Author: George Milliken

TEaching information and media literacy - part of finding and checking information

Evaluating your own practice (educators) – finding and checking information

Assessing your own practice 

It is important to not only develop effective information literacy skills but also to assess how these can impact our own everyday work. Understanding how information literacy development can bring positive benefits to our pedagogies and to our classrooms is a critical step towards embedding this into our wider everyday professional practice.  

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checking information

One approach to this assessment is to utilise an information literacy framework to measure the range and depth of skills at use in a particular setting. Formal frameworks (such as the Media and Information Literacy Alliance’s model) essentially provide the conceptual tools to break down information literacy practice into its component parts, making it easier to measure and to explain what these mean in everyday practical terms.

Frameworks can help establish skill levels, competencies and awareness of information literacy practices in a wide variety of different learning environments and can be useful to both teachers (in understanding information literacy needs) and children and young people (in understanding where they may need assistance). They are often easy to use and can produce straightforward digestible outputs, uncover existing areas of strength and provide insight into ongoing development opportunities. 

Assessing information literacy skills in our own settings is therefore a crucial step towards developing targeted and sustainable critical thinking skills. Using an established information literacy framework to measure our work is therefore the best way to understand these needs and to embed good practice into our individual approaches to teaching. 

Evaluating information - part of finding and checking information

Evaluating information – finding and checking information

Evaluating information sources 

Here are a couple of ways children and young people can evaluate sources: 

  • Look for clues: Author (are they trustworthy?), Date (is the information still current?), Purpose (does the source inform, sell, persuade or entertain?) 
  • Strategy: SIFT – Stop, Investigate source, Find better coverage, Trace claims to original context. 

Children and young people should always remember to provide sources they use. As well as helping them find reliable information, it adds credibility to their work! 

 

 

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checking information

 

Spotting mis- and disinformation  

Children and young people should check whether any information, from any source, is reliable. While online sources, especially social media sources, are often suspected, even printed books can at least have biases.  

However, recent research has found that misinformation and disinformation are mostly about today’s socio-political matters.  

There are a host of techniques to check whether information is true but firstly children and young people need an attitude of constant vigilance. Only if they routinely suspect information they receive will they apply these techniques. 

 

Reliability-checking 

In addition to SIFT and Author – Date – Purpose, the following have also recently been recommended by school librarians: 

There are several other models listed on the CILIPS website here: https://www.cilips.org.uk/media-and-information-literacy-resources.  

In general, children and young people should check several sources, and where possible make sure they don’t all link back to the same original source. The gold standard reliable sources are those that have been peer-reviewed, that is checked by experts for accuracy, reliability, verifiability etc. Most academic journals are peer-reviewed, but they can be very costly to access. 

Fact-checking services 

In case it’s not possible for your students to check information, there are fact-checking services. These include:

trusted sources - part of finding and checking information

Trusted sources – finding and checking information

Trusted sources 

Children and young people should look for information that is reliable, accurate and credible. They should use sources that are transparent about their information, cite their evidence, and avoid bias or misinformation. This: 

  • is essential for learning accurate and reliable information 
  • develops critical thinking skills 
  • avoids spreading mis- or disinformation 
  • supports stronger research, better arguments and more meaningful conversations.  

 

back to finding and
checking information

 

Examples of trusted sources include: 

 

 

* Note about Wikipedia (https://www.wikipedia.org)

Wikipedia is a fantastic information tool for school pupils because it offers a vast, easily accessible starting point for research on almost any topic. It involves community verification and collaboration to ensure its sources are accurate (although pupils should double check sources where possible).  

Don’t rely on AI! 

It’s very tempting to rely on AI, especially the AI summaries that appear at the top of Google search results. However, these summaries do not state how they assessed the sources that they draw from. Worse, when researching during the preparation of this document, some Google AI summaries were based on sources that either weren’t related to what we were searching for or were suspect in other ways.

In short, AI currently isn’t fully reliable, and doesn’t help children and young people be sure of what they find. There is no substitute for searching several sources, and critically thinking about what is found.  

Digital skills for Scottish educators

Digital Skills for Scottish Educators

This guidance is an update to the Teacher Digital Skills published previously. It aims to support the development of digital skills for all Scottish educators, including Early Years and Childcare, school and Community Learning and Development sectors. 

