E-literacy Schema for E-learning Programmes

The advent of the Internet-based applications into the academic settings engendered a wide range of dynamic virtual paradigms such as e-learning, e-research, and digital libraries. The networked information and e-learning processes however have brought about information overload and search anxiety to the end-users. Such phenomena created urgent needs for developing effective eliteracy scenarios to extenuate such a discomfort phenomena. Knowledge map (K-map) and Information literacy (IL) are among instrumental approaches being used to adapt to such inevitable changes in information dissemination and learning landscape. This work presents an eliteracy schema to facilitate scholarly use of the Web, and to expedite task-based information searching within an academic computing environment (ACE); especially, via course management software (CMS) platform such as BlackboardTM. The IL programmes at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) revealed that the students and some instructors suffering from a serious gap in Web literacy and online search skills. This status has triggered off an initiative to develop a k-map pathway to maintain e-literacy process, which is a blend of several techniques of knowledge representations as the Eisenberg and Berkowitz’s Big6TM model, Ellis's model, and Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) standards into an applicable e-literacy schema. E-literacy schema would be providing an effective approach to subject analysis and then to facilitate easyto-find relevant information while searching in a networked learning environment. E-literacy schema integrated with Blackboard-enhanced online engineering courses at UAEU (in 2005) purposely to assist the students in developing online search skills to retrieve relevant academic information, as well as further use this information to create intellectual works in a knowledge base. The engineering students who were involved in the test of the schema showed an obvious improvement in their information retrieval skills, along with abilities in evaluating return relevance. In conclusion, the integration of e-literacy schema with CMS-enhanced learning is unique, and it is convenient for IL instructors involved in e-learning processes.