THE USE OF INFORMATION LITERACY AND TECHNOLOGY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING

Abstract

This research paper is designed to provide information about literacy behaviors of students at Asia-Pacific International University, Muek Lek, Saraburi Province, Thailand. It focuses on the process and methods used by students in course-related research assignments and in doing personal research. It reveals that 1) most students (respondents) worked mainly on class presentation reports and used search engines as resources, 2) most evaluated information available online by considering the currency of the contents, and asking classmates for help in evaluating sources, and 3) for course-related research, it was found that students who responded used Google Notebook and began with key word searches as productivity tools. Course-related research was important to students for the completion of assignments. The difficulty with different stages in the research process was evaluated after they found the information for which they were looking. The findings about information seeking behavior by students for personal, everyday life research shows that most students who responded 1) explored news/current events; 2) used search engines as a resource, and 3) evaluated sources by considering the currency of contents. The difficulty for students during stages of the research process was knowing that the information they were looking for must be available somewhere online but not being able to find it. When information seeking behavior for course-related research assignments and that associated with everyday life research were compared, it was found that in both cases, students approached classmates to evaluate web sites according to the currency of content. Even in difficult stages of the research process using key word searches, students did not seek assistance from the librarian, either to evaluate sources or to recommend web sites. The practice of asking classmates to evaluate sources was the same for both course- related research and doing personal research for matters relating to everyday life.