Education Scotland digital skills for Scottish educators 2025

I want to take the survey

Use this link to access the form and evaluate your own digital skills:

Fill in the form

I want to copy the form and use it with my colleagues 

Use this link to make a copy of the form that you can use with staff or colleagues to evaluate your setting or organisation’s digital skills:

Make a copy of the form

building digital citizens a primary teachers perspective community post

Building Digital Citizens: my experience with Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle by a primary digital lead

My decision to engage with Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle regarding digital literacy began primarily when I began to lead my school through the Digital Schools Award journey. This experience revealed the Dunning-Kruger effect in action early in my school’s digital journey – while I started the process full of confidence, I gradually realised how much I didn’t know about what I didn’t know in the digital realm, and more importantly, how I needed to prepare my pupils for challenges and opportunities I couldn’t yet foresee. This recognition of the profound impact digital technology has on every aspect of modern life drove my deeper engagement with the field.

The concept of digital literacy has evolved significantly since its origins in the 1990s when I was a primary school pupil in the Kingdom of Fife, when it simply meant navigating around a Britannica Encyclopaedia CD-ROM or moving an angular turtle around the screen. Today, through my classroom experiences and engaging with the CIC, I can see more and more how it encompasses our interaction with democracy through digital platforms, environmental sustainability considerations, and fundamental human rights issues. Perhaps most critically, research indicates that digital disadvantage creates a compounding cycle of inequality, where those already facing socio-economic challenges are further disadvantaged by lack of digital access and skills. These disparities are particularly pronounced in the rural areas where my pupils are growing up, where geographic isolation can amplify digital exclusion. This understanding highlighted the urgent need to ensure every person in Scotland can participate fully in society through digital literacy. This recognition of the profound impact digital technology has on every aspect of modern life drove my deeper engagement with the field and my commitment to working with Education Scotland through the CIC process.

Through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle, I hope that developments within the CfE will succeed in creating a generation of young people who possess both essential daily digital skills and deeper understanding of digital systems’ impact. Through the processes I have been involved with I can see an aspiration to develop learners with practical capabilities that I had previously just taken for granted like using apps for parking or cup final tickets for my beloved Aberdeen, connecting payment systems, and scanning QR codes, alongside critical awareness of algorithms, data justice, and digital citizenship. This enhanced curriculum will empower teachers with structured frameworks and resources that make digital literacy concepts more accessible to teach, reducing preparation time while increasing classroom confidence in delivering these essential skills.

For me, my vision extends beyond functional skills to developing young people who understand the levers and controls within digital systems. Rather than passively accepting search engine results as definitive answers, I hope they will comprehend the influences and biases that shape digital information. This includes awareness of how algorithms influence what we watch, listen to, and discuss. For educators, this curriculum development will provide clear pedagogical pathways and assessment strategies, enabling teachers to facilitate meaningful discussions about digital citizenship without requiring extensive technical expertise themselves.

I believe that through successful implementation of digital literacy education within the Curriculum Improvement Cycle, we can address social and economic barriers, ensuring no one is left behind in an increasingly digital society. Teachers will benefit from professional development opportunities and collaborative networks that emerge from this initiative, enhancing their own digital competencies while building stronger connections with colleagues across Scotland.

The shared goal is not merely technical competence but fostering digital citizens who understand technology’s impact on themselves and the planet, equipped to participate meaningfully in democratic processes and sustainable practices through digital means. This approach will ultimately make teaching more relevant and engaging, as educators connect curriculum content to real-world applications that resonate with both their professional practice and pupils lived experiences.

David Thomson (Digital Lead) Kirkcowan Primary School

festival of play 2025 community post by Blackness Primary in Dundee

Digital Schoolhouse: Festival of Play 2025 by Blackness Primary, Dundee City

We were lucky that a parent of a child in our class works with Digital School House and they let us know about the event. There were spaces available and the children were really enthusiastic and keen to go. It would be great to let more schools know about the event – I am sure they would find it very worthwhile.

 

This event was especially engaging as the children worked in their co-operative learning groups, designing games and presentations for Ninja Kiwi (a local games developer). They created their own amazing and unique games that they then pitched Ninja Kiwi staff like in Dragon’s Den. This allowed them to pull together an array of skills and during this time we looked into Dundee and its gaming history.

