Editorial
School Library Monthly/Volume XXVI, Number 3/November 2009
AASL Standards—What Are the Keywords?
By Deborah D. Levitov
Try capturing the text from the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (2007) common beliefs and the four standards and put them in Wordle. Here is what it displays:
At first it is surprising to see that inquiry is not one of the more prominent keywords since inquiry is supposed to be the essence of the new standards. Yet, the introduction to Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action (2009) states that the new standards "take a fresh approach and a broad perspective on student learning standards… by focusing on the learning process" (p. 5), which is what inquiry is really all about… process. It is a focus that requires higher level thinking, exploration, and problem solving. With this in mind, it is appropriate that the words that emerge from the Wordle results are "learning," "information," and "skills." Although isolated skills can not be the main focus for information literacy instruction, they remain important as the building blocks for successful inquiry.
The next set of words in the Wordle that draw attention are “"use," "students," "knowledge," "technology," and "resources." The standards are student-centered. Knowledge is what students hopefully will gain through the use of technology and resources. These, too, seem like appropriate keywords. In the end, the combination of these keywords—learning, information, skills, use, students, knowledge, and technology—all add up to inquiry.
This serves as a good exercise for discussion of the new AASL Standards that can lead to closer examination and better understanding. Try it: http://www.wordle.net/.