Saturday, March 27, 2010
Live Chat Room Forums
I thought, as this blog will be available to CSU staff and students, that I should say that the idea of a live session is a useful one. However, midweek I have to attend to my commitments to work and home, so that I can have time on the weekends to work on Uni studies.
ETL 503 Assignment 1
This assignment topic has been more straightforward. However, the central part of the topic has still been challenging. It is easy to see why Wikipedia is so successful. The breadth of topics, the uniformity of the layout, the inclusion of contents menus and search facilities make it easy for the students to find the information they require. I have chosen the Stage 4 HSIE topic Contact and Colonisation with the aim of providing resources for students to investigate the experience of Contact and Colonisation upon indigenous people throughout the world. This has proved more difficult than I anticipated as each website will present the information in different way, with different emphasis and sometimes with inadequate information on the survival of traditional life and culture,as if these had completely disappeared, which is not really the case.
ETL401 Assignment
When I first mentioned this assignment to Lyn, our librarian, she suggested Moodle. However, following email correspondence with Roy Crotty, I went back to discuss the topic again with Lyn. I have now decided to leave Moodle out of this assignment and concentrate on other aspects of Information Literacy.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
ETL401 Topic 2 Teacher Librarian Roles and Standards
I read through this material in plenty of time as I was allocated the role, along with others, of leading the forum discussion. The ASLA standards were exacting but I had no hesitation in tocking off each one as I thought of Lyn, our librarian and her role. I posted comments on the forum about the expectation that teacher librarians would monitor teaching practice. Ross Todd points out that such evidence-based research is becoming mandatory – an opinion echoed by other forum contributors. Lyn and I discussed this and agreed that this role must still remain with the Head Teachers and Deputy Principal but that teacher librarians are able to monitor in an informal way and support by suggesting and demonstrating different approaches and resources.
There is the suggestion that with technology, any room can become the resource centre for the school. However, Lyn Hay discovered that students, at least, still view the library as "a dynamic and unique place", compared to classrooms, computer labs and other specialist rooms.
There is the suggestion that with technology, any room can become the resource centre for the school. However, Lyn Hay discovered that students, at least, still view the library as "a dynamic and unique place", compared to classrooms, computer labs and other specialist rooms.
Guided Enquiry Learning
Lyn has kindly provided my with a book of short readings and summaries about Guided Enquiry Learning which should help me with Topic 3. She has also given me a set of case studies from a recent inservice into GEL. More comments once I've read through them.
e-books
One of the best readings in this course has been Latham and Poe's "Evaluation and selection of new format materials". I always like to find people who agree with what I think or have experienced. In this case it is the accessibility of on-line resources. The "three-click-rule" is a beauty, as is the rest of their criteria for assessing websites. I hate being made to feel unintelligent just because I can't successfully navigate around a website. After all, I'm reasonably literate and I use a range of digital technology. It's encouraging to find that their are standards by which websites can and should be judged and that those that fail are the fault of the designers and not the user.
So we come to the case of a reading set from an e-book, available through the CSU library, I believe. I have tried three times to open the book on-line and then to download it. None has worked. Fellow students have suggested that this is a Mac problem or a school firewall problem. Both can well apply in my case. My evaluation of the suitability of e-books as a resource is nil.
So we come to the case of a reading set from an e-book, available through the CSU library, I believe. I have tried three times to open the book on-line and then to download it. None has worked. Fellow students have suggested that this is a Mac problem or a school firewall problem. Both can well apply in my case. My evaluation of the suitability of e-books as a resource is nil.
The past and future of School Libraries ETL401 Topic 1
I am making detailed notes in Word as I work through each topic. I don't think that I should be just dumping all that information in here. Neither should these be a duplication of my forum contributions. So, I propose to use this blog for short personal reflections on the significant or the interesting thoughts that arise from each topic.
I was taken with the egalitarian nature of RBL. This quote in particular:
"We are in the post-industrial revolution where information exchange and communication are at the forefront of economic activity and economic competitiveness … We are going to rely more and more on our capacity to think; to deploy information in the making of innovative designs and in the finding of solutions … Beyond the economic imperative is the cultural/social imperative. Unless all citizens learn how to access information and subject it to critique , societal divisions will be increased in the information age. A well-functioning, cohesive democracy depends on the development of a well-informed, inquisitive and successfully-accessing society.” (Boomer, 1987, pp. 8-9)
The slightly disjointed approach of the Federal government to this situation comes to mind. The DER supports the central importance of digital information exchange and communication but the emphasis on national curriculum and NAPLAN testing suggests that basic regurgitation and formulaic responses are what is required.
I appreciate the commentary of John Ralston Saul on the effect of globalisation on the democratic process. I see in our students young people who have yet to acquire the inquiring nature to become well-informed by accessing information and developing discernment. Generation S accept The Simpsons at face value perhaps because, after twenty years, the premise upon which the satire is based has been lost or is so foreign that the satire has become the reality. On the other hand, they are quick to question the values and authority of their parents and teachers, while taking the "word"of current affairs shows, "celebrities" and the Internet as wholly reliable.
I also learnt a lot about Resources-Based Learning, which comes up again later in this course. Chiefly, I found encouragement and support for what I have been doing and help to fix the things that I haven't been doing so well. Most importantly, I found a useful label for a helpful learning strategy to which I was introduced by my local teacher-librarian.
