Learning to discover: Youth information literacy in the "i"digital age

Abstract

Today's digital information environment is rich with varied types of information that is available anytime, anj-here at a user's fingertips. While children and young adults constitute a high percent of the online population worldwide and are being characterized as "savvy," or "born digital," there is a need to examine how what has been considered a "distraction" in using the Web can be transformed into valuable information that these young users are enable to capture and use at a later time. Existing models of information behavior in traditional environments may allow us to predict certain aspects of young users' information seeking. However, most of these models do not account for information discovery or information encountering that occurs throughout the information seeking process. In this panel, researchers will discuss the changing nature of teaching, learning, and capturing young users' information behaviors in the "I" digital environment. They wall propose ways for developing holistic understanding of young users' information behavior processes that encapsulate information discovery and digital inquiry.