Information literacy skills on the go: Mobile learning innovation

Abstract

Students’ understanding and integration of information literacy (IL) skills are fundamental to higher education and lifelong learning. Development and implementation of thirteen mobile lessons application (http://renmil.ca/) in the Mobile Information Literacy Tool (MIL) was the result of a unique collaboration between faculty and the library. Lessons demonstrated how to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively. Mixed methods pilot study findings (Hanbidge, Sanderson, & Tin, 2015) informed the Canadian project’s second stage analysis to determine fluency in digital literacy skills and testing of the MIL tool. One hundred and twenty-eight undergraduate Arts students from eight different classes majoring in psychology, social work, English or social development studies participated in the study to determine the effectiveness of using mobile technology to enhance their IL skills. Preliminary successes and experiences with overcoming the barriers to support anytime, anywhere student mobile information literacy training are discussed and future directions are recommended.