EMPATIC - Exploitation Strategy

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission


Exploitation Strategy Author: Sabina Cisek Contributing Authors: Carla Basili, Monika Krakowska, Carol Priestley, Maria Próchnicka,

Magdalena Wójcik, Bulent Yilmaz

Ver: 0.3

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Empower Autonomous Learning through Information Competencies

Exploitation Strategy Author: Sabina Cisek, Contributing Authors: Carla Basili, Monika Krakowska, Carol Priestley, Maria

Próchnicka, Magdalena Wójcik, Bulent Yilmaz This

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The present report constitutes the delivery D7.1 of the Work Package 7: Exploitation strategy.

The core objectives of the EMPATIC project are to:

1. draw together and valorise the results of previous Information Literacy initiatives and projects across the school, university, adult and vocational learning sectors;

2. use this evidence to influence policy makers’ perceptions and actions to support a marked increase in piloting and mainstreaming of Information Literacy;

3. have a significant impact on validating new learning paradigms and strategic thinking on curriculum reform.

Within the work plan of EMPATIC, the Work Package 7 is aimed to provide a strategy and set of recommendations setting out ways and means to improve the spread and level of Information Literacy at both transversal level and across the four sectors.

It also proposes a future means of stakeholder community ownership and maintenance of the portal environment.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 3

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 5

SECTION 2: STRATEGY .................................................................................................................. 6

2.1. EmPatic impact and sustainability .......................................................................................... 6

2.2. strategy of il promotion .................................................................................................... 7

SECTION 3: SUMMARY FINDINGS ................................................................................................. 7

3.1. SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE SCHOOL SECTOR ........................... 7

3.2. SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR ........ 8

3.3 SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING SECTOR ................................................................................................................... 9

3.4 SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE ADULT EDUCATION / LIFELONG LEARNING SECTOR ................................................................................................................ 10

SECTION 4: RECOMMENDATIONS TO POLICY MAKERS ............................................................... 11

4.1 CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................... 12

4.2 Information Literacy in the school learning sector –Recommendations to Policy Makers (the Comenius programme area) ................................................................................................. 15

4.3 Informtioan Literacy in the Higher Education learning sector (HE) Recommendations to Policy Makers (the Erasmus programme area) ..................................................................... 16

4.4 Information Literacy in the vocational education and training sector (VET) Recommendations to Policy Makers (the Leonardo da Vinci programme area) .................. 17

4.5 Information Literacy in the adult learning sector – Recommendations to Policy Makers (the grundtvig programme area) .................................................................................................. 18

4.6. Information Literacy in the four learning sectors (school, higher education, vocational education and training, and adult/lifelong learning) – General, Non-‐sector Specific Recommendations to Policy Makers made by the final conferences participants ............... 19

5. CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................... 20

REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 21

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SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION

The present text constitutes the Deliverable 7.1 of the Work Package 7 of the EMPATIC project. It utilises the results of all of the project’s work and evidence gained to date in formulating a set of recommendations to policy makers about Information Literacy (IL). The main purpose of those recommendations is to stimulate action at national levels.

The EMPATIC project is funded under the EU Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) and has a transversal nature. Consequently, the present document exposes the educational side of the Information Literacy development and takes into account four learning sectors encompassed by LLP, related to the four ongoing sectoral programmes, that is school (Comenius), higher education (Erasmus), vocational (Leonardo da Vinci) and adult (Grundtvig) ones.

The Deliverable 7.1, embraces the IL-‐related strategy and recommendations, is aimed at setting out ways and means to improve the spread and level of Information Literacy at both transversal level and across the four learning sectors.

As it makes a part of the larger work and should be read together with the previous EMPATIC products, in particular – the Deliverable 1.1, where the concept of Information Literacy (IL) itself has been discussed and defined. Also, in the Deliverable 1.1, entitled “Report on current state and best practices in Information Literacy”, various aspects, dimensions and levels of IL have been meticulously characterized on the basis of the extensive literature research.

In addition, EMPATIC hosted two events for the IL stakeholders and policy makers (academics, educators, IL authors, information professionals, librarians, school and HE authorities, teachers, etc.) to verify findings and recommendations.

