August 2002 — Editorial
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Information Overload
Information Literacy
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) held a Leadership Symposium on information literacy as part of the events leading up to NECC. ISTE's mission is to provide appropriate use of information to improve learning, teaching and administration in K-12 education and teacher preparation. Participants stressed that all students need to develop digital literacy skills, particularly information literacy and technology skills. Technology skills for all students should begin in kindergarten. Technology literacy is not a separate subject but a skill to be acquired early. Howto use media, navigate the Web, and access and communicate information efficiently and effectively must also begin early.
John Bailey, director of the Office of Educational Tech-nology for the U.S. Department of Education and a keynote speaker at the symposium, stressed the importance of digital literacy skills for all students. He said that one of the most significant changes to come from the No Child Left Behind Act is the increased responsibility on state and local leaders who will be held accountable for spending federal funds.
It's anticipated that a large amount of money will be spent on technology. The new legislation encourages 25 percent of the funds to be set aside for professional development not only for teachers, but also for principals, superintendents and school administrators. Dr. Rudy Castruita, superintendent for the San Diego County Office of Education, closed the symposium with the topic "The Time Is Right - Connecting Information Literacy to Teachers, Students and Families." In his speech, he described the J'e Rindone Regional Technology Center in San Diego, Calif., and its function to improve student achievement, as well as establish educational leadership and home-school partnerships through the use of technology. The center comprises superintendents from 42 San Diego school districts, providing leadership, information advice, coordination and support of technology. Different perspectives and experiences were shared throughout the symposium, which included speaker presentations, group sessions and panel discussions.
Dealing With Overwhelming Growth
We come back to information overload and how to deal with what is valuable, as well as how we can integrate this information into our teaching and learning. We are inundated with new technologies and applications, such as digital libraries, virtual classrooms, e-learning, multimedia technologies, PDAs and improved networking promises. The growth of the World Wide Web is overwhelming. An estimated 30 million users worldwide representing major corporations, education institutions, political and charitable organizations, community groups and government agencies continue to grow at 15 percent per month.
Fortunately, some help is now available. Publishers are aware of standards that organizations such as ISTE have published, and individual states are working on standards and listing resources to accomplish reaching these standards. For example, Follett Software Co. has published the "Find-It-All Collection," which provides one-stop searching of multiple online resources and access to 160,000 safe, high-quality K-12 Web sites, according to the company.
