Welcome to MILI

Metronet is pleased to expand the Information Literacy Initiative to the high school, middle schools, and NInth Grade Center in the Chaska School District. The Metronet Information Literacy Initiative (MILI) is based on the premise that student achievement is impacted by a strong school library media program that is staffed by professional media specialists who collaborate with teachers in incorporating information literacy skills into classroom teaching. Lots of research has been done on this, including two studies of Minnesota's library media programs conducted by Metronet. We know that this collaboration takes time, resources, and skills that not all media specialists and teachers have! So, MILI was started to help small learning communities in the schools develop the skills and find some time to focus on information literacy.

Another impetus for the project is the Minnesota State Legislature. In 2006, it passed a law that requires the Commissioner of Education to embed Technology & Information Literacy Standards into the Minnesota Academic Standards. This process has already started with the revision of the Math Standards. MILI participants will ahead of the curve on this, since they will be experienced in teaching information literacy! The Technology & Information Literacy Standards were developed by MEMO, the professional association serving school media and information technology professionals. MILI uses these standards as the foundation of its program and training, too. The Initiative focuses on two of the nine Technology & Information Literacy Standards : (1) Research process, including the use of appropriate resources, and (4) Responsible use of information and information technology. We have expanded the two standards into 3 Rs:

• Research
• Reliable Resources
• Responsible Use (of Technology and Information)

All of our training focuses on one or more of these Rs.

23+1 Information Literacy Things

The core of MILI is the 23+1 Information Literacy Things. We have adapted this from the original concept of “23 Things” which has taken off in the library world and other areas. The original 23 Things were created to help library staff become more familiar with technology and how it impacts library service and library patrons. It started in public libraries and has expanded to school libraries. It has received rave reviews from participants--they love the idea of a reason to focus on their own learning and and to have excuse to play around with technology and the Web.

Our 23 + 1 Information Literacy Things are built around the concepts of information literacy, and the 3 Rs—Research, Reliable Resources, and Responsible Use of technology and information.

How It Works
By May 15, all participants will have completed their 23+1 Information Literacy Things. Everyone will complete all 17 of the Core Things and choose 6 from More Things to explore and learn more about Information Literacy and how to incorporate the concepts of Research, Reliable Resources, and Responsible Use into their teaching. The +1 Thing is to write some final reflections on the entire process. Interns and administrators will do most of the Core Things, since some would not be possible, such as Streaming Video, and make up the difference from the More Things.

To maintain accountability for participants and administrations, each participant will have an individual blog (Thing 2) and update the blog weekly with reflections on each Thing as it is completed, the MILI experience, and meetings.

The Things are designed to be accomplished both on your own and in the monthly after school meetings. We don't expect it to take much more than an hour or so a week. While posts should be thoughtful and reflective, they don't have to be extensive or scholarly. We just want to know what you are doing for MILI and what you have learned. Except for the first 3 Things, you can do the Things in any order that works for you.

Have fun with the idea and the Things--this is an opportunity to focus on you and your learning--and to use that learning in your teaching.

Required Things

These are the Information Literacy Things that all teachers and media specialists must complete. To reach your 23+1 Things, you choose from the optional Things. Click on the links for the details for each Thing. Remember, once you have done Things 1-3, you can do the Things in any order that works for you.

Thing 1. What Are You Talking About? Understanding Information Literacy

• Begin the project by thinking about information literacy & what it means to you and your students.
• Check out the Standards we keep talking about and learn our vocabulary.
  

Thing 2. Create Your Blog & Post About It

• We want to know about your discoveries, your ideas, your thoughts on the project, and more. Post at least once a week on your experience with the Things, other discoveries, or comments, and what you are learning, and applying.
• And remember--at least one post a week will get your name in our monthly drawing for door prizes!

Thing 3. RSS & Newsreaders

• Keep up with your fellow MILI bloggers by setting up a Bloglines account.
• Add a feed or two to your blog.
  

Thing 4. Get to Know Your Public Library

• Public libraries are a wealth of information resources both in person and virtually. And they are there when you can't be. Take time to learn more.
• Introduce your students to the world of the public library. That library card really is a key to knowledge.

Thing 5. Create and Maintain a Teacher Web Page

• Teacher Web pages offer a way to provide students with "one-stop shopping" about your curriculum, assignments, resources, and more. Your Web page is one more way to introduce information literacy and the 3Rs to your students.
  

Thing 6. Use the Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator (RPC)

• This new feature of the RPC helps teachers easily integrate the steps of the research process.
• Take time to review the RPC steps and all the features of the Teacher Guide.
  

Thing 7. Get to Know the Research Project Calculator (RPC)

• Introduce the RPC to students to teach the research process and develop their information literacy skills.
  

Thing 8. Dribbling Lessons for Information Literacy

• These quick lessons can be dropped into any class to introduce information literacy skills. Browse the lessons by RPC step.
• Lots more available, too, including lessons by subject area and a bibliography for a more in-depth look at information literacy.
  