The first one was the International Conference “Literacy and Society, Culture, Media, & Education” [http://www.literacyconference2012.ugent.be/], held on 9-‐11 February 2012 in Ghent, Belgium, and organized by the Department of Educational Studies of Ghent University in cooperation with the EMPATIC and EMSOC (User Empowerment in a Social Media Culture, http://emsoc.be/) teams.

The second one, that of the Final Conference, was organized in conjunction with EMMILE (the European Meeting on Media and Information Literacy, http://emmile.wordpress.com/) in Milan, Italy on 27-‐29 February 2012.

This paper consists of the four sections, although the ones of main importance are the sections “Summary Findings” and “Recommendations to Policy Makers”.

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SECTION 2: STRATEGY

In Section 2 we discuss two interrelated but not dissimilar issues, that is:

• How to properly exploit findings of the EMPATIC project after it is completed? What steps can be taken for continued sustainability and impact of EMPATIC? How to make its results lastingly useful for 1) general public and 2) specified target groups?

• How to promote the importance of Information Literacy to policy makers? What kind of strategy needs to be implemented in this respect?

2.1. EMPATIC IMPACT AND SUSTAINABILITY The means and ways to ensure continued sustainability and impact of EMPATIC are as follows:

2.1.1 The EMPATIC official website http://empat-‐ic.eu/ and other webpages and blogs related to the project should be maintained and updated also after the EMPATIC project is formally completed.

EMPATIC PMB members discussed this point very carefully. Two possible hosts became possible to consider:

a) European network for Information Literacy (EnIL): coordinated by one of the EMPATIC project partners CERIS, and

b) the European Conference for Information Literacy (ECIL) – a new informal association of significant persons and institutions committed to IL, with the intention to host an annual conference to discuss issues emerging as important or to be resolved in the field.

After considering all aspects, the PMB selected EnIL as the future host of the website. Familiarisation and training was provided by MDR and the maintenance of the website transferred to EnIL in March 2012.

2.1.2 Project members will write articles related to EMPATIC and Information Literacy and publish them in professional/scholarly journals or collective works, in different languages, not only English.

2.1.3 Project members will take part in the appropriate national and international conferences speaking about EMPATIC-‐related matters. At the time of writing this report, events where the findings and recommendations of EMPATIC will be promoted and discussed already include:

• QQML4 in Limerick, Ireland, May 2012

• The Road to Information Literacy: Librarians as Facilitators of Learning, IFLA Satellite meeting in Tampere, Finland, August 8, 9, 10, 2012

• World Congress on Libraries and Information (WLIC), 14-‐18th August 2012, Helsinki

• Media & Learning Conference 2012, 14-‐15 November, Brussels

• Collaboration with organizations interested in the IL development, both international, including UNESCO, and national like Komisja Edukacji Informacyjnej SBP in Poland.

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A meeting with UNESCO and IFLA has been planned for 14 August 2012, where discussion will take place on collaboration between the UNESCO work in curriculum and IL indicators and potential EMPATIC work in the area of policy.

2.2. STRATEGY OF IL PROMOTION As many organizations are involved in the field of IL, a number of additional measures to increase the involvement of communities, Government, academic, non-‐profit, and different social groups through activities can be employed. These should have the aims to:

• provide a forum for discussion and for advice to decision makers, committees, or other executive boards;

• inform and advise on behalf of decision makers, including development of good practice and providing expertise;

• assist practitioners in developing policy and practice and stimulates further development of policy and strategic thinking;

• provide a route for communicating with IL interests and professional groups.

SECTION 3: SUMMARY FINDINGS

In Section 3 we discuss summary findings of the entire EMPATIC project (desk research, discussions, four sectoral validation workshops, two international final conferences).

