Assignment- Week 3

What is the difference between being Technologically Literate and being Information Literate?
When someone is Technologically Literate, they are able to understand and use the new hardware technologies that we have available to us. They are 'tech savvy', understanding how things like computers, phones, etc work.
When someone is Information Literate, it means they know where to find information and how to go about searching for answers. Being able to use technology is very important in order to use the tools available to find information, but they also have to understand how to dig in databases, the internet, the library and other sources to find answers and information and evaluate the quality of the information I have found.
Which is more important?
I think it depends on the person and what their needs and goals are. My husband is extremely Technologically Literate. He works with technology every day, that I know nothing about, at work. He orders, manages, monitors and evaluates huge amounts of computers, servers and other technology to keep a huge company's researchers up to date with fast and powerful technology. At home, he is able to help anyone with their computer, phone, tv or anything technical.
I am well on my way to being Information Literate. I know how to use tools to find information for myself and other people. While I understand computers and I am a more able than some to use technology, I am miles away from what my husband understands. However, I understand metadata, cataloging, information organization and where to go, depending on a topic, to find the information one seeks.
For students, being information literate means they are able to organize their information in a way that makes recalling it and using it simple. It is about teaching them how to use and store information in a useful way. Web 2.0 tools are all about using, sharing and storing information for later use.

What is this "Inquiry" movement and how does it relate to the school library?
I have not been in charge of a classroom since my student teaching years in the late 90's. We were not using the idea of Inquiry Based Learning or the essential question. Both ideas seem somewhat obvious to me, now that I am learning about them in this class.
There are six phases to Inquiry Based Learning. The first is asking the students to connect the topic with what they already know and can involve sharing that prior knowledge with others.
Then the students need to think about questions they have about the topic in the wonder phase.
The investigation phase is when students seek out information to help them better understand the topic. They may come up with more questions or find a direction to take their research in during this phase.
Construct is when they begin to bring all of the information together to see what they now know and layout their organization for their inquiry project.
Then they are ready for the express phase, where they are able to share what they have learned with others and use the information.
And finally, they reflect on the process and what they have learned throughout the inquiry.
Inquiry learning gives the student a direct connection to the topic he or she is focused on. Every phase lends itself to the use of web 2.0 tools and those tools would strengthen the learning process.