 

On the day, children and young people were excited to arrive at the University where they received tote bags on arrivals with some ‘merch’. They really enjoyed the session with Olive, about her game Private Joke, and enjoyed how much creativity and fun it involved. Lunches were a big hit as well, and the gaming exhibit at the end where they got to play games and try things out. They were big fans of the design a character, with Ninja Kiwi, and after this I heard two boys discussing coming to Abertay to study and design a game together. 

“The monkey bit was really fun and creative as you could do anything; the exhibit at the games were really fun. I liked the whole day as it was really interactive and wasn’t just sitting around for like 25 minutes.” Hamish M, 10 years old.

“I really liked it because I liked the workshops and the VR headset. My The part I really liked was playing on the Nintendo Switch; the commentating workshop was very interesting because I liked the instructor because he told us all sorts of information.” Akshara, 10 years old. 

 

As a teacher, I really liked the range of speakers and activities for the children to engage with. I thought the sessions were a good length and covered a lot of different aspects of learning. The games were a good opportunity to play. My favourite was the Private Joke session as it was the most transferable and the games commentary workshop was also really engaging. 

 

We had a great time and loved being a part of the day, especially it being the first in Scotland. The children felt really inspired afterwards and comments about not knowing how many skills were needed in gaming, some children who are really creative and love drawing realising there were career opportunities, children who love playing games, children who love maths and numbers and then the ones who love reading, they all came away talking about how what they liked learning about and how there were pathways in gaming and computing industries.

Find out more about our school: Welcome to Blackness Primary School Website

 

scottish esports schools and colleges survey

Scottish Schools and Colleges Esports Competitions – Expression of Interest

Scottish Esports are the national body for gaming and esports in Scotland and are conducting a survey to assess the viability of a national esports competitions for Scotland’s schools and colleges.

This initiative aims to provide a structured competitive framework that supports Curriculum for Excellence, develops learners’ meta-skills, enhances digital skills, and aligns with national qualifications including the NPA Esports and HNC Esports.

Provide your feedback using this link: Scottish Esports Schools and Colleges Competition survey

For more information or queries, contact: info@scotesports.org

Digital Skills Big Ideas

Digital technology 

Digital technology is used to store, process and share computer data about almost all aspects of our lives and society. This is underpinned by computer technology, including hardware, software and networks. It is essential that these systems and their data should be secured to protect them, and us, from cyber threats. 

 

 

Essential digital skills 

Being able to use digital technology increases opportunities to engage in society, including finding information, accessing essential services and communicating with other people. 

 

 

Creativity and communication 

Having access to vast quantities of information, media and statistical data requires skills to navigate but also to scrutinise its reliability and veracity. Digital technology provides a wide range of media through which to express our thoughts, feelings and ideas and to engage with others’ self-expression. Digital technology should be considered part of any a potential solution when problem solving or innovative thinking. 

 

 

Citizenship  

As digital technology is increasingly embedded in all aspects of our lives we should consider how we engage with it and how this may affect us and others. The means to create, publish and communicate online should be democratic and of benefit to individuals and society. Human rights should be central to the design and function of these systems and services. Lessening the environmental impact, through manufacture and use, should be a priority in the lifecycle of technology 

 

 

CILIP the library and information association

SuperSearchers – information literacy with CILIPS and Google

Information literacy is a key skill for people who are trying to navigate an increasingly complex information landscape. To help empower people to understand the tools and tactics that they can use to make sense of information online, Google is partnering with CILIP to launch the Super Searcher training programme in the UK. Google have successfully rolled out this initiative in America with the American Library Association and in Europe with Public Libraries 2030.

Under this partnership, librarians and other library staff across the UK will be trained on best practices from information literacy experts to help evaluate information online. In turn, trained library staff will be able to educate, support and empower library service users to strengthen their information and media literacy skills and their ability to critically evaluate online news and media at a time when finding quality information online is more complex than ever.

Pilot Programme Details

The pilot for the training programme will focusing on public and school library workers across all four nations in the UK and will run from June to December 2025.

Get Involved

For more information on how you can get involved, please email:

Matthew Dwyer – matthew.dwyer@cilip.org.uk