Power Searching the Internet Illinois Computing Educators Conference March 2, 2006 http://21cif.imsa.edu

What was the last thing you searched for on the Internet? Did you find it? How long did it take? Were you totally happy with the answer? When your students ask you a question about their Internet searches are you comfortable with your answers?

21st Century Information Fluency The goal of this program is to build the capacity of librarians, educators and students in Illinois to Locate Evaluate Ethically use digital information resources Funded by a Grant from the US Department of Education, Funds for the Improvement of Education Envisioned as a 3-5 year project to work with 1200 Middle and High Schools in Illinois. We are now in our 4th year Create a National Model

21st Century Information Fluency Information Literacy can be defined as “the ability to locate, evaluate and use information” 21st Century Information Fluency is a sub-set of Information Literacy that is the combination of aspects of Information Literacy and Technology Literacy that people need to locate, evaluate and use digital information resources - efficiently, effectively and ethically We call it “fluency” rather than “literacy” to emphasize that the abilities involved are more than basic abilities Traditional Library Skills Technology Skills

Challenges to K-12 educators in a digital age Vastness of Digital Resources Quantity over Quality Digital Immigrants teaching Digital Natives Both groups struggle to find information they need and to evaluate its worth Ability to Evaluate a Credible Website Information Source Stored .03% 7.75% 92.22% "How Much Information? 2003”, ([cited 30 July 2004]); available from World Wide Web @ http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info-2003/execsum.htm#summary

Does This Look Like Help? Research Tools, Examples, and Challenges for Students Learning Events for Educators Sharing Information and Facilitating Discussions Between and Among Educators on How to Teach and Integrate into Curriculum

-Featured Items -Digital Information Fluency Model -Left Side Drop Down Menu always in view -Login ONLY required to update -Everything (that is ready) is available to you to read, download etc.

Handout

-Expanding Hierarchical Menu always in view

Learning Experiences for Educators Online Courses Workshops Online Webinars

Funding Status Our grant has not been renewed for the FY07 Year We are funded through 6/30/06 It is IMSA’s intent to keep the project and the website running We must focus on finding new funds to keep the project alive Since 2002, We have received 4 grants, each of which spans 2 calendar years such that they overlap The current grant expires 6/30/2007 The money is not spent equally over the 2 years– the major portion is spent in the first year

Funding Status (Continued) We are looking at alternative Government and Corporate grants, but the lead time frames are long Therefore we are looking for ways to be self-sustaining We are looking at a subscription model Monthly or Bi-weekly newsletter, and access to website materials National/International Audience Target ~$50 per person per year

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