NetSavvy

Presents a manual for effectively imbedding information literacy skills across all grade levels and subject areas. At the book's core is the Skills Framework, a 33 page listing of all the skills needed for addressing information needs using the Internet as the main information source. For any teacher the Framework serves as a set of instructions for the teaching of information processing skills. The proper use of the Framework for lesson planning is prompted by the use of NetSavvy's complete set of Teacher Tools and Student Tools. NetSavvy is also built around a core process called "the 5As process of information literacy." Although most useful in project-based learning, this 5 stage process can be used to address any information need: Stage 1: Asking (key questions to be answered) Stage 2: Accessing (relevant data) Stage 3: Analyzing (the acquired data) Stage 4: Applying (the data to the task) Stage 5: Assessing (both the result and the process) This logical and useful 5 stage process forms the basis of the Skills Framework itself as well as all the NetSavvy Tools. Within each of the 5 stages, the NetSavvy Tools assist teachers and students in checking for necessary prerequisites, in considering a broad range of possible information literacy methods and types of equipment, and in planning assessment techniques that measure process and content. The book is divided in four parts: Part 1: "The Internet, InfoWhelm, and InfoSavvy" consist of three chapters: Chapter 1 considers the emergence of the Internet and its impact on society and education; Chapter 2 discusses information overload and its subsequent dysfunctions and proposes a solution; Chapter 3: the 5As of information literacy are presented, and InfoSavvy and NetSavvy are defined. Part 2: "Setting Up the NetSavvy Classroom" is made up of chapters 4-9 that present tools for teachers and students designed for and aligned to work with an organized list of information-processing skills for the Internet-the NetSavvy Skills Framework. Chapter 4 introduces the Ten-Minute Lesson Planner, which offers a quick and efficient way of creating NetSavvy lesson plans using the 5As approach to help integrate information literacy skills into any content area of the curriculum. Chapters 5-9 present lesson planners for each stage of the 5As NetSavvy process, and student tools that articulate with each of the 5 lesson planners. Part 3: "The NetSavvy Skills Framework" covers the complete framework. Part 4: "Overcoming Educational Obstacles and Assumptions" consists of Chapters 10-14 presenting five commonly held assumptions about education. Appendixes contain reproducible blank versions of all the NetSavvy teacher and student tools. Includes a reading list. (AEF)