I was taken with the egalitarian nature of RBL. This quote in particular:
"We are in the post-industrial revolution where information exchange and communication are at the forefront of economic activity and economic competitiveness … We are going to rely more and more on our capacity to think; to deploy information in the making of innovative designs and in the finding of solutions … Beyond the economic imperative is the cultural/social imperative. Unless all citizens learn how to access information and subject it to critique , societal divisions will be increased in the information age. A well-functioning, cohesive democracy depends on the development of a well-informed, inquisitive and successfully-accessing society.” (Boomer, 1987, pp. 8-9)
The slightly disjointed approach of the Federal government to this situation comes to mind. The DER supports the central importance of digital information exchange and communication but the emphasis on national curriculum and NAPLAN testing suggests that basic regurgitation and formulaic responses are what is required.
I appreciate the commentary of John Ralston Saul on the effect of globalisation on the democratic process. I see in our students young people who have yet to acquire the inquiring nature to become well-informed by accessing information and developing discernment. Generation S accept The Simpsons at face value perhaps because, after twenty years, the premise upon which the satire is based has been lost or is so foreign that the satire has become the reality. On the other hand, they are quick to question the values and authority of their parents and teachers, while taking the "word"of current affairs shows, "celebrities" and the Internet as wholly reliable.
I also learnt a lot about Resources-Based Learning, which comes up again later in this course. Chiefly, I found encouragement and support for what I have been doing and help to fix the things that I haven't been doing so well. Most importantly, I found a useful label for a helpful learning strategy to which I was introduced by my local teacher-librarian.
Scan Journal
This is the first of many grateful acknowledgements of the help of our school teacher-librarian. In the midst of my feelings of being overwhelmed by the expectations of the course, her enthusiasm and kind support are proving invaluable. The first thing that Lyn did was put me on the "posting" list for "Scan", the librarians' journal. This will be invaluable she said. Sure enough, in the first edition I received (Vol 29. No. 1 February 2010) there were two especially appropriate articles. The first is by Jane McKenzie, "Teacher librarians: leading, connecting and innovating"
McKenzie lists the key attributes of Teacher librarians. She says that they are experts in: their knowledge of curriculum, their understanding current teaching pedagogy such as Guided Inquiry, their ability to lead and develop collaborative teams, their ability to incorporate the use of cutting edge ICTs and work in a connected environment.
She suggests some helpful resources for teachers to explore: TaLe, The Learning Federation and Sites2See. She suggests the use of wikis in IBL (Inquiry-Based Learning). I'm pleased to say that I began to explore this possibility, setting up a wiki for a unit based on "The Cay".
The second article is on School Libraries in the 21 Century and it is by Lyn Hay and Ross Todd, both of whom feature prominently on our reading lists. It's a summary of the findings of a NSW DET report on School Libraries.
It introduces yet another piece of educational jargon, "pedagogical fusion". The authors explain it as being "where pedagogy underpins the decision-making behind a school's information architecture – where technology infrastructure and support services and provisions of access do not restrict innovative and flexible use of space, resources or expertise". (page 34)
The school library provides "a common place across the school for investigating and experimenting with information, examining multiple perspectives, in an environment where students are guided by professionals and given appropriate instruction to effectively utilise information and the most appropriate technology tools to support student achievement." (page 32)
"The school library becomes an important zone of intervention and socialization process for learning how to function effectively in the complex informational and technological world beyond school." (page 32)
I know that I should translate all of that into my own words. I'll do that if I need to in my assignments. In short, it says that the library remains at the heart of the provision of information resources and services and the teacher-librarian is a key contributor to the students development of skills and attitudes that will enable them to become information literate and lifelong learners.
McKenzie lists the key attributes of Teacher librarians. She says that they are experts in: their knowledge of curriculum, their understanding current teaching pedagogy such as Guided Inquiry, their ability to lead and develop collaborative teams, their ability to incorporate the use of cutting edge ICTs and work in a connected environment.
She suggests some helpful resources for teachers to explore: TaLe, The Learning Federation and Sites2See. She suggests the use of wikis in IBL (Inquiry-Based Learning). I'm pleased to say that I began to explore this possibility, setting up a wiki for a unit based on "The Cay".
The second article is on School Libraries in the 21 Century and it is by Lyn Hay and Ross Todd, both of whom feature prominently on our reading lists. It's a summary of the findings of a NSW DET report on School Libraries.
It introduces yet another piece of educational jargon, "pedagogical fusion". The authors explain it as being "where pedagogy underpins the decision-making behind a school's information architecture – where technology infrastructure and support services and provisions of access do not restrict innovative and flexible use of space, resources or expertise". (page 34)
The school library provides "a common place across the school for investigating and experimenting with information, examining multiple perspectives, in an environment where students are guided by professionals and given appropriate instruction to effectively utilise information and the most appropriate technology tools to support student achievement." (page 32)
"The school library becomes an important zone of intervention and socialization process for learning how to function effectively in the complex informational and technological world beyond school." (page 32)
I know that I should translate all of that into my own words. I'll do that if I need to in my assignments. In short, it says that the library remains at the heart of the provision of information resources and services and the teacher-librarian is a key contributor to the students development of skills and attitudes that will enable them to become information literate and lifelong learners.
Forum Posting
Perhaps the biggest change from my previous distance ed.study is the expectation that you will contribute to on-line forums. This is a significant addition to the time required and has meant further learning about the operation of the forums regarding replies. I have participated in on-line forums before but they did not use the check-box tag system for following up comments.
The other problem is that the two different courses had the forums set up slightly differently. One has the topic sub-forums on the subject home page as well as the forums listing page. The other relies on the students knowing how to find the forums page. It is a relief to find that others have also found navigating these hurdles a problem. Both the lecturers and other experienced and knowledgeable students have kindly provided directions.
The other problem is that the two different courses had the forums set up slightly differently. One has the topic sub-forums on the subject home page as well as the forums listing page. The other relies on the students knowing how to find the forums page. It is a relief to find that others have also found navigating these hurdles a problem. Both the lecturers and other experