Hi,
Another one expanding on the kayaking metaphor and emphasising, as Drew did, that there may be more than one route. I should say that the lake where the kayaks start is associated with a general domain, activity etc. there are various routes leading out ... one of the problems students experience is which way to go as well how to go about it once they are on their way.
Anyway, here is an interesting spin on the kayaking metaphor.
There may not be one "correct" route - people with the same assignment could use different information and produce equally good results (so long as the information was reliable of course!), they could also take different routes to finding the same information resources, and of course, most people have completely different information needs from each other, we are not all writing the same assignment/trying to get to the same place!
So, to further develop the kayaking metaphor (one close to my heart, having done a bit of kayaking myself), there are lots of different rivers (ponds, lakes, canals, oceans - depending on the size of your task I suppose), and different ways to navigate each. If you come across some rapids, you might take a sensible, steady course, avoiding rocks, or you might rush in and get a bit battered (but maybe have more fun on the way....?). You could develop the "information as water course" metaphor as well - related to the natural resource ideas in point 6 below: water cycle/information cycle? tools that help you distil/filter?
More please! Doesn't have to be the entire information literacy / inquiry- / problem- / project-based learning trip, could be just a facet.
Best wishes,
Mark
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