Rick Ells' Notes

1. Achieve an agreement on what constitutes information and technology literacy.
2. Formulate goals and objectives for the UW
3. Develop a strategic plan for implementing information and technology literacy at UW

• nowhere is remote
• rapid rate of change creates urgency, skills lack staying power
• need education for a lifetime
• given all the change in the last 50 years, what should someone in the class of 1944 have been taught to prepare them for A-bombs, television, ICBMs, space travel, computers, personal computers, the Internet, cell phones, and the Web?

• fluency connotes expertise, ability to synthesize, to use medium effectively
• FIT - Fluency in Information Technologies
• FITness requires
  • concepts (digital representation of information, etc.)
  • skills (use word processor, etc.)
  • capabilities (managing complexity)

• how and why IT works the way it does
• constraints and limitations of IT
• principles on which to build new understandings

• knowing contemporary applications (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.)
• skills are a moving target, reliant on current state of the art.

• higher level thinking, including abstract thinking, logical reasonsing, analysis, judgement
• managing complexity
• define a problem, test a solution
• organize and navigate information structures
• collaborate with others using technology
• expect the unexpected
• anticipate technology change

• FITness should be entrance requirement, in many cases
• FITness can't be taught in isolation
• education provides context for learning concepts
• FITness should be taught in context of students interests and majors
• Role of FITness in curriculum is unclear

• Skills learned best if taught in discipline context
• To be effective, IT sections must be well integrated with class
• Strategies are evolving
• Examples are Dr. Kurt Engelmann of Russian studies and Edward A. Walker of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
• IT instruction is also being provided by the Freshman Interest Groups