3.1. SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE SCHOOL SECTOR Through EMPATIC’s validation process, the important issues for Information Literacy (IL) in the Schools Sector have been identified to include:

• IL development strategies in European countries are “taken-‐for-‐granted” but valid IL policy assumptions do not necessarily exist;

• a detailed Information Literacy strategy is needed. However, educational systems, information cultures, and experiences with IL development in every EU country are different, so what works in one part of Europe may not work in the other. As a result it would be better to formulate European Information Literacy standards in terms of learning outcomes; these would identify a set of IL goals to be achieved in different appropriate ways and by various means within formal, informal and non-‐formal learning environments. In other words, the aims of IL should be the same across Europe in general, but IL development strategies need to be national in specifics;

• who is to be responsible for the introduction and development of Information Literacy? Should it be a central national body? The answer is not simple. Generally, central bodies are appropriate to set goals but the cooperative work of all interested parties and stakeholders at local level, in local communities, is where real work is or can be achieved;

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• the young generation, so-‐called “digital natives”, do not necessarily have an “inherent” culture of information; they also must undergo education and training in the field of Information Literacy;

• school management and teachers are the most important stakeholders in the schools sector, they must be aware of what Information Literacy is, why it is so important and how to learn/teach IL in schools;

• librarians and information professionals, who are traditionally engaged in IL-‐related matters everywhere, must cooperate with all other parties/stakeholders involved in the educational processes, to include: headmasters, teachers, parents, students, local authorities, and other people having important social functions in their local communities.

3.2. SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR

Developing lifelong learners is central to the mission of higher education institutions. Colleges and universities provide their graduates with the foundation for continued growth throughout their future careers, as well as in their roles as informed citizens and members of communities by ensuring that individuals have the intellectual abilities of reasoning and critical thinking, and by helping them to construct a framework for learning how to learn. As has already been stressed, Information Literacy is a key component of, and contributor to, lifelong learning.

Through EMPATIC’s validation process, it has been determined that:

• Information Literacy is internationally recognised as a requisite of the Information Society and of the Knowledge Economy;

• the labour market requires flexibility in terms of professional self-‐requalification and lifelong learning attitude. This, in turn, requires individuals – inter alia– to dominate the current information environment in HE.

The major challenge to IL in the HE sector is curricular reform, where a number of elements are to be considered, including:

• learning outcomes;

• recognition of informal learning;

• flexible, modernised curricula at all levels which correspond to the needs of the labour market (transversal skills).

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These challenges lead to a number of questions:

• is Information Literacy a discipline of study? A strong assumption underlying the institutionalisation of IL is to recognise that it is a discipline in its own right, to be conceived mainly as "knowledge" rather than "ability";

• can Information Literacy be inserted into university curricula, for example, like Computer Science? IL is a diffused discipline; it is transversal and useful to every course of study;

• how can Information Literacy be inserted into the Bologna process? A first step should be promoting awareness of the importance of IL amongst academics and policy makers; a second step could be to insert IL among the learning outcomes of European universities, particularly, among the so-‐called “generic instrumental competencies”.

3.3 SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING SECTOR

Through EMPATIC’s validation process, the functions of Information Literacy in the Vocational Education and Training sector have been determined:

• IL is essential for productivity and efficiency at work;

• IL is a main provision for personal and institutional development;

• IL is related to the concepts of ongoing education, lifelong learning and self-‐education;

• IL facilitates the adaptation of changes and/or development at work;

• IL provides a work force of high quality;

• IL supports economic growth.

Challenges and recommendations to the sector have been identified and include:

• lack of awareness of the importance of Information Literacy by decision makers and politicians. It is not yet fully recognised that people outside formal education can gain the competence of Information Literacy via VET;

• lack of awareness on the level of Society; they do not understand that many of the problems they face in utilizing information and communication technologies (ICTs) in social life are caused by a lack of Information Literacy;

• lack of recognition of the relationship between Vocational Education and Information Literacy. Information Literacy is or should be a key component of vocational education;

• lack of sufficient coordination and cooperation within and between related formal and civil institutions working in VET. This leads to unproductiveness and wastage in resources in VET activities;

• lack of national policies in the subject of Vocational Education means that VET activities cannot be determined at a national level; activities are often ad hoc and their consistency cannot be realized or maintained.

