Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy
The information explosion of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has resulted in an often overwhelming amount of information available at users' fingertips. Students attending UCLA today are digital natives; they have grown up with and are facile users of today's technological tools: they IM, Google, download music, chat, and game effortlessly. However, do they come to college equipped with the requisite information problem-solving skills needed to excel in this academically rigorous environment? Representatives from UCLA and other institutions of higher education have worked with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) since 2003 on an assessment tool that will provide colleges and universities with data to answer this question. For more information on UCLA's involvement in this project, see "Building and Using a Tool to Assess Info and Tech Literacy" by Stephanie Sterling Brasley in Computers in Libraries 26, 5 (May 2006), pages 6-7 and 44-48.
ETS defines ICT literacy proficiency as the ability to use digital technology, communication tools, and networks appropriately to solve information problems in order to function in an information society. This includes the ability to use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information and the possession of a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information.
The ICT literacy assessment tool has undergone a thorough design process to produce a Web-based, scenario-based, seventy-five-minute test that assesses students' abilities to use technology to solve an array of information problems. More information on the tool is available on the ETS iSkills Web site.
There are two versions of the test to assess either high school students, incoming freshmen, and sophomores; or juniors preparing for upper-division work. Students receive results reports that include a score and a narrative providing feedback on strengths and weaknesses. The score data can be used to:
- Assess individual student proficiency
- Plan curricula to address ICT literacy gaps
- Inform resource-allocation decisions
- Provide evidence for accreditation
The UCLA Library and campus partners are discussing the most appropriate groups and uses for this useful assessment tool.
If you are interested in having students in your course take this assessment or would like additional information, contact Sarah Watstein, Associate University Librarian for Research and Instructional Services, by email or by telephone at 310.206.3593.
