Teaching Tools for the Information Age

Sheree Haughian, a former teacher-librarian with the Dufferin County
Board of Education, is an editor with Gage Educational Publishing and
the author of The Private Journal of Day Applepenny, Prisoner.

With the body of knowledge doubling every three and half years, there is
surely no shortage of information. Some elementary-school teachers might
argue that there is actually an excess of information. At least, it may
seem that way when students fire up their home computers, print a chunk
of data from a CD-ROM, cut and paste cleverly, and pass off the result
as independent research. As well as being a slick variation on nasty old
plagiarism, the project proves nothing whatsoever about what a student
has really learned.

Koechlin and Zwaan’s Information Power Pack points to the necessity
for intellectual, as well as physical, access to knowledge. This three
book series, offering a teacher handbook and skillsbooks for both
intermediate and junior students, is an updated, expanded, glossier
version of a document called “Connections,” originally brought out
by the Scarborough Board of Education.

Rare would be the teacher, teacher-librarian, or student who could not
find something useful here. Educators will appreciate the focus on the
complete process of research, from defining subtopics, to retrieving
resources, to recording, analyzing, and presenting information in a way
that enhances the learner’s ability to think critically and apply what
has been learned. Sections may be photocopied; although not all the
pages will be of specific benefit to every research situation, they do
address the wide variety of skills inherent in the process of becoming
truly literate. Woe to anyone who still imagines that “doing
research” involves direct copying from an encyclopedia, electronic or
otherwise!

Information Power Pack is a valuable addition to a school’s learning
resources, not because it is trendy and high-tech, but because it
provides a framework for the acquisition of knowledge in the information
age. Highly recommended.