Bridging the Information and Digital Literacy Divide: An I-LEARN Project With Urban Middle School Students

• In Event: 52.080 - Literacy and Stories in Urban Settings

Abstract

Students in the 21st century need opportunities to master the information and digital literacy skills that will allow them to successfully navigate the technological world in which they live. These skills must be made available to all students, especially those in schools with limited access to technology and the related information- and critical-literacy skills that typically accompany high-level technology use. This paper describes how students in an urban middle school used the I-LEARN framework to pose their own questions about problems they observed in their neighborhood, such as gun violence, homelessness, and bullying. They used technology to research and then present solutions to these challenges, a process that expanded both their digital and information literacy skills.

Authors

• Mary Jean DeCarlo, Drexel University

• Allen Grant, Drexel University

• Vera J. Lee, Drexel University

• M. Delia Neuman, Drexel University