Web 2.0

So after a long break and think about career changes and other life stuff, and frankly getting scared by a subject called Resourcing the Curriculum, which sounded as dry as old chips, and hard to boot, I am back to my Masters course, and excited about the journey afresh.

This semester I am studying The Information Environment, which is enormously interesting so far.  And practical.  I want so much to either have a library of my own, or a class of my own to try out some of this cool stuff.  And also so I can justify buying myself an iPad.  At the moment, my laptop does everything I need it to, so really, an iPad is a luxury that I simply don't need, apart from wanting one because it's so cool.

Today I have been looking at Topic 5, which is all about Web 2.0.  Exciting stuff.  My own children's teachers aren't harnessing all the new tools and exciting options, they don't even have electronic whiteboards in their classrooms.  Which is a shame, and a bit of a personal grumble from me.

Students are already using web 2.0.  They already share ideas/photos/links and so on with social media.  If we don't use this in the classroom, we will be left behind, and to use them makes so much practical sense.  Research has already confirmed that learning is more meaningful when you are actively engaged in the discovery process rather than being spoon fed every bit of information.  And Web 2.0 means that you aren't limited to the exchange of ideas within a class or school group, classrooms of students worldwide can connect and share.  Exciting stuff.

I read Mrs Cassidy's Classroom Blog, a year one blog from a class in Georgia.  These children had connected with other classes around the world and made an ebook about how they celebrated occasions like birthdays in their country.  This was available from Here, a site I have used already to download books for my Kindle.  So, parents in Georgia can look at the book, but so can the parents of the Chinese students.  Amazing.

The opportunities this gives us as Teacher Librarians are exciting.  Not only can we run library wikis and blogs for our own lessons and classes, for school book reviews and reports, for newsletters, we can help the other staff set up meaningful learning spaces for their classes too.  My own response to something I don't know but want to, is to find the answer on the internet.  This can take time, and specific answers aren't always there, like "what is year 5's homework this week?" A wiki or blog could be a place to store all those kinds of answers.

ETL 501 - Search Engines

I started this course last year, but got overwhelmed by the workload and dropped back to one subject a semester, so I read all this information before I dropped the course.  Before that it was all fairly new to me though.  I do try to use Google Advanced when I’m searching, and I have used google books and google scholar when I’ve been researching essays.  I’ve never used Google news before though.

Having had a break from study, I know I slipped back into my slovenly research habits, relying on google to give me the answers to everything.  Occasionally I would use the advanced function.  I’ve now got all my bookmarks organized properly, and I’ve bookmarked a lot of things from this particular topic so I can find them again.  I have good intentions to be a more effective information searcher.

This week we had to try out different search engines, and see if it made a difference to our search results.  Sometimes looking for things online is like blundering around in the dark, you feel like the answers you want are there, but they are somehow out of reach, maybe because you aren't asking the question in the right way. 

This was an interesting activity, mostly because I helped one of my teenagers research volcanoes a few months ago, and we had trouble finding relevant material that wasn’t horribly technical.  I had much more success with the first search engine I used.  Yahoo kids on the other hand was a disaster, 5 of the first ten links were broken, three others were far too basic for grade seven (though one would have been great for younger students), and the first two were to the same site, which had lovely photos but not much information.

ETL 501Topic 2 - Wikipedia, Atlases, Dictionaries

Should the term reference material be abandoned or kept for non borrowable print resources?

I had a look at the university of Santo Tomas library (that came up in my google search, and a university library seemed a good place to start).  Their definition stated that reference materials were sources of information used for answering enquiries in a library, not normally lent, but consulted on the premises.  The list of resources was extensive and included the usual dictionaries, encylcopaedias and atlases, but also almanacs, guide books, year books,  handbooks, manuals, pamphlets, journals, phone directories (and directories of all kinds), biographies, genealogies, pathography (which I’d never encountered before) and world globes.  So much that I hadn’t considered, but on reflection did belong in the reference category.  (http://library.ust.edu.ph/pages/reference.html).

So this library has stayed with a definition that describes hard copy.  Nonprint/online/digital resources have a separate section, which looks equally comprehensive.

I quite liked that idea.  Especially now I have a greater understanding of how huge the reference material part of a library could potentially be.  To me it seems that it deserves a category of its own.  Or perhaps digital resources, accessible from multiple locations could be a sub category of some kind.

Everytime I think I have this sorted out in my head, I have a new thought which makes me uncomfortable again.  There are some resources which have both hard copy versions and digital.  Are they both reference material?  Is it ok to call them Reference materials and Online/Digital Reference materials?  I hope so, that’s what I want to do.

