What is Information and Technology?

Information technology is the driving force behind our "new-world" economy. Information technology skills represent information gathering, organizing, and problem solving tools that students will need to be successful in their education and build careers.

Most parents want their children to have computer skills. Today, few would argue against the importance of computer literacy. Reasonable people, however, can disagree about what skills represent computer literacy. Keyboarding is probably part of that skill set, as are software applications like word processing/desktop publishing, Web browsers, and even email.

Is this enough? Knowing HOW to use technology is important, but the real skill is to use technology to identify information needs, research, organize, communicate, and solve problems. Creating lists of specific tasks utilizing technology, by itself, will not move us towards meaningful information and technology literacy. Applying a set of technology skills in different contexts, situations, and actually solve problems represents authentic life skills.

So is information and technology literacy important for today's students? It is when we define it as learning how to learn. The world has changed dramatically as we move forward into the 21st century. Yes, reading, writing, and arithmetic are important; but is everything we need to know found in traditional style textbooks?

Most of us that have been in the workforce for more than 10 years have seen that the skills we need to survive constantly change -- the pace of this change is accelerating. Web-based technology not only allows us more direct access to sources of information that are continually changing, they expand the walls of our schools, libraries, and even home offices and play spaces.

The good news is that locating information has never been easier -- a variety of documents in different formats are widely available in viewable, printable, and downloadable versions. Intellectual access to this information, however, requires strategies that encompass defining needs, locating relevant sources, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, creating, and sharing.

These are higher-level skills, actually processes that involve fairly complex, constantly changing perspectives and technologies. Pretty intimidating stuff -- yes, today we demand that schools document student learning and academic achievement. Is it really possible to move students with diverse needs towards these outcomes while continuing to improve academic achievement on core academic subjects?

Perhaps it would be more meaningful to ask:

"Can we expect equitably empower diverse learners to achieve high levels of academic achievement without building the information skills that underlie all learning?"

Core academic skills are important; resources to support that learning are increasingly available in different formats and styles. "Learning how to learn" means identifying information needs and locating and utilizing appropriate resources to meet those needs. Due to the nature of today's information formats and retrieval tools, technology skills are inherently part of most any information search.

Rather than ask if an emphasis on information and technology literacy somehow distracts from academic achievement, it may be more relevant to ask if we can really expect to raise academic standards without teaching relevant skills that form the foundation of learning. In that context, we see that information and technology literacy enhances all instruction across the curriculum.