Information Fluency & Literacy

In my opinion, information literacy is becoming more and more important. Individuals have an overwhelming amount of technology in their everyday life, and sometimes it seems impossible to keep up. Technology is always changing, and it seems if one falls behind they will never catch up. 


Information literacy is defined as "a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."" I think that having an all encompassing definition like this is very important because there are so many different areas of technology. An individual must understand, or at least have a small grasp in media, collaboration, creativity, solution, and information fluency. In my opinion it is impossible to be an expert in all of these areas because there is so much to understand, but a little knowledge in each aspect is necessary. 


I think information fluency and literacy is extremely important for students especially because we have so much information coming at us at all times. The InfoWhelm video brought to my attention that we have data coming from classes, cellphones, the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and television. I know I sometimes feel personally tied to technology and it can be slightly overwhelming. I catch myself having my television on, while on the Internet, and checking my email on my cellphone. I think our society, especially my generation, has become so consumed with the instant gratification of information, because there's nothing we can't find out by looking it up on our phones. Although I think it is important that we understand how to use the technology properly as well as mentally organize all the information we are receiving, it is important to distinguish information fluency and literacy from unhealthy information overload.