Information and Digital Literacies by Farmer Lesley S.J.;

Author:Farmer, Lesley S.J.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Curriculum Mapping

To that end, curriculum mapping offers a viable way to build the information and digital literacies curriculum. School librarians should lead this effort with administrative support and participation by the entire faculty. Were the school librarian to develop such a curriculum map alone, implementation would not occur. However, the school librarian might share existing information literacy standards and sample curricula with school leaders as a way to start a curricular discussion. For instance, in its follow-up publication Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL, 2009) provides grade-specific indicators of information literacy and sample lessons. Then together the school’s educators can identify the specific content and learning outcomes and the design instruction to support those outcomes. Logistically, a steering group of stakeholders, such as department or grade chairs, can liaise with their respective constituents so that rich conversation within each group can be reported out to the steering committee in order to facilitate the curriculum process. Ultimately, though, the entire faculty should weigh in on—and engage with—the curriculum.

In mapping the curriculum, each grade or department reviews the information and digital literacies outcomes and identifies their own learning activities that address the outcome. Reviews should also indicate whether they teach that content or assume students’ ability to apply that knowledge or skill to their learning activity. For instance, students might be asked to create a digital story about an immigrant’s journey to the United States. Such a project entails the information literacy research skills and digital storytelling skills. Are those skills taught at that point or are they assumed (or reviewed)? If taught, who provides that instruction? By mapping existing practice to the draft information and digital literacies outcomes, the steering committee can uncover gaps in teaching and learning, as well as gaps in the literacy outcomes.

The result is a reality-based information and digital literacies curriculum that spans academic domains and fosters coteaching and curriculum interdependence. For instance, if students learn how to locate ecology articles in online databases in their ninth-grade science class, they can apply that skill to research a social issue in their ninth-grade health education class. With that knowledge, classroom teachers can also work with school librarians to embed information literacy instruction, such as the use of atlases, into the classroom when that skill is needed to comprehend social studies concepts, as an example.

Table 6.1 curriculum map exemplifies this process, which results in an information and digital literacies curriculum scope and sequence.

Curriculum Map

Information & Digital Outcomes

Middle School

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

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