Informatievaardig worden in het onderwijs, een informatiewetenschappelijk perspectief : een vergelijkende gevallenstudie in Nederland en Zuid-Afrika (Nederlands)

Abstract

This work concentrates on the informational aspects of becoming information literate for the Information Society in secondary education. The importance of this study is linked to the information age - an era in which most people rely on information in their occupations and private lives. This need for information acquires more explicit information related skills to be able to retrieve, evaluate, use, store and disseminate information. To be able to address these issues, the study is subdivided as follows. The first section (chapters 3&4) addresses the concepts of the informatisation of society and information literacy. Models are presented for both the informatisation process and information literacy. In the discussion of the concept information literacy the following issues are emphasized: the individuals realisation of an information gap, the formulation of a query, the knowledge of relevant sources, the knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICT), the knowledge, skill and ability to use, store and disseminate information in an effective and efficient way. In the second section (chapters 5 - 10), ensuing from the first, attention is given to position of The Netherlands and South Africa related to being or becoming an Information Society (chapter 5), the relationship between ICT and education (chapter 6) and the introduction of ICT and information related subjects in secondary education in respectively The Netherlands (chapter 7) and South Africa (chapter 8). It is illustrated that the infrastructure in The Netherlands to implement information literacy at school level is much better that in South Africa. Chapters 9 and 10 consist of an empirical study with the aim to determine the way in which information literacy is teached in two schools – one in South Africa and the other in The Netherlands, and which relevant entities are present. The main outcome of the empirical study was that, although pupils were adequate trained in the use of technology, they were not trained to become information literate as the emphasize is on acquiring computer skills in stead of acquiring information. The third and final part comprises firstly an evaluation of the study (chapter 11) and of the summary, conclusions and recommendations (Chapter 12). The main recommendation is the introduction of the subject information literacy as a compulsory school subjects at all levels enabling students to be prepared for their role in the knowledge society. The study is concluded with a proposal for further research. Copyright 2000, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Roux, EM 2000, Informatievaardig worden in het onderwijs, een informatiewetenschappelijk perspectief : een vergelijkende gevallenstudie in Nederland en Zuid-Afrika (Nederlands) PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-11082004-111737 / >