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3.4 SUMMARY FINDINGS – INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE ADULT EDUCATION /

LIFELONG LEARNING SECTOR

Through EMPATIC’s validation process, the important issues for Information Literacy (IL) in the adult education/lifelong learning sector have been identified to include:

• IL is essential for the development, prosperity and freedom of society;

• IL contributes to the personal, social, occupational and educational level of society and individuals;

• IL is related to the concepts of ongoing education, self-‐education, vocational training;

• IL facilitates the adaptation of changes and development at work;

• IL effects productivity and work efficiency, and contributes to the improvement of the quality;

• IL is essential for people and organisations to survive and develop themselves;

• IL supports economic growth;

• IL is, therefore, a basic human right that promotes social inclusion in all nations (IFAP mid-‐term strategy 2008-‐2013

http://portal.unesco.org/.../12114609343ifap.../ifap_draf_strategic_plan.pdf).

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It has been perceived that: • there is a low level of awareness of Information Literacy at the level of Society: society is

not yet persuaded of its importance;

• IL channels face difficulties in spreading knowledge of the role and the necessity of Information Literacy in politics as well as in real life (school, higher education, jobs, employees etc.);

• politicians and decision makers should pay attention to the potential of IL in social coherence. National governments have a specific responsibility as they determine the form and content of educational systems in which pupils are prepared for their future lives as responsible and participative citizens. If IL could be linked through to employment, decision makers will be persuaded to accept it;

• there is poor visibility of IL courses in both formal and informal educational sectors. IL starts in schools and continues through to higher education but the IL process is problematic outside formal education;

• there is the lack of coordination and cooperation amongst different IL stakeholders; and,

• there is a lack of recognition for libraries’ innovative role in the IL development and the central role librarians can and do play.

SECTION 4: RECOMMENDATIONS TO POLICY MAKERS

In Section 4 we formulate a set of Information Literacy development recommendation to policy makers in Europe.

Information Literacy is understood here as the important social objective, what means it is seen as a prerequisite for the Information Society, the objective of educational policy, it also implies a massive operation and requires changes in the education systems. Of course, Information Literacy as social objective is inevitably connected with the IL as cognitive acquisition of individuals, a competence of general character or “liberal art” (see Deliverable 1.1, p. 64-‐68).

Our recommendations are addressed to all and different IL stakeholders in Europe, but the main ones might be the national bodies responsible for the Lifelong Learning (LLL) and National Qualifications Frameworks (NQR) development1. The other important groups of addressees are educators and the education authorities as well as library and information professionals.

All recommendations offered here are based on the entire EMPATIC project findings and products up to date, including the previous Deliverables, in particular of numbers 1.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 and 6.1, the discussions during the four validation workshops and two final conferences, that is “Literacy and Society, Culture, Media and Education” in Ghent, Belgium (9-‐11 February 2012) and “EMMILE European Meeting on Media and Information Literacy” in Milan, Italy (27-‐29 February 2012).

The main purpose of the EMPATIC recommendations is to stimulate action.

1 See the Lifelong Learning Programme National Agencies at http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-‐learning-‐programme/doc1208_en.htm, and the EQF National Coordination Points at http://ec.europa.eu/eqf/uploads/file/EQF%20National%20Coordination%20Points.pdf).

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4.1 CONTEXT

The European Area of Lifelong Learning The main context for the recommendations is/should be the E u r o p e a n A r e a o f L i f e l o n g L e a r n i n g (Europa, Summaries of EU Legislation 2011b, http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifelong_learning/c11054_en.htm), and the commitments and responsibilities involved by that enterprise.

The policy of European Union (EU), despite the impression of a huge impact on the status of individual countries, the steps undertaken to create the Information Society, and involvement in the promotion of Information Literacy, is actually not coherent, lacks accumulation and relevant linking between various aspects of the IL area.

Among the main and important long-‐term strategic objectives of the EU education and training policies, where the Information Literacy strategy needs to be transparently and openly implemented, are:

• Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality;

• Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training;

• Promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship;

• Enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training (European Commission, Education and Training http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-‐learning-‐policy/doc28_en.htm).

At the same time, the European Union points to the key competences, relevant to the objectives and tasks within Lifelong Learning (LLL). As the combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context, the key competences are particularly necessary for personal fulfilment and development, social inclusion, active citizenship and employment. Among the eight key competencies, contained also in the Information Literacy area, forming the basis for the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes related to each of these there are: communication in mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression (Europa, Summaries of EU Legislation 2011a,

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifelong_learning/c11090_en.htm).

