An exploration of information literacy and ICT skills education from the point of view of social and political theory. The author incorporates theories to argue why the idea of information literacy is so important in the 21st century, and also to develop teaching strategies to this end. The book argues that only through expanding the range of information literacy education taking it beyond just formal school and university education and into homes, friendship networks and workplaces can we construct an effective educational response to information technology in the 21st century. Information literacy includes, but transcends, ICT skills and ultimately is about being politically, socially and communicatively competent in an information society.
Although this is a book about education, it argues that we need to start thinking of education as something done by families, friends, workmates and society as a whole, as well as schools and collegesEach chapter introduces the readers to some social and political theory, but in ways accessible to a lay audienceTo complement each section, think tasks and practical exercises will help the readers apply the insights in their personal contexts "

A volume in Perspectives in Instructional Technology and Distance Education Series Editors: Charles Schlosser and Michael Simonson Nova Southeastern University The e-learning research literature is characterized by studies that investigate the practice of teaching and learning online (pedagogy) and those that investigate the planning and administrative functions associated with e-learning delivery (management). This edited volume directs attention to pedagogy and management as it relates to the primary e-learning delivery mechanism, the course management system (CMS). Specifically, the research presented in this collection deals with a range of themes relevant to the selection, implementation, use and evaluation of course management systems in higher education. The primary audience for this book includes instructors and students in instructional and educational technology programs. The book could easily be used as a text in a distance or online learning course. The secondary audience includes instructors and students in higher education programs and e-learning practitioners and administrators. The book is timely because of the growing presence and influence of course management systems on teaching and learning in higher education.

Banks have been at the heart of economic activity for centuries, but since the 2008 financial crisis scrutiny of their activities and regulation of their actions has become the focus of fervent academic, policy and political activity. This focus takes for granted the existence and nature of banks. In Regulating Banks, Andrew Whitworth looks one stage deeper to question what a bank really is, and what the implications of that are. He argues that the institutional form of a bank represents the political compromise of a specific time and place - and can therefore change. This has implications for financial stability. Far from creating stability, he argues, the regulatory impulse of policy-makers inevitably leads to greater financial instability. Whitworth examines the postwar period of UK banking to show how regulation influences the nature of banks as much as their behaviour. Regulation, by changing the nature of what is regulated, encourages banks and other actors over time to alter their behaviour, which leads to future boom and bust cycles. These cycles then require further regulation to rein in the disruption their new pattern of behaviour inevitably instigates. Regulating Banks reveals the cyclical nature of banking regulation, the inherent mismatch between political impulses and market reactions, and the price banks, banking and society pay for such instability.

What would a synthetic theory of Digital, Media and Information Literacy (DMIL) look like? Radical Information Literacy presents, for the first time, a theory of DMIL that synthesises the diversity of perspectives and positions on DMIL, both in the classroom and the workplace, and within the informal learning processes of society. This title is based on original analysis of how decisions are made about the relevance of information and the other resources used in learning, showing how society has privileged objective approaches (used in rule-based decision making) to the detriment of subjective and intersubjective perspectives which promote individual and community contexts. The book goes on to analyse the academic and popular DMIL literature, showing how the field may have been, consciously or unwittingly, complicit in the objectification of learning and the disempowerment of individuals and communities. Alternative ways of conceiving the subject are then presented, towards a reversal of these trends.
Synthesises key theorists of digital, media and information literacy and information behaviourIncludes the field of community informatics Conducts a bibliometric analysis of a broad spectrum of writings on digital, media and information literacy, analysing the connections between them and the frames of DMIL within which they are located"

Mapping Information Landscapes presents the first in-depth study of the educational implications of the idea of information literacy as ‘the capacity to map and navigate an information landscape’. Written by a leading researcher in the field, it investigates how teachers and learners can use mapping in developing their ability to make informed judgements about information, in specific places and times. Central to the argument is the notion that the geographical and information landscapes are indivisible, and the techniques we use to navigate each are essentially the same. The book presents a history of mapping as a means of representing the world, ranging from the work of medieval mapmakers to the 21st century. Concept and mind mapping are explored, and finally, the notion of discursive mapping: the dialogic process, regardless of whether a graphical map is an outcome. The theoretical framework of the book weaves together the work of authors including Annemaree Lloyd, Christine Bruce, practice theorists such as Theodore Schatzki and the critical geography of David Harvey, an author whose work has not previously been applied to the study of information literacy. The book concludes that keeping information landscapes sustainable and navigable requires attention to how equipment is used to map and organise those landscapes. How we collectively think about and solve problems in the present time inscribes maps and positions them as resources in whatever landscapes we will draw on in the future. Information literacy educators, whether in libraries, other HE courses, high schools or the workplace, will benefit by learning about how mapping – implicitly and explicitly – can be used as a method of teaching IL. The book will also be useful reading for academics and researchers of information literacy and students of library and information science.

A volume in Perspectives in Instructional Technology and Distance Education Series Editors: Charles Schlosser and Michael Simonson Nova Southeastern University The e-learning research literature is characterized by studies that investigate the practice of teaching and learning online (pedagogy) and those that investigate the planning and administrative functions associated with e-learning delivery (management). This edited volume directs attention to pedagogy and management as it relates to the primary e-learning delivery mechanism, the course management system (CMS). Specifically, the research presented in this collection deals with a range of themes relevant to the selection, implementation, use and evaluation of course management systems in higher education. The primary audience for this book includes instructors and students in instructional and educational technology programs. The book could easily be used as a text in a distance or online learning course. The secondary audience includes instructors and students in higher education programs and e-learning practitioners and administrators. The book is timely because of the growing presence and influence of course management systems on teaching and learning in higher education.