A Critique of: Yarmey, K. (2011). Student Information Literacy in the Mobile Environment lum/StudentInformationLiteracyinth/ lum/StudentInformationLiteracyinth/ Israel Butler May 16, 2012 EDET 780

 Searching for information effectively  Critical evaluation of information  Incorporation of new information into one’s knowledge base

 Study conducted fall 2010  Electronic survey on Internet-capable phone use  Random sample of 832 University of Scranton undergraduates  Ages 18-24, representing 22% of university’s undergrad population.  Survey consisted of 35 multiple-choice questions

 69% of respondents (229 students) owned smartphones  iPhone – 11%  Android – 12%  BlackBerry – 20%  Other brands – 57%

(Yarmey Figure 2)

 Different phone users search for information in various ways  Majority of smartphone users used typed keywords  iPhone and Android users used alternative input methods

 Yarmey’s survey found that the majority of students reviewed search results less than twice  Less than 25% reported checking more than five initial search results

 25% of respondents did not question reliability of sites  <10% reported visiting a website’s “About Us” page  Varmey’s theory:  Loading additional web page on phone would demand more time: speed of data connection

 73% of iPhone users and 86% of Android users used app reviews to judge reliability  Less than 7% of iPhone users and 11% of Android users did not question validity of apps

 Information literacy instructors should become familiar with new search methods to aid students  Students should review a number of serach results  Instructors should help students understand how to evaluate info when presented in nontraditional forms, i.e. mobile apps  Students may need help applying information literacy skills learned while searching on a desktop/laptop

 Mobile technology such as iPads and other tablet devices were beginning to surface in the mainstream  Certain Academic apps (Scranton’s Angel system) were not as userfriendly during the time of survey  Research was limited in scope due to single- site survey

 Searching for information effectively in the mobile environment  Critical evaluation of mobile resources  Exploring different methods information was retrieved through smartphones

 How has information literacy changed with the emergence of recent technological advancements in mobile devices and tablet computers?  Since academic mobile apps have been improved since the time of this study, are postsecondary students more information literate with user-friendlier apps?

Yarmey, K. (2011). Student Information Literacy in the Mobile Environment QuarterlyMagazineVolum/StudentInformationLiteracyinth/ QuarterlyMagazineVolum/StudentInformationLiteracyinth/