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Evaluation of the key competences, and also Information Literacy, should be a reference tool for EU countries and their education and training policies. The EU countries try to ensure:

• That initial education and training offer all young people the means to develop the key competences to a level that equips them for adult and working life, thus also providing a basis for future learning;

• That appropriate provision is made for young people who are disadvantaged in their training so that they can fulfil their educational potential;

• That adults can develop and update key competences throughout their lives, particularly priority target groups such as persons who need to update their competences;

• That appropriate infrastructure is in place for continuing education and training of adults, that there are measures to ensure access to education and training and the labour market and that there is support for learners depending on their specific needs and competences;

• The coherence of adult education and training provision through close links between the policies concerned (Europa, Summaries of EU Legislation 2011 http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifelong_learning/c11090_en.htm).

The next important enterprise in this area, the one applying to four learning sectors and all levels of education is EQF – the European Qualification Framework for Lifelong Learning. In the European Commission document we read: As an instrument for the promotion of lifelong learning, the EQF encompasses all levels of qualifications acquired in general, vocational as well as academic education and training. Additionally, the framework addresses qualifications acquired in initial and continuing education and training. The eight reference levels are described in terms of learning outcomes. (…) In the EQF a learning outcome is defined as a statement of what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on completion of a learning process. The EQF therefore emphasizes the results of learning rather than focusing on inputs such as length of study. Learning outcomes are specified in three categories – as knowledge, skills and competence (European Commission 2008, p. 3). And also: The EQF aims to relate different countries' national qualifications systems to a common European reference framework. Individuals and employers will be able to use the EQF to better understand and compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems. Agreed upon by the European institutions in 2008, the EQF is being put in practice across Europe. It encourages countries to relate their national qualifications systems to the EQF so that all new qualifications issued from 2012 carry a reference to an appropriate EQF level (European Commission, European Qualifications Framework 2011.

http://ec.europa.eu/eqf/about_en.htm) It should be also mentioned that the EQF framework is intended for policy makers, education and training providers, employers and learners.

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Advice from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) In the Guidelines on Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning (Lau, 2006), published by the Information Literacy Section of IFLA with the aim of providing a pragmatic framework for those professionals who are interested in starting an Information Literacy program, Jesus Lau identified the list of actions to be undertaken. He writes: The complete success of an information literacy program depends on the commitment at the institutional level. However, a commitment is not always present or clear at top management levels. Therefore, information professionals must devote time to create the relevant strategies to convince and sell the benefits of information literacy to institutional leaders to get their support. The basic steps to market information literacy programs (…) are:

• Adapt or adopt international information literacy standards and practices • Identify the information literacy program that works best for you and your

institution • Adopt or design a program based on national and international experiences • Identify what is required to implement the program • Regard the information literacy process as non-‐linear, you may skip steps and

change their order • Work on a strategic plan to chart the course of your goals and actions –See Chapter

5 for specifics • Involve all relevant parties in the planning process: your library team,

faculty/teachers, administrators, and the final decision-‐maker for the project (Lau, 2006, p. 20).

Advice from the UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP) The Information for All Programme (IFAP) is intended to help UNESCO Member States develop and implement national information policies and knowledge strategies using information and communication technologies (ICT). As the other goals, also the Information Literacy commitment should be developed and implemented by IFAP worldwide, through the activities that should:

• promote international reflection and debate on the ethical, legal and societal challenges of the information society;

• promote and widen access to information in the public domain through the organization, digitization and preservation of information;

• support training, continuing education and lifelong learning in the fields of communication, information and informatics;

• support the production of local content and foster the availability of indigenous knowledge through basic literacy and ICT literacy training;

• promote the use of international standards and best practices in communication, information and informatics in UNESCO's fields of competence; and

• promote information and knowledge networking at local, national, regional and international levels (UNESCO 2011,

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-‐and-‐information/intergovernmental-‐programmes/information-‐for-‐all-‐programme-‐ifap/about-‐ifap/objectives/).

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4.2 INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE SCHOOL LEARNING SECTOR –Recommendations to Policy Makers (the Comenius programme area)

Through EMPATIC’s validation workshops, a process of consultation and the Final Conferences, the following recommendations to policy makers in the schools’ sector have been identified:

1. Information Literacy and its specialized fields must be promoted to society, decision makers, politicians and users.

2. Clearly formulated national IL policy assumptions are required; some elements of IL development strategies are present in European countries but are “taken-‐for-‐granted”.