WIKIPEDIA

I actually really like Wikipedia, and I think it’s important to have discussions about it in the classroom, if only so students know it is not “the last word on a subject”, so that they understand that it is a community endeavour, with many contributors, who may or may not be either authoritative, or accurate. 

I’ve often used it to start a search of my own on something (something non academic, that I wasn’t submitting for a university assignment), and I have a voice in the back of my head warning me against believing everything I read there.

I have edited a page or two of my own on Wikipedia, for my own amusement, and my contribution was edited out again within 12 hours.  I have other friends who have made contributions of a more serious nature, which were also edited out, despite their veracity.  So although it is a community project, it is not a free for all. 

DICTIONARIES

My main reason for wanting print versions of dictionaries, is so students can maintain the skill of searching for something alphabetically.  I was assisting an ESL student last week, and showed her that the words at the top of the pages of the dictionary were significant (being the first and last words on the particular page).  Some of her peers overheard this, and were amazed by it, they hadn’t been told or made that connection before, and it made a difference to the efficiency of their searches.

As far as specialized dictionaries go, I was interested to discover that there are dictionaries that can be used by those whose first language isn’t English – dictionaries of phrasal verbs (Oxford), and Macmillans Collocation Disctionary.  I imagine that they would be very useful for some students.  English can be a strange, twisty, turny kind of language, with many inexplicable things in it, not covered by a regular dictionary.

A thesaurus is a specialized dictionary of synonyms, and I love my thesaurus, very useful in the classroom.

Additionally for the classroom:

-       dictionary of maths terms, there are print versions of this, but I found this online one which also looked helpful http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/RR/glossary/middle/glossaryab.html

-       I would like a dictionary of grammar terms, and I found this which I think would be useful - http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary.html

-       Science dictionary - http://www.science-dictionary.com/

ATLASES

Australian Online Atlas

Owl and Mouse is a nice looking site, and it is great for American resources, with printable maps, and puzzles.  Sadly, Australia and New Zealand are largely ignored, with the Australian map not even marking the states on the large map.

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/online-atlas-oceania.htm

I started looking at atlapedia, but it crashed.  There was a lot of clicking involved in finding what you wanted, which was frustrating, and although I think the maps might have been better than Owl and Mouse, and there was a lot of additional information (general) about each country, it was clunky to use.  And it crashed and wouldn’t load, so I moved on to something else.

http://www.atlapedia.com/

World Atlas looks great, but it isn’t free, the fee is not prohibitive though.

http://www.worldatlas.com/

The Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century is fascinating reading.

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm

PART C PORTFOLIO

This subject is the first in my Master of Education journey, as I work towards gaining a teacher librarian qualification.  I have learnt a great deal this semester about what it means to be a teacher librarian, and I don’t think that I have ever actually met one that measures up to my vision of what is possible, despite 10 years in many schools

I chose the Teacher Librarian course, because “library” seemed a good fit for me personally.  I am an avid reader, I don’t have a genre preference, I love books.  I also love to write and draw, and so the idea of being surrounded all day by books - novels, information books and picture books - seemed ideal.  I was concerned that I wouldn’t be “teaching” anymore, but thought  looking after the books would make up for that.  I would still be part of a school, and get to talk to the children, and share my passion for reading and learning.

By the second week of starting ETL 401, I realised that “librarian” was a better fit than I had imagined.   I would still be teaching - Herring’s term Teaching Partner (Herring, 2007) struck a chord as I saw that rather than being on the periphery of teaching, my contribution to student learning and achievement would be significant and exciting.  I would still be an important part of the school, and the utilisation of technology to enhance teaching practice is something that I am eager to explore.  I described the library as “the beating heart of the school” in the first post I made on my blog (Knowledge Virtuoso - the Beginning of a Learning Journey), and I haven’t changed my mind about that.

My second blog post was a description of the librarians of my school days.  I read in  Hartzell (2002) , that one possible reason that we encounter resistance from other staff is that their experience of what a librarian is, drawn from their own school days is so different to what is on offer now.  It’s true that it was my love of books that drew me to consider librarianship, and not the librarians I knew during my K - 12 years.

I have described the library experiences of my own school years in my blog post titles “Misperceptions” (17/7/11).  They were uninspiring, and the library that will be mine to run, will not be that way.

The beginnings of my vision for My Library was kindled by Braxton (2008).  My response to her article can be found on my blog  under the heading Librarian as Literacy Leader (25/7/11).  Braxton refers to creating the “Wow factor” (paragraph 25), and she has many practical suggestions on space management, collaboration and use of technology.  Braxton gave me so many ideas about what I will be doing as a librarian.   Then in Topic 5, I had another encounter with Joyce Valenza (2010), and the scope of what could be achieved seemed to roll out before me.  Valenza is inspirational, I am sure I will refer to her Manifesto again and again.

