Reflection: Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

As I reflect on the lessons learned in my Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the classroom, I am struck by the importance of the process necessary for successful guided inquiry. There are no shortcuts. Each phase of inquiry deserves equal attention: questioning, searching, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating. I recognized some bias in myself as I moved through the lessons in this course, particularly during the Think Out Loud Evaluation where I discovered I too often take for granted that students know when information is reliable. In this phase of the inquiry process especially, I need to go back to basics and use sound instruction with modeling, scaffolding, practice, and feedback so my students can see and experience the process of reviewing a web source for accuracy. (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007) Warlick was right when he stated all learners need to be able to evaluate sources and all teachers, in every subject, should teach this skill. (Laureate Education, 2009a) Information literacy is not the exclusive territory of only Language Arts teachers. I plan to use the Help Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus site again as a resource in my History classroom for students to see how clever an inaccurate website can be.

Going forward, I will use the knowledge gained from this course to lead my students toward independent learning. Our challenge as educators is to prepare our students for an unknown future where they will have to be responsible for finding their own answers in an information rich environment. (Laureate Education, 2009b) We all know how to present content to our students but through this course I see it is vital that I present that content “in a way that serves as a springboard for student inquiry.” (Thornburg, 2004, p. 7) I will not give my students all the answers. I will look for opportunities to engage my students and motivate them to want to learn more. With my knowledge of guided inquiry, I can prepare my students not just in content learning but for lifetime learning. (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, & Caspari, 2007, p.4)

Professionally, I see myself developing more units of study using guided inquiry as the vehicle for my students to construct knowledge and develop information literacy skills. Beginning with the standards for American History and World History, I plan to review the materials I already have and select at least one unit per grading period for a guided inquiry project. As a basis for instruction, my goal is to build the inquiry process into the classroom curriculum so that students naturally approach learning using the inquiry steps to develop questions, search for information, evaluate resources, synthesize and communicate what they learn using 21st century skills. Formative assessment will feature largely in my units, especially KWL and surveys as tools for students to reflect on what they have learned and how they have learned it. By reinforcing the fact that they are constructing their own knowledge, I hope to foster a lasting confidence for them to take ownership of future learning. Finally, I plan to build an online collection of my units as I prepare them so that my colleagues, students, and parents will have easy access to materials and resources that support inquiry learning not only in history, but across content areas.

References:

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st century. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Information Literacy: Evaluating Information. Baltimore: Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Information Literacy: Skills for the Future. Baltimore: Author

Thornburg, D. (2004). Inquiry: The art of helping students ask good questions. (Executive Briefing No. 402). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/inquiry.pdf

Zapato, L. (2009, November 1). Retrieved January 31, 2010, from Help Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/