3. National IL development strategies should be flexible and built on an all-‐European scheme of IL standards, and those in turn should be formulated in terms of learning outcomes. Consequently there is a strong recommendation to prepare IL standards.

o Detailed Information Literacy strategies are needed. However, educational systems, information cultures, and experiences with IL development in every EU country are different, so what works in one part of Europe may not work in another. As a result it would be better to formulate European Information Literacy standards in terms of learning outcomes; these would identify a set of IL goals to be achieved in different appropriate ways and by various means within formal, informal and non-‐formal learning environments. In other words, the aims of IL should be the same across Europe in general, but IL development strategies need to be national in specifics.

4. Ministries of education, departments of Library and Information Science at higher educational institutions and relevant libraries should cooperate with each other.

5. Identification of roles for multi-‐dimensional cooperation of different IL stakeholders is crucial (for example, local authorities and other local figures, parents, school authorities, students, teachers).

o It is not simple to indicate who is to be responsible for the introduction and development of Information Literacy, but surely it could be national, central units. Generally, central bodies are appropriate to set goals but the cooperative work of all interested parties and stakeholders at local level, in local communities, is where real work is or can be achieved.

6. School management and teachers are the most important stakeholders in the schools sector, they must be aware of what Information Literacy is, why it is so important and how to learn/teach IL in schools.

o All the changes related to Information Literacy development in the school (formal education) learning sector should start with the involvement of teachers; they need to be convinced and trained in the IL didactics. School teachers are the basis of educational systems and send the most influential messages to their students/children in schools.

7. School libraries are important and the impact of the school library function must be shown.

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8. Librarians/information professionals, who are traditionally engaged in IL-‐related matters everywhere, must cooperate with all other parties/stakeholders involved in the educational processes, to include: headmasters, teachers, parents, students, local authorities, and other people having important social functions in their local communities (police officers, fire-‐fighters, priests, etc.).

9. Real work at the local level is the most important factor for IL development in the school sector in Europe, and as a result it has to be strongly supported by national and European law and policy makers.

10. The young generation, so-‐called “digital natives”, do not necessarily have an “inherent” culture of information; they also must undergo education and training in the field of Information Literacy.

11. National education policies are the power of national governments; it is imperative to implement IL in all school policies that recommend output-‐based learning.

4.3 INFORMTIOAN LITERACY IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION LEARNING SECTOR (HE) Recommendations to Policy Makers (the Erasmus programme area)

Through EMPATIC’s validation workshops, a process of consultation and the Final Conference, the following set of recommendations has been drafted to address different levels of government, from the European Union, through National and National Academic Systems, to the individual university level.

1. Information Literacy and its specialized fields must be promoted to society, decision makers, politicians and users.

2. Ministries of education, departments of Library and Information Science at higher educational institutions and relevant libraries should cooperate with each other.

3. European Higher Education Area: Information Literacy should be embedded into the Bologna process as a new learning outcome, in order to fully legitimise Information Literacy within and at the level of European Higher Education Area (European Commission policy level).

4. Support a European Information Literacy Model: the diffusion of the revised 2011 SCONUL Information Literacy model for Higher Education should be supported as it is a European model, widely accepted in Europe and translated into various European languages. Originally (1999) conceived for the Higher Education sector, its successful diffusion in European countries, led to the definition of a core model and a number of so-‐called “lenses”, each for a different group of learners (European Commission -‐ Supranational policy level).

5. Information Literacy must be implemented within a curricular integration process in Higher Education courses of study, similar to the process already established for Computer Literacy (University policy level).

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6. Legitimatise a curricular configuration for Information Literacy to be diffused in

European universities (Academic system policy level). Three different levels, together with number of credits, were suggested:

o Library delivered (2-‐4 credits)

o Academic delivered (4 credits)

o Embedded (credits included within the subject credit amount)

7. Educational continuum: in the long term, Higher Education educational policies will take large benefit from the full integration of Information Literacy into school curricula (National policy level).

8. Syllabus definition: syllabi should be tailored according to the context of the specific information habit of the discipline/subject involved (University policy level).

