Weekly Reading #5

1.What does the term "discursive practices" mean?
In education, discursive practices are the uses of language in an educational context - for example, the typical pattern of teacher question, student answer, teacher feedback.

2.What does "discourse" mean?
Discourse is defined as written or spoken communication or debate.

3.What is the "rock" and what is the "hard place"?
The rock is the current conceptions of information literacy that represent information literacy as a skill or competency that is confined to information access and use, and associated with tools such as text or technology. The hard place refers to attempts to translate this conception from the formal learning regimes of education and academic libraries to other sectors where learning is less structured or systematized, but is just as important (i.e. workplaces). (Lloyd, 2011).

4.What are the differences between the skills prescribed for information searching in academic and workplace settings?
According to the reading, the skills prescribed for information searching in academic and workplace settings involved information that is "systematically organized and enshrined in authorized bodies of knowledge." The skills for finding this information are formalized by particular rules, regulations and curriculum by an instrumental rationality. Acquisition of knowledge are measured against a formalized set of criteria.

Workplaces offer another type of social setting, where the information landscape is often described as messy, complex and distributed through a range of practices that entwine to contribute to the collective performance of work. Workplace knowledge is not only shaped via the use of canonical and content-based sources but is also shaped through noncanonical sources such as the experiences of embodied performance, which are created when workers engage with the physical and material space of their workplaces. (Lloyd, 2011)

5.How do academic notions of information literacy undermine workplace notions information literacy?
Academic notions of information literacy focus more on the individual. Whereas, workplace concepts of information literacy build on the concepts of teamwork, social practices and group problem solving.

6.How are information needs identified in work place setting like nursing and emergency workers?
In the emergency services studies (Lloyd, 2009, Lloyd-Zantiotis, 2004) problem soliving is a group activity where members cross-reference the problem or issue at hand, against a range of experiences drawn from situated prace and expertise within the group. (Lloyd, 2011).
Nurses' concept of information need was defined by doctors. For this group, the discourse of another profession shapes the information seeking activities of nurses.

7.Why do issues of plagiarism not resonate in workplace settings?
The notion that workers are aware of information presentation or issues such as plagiarism does not resonate in workplaces that are often driven by technical and embodied knowledge. This type of knowledge is considered to be a collective possession and dissemintated and circulated throughout the workplace, by storytelling, and extended through the distributed networks of professional practice. (Lloyd, 2011).

8.Are information literacy skills transferable across contexts and settings? Why or Why not?
According to the reading, information literacy skills do not appear to successfully transfer, either within a school-based setting, across education settings, or into the workplace.

9.What is "practice theory"?
Practice theories emphasize the analysis of ways of engaging with the world. These social theories are concerned with exploring human activity, subjectivity, intersubjectivity, embodiment, language, and power in relation to the "organization, reproduction and transformation of social life" (Schatzki, 2001, p.1)

10.How does the author of this article define information literacy?
The author defines information literacy as a critical information practice that encompasses not only the mastery of information skills but also a mastery of the information landscape. Furthermore, the author states that information literacy is constituted through connections that exist between people, artifacts, texts and bodily experiences.

11.How do educators need to change their understanding of information literacy in order to prepare students for the information literacy practices they will encounter in workplace settings?
As educators, we need to focus on the social conditions that enable information literacy to happen in ways that allow access to information and knowledge that are specific to the practice setting (Lloyd, 2011). We need to know how to locate information sources given the landscape and how the information in those sources reflect the conditions in which the knowledge are agreed upon. Additionally, we must understand that information literacy is a collaborative practice.

12.What do the terms "ontological" and "epistemological" mean?
According to wikipedia, ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations.
Epistemological refers to the natures of knowledge and presuppostitions and foundations, and its extent and validity.

13.After reading this article, how useful is the traditional research paper we expect students to produce in school in preparing them for workplace settings? What are traditional research papers useful for? Should we still assign traditional research papers?
Traditional research papers are a part of the learning process. To prepare students for workplace settings, we should be assigning research that requires collaboration and project-based learning experiences.
14.What is one of the biggest challenges to changing the way information literacy is conceptualized in school settings?
In school settings, traditional forms of information research are more highly valued. In order to change the way information literacy is conceptualized in school settings, we must focus our research efforts toward understanding information literacy and use the knowledge in our own practices.

15.What attributes of the 21st century make it essential that educators change their approaches toward information literacy?
21st Century workplaces entail a lot collaboration, information sharing, social practices and group problem solving.

16.What changes can teachers make to their classroom activities to engage students in the  information literacy practices they will encounter in 21st century workplace settings?
Educators must change their approaches toward information literacy from an individual focus encompass more workplace type skills. Lloyd points out that classroom activities need to involve teamwork, social practices, and group problem solving.

References
Lloyd, A. (2011). Trapped between a Rock and a Hard Place: What Counts as Information Literacy in the Workplace and How Is It Conceptualized? Library Trends, 60 (2) pp. 277-296.