As the course progressed, I realised how much I had underestimated what was involved in the librarians job description.  I struggled with the Herring and Purcell readings on the role of the teacher librarian (you can see the evidence of this in my blog, in the posts titled “I’ve Cracked It”, 26/7/11 and “Assignment 1” 19/8/11).  Herring lists 11 roles, and says that his list is by no means exhaustive (2007, p30).  He talks of prioritising what needs to be done, and the decisions that need to be made about how to accomplish what is necessary for your own situation.  This was complemented in Topic 6, by the readings on time management, practical advice (Gilman 2007).

My views of the role of the  teacher librarian in the school have been challenged, and I am now convinced (and delighted) that teaching is still a big part of the librarians role, as they work in partnership with classroom teachers.  Teacher Librarian is still a good fit for me, despite the transformation of my expectations.  The other skills I have which I thought would be underutilised in the position are actually a major asset - effective teaching skills, the ability to work with others, and the potential to be a leader.  I am glad that there is more to Librarianship than cataloguing, colouring in, stocktakes and tidying the books to make sure their spines are all facing outwards.

REFERENCES

Braxton, B (2008).  The Teacher Librarian as Literacy Leader, Teacher Librarian  35 (3) pp22-26.  Retrieved from:

http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=

Gilman, T. (2007).  The four habits of highly effective librarians, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 23.  Retrieved from: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Four-Habits-of-Highly-E/46544/

Hartzell, G  (2002).  The Principal's Perceptions of School Libraries and Teacher-Librarians.  School Libraries Worldwide, 8 (1), pp92-110.  Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=

Herring, J. (2007) Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries in the twenty-first century : charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.  Retrieved July 20, 2011from: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL401201160WD/page/0344cb53-f5fc-4725-8

Purcell, M. (2010).  All librarians do is check out books right? A look at the roles of the school library media specialist. Library Media Connection 29(3), pp. 30-33.Retrieved from:  http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detailvid=13&hid=10&sid=2168625c-5199-421b-9207-488549d9e944%40sessionmgr15 &bdata= JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=55822153

Valenza, J. K. (2010). Manifesto for 21st century school librarians. October, VOYA Magazine: Kurdyla Publishing. http://www.voya.com/2010/09/15/tag-team-tech-october-2010/

Nearing the end

I am starting to worry about this blog a little, the last part of my assignment is looming large, and I wonder if I will have enough material to draw on when I get to it.  The comforting thing is, I have actually read a great deal, and written a great deal in other places, so I guess technically, I can upload some of those thought to the blog.

My view about the teacher librarians role have changed.  I don't think I have ever met a TL quite like the vision I now have of what that role can be.  I had no idea that it was so involved, so essential, with so much potential to impact students learning.

The librarian at my daughters school is a lovely woman (and to be honest, I have my eye on her job, shes no spring chicken, so perhaps she will just hang on until she retires, which sadly could be a good while).  Lovely woman, yes, but.  I have filled in for her on occasion, and the work she has left is not at all inspiring.  Reading stories (and I love doing that, so I wouldn't complain), and then a bit of colouring, a bit of borrowing, a bit of an overview of where things are in the library.  And to be fair, perhaps that is just what she leaves for me to do, so I don't muck up her real work, but I haven't seen anything that convinces me that this is the case.


The other librarian I have subbed for is also delightful.  And when I did her job, one of the tasks she left me in her free period, was to "tidy up the books", making sure all their spines were straight :-/.  Oh, and there was a worksheet on Whatsisname Dewey (of The Decimal System fame).  But that was just a straight comprehension.    I want to see a real librarian.  I want a Joyce Valenza, but all I'm getting is more Miss Masters, the large-spectacled librarian of my own high school years, who covered the books, put stuff away, and pulled out the encyclopaedias for us when we needed to research.  Or waved us in the right general direction at least.  Where are the Proper Librarians hiding?

But what gives me the right to judge and criticise?  If the schools don't mind that they cover books and read stories to the Preps, why should I?  Mostly, it's because it drives me mad to know how they are short changing the kids.  And I know that even now, one subject into this course, my vision for what is possible is so much bigger, and I want a library of my own to run.  I want to work on dreaming up fabulous units of work with other staff, I want to create a library wiki to publish the students writing, whether it is fiction or book reviews.  I want to make pathfinders, and web sites, and provide teachers and students with great resources, i want to show them that there is more to the internet than Googlesearch.  I want to make author visits happen.  I want to be at the centre of a library that hums. 