9. Institutionalisation of approach: a governance approach should be supportive of the overall process of Information Literacy institutionalisation in Higher Education, since it is an issue crossing the domains of information and education policies (Academic system policy level).

Targeting central policy makers may have greater potential for change than working at local levels, through 'slow research' and similar processes.

4.4 INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING SECTOR (VET) Recommendations to Policy Makers (the Leonardo da Vinci programme area)

Through EMPATIC’s validation workshops, a process of consultation and the Final Conference the following recommendations to policy makers in the VET sector have been identified:

1. National VET policies should be developed and information literacy must be a vital part of these policies.

2. Awareness of IL should be created for society, decision makers, politicians and users. In this context, ministries of education, librarians’ associations, departments of information management at universities and all relevant institutions should cooperate with each other.

3. Information literacy should be integrated into the official lifelong learning programs of ministries of education.

4. Information literacy should be integrated into the VET activities arranged by municipalities, ministries, universities and the other institutions. In this framework, IL should be connected to municipalities and ministries.

5. Social awareness of literacy should be included within work culture and the way employers view it; VET provides a mobile work force and innovative economy within Europe.

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6. In cooperation with library associations, Departments of Information Management and other relevant parties at universities should organize projects and curriculum about information literacy-‐VET to fulfil the holistic education of trainers.

7. Educational content and appropriate materials related to information literacy in VET should be prepared.

8. Courses should be organized through cooperation with public libraries to provide people with competence in information literacy.

9. Ministries should give appropriate consideration and recognition to the attendance and experience in education on information literacy and VET when considering workers’ careers.

10. Awareness of IL is necessary at all levels; national, local and institutional bodies must work together.

11. Lobbying for IL in VET (and indeed all sectors of education) should be made to national government and EU politicians.

12. International projects and cooperation concerning VET and information literacy should be developed.

13. Distance education possibilities for IL in VET must be explored and fully utilized.

4.5 INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE ADULT LEARNING SECTOR – Recommendations to Policy Makers (the grundtvig programme area)

Through EMPATIC’s validation workshops, a process of consultation and the Final Conference, the following recommendations to policy makers in the adult education/lifelong learning sector have been identified:

1. Information Literacy and its specialized fields must be promoted to society, decision makers, politicians, communities and users.

2. Ministries of education and lifelong learning, departments at higher educational institutions, all relevant institutions and libraries should cooperate with each other.

3. National strategies should follow from development of a European scheme of IL standards, assessment types and learning outcomes.

4. Lobbying for the integration of IL into Adult Education & Lifelong Learning must be undertaken to the EU, national politicians, public libraries and all relevant institutions.

5. Departments of Library and Information Science, information literacy professionals and all relevant bodies should work together to prepare educational content and materials related to Information Literacy.

6. The learner must be more active and become a partner in the process.

7. The media are very important; these can include music, radio, local newspapers, and popular activities such as drama and local associations.

8. IL should be integrated into all Lifelong Learning activities that are run by various organizations in a practical way, this could be through financial information, health education, cultural information, etc.

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9. International cooperation concerning Adult Education and Information Literacy should be developed.

10. Consequently, advocating IL must be undertaken on national, local, community and institutional levels simultaneously.

11. Modern technologies to apply IL in Adult Education & Life Long Learning (e.g. Web2.0, e-‐conferences) must be utilized.

12. Public Libraries have a very important role to play in the application of IL in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning and therefore have to be helped in order to succeed in it.

4.6. INFORMATION LITERACY IN THE FOUR LEARNING SECTORS (SCHOOL, HIGHER EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AND ADULT/LIFELONG LEARNING) – GENERAL, NON-‐SECTOR SPECIFIC Recommendations to Policy Makers made by the final conferences participants

As a result the following general recommendations of both strategic and tactical nature have been formulated:

1. Information Literacy is vital for the today’s society in Europe and as such should be developed and promoted in different contexts and by various means.

2. The importance of Information Literacy needs to be publicized not only to governments, ministries and policy makers at national and EU levels but also to local authorities, businesses, small social groups and all citizens.

