Exploring the information literacy competence standards for elementary and high school teachers
The main purpose of this study was to establish Information Literacy Competence Standards for Elementary and High School Teachers. To establish these standards a set of two expert round-table discussions and three rounds of Delphi Technique surveys were employed. Ten participants including field scholars, information professionals were invited to the expert round-table for open discussions on definitions, framework, and items of information literacy competence. A questionnaire for the "Delphi Technique Survey" was developed based on the results acquired from the round-table discussions. The resulting questionnaire was distributed to another group of 33 participants which included graduate school deans of Information Education, professors, school principals, department directors and teachers, and information professionals. After three rounds of Delphi Technique Surveys with these participants, the "Information Literacy Competence Standards for Elementary and High School Teachers" was established. Three levels (standards, main indicators, and secondary indicators) and three dimensions (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) were identified. Distinguished from existing research which over-emphasizes the dimensions of knowledge and skills, the present study found that the dimension "attitude" is the most powerful force for promoting teachers' information literacy competence and their willingness to apply information technology in teaching. It is hoped that the proposed standards could be served as it self-evaluation tool for teachers as well as the basis for staffing and training programs for elementary and high school teachers in Taiwan. (C) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
information literacy competence competence standards delphi technique