Investigating with ICT
This element involves students in using ICT to define and plan information searches of a range of primary and secondary sources when investigating questions, topics or problems. Students use ICT to locate, access, generate, organise and/or analyse data and information and apply criteria to verify the integrity and value of the digital data, information and sources. In developing and acting with information and communication technology capability, students:
- define and plan information searches
- locate, generate and access data and information
- select and evaluate data and information.
[From The Australian Curriculum]
The Ability to Find and Select Information
Digital literacy relates to students’ ability to find and select reliable and relevant information. This includes an awareness of where it is best to search for information and whether the internet, a book search, or another method might give the best results.
Being digitally iterate means critically engaging with internet content and being able to judge the value of that information for a given task.
The ability to find and select information involves students critically engaging with the content of material they find on the internet and relating it to the subject knowledge they already have and are seeking to develop. This means going beyond simply checking the reliability of information by searching on multiple sites.
[Hague and Payton (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum, Future Lab, p.36]
Critical Thinking and Evaluation
A digitally literate student is not just passively receiving information or meaning but also contributing to it, analysing it and shaping it. This requires critical thinking. Thos means using reasoning skills to engage with information, to question, analyse, scrutinise and evaluate it and to create an argument about it. It is about being reflective, interpreting meaning and determining significance in order to make purposeful decisions and make informed sense of the world around us.
[Hague and Payton (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum, Future Lab, p.38]