But I will never ever call it an iCentre.  And that's as a dedicated Apple user.  iCentre, honestly, I might as well tattoo "try hard" on my forehead.  Sorry Michael Hough, I loved a lot of your ideas, but not that one :-).

I need more time

There are so many things that I want to do, and I want to do all of them well, but somehow that isn't happening.  I have read great swathes of information for ETL 401, and I have made notes about my reading, and pondered the offerings of various authors, but I haven't blogged those thoughts, and  I should have.

I was going to blog yesterday, but I got sidetracked by Joyce Valenza.  That woman must have a time turner, or a TARDIS or something.  She is truly inspirational.  Because of Joyce, I now have iGoogle as my homepage, complete with meandering penguins, and I am setting up Delicious bookmarks.  And I feel like there must be an easier/better way to do this than the rather longwinded process I am making of it, but I haven't quite worked it out yet.  I've got Joyce in my delicious file.  I feel sure I will go back to her time and again.

Yesterday I read Cibulka et al, and their review of the literature on learning organisations.  It seems to me that lack of time is something we all struggle with.  Excellence takes time, and we are time poor.  the reading suggested that even our own personal development needs to take a more constructive approach, they call it "a proper sequencing of knowledge acquisition" - the steps should begin with the why of what we are learning, then examples, then an allowance for supported application.  Not just a workshop, then let loose.

The authors also insist that collaboration must be authentic, not forced, not artificial, but how can you get people to change the way they do things if they don't want to and you aren't going to make them because then it isn't authentic?

There are so many demands on our time that, sometimes for survival, the best option is the one that takes the least time.  This may not be the best for our own development or for student learning, but when you are stretched, and wondering how you can fit it all in, it can seem like the only solution.  If only education was such a priority to society, that it was thought to be worth investing more in.

I'm not sure how to say what I think without it sounding like a political statement.  I don't want that. 

Initial thoughts about Information Literacy

Although this is titled "initial thoughts", it isn't true that I haven't been thinking about information literacy before this topic.  In fact, it was several weeks ago, when the term started coming up more and more  that I  went on a search to try and nail down exactly what it meant. Which is when I discovered that it was complicated, and everyone seemed to have their own idea about what it might be.  It felt like trying to hold a handful of sand without spilling any.  Everytime I thought I was getting somewhere with my understanding, I'd read something else that would disagree, or flat out contradict what I'd thought.  I remember deciding at one point that my mind was too mundane to understand.

And then I started reading through the topic four readings, and Herring and Langford both stated outright, that Information Literacy is hard to define, because everyone seems to have a slightly different idea about what it might mean.  Yeah, no kidding.

I quite like Herring's list of what Information Literate students can do.  That was helpful.  Information literacy seems to be the ability to think about what you need to know, make decisions about where you might find it, and if it is a source with authority, how you might present it, how it fits with what you already know.  Lots of metacognitive stuff.  I wonder if I am information literate?  I think I'm still developing.

Incidentally, I love that I have a dictionary widget on my desktop.  I use it every day.  More than once.  I know a LOT of words, my vocabulary is reasonably extensive, but I need that dictionary.  It's awesome.

And I really like the PLUS model.  It makes a lot of sense to me.  Although Eisenberg had me converted to the Big 6 model when I read that too.  I like that it isn't necessarily a linear process, that you can go back and forth as needed.  It makes the way I work seem more purposeful.  Sort of.

Eisenberg also said that information literacy isn't just about knowing what we do need, and getting it.  It's also about understanding what we don't need, and filtering that out.  I'm not good at that bit.  I want to hoard all my information, I'm not good at letting go of the things I don't need, because I might need them in the future.  If my computer was made of books, it would look like this:

I would prefer it to look like this:

without the plants, because I would just kill them.

This is because I have all these stupid files with notes on things I've read that I Might Need One Day.  And I don't really understand how the trash can on the mac works, sometimes it does, other times, it doesn't.

But, I digress, although I'm very pleased that I can insert pictures into my blog with so little bother.   you learn something new every day.

I have something to say about the Langford article, or book chapter or whatever it was.  And I'm not going to be very nice about it.  I didn't like it.  I thought it was badly written, and boring.  She spent over half the article waffling about how difficult it was to define information literacy (yes it is).  Compared to Eisenberg and Herring, I got nothing out of it.  Thats probably all I have to say about that.  Sorry Langford.


I'm still waiting for a really pithy description of what information literacy is.