3. The strategy of IL development should encompass two main lines of action:

o IL awareness building among authorities and governments at national and European levels

o Substantial, real work, “step by step”, “project by project” on the local level by individual schools, universities, libraries, etc.

4. Most participants expressed the feeling that “slow” strategy, based on “small projects” addressed to different target groups, communities, professions, etc. would be more effective than having a central EU body responsible for the IL development or the formal European IL policy directives. Thus, the “IL awareness building” and “central goals” approach clearly prevailed over the “central steering” one. Also, having clearly stated Information Literacy goals (national, European) may help to convince/influence local authorities to support IL development programmes.

5. “Incentives work better than orders”, meaning that IL development policy based on incentives for those who introduce IL (teachers, librarians, businesses, local authorities) would be an effective strategy. EMPATIC had started a process for the identification of past experience and development of case studies of good practice through EC-‐funded programmes. However, this approach should be extended to all known IL and Information Competencies projects. This is important for policy makers.

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5. CONCLUSIONS

To sum up, the recommendations related to Information Literacy development on the national and international scale are as follows:

• initiating and promoting activities associated with the provision of access to information and the reducing of barriers in the use of it – creating and maintaining the infrastructure to meet information needs (e.g. digitisation);

• including Information Literacy in the national strategies for Lifelong Learning, the development of IL competences should be a part of the national LLL projects;

• assessing the existing “starting” level of IL competences in various social groups;

• creating national policies to involve various IL stakeholders, i.e. business, educational, governmental and labour market institutions, libraries, NGOs, in the training of information competences;

• determining a set of indicators of the IL development at the national level, to be able to verify the extent to which national IL policies are realized (compare Towards Information Literacy Indicators by UNESCO, Catts and Lau, 2008);

• creating the working networks of institutions involved in the IL education and training central and local governments, libraries, educational institutions, labour market institutions, NGOs, etc. ;

• including IL to curricula of general and specialized education at all levels;

• introducing IL into the standards of teachers’ training.

All EMPATIC partners and stakeholder communities are now encouraged to take up, promote and implement the findings and recommendations to begin the process of influencing policy makers.

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REFERENCES

1. Catts, Ralph; Lau, Jesus (2008). Towards Information Literacy Indicators. [online]. Available at: http://www.ifla.org/files/information-‐literacy/publications/towards-‐information-‐literacy_2008-‐en.pdf [Retrieved 29 December 2011]

2. Europa, Summaries of EU Legislation (2011a). Key competences for lifelong learning. [online]. Available at http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifelong_learning/c11090_en.htm [Retrieved 15 January 2012]

3. Europa, Summaries of EU Legislation (2011b). European area of lifelong learning. [online]. Available at http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifelong_learning/c11054_en.htm [Retrieved 16 January 2012]

4. European Commission (2008). The European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) [online]. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/pub/pdf/general/eqf/broch_en.pdf [Retrieved 2 January 2012]

5. European Commission, Directorate-‐General for Education and Culture (2004). Common European principles for validation of non-‐formal and informal learning [online]. Available at: http://www.uk.ecorys.com/europeaninventory/publications/EC_common_principles_validation_20040303.pdf [Retrieved 2 January 2012]

6. European Commission, Education and Training (2011). Strategic framework for education and training. [online]. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-‐learning-‐policy/doc28_en.htm [Retrieved 29 December 2011]

7. European Commission, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency EACEA (2009 – ). Lifelong Learning. [online]. Available at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/ [Retrieved 28 December 2011]

8. European Commission, European Qualifications Framework (2011). About EQF. [online]. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/eqf/about_en.htm [Retrieved 15 January 2012]

9. Lau, Jesus (2006). IFLA Guidelines on Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning. Final Draft. [online]. Available at: http://www.ifla.org/files/information-‐literacy/publications/ifla-‐guidelines-‐en.pdf [Retrieved 2 January 2012]

10. UNESCO, Information for All Programme (IFAP) (2011). [online] Available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-‐and-‐information/intergovernmental-‐programmes/information-‐for-‐all-‐programme-‐ifap/about-‐ifap/objectives/ [Retrieved 2 January 2012]

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http://empat-‐ic.eu/eng/

Project funded by the European Commission

under the Lifelong Learning Programme

EMPATIC - Exploitation Strategy

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