Sarah Blakeslee and Kristin Johnson
With the move from satellite to Web‐based course delivery systems, librarians have greater opportunities, as well as greater challenges, regarding the best way to deliver…
Abstract
With the move from satellite to Web‐based course delivery systems, librarians have greater opportunities, as well as greater challenges, regarding the best way to deliver information literacy instruction to distance students. Providing distance education through course delivery software like WebCT and HorizonLive is a growing trend in higher education. In addition, the opportunity to provide “real time” reference service to these distance students is afforded by the availability of live chat software. Librarians at California State University, Chico, decided to collaborate with distance education professors to use HorizonLive and chat reference to provide traditional library instruction, albeit in an untraditional format, to distance students. This article details the project and reports on its success.
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Kristin Trefts and Sarah Blakeslee
Most instruction librarians know that library instruction can often be boring to teach, and boring for students, but we also know the value of library instruction and its…
Abstract
Most instruction librarians know that library instruction can often be boring to teach, and boring for students, but we also know the value of library instruction and its importance to our students. So what innovative approaches can we take to spice up our instruction and make the topic more appealing? The authors decided that using humor was the best approach. To this end, they went on a quest to: study and learn about comedy; take what they had learned to make themselves funnier; find ways to incorporate comedy into their library instruction; and share what they had learned with other librarians. The rest is history.
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The opportunity to teach a three unit general educational freshman orientation class is a dream come true for any instruction librarian. In this article, Blakeslee discusses the…
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The opportunity to teach a three unit general educational freshman orientation class is a dream come true for any instruction librarian. In this article, Blakeslee discusses the chain of events that led to her teaching a general education course, as well as the planning and background of the course, course content, challenges of being a new teacher with little classroom experience, combining librarianship and teaching, and the benefits derived from the classroom teaching experience. Her better understanding of the students, she concludes, stems from having had extended opportunities to see what motivates them and interests them and how they approach their assignments and learning. This understanding has translated into better reference service.
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Rajesh Singh and Kyle N. Brinster
While LIS scholarship emphasizes the need to be multi-literate by equipping people with critical information literacy, digital literacy, and media literacy skills to combat the…
Abstract
While LIS scholarship emphasizes the need to be multi-literate by equipping people with critical information literacy, digital literacy, and media literacy skills to combat the phenomenon of fake news in the contemporary information society, the concept of political information literacy is still in its infancy. This chapter addresses this gap by developing an understanding of political information literacy and challenges the premise that information professionals and information organizations should remain neutral in the face of phenomena like censorship through noise and disinformation. In this endeavor, it reviews contemporary information environments vis-à-vis the growth of fake news and misinformation, and current information literacy approaches utilized by information organizations. Thereafter, it explores several cognitive barriers, such as the role of confirmation bias, information avoidance, information groupishness, and information overload, which affects people’s ability to process information. Finally, it encourages information professionals to hold regular information sessions on politically charged topics, tackle the cognitive factors increasing misinformation, and cultivate multidisciplinary approaches to confront fake news.
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Joseph Seyram Agbenyega and Deborah Tamakloe
The remarkable achievements being promoted through inclusive education practices make the deficiencies associated with educational exclusion all the more noticeable. Despite many…
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The remarkable achievements being promoted through inclusive education practices make the deficiencies associated with educational exclusion all the more noticeable. Despite many schools adopting the philosophy of inclusion, avoidable educational exclusion of students with special needs still persists in educational systems worldwide. This is because the preparation of competent teachers to respond to variations in student populations in schools is very difficult to achieve. A major reason for this difficulty is that most student education programs fail to nurture collaborative instructional practice culture in student teachers, which can enable them to work well with others to teach all students. Utilizing the status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness (SCARF) model developed by David Rock, this chapter contributes to existing knowledge on student teacher development by theorizing and offering practical ways to enact collaborative instructional practices in inclusive education. The chapter addresses this issue by reporting student teachers' experiences in a course unit on inclusive education in one Australian university that adopted a collaborative instructional practice, deepening their understanding and practice of inclusion.
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Sarah E. Brown and Kari D. Weaver
To illuminate the experience of working with students using the innovative pedagogical approach of dramaturgy, this pedagogy can more effectively address systemic bias within…
Abstract
Purpose
To illuminate the experience of working with students using the innovative pedagogical approach of dramaturgy, this pedagogy can more effectively address systemic bias within academia.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is rooted in dramaturgical theory which suggests that how a person's identity or background is being constantly reshaped by their interactions with one another and the world around them. Within a classroom setting, it applies to contexts where group activities have a required performative aspect.
Findings
The authors found that taking a dramaturgical approach can be a very effective active learning technique within a one-shot information literacy instruction context.
Originality/value
Creative approaches to information literacy instruction often remain untried, and the combination of this work and the consideration of dramaturgical theory within the framework of inclusive pedagogy is a distinct contribution to the field.
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Katherine Hanz and Emily Sarah Kingsland
The purpose of this paper seeks to provide an in-depth overview of a series of fake news information literacy library workshops, which were offered 19 times over the course of 2…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper seeks to provide an in-depth overview of a series of fake news information literacy library workshops, which were offered 19 times over the course of 2 years. It examines the results of a fake news game, which was played with a wide variety of audiences.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study examines workshops offered by two librarians at [name of institution], a major research institution in [city], [country]. It describes the workshops in detail and demonstrates how others may adopt this model.
Findings
The authors found that while high school students proved to be the most adept at recognizing fake news, the literature suggests that mere exposure to digital media is not sufficient in preparing Generation Z in their digital literacy critical assessment skills.
Practical implications
Library and information professionals are provided with the tools to adapt this workshop to suit the needs of their respective users.
Originality/value
This paper examines how a workshop can be adapted to seven unique audiences, spanning from high school students to university alumni. It incorporates the Association of College and Research Libraries framework and the latest literature into informing its practice.