The aims of this book

The growth of the internet and particularly the web, and the increasing need for students and staff in schools to be able to use information effectively when they study, work or socialize, has meant that there is now a greater recognition of the need for information literacy and web use to be seen as key aspects of modern education and society. Most studies of the ability and competency of teachers and teacher librarians (including school librarians and school library media specialists) to use the web effectively show that school staff need advice, guidance and in-service training. Similarly, most research on students’ use of information literacy skills, including effective web use, demonstrates that most students do not use the web effectively, and are unlikely to transfer what they are taught about web use across the subjects which they are studying. The primary aim of this book is to provide schools with a practical guide, built on a sound theoretical base, to developing better use of the web by staff and students, in order to improve learning and teaching in schools. The aim is to change staff and students in schools from web users to critical web learners.

This book also aims to raise the profile of information literacy in schools, with a view to persuading teachers, teacher librarians and school management that information literacy skills and abilities should be a key focus in the school curriculum. Students are increasingly seen as being independent learners, who make use of the vast array of learning resources of the web, in order to widen their knowledge of curricular topics and complete assignments. If students are to be web-alert, web-critical and webreflective, they need to be taught a range of information literacy skills, so they can develop abilities which make them reflective practitioners.

A third aim of the book is twofold. First, it is intended to provide new teachers and teacher librarians (including those studying for professional qualifications in these areas) with a resource which they can use for a range of purposes, for example to expand their own learning or to teach students about web use. The book contains many examples of good practice in schools and new teachers and teacher librarians can use or adapt them in their own work.