Web literacy
Vedlegg til søknad fra avdeling JBI

Utlysning

Høgskolen har utlyst felles strategimidler til internasjonalisering med søknadsfrist 15.02.02. Siden det kan bli aktuelt å bruke (deler av) teksten utenlands, skriver jeg like godt prosjektbeskrivelsen på engelsk fra starten av.

Web literacy: a training course for students

Internationally there is strong and widespread interest in utilizing ICT and digital texts to promote learning in schools, in higher education and in adult education - not least in enterprise-based training. Within this large and growing field there are many different actors, trends and strategies. Oslo University College (HiO) has its own profile and its own development strategy. Our institutional strength, I believe, lies in

1. a strong emphasis on teaching and learning, rather than on technology as such
2. a strong orientation towards "learning through (digital) production"
3. a strong awareness of professional issues in organizing, designing and presenting information
4. a gradual and practice based approach to higher competence in the field of digital learning
5. and (not least) a supportive leadership

The high level of Internet use in Norway, and the digital commitment of the Norwegian government, has created a social environment that supports experimentation. Even so, change does not come easy. "Digital people" at HiO have a realistic understanding of the organizational processes involved - which is also a knowledge worth spreading.

Information literacy

Internationalization is another change process that takes time and energy. I believe, however, that the field of information literacy - in a wide sense - offers good possibilities for international collaboration.

The web itself is an international medium: publish once - read anywhere. It promotes competence in reading (what happens to be) our global language - English. But it also makes smaller or distant languages more visible.

The web is a new medium, which means that web skills are new, and hence more open to collaboration and experiment. Teaching is generally conservative. It is much harder to collaborate across national boundaries if you want to transform established components of traditional programs of study.

The web is still in rapid change. Ongoing innovation is called for. This also facilitates learning through networks. The benefit is obvious: wheels need not be reinvented in every country. Instead, they must be adapted to local roads and conditions. 

A concrete proposal

With the support of HiO and JBI I would like to develop a 15 hour teaching module on web literacy in English. The module would be based on my contribution ("Søking på veven") to the project HiO-kilden.  I want, however, to include more material on information quality and on data bases, and would also like to make the module easier to use without a teacher. 

The main target groups are undergraduate students, their teachers and their librarians. The module would be published on the open web, as a resource for self-study and for courses in information literacy. 

Where could the module be used?

The course would, we believe, be of immediate use to international students at HiO. It would cover some important skills students need to work effectively by themselves. The project will be designed for this group of users.   

But at a later stage the module could also be used in different settings - for instance

• As an English language course for students at HiO during the academic year
• As (part of) a summer course in English at HiO (for international students, teachers, librarians)
• As a teaching module for students (and teachers?) abroad
• As a component in a web literacy project between institutions  

The Norwegian language module was written for the HiO community in Oslo, Norway. To be of lasting value, such a module must be regularly updated. To be fully utilized, it must - in our impatient culture - be experienced as immediately relevant and useful. This means that Norwegian resources must have a prominent place. Ideally, specific versions for specific professions - teaching, nursing, engineering, social work, ... - should also be made.

An international version should be flexible. I intend to construct the Web Literacy Module in such a way that national and subject-specific examples can easily be incorporated. The module would then be a generic structure, with open slots for local and professional adaptations. As such, it would also be a good framework for substantive cooperation in teaching web literacy.