Thing 9. Streaming Video

• Streaming video offers lots of resources beyond video clips. Explore some of the other features including quizzes, atlases, photos, and more in your classroom.
  

Thing 10. Copyright & Plagiarism

• Responsible Use addresses the issues of copyright, proper citation of resources, discussions of plagiarism, and more.
  

Thing 11. All About Google

• There's more to Google than "Googling." Take time to explore the features of Google.
  Google reaches out to teachers and librarians with newsletters and more. Check it out!

Thing 12. Other Search Engines

• And there are search engines beyond Google. Take a look at various search engines, including metasearch engines that search multiple engines simultaneously.
• Visual search engines offer a different presentation of results.

Thing 13. Subscription Databases

• Reliable Resources are rich and deep on the subscription databases that school districts, ELM, and local public libraries offer. Much more targeted and reliable than a typical Internet search.
  

Thing 14. Reliable Online Resources

• There are reliable resources available free on the Internet--the challenge is finding them. Use these expert-created sources to find authentic Web sites, obscure documents, and interesting resources.
  

Thing 15. Collaboration

• Teacher/media specialist collaboration gives students the best of both worlds--subject specialists combined with research and information specialists.
• Plan a collaborative lesson incorporating both sets of skills.
  

Thing 16. MnLINK

• More resources at your fingertips. MnLINK offers the ability to search hundreds of Minnesota library catalogs at once, find items not available locally, and create requests for journal articles and more.
  

Thing 17. One New Thing

• We know you will discover new "Things" as you learn about the Things on the list. Take time to share what you find!
  
  
  

Optional Things

You get to choose what you want to learn about in the rest of your 23 Things. Choose 6 (or more; no limits on learning!). Be sure to blog about each one you do! Note that you may need to do some of these at home--many districts block video sites, social networking sites, and anything downloadable. But don't let that stop you from choosing the ones that interest you. Spend time at home or your local public library learning about these Things.

Thing 18. One Student Thing

• What are your students talking about in regard to technology? Anything new out there?Ask them how they think a new technology can be used to enhance teaching.
  

Thing 19. Just for Fun

• Have some fun playing around with an online image generator.
• Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list or Edutopia's Top 10.
  

Thing 20. Podcasts, Downloadable Audio Books and More

• Learn about podcasts, find some interesting ones, and if you feel up to it, make and share your own.Local public libraries offer audio books to download to your MP3 player or computer.

Thing 21. YouTube and More

• Looking for that TV episode you missed? Or how about a science fair project recorded on video. That and more is available on YouTube.
• Explore some other video services aimed at educators. TeacherTube or Yahoo! for Teachers are two.

Thing 22. Ebooks and NetLibrary

• More online resources available for reference or reading.
  

Thing 23. Technorati, Tagging, and Del.icio.us

• Enter the world of blogs and social bookmarking.
• Read a few perspectives on Web 2. tools, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries.

Thing 24. Online Gaming

• Metronet sponsored a conference on gaming in libraries a few years ago. Take a look at the speakers' presentations.
• Have a Second Life?
  

Thing 25. Digital Map Collections

• The Internet does open the world--of maps. Take a look at these digitized collections.
  

Thing 26. Digital Image Collections

• Museums, libraries and other institutions share their image collections. Browse these for inspiration.
• Responsible Use applies to images, too.
  

Thing 27. Customize Your Home Page

• Want to consolidate all your interests in one spot? Try customizing your homepage.
  

Thing 28. Photos & Images

• Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.
  

Thing 29. Online Learning

• There are many tutorials and courses online that can help you learn new skills or brush up on your current skills.
  

Thing 30. Field Trip Options a. and b.

• Metronet will pay for one field trip per teacher that is directly related to the information literacy aspects of a research project.
  

Thing 31.Bibliographic Tools

• Responsible Use requires proper citation of resources. Learn about free online tools and introduce them to your students.
  

Thing 32. Wikis

• Wikipedia is bashed as a poor choice for reliable information. Learn more about it.
  Wiki software is free--think about how you can use it for a class project

Thing 33. Some Other Thing

• Have we missed something? If you find a Thing that we should all do, let us know!
  

Thing 34. Research Organizers

• There are many free online resources to help you and your students organize their research. Take a look a few and try them out.
  

Thing 35. Smart Tips

• Keep up with what's new and find tips on using what you know better.
  

Thing 35. Online Productivity Tools

• Need to create a PDF or an online slide show? Take a look at these free productivity tools and more.
  

Thing 36. Social Networking

• Facebook and MySpace can be the bane of a school's daily life. Learn how colleges are using social networking as part of their learning communities.
  
  

Thing 1. What Are You Talking About? Understanding Information Literacy

A quick definition of information literacy: the ability to assess the need for information and to then be able to locate, retrieve, evaluate, analyze, and apply information at home, at work, and in the community.

These competencies and skills are developed over time and are essential for lifelong learning. When information literacy skills are integrated into the curriculum across all disciplines we build a foundation for lifelong, independent learning related to finding, using, and evaluating information tools, formats, sources, and products.

