Establishing Twenty-First-Century Information Fluency
Lisa O'Connor, Jennifer Sharkey
2013
Reference and user services quarterly
Technology cannot be separated from its social context; rather, they are mutually occurring phenomena, intertwined with what is often distinguished as the sociocultural, political, economic, or scientific milieu. 1 I n today' s tech-driven environment, students often appear more focused on Facebook and texting than engaged in their learning environments. Institutions of higher education bear responsibility for changing their learning structures to accommodate the new digital environment. 2 The
more »
... 012 Horizon Report lists effective integration of technologies into higher education as a major challenge facing today' s students and educators. Additionally, the report highlights student proficiency with digital information and tools as vital for "every discipline and profession," but there is little consensus among educators regarding what skills and competencies are most critical. 3 In an effort to infuse information fluency into programming and curriculum, consideration of the learning environment and methods for integrating technology is essential. Increased access to computers, mobile devices, and utilization of the Internet, particularly social networking platforms and text messaging, have influenced educators' classroom teaching and curriculum development, particularly out of concern for engaging members of the Millennial generation in learning. 4 Students today demonstrate "a deep-seated need to communicate and collaborate, to access information at any time of the day or night, and to have the tools they need to synthesize, evaluate, and create information." 5 Use of current and future technologies will continue to influence how students connect, and ultimately learn, in and out of the classroom. Given that students want to connect and collaborate, educators need to innovate pedagogically to help students develop a high level of aptitude to interact fluently with both information and technology. Methodologies developed for today' s students will also inform and guide faculty and librarians for future generations. Student search strategies are key indicators of their information fluency abilities. Perpetual commentary on the techsavviness of today' s students creates a misperception that they also possess high information fluency competencies to function in today' s information environment. Students' dominant use of free search engines has led to information-seeking habits comprised of only using natural language search strings, selection of top hits, and lack of intentional critical analysis in the selection process. 6 Typically, students' search skills reflect their goal for the search. One such example is they often have proficient searching skills for finding digital media to remix
doi:10.5860/rusq.53n1.33
fatcat:btthfn6bn5e7vl7z427l2osxdi