Why elections like this prove that info literacy matters

This particular election has polarized the country perhaps more than normal.  It has also been somewhat fact free. (I am using statistics not my personal opinion in that regard.) What message do we need to take out of this as educators and librarians?  And how can this speak to the importance of information literacy and the role librarians and teachers take in taking it seriously? 1.The polarization and way people are getting siloed online is why it is so extremely important that teachers work with […]

The art of paying attention: media in a media rich world

Watching recent events in Ferguson and recent tweets about the immigration debate reminds me how important it is to address visual literacy with our students in the media-rich environment they live in. The last two years I participated in couple of amazing sessions at ALA with Tasha Bergson-Michelson, Debbie Abilock and Kristin Fontichiaro, one on Slow Thinking, and one on Visual Media, which changed how I think about images I see and work with. (I wrote about it here).  They dug deep into the details behind the graph […]

Libraries in a democratic society

Every morning a number of scenarios for letters to the editor or to the state legislators run through my head on the way to work, hoping to explain, convince, chide, persuade, and inform about the woes facing Texas schools and the impact on our students and on the profession of teaching as a whole. In researching where some of the negative messaging is coming from, I’ve been disheartened to realize that much of it has been fomented behind the scenes by powerful political organizations like […]