Information Obesity

An exploration of information literacy and ICT skills education from the point of view of social and political theory. The author incorporates theories to argue why the idea of information literacy is so important in the 21st century, and also to develop teaching strategies to this end. The book argues that only through expanding the range of information literacy education taking it beyond just formal school and university education and into homes, friendship networks and workplaces can we construct an effective educational response to information technology in the 21st century. Information literacy includes, but transcends, ICT skills and ultimately is about being politically, socially and communicatively competent in an information society. - Although this is a book about 'education', it argues that we need to start thinking of education as something done by families, friends, workmates and society as a whole, as well as schools and colleges - Each chapter introduces the readers to some social and political theory, but in ways accessible to a lay audience - To complement each section, 'think tasks' and practical exercises will help the readers apply the insights in their personal contexts

Andrew Whitworth is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Manchester and Programme Director of the MA: Digital Technologies, Communication and Education. He has written many chapters and articles on DMIL, and was the author of Information Obesity with Chandos Publishing. He has presented the ideas surrounding A critical theory of information literacy in keynotes at various conferences including Creating Knowledge VI, Information literacy: A way of life? and the IFLA/UNESCO conference in Moscow which led to the Moscow Declaration on Media and Information Literacy. His Media and Information Literacy course at Manchester was named as an exemplar of the field by the Learning Literacies in a Digital Age project and he was also the only European winner of a Blackboard Catalyst award for his work with distance learners.