digitization and preservation of information; • support training, continuing education and lifelong learning in the fields of communication, information and informatics; . • support the production of local content and foster the availability of indigenous knowledge through basic literacy and ICT literacy training;

33. promote the use of international standards and best practices in communication, information and informatics in UNESCO's fields of competence; • and promote information and knowledge networking at local, national, regional and international levels.

34. Results • UNESCO.s Information for All Programme (IFAP) wishes to encourage communities using information for development to share their success stories. The aim is to promote good practices in using information for development in all parts of the world. The stories collected in open platform provide practical examples that we believe will inspire others and raise the visibility of the critically important role that information plays in development.

35. Statistical Literacy International Statistical Literacy Project (ISLP) provides an online repository of international resources and news in Statistical Literacy on the website (available on: http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/islp/), international activities to promote the resources and the individuals and institutions behind them and outreach activities to increase awareness of statistical literacy.

36. The International Statistical Literacy Project is under the umbrella of the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE), a section of the International Statistical Institute (ISI). It is overseen jointly by the Executive Committee of the IASE and the International Statistical Literacy Project (ISLP) Advisory Committee. • The ISLP is comprised of several projects, each of them focused on one area of statistical literacy.

37. Each project is coordinated by expert volunteers (the project coordinator) who highlight news, compile resources, maintain a web page for their project and execute activities dedicated to increase statistical literacy in their area of expertise. The resources compiled by each project coordinator are useful for acquiring and developing statistical literacy at all levels from Primary/Elementary School through Adult Learners.

38. Results International Statistical Literacy Project (ISLP) disseminates resources (articles, references, bibliographies, portals, websites, tutorials, etc.) divided for special users groups. The online resources are selected and designed for: • Adults learners and educators • Articles with Statistics

39. Results • Assessment of Stats Literacy • Census for Children • Definitions of Stats Literacy • General Resources on Stats Literacy • Media and Journalist Training • Statistical Offices/Training and Projects • Teachers/Resources and Training

40. WKLUCZAMY/ Poland Core objectives • The main aim of project is to help adults and other users from Silesia region to develop cultural awareness and information literacy through a series of trainings, workshops, proposed software and e-communication tools.

41. The project aim is develop the Information Literacy especially Computer Literacy, Digital Literacy counteracting e-exclusion of information society through the pecified amount of workshops, trainings, meetings and research on digital inclusion of adults in Silesia region.

42. The users are able to use the free of charge resources such as: • operating system, search engine, office package, e-mail software and network • Software (Internet connection). The project also helps to receive the ECDL European • Computer Driving License Certificate.

43. Results The main results are improvement of computer, ICT skills within 50+ group of users. The impact was put on e-inclusion of adults. The project incited the awareness of social, cultural, interpersonal and collaborative capacities to create information society with e-communication possibilities, tools and forms usage for all citizens.

44. CONCLUSIONS /1 • No coherent Information Literacy policy actions are undertaken by the interested organizations, • The government agencies do not fund most of the initiatives or research, • Information Literacy has been implemented mainly by academic centers; • all kinds of tutorials and training are created. • In some academic and library institutions the issues related to IL education have been included into the curricula.

45. CONCLUSIONS/ 2 • In the case of completed projects there is a lack of data concerning further development of the selected IL initiatives or the projects. • most of the IL projects did not bring lasting results due to the lack of a wider reflection and overall project management policy. • It is necessary to develop strategic solutions that will ensure the viability of the project results after the termination of funding. • All organizations participating in the Information Literacy projects should do much more to provide access to complete and good-quality information about their initiatives, particularly through the creation of functional websites and maintaining them not only for the duration of the projects but also afterwards.

46. The impact should be put more on building strategies for the sustainable implementation of the IL policy, the inclusion of government, academic and other bodies’ activity. The emphasis ought to be put on: • Development of translational validated taxonomy of Information Literacy strategies, • Results of translational mapping of distribution of Information Literacy strategies, • Guidelines for teachers and trainers to facilitate optimal use of user and student.