Second Blog Tech and Student Learning/Information Literacy

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The juncture of technology, information literacy, and digital media effortlessness plays a core role in both the evolving responsibilities of educators and student learning, particularly school librarians. This week’s multimedia and readings resources emphasized how these concepts are deeply intertwined and progressively indispensable in 21st-century education environments.

Technology is not just a tool for retrieving information, it forms how students learn, what they devour, and how they occupy with information. This week’s podcast episode highlighted that scholar are engrossed in digital ecosystems, but their ability to disapprovingly engage with what they come across is often immature. For instance, while they may be shrewdness with platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Google, that doesn’t necessarily decipher information literacy, the ability to evaluate, information, and locate ethically and effectively.

Core Competency for Information Literacy

The readings stressed that AI-generated content and information literacy are not voluntary in an age where misrepresentation and social media echo cavities control digital spaces. A scholar’s ability to understand bias, verify sources, and navigate algorithm-driven content is just as critical as learning outdated literacy skills. These modifications the school librarian’s role from a caretaker of books to a digital navigator and media literacy.               

                                                  Teaching Information Literacy: Empowering Kids in the Digital Age    

                                                                                              https://www.safes.so/blogs/teaching-information-literacy/                                              

My Information Regime: Personal Reflection

This week encouraged me to take a critical look at my information regime. I understood that while I chomp a mix of news and academic articles from trustworthy sources like The New York Times and NPR, YouTube explainers, and curated content from platforms like Substack, I still have shade spot, especially in how I crossed verified information or engage with an opposing vantage point.

Intentionally, I started incorporating:

  • Media prejudice charts like Ad Fontes to examine sources
  • Opposite image search tools (TinEye and Google Lens)
  • Podcasts that arrange media literacy (e.g., The Ezra Klein Show or Media Literacy Now)

School Media Specialist/Librarians' Information Regime Includes

An effective media specialist/school librarian's information regime should be current, diverse, and judgmentally curated. It must reflect:

1-Academic rigor – staying up-to-date with peer-reviewed articles, journals, and educational standards.

2-Popular media ease – Consider the digital platforms scholars use (TikTok, Reddit, Instagram).

3-Edtech trends –evolving tools that stimulate learning, such as LMS platforms and AI in education.

4-Serious news literacy – teach scholars to do the same and subscribe to wide-ranging news outlets to uphold a balanced perspective.

Media specialists/librarians should be both critics and consumers of information, helping students learn to ask and modeling responsible consumption, “Why? Who made this? What’s lost?”

Resources This Week Informed My Perspective

  • Podcast: "Fact, Fiction, and the Algorithm" presented eye-opening samples of how scholars’ perceptions are designed by what they meet online, and how algorithms magnify certain voices while muzzling others.
  • Reading: Framework around evaluating, accessing, creating, analyzing, and acting deeply informed how I see the media specialist’s role. Renee Hobbs' work on Media Literacy Education
  • Video: A clear understanding of the why behind media content is just as important as what Crash Course in Media Literacy

Information literacy concept identifies what information is 

needed https://tahliayarrowproskills.weebly.com/information-literacy.html

The Interconnected Web - Synthesis

Information literacy gives meaning, media literacy shapes judgment/digital, and technology provides access is important to the synthesis. Together, they form the groundwork for empowered education. The media specialist/librarian stands at the epicenter of this triangle, curiosity, guiding students through a noisy digital world with clarity and skepticism.

 

Comments

  1. Jenna BishopJune 28, 2025 at 10:39 AM

    I love the "information regimen" you included for a school librarian. Reflecting on this week's reading passages and podcast showed me that both my personal and professional information diet could use more intentionality and balance.

    Your quote, "Media specialists/librarians should be both critics and consumers of information, helping students learn to ask and modeling responsible consumption, “Why? Who made this? What’s lost?”" made me think of some of the resources Valenza (2016) listed in her article, "Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a “post-truth” world". I think her resources will be excellent to incorporate when teaching students how to determine credibility to be responsible consumers of information.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cherish RodriguezJune 28, 2025 at 8:38 PM

    The school librarian regimen was great! We definitely need to be reading material that is current, diverse, and judgmentally curated. When those describe our reading material, we can then better serve our students and associates as well. If we don't, then we will be uninformed and static in our own thoughts! Great words!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Diamond TamairaJune 29, 2025 at 3:55 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Diamond TamairaJune 29, 2025 at 3:57 PM

    Great post! You highlighted an important point that students may know how to use digital platforms but often lack the critical skills to evaluate what they find. Your reflection on your own information habits was relatable, and I liked the tools you’re using to improve your media literacy. Your breakdown of what a school librarian’s information routine should include was spot on. Your idea of balancing academic sources with awareness of student-used platforms like TikTok and Reddit is essential. Overall, you made a strong case for librarians as guides in a complex digital world, helping student's question, evaluate, and navigate information thoughtfully. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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