Teacher Resources

Background

With increased access to information through digital technologies, young children are required to make decisions about what information is useful or accurate, and how they might use this
information. Being able to find, evaluate and apply information is a key attribute for today’s knowledge economy.

Simply having access to digital technologies and online resources, however, does not always equate to developing skills well suited to 21st century learning environments (Zammit & Callow, 2013). Our research shows that educators are wanting to learn how to support children’s use of digital technologies in everyday learning experiences. Educators are unsure of which skills are important for young children to learn as they engage in digital play.

Relational Information Literacy involves processes that go beyond developing functional skills to creating attributes that enable lifelong learning (Bruce, 2008). Through relational information literacy, children’s learning can shift from simply acquiring information to connecting with information, contesting information and creating knowledge. These processes help children to develop evaluative, critical and creative mindsets as they engage in digital play.