A key to successful teaching of information literacy is the collaboration of library media specialists and teachers. Library media specialists look at curriculum, assignments, and learning in terms of the information resources, processes, and technologies required for student success. They collaborate with teachers to share their in-depth knowledge of resources of all types, how to teach the use of research materials and the research process, and provide support and expertise in integrating technology into curriculum. A collaborative team will ensure that all students get the information literacy instruction they need.

Core
1. Read and review these four articles on information literacy the Minnesota Information and Technology Literacy Standards:

• Lippincott, Joan K., Student Content Creators: Convergence of Literacies, Educause, November/December 2007). Positive argument for teaching information literacy in the context of new media and content creation.
  
• Information Literacy for Faculty and Administrators, Association of College and Research Libraries
• 21st Century Skills: Information Literacy, EnGauge, National Central Education Laboratory.
• Nishimuro, Taizo. 1999. "Information Literacy: How does it differ from Traditional or Computer Literacy?" TechKnowLogia (September/October)

2. Familiarize yourself with the MILI Vocabulary. This list gives you common language for teaching information literacy concepts. We don’t want you to teach the vocabulary—no quizzes—but instead use these terms when you are teaching or talking about the concepts.

3. You received a brochure with a summary of the Information & Technology Standards in your first training session. Look at the full Standards and at a Scope and Sequence document based on these Standards.

Click on sidebar links for these documents.

Blog Prompts
Use these ideas or your own for your blog post on Thing 1.

• Are the concepts of information literacy new to you? Did the articles introduce any new ideas?
• How do you collaborate now?
• How do you foresee your content area standards can address the information and technology literacy standards?

Click here for more for Thing 1., if you want to go deeper.

More for Thing 1.

Take a look at the Minnesota Math Standards, the first content standards to have information and technology literacy embedded in them. MEMO has a version with the Information Literacy and Technology Standards highlighted. Click on sidebar links for these documents. Post your thoughts. MILI participants will be ahead of the game when it comes to integrating information literacy into the Minnesota Content Standards. Take a look at the Legislation that Information Literacy be embedded into the content standards.

Blog Prompt

• Should there be a legislative mandate?

Thing 2. Create Your Blog & Then Post About It

Now that you know what’s going on with MILI and the Information Literacy Things, it’s time to set up a blog! You will use the blog to record your thoughts, ideas, discoveries, and the results of your activities. We recommend using including Blogger a Google product. You do not need a Gmail account to set up a Blogger blog.

Note that Blogger doesn’t love Safari. Mac users should try Internet Explorer or Foxfire.

Set up your blog by following these steps:

1. Create an account in Blogger

• Go to Blogger.com
• Click on the long orange arrow that says Create Your Blog Now. Follow the 3 step instructions.
• You will need an email address. You can use any address—it does not need to be a Gmail address. Your email becomes your Username.
• Create a password for your Blogger account (if you already have a Google account for other services, that will be used here, too.)
• Remember to write down your Username and Password.

2. Name your blog

• This is the hard part! You will create a both a display name and a URL for your blog.
• The display name is the name that will appear on the banner at the top of your blog. The URL is how you will find your blog or tell others how to find it—your Web address.
• Remember that the whole web world can see your blog title and blog address. Consider creating a name that reflects the 23 Things On a Stick program, but is uniquely yours. Here are some names of other people’s 23 Things blogs: LibLongLearn or Lindsay’s 23 Things

• In Blogger, the URL format is name.blogspot.com There is no www in the address when using Blogger.com software. The URL for your blog will look like these examples:
  http://liblonglearn.blogspot.com/
  http://lindsaypeifer.blogspot.com/
• Please remember your URL address and/or bookmark it.

3. Select your template.
The fun part--Blogger has several templates so choose one that fits you. The first Choose Template screen has only a few; choose one. If you want to experiment with other Templates, go to Layout and choose Pick New Template. You will see many more choices. Try some out; it is easy to see how your blog will look in the different choices.

Hints

• If you run into problems, check out Blogger's Help file and Tutorial or here’s a MINITEX Blog Tutorial . Another tutorial is here. You can ask us, too.
• Be sure to enable comments on Blogger.
• Spend some time exploring the features of Blogger—spell check, upload photos or video, font choices, text size, and other features are available.

4. Register your blog with MILI.

Send an email to metromili@gmail.com Register in the subject box and your name and your blog name and the blog URL in the message.
We will add you to the blogroll so we can read and track your posts.

You’re ready to start posting!

Whenever you complete a Thing, write a post reflecting your experience with the Thing you accomplished. Please clearly label each entry in your blog in with Thing number and the subject. We just need to be able to see which Thing you are doing. Read and comment on other 23 Things bloggers’ posts, too. That’s part of being in a the project.Each of your posts should provide insights into what you’ve discovered and learned. Share what worked for you, what didn’t, what you’ve shared with your colleagues, any surprises, frustrations, and eureka moments. We will offer some blog prompts to get you thinking, but don’t feel limited by those—splash out and share!

There is More for Thing 2.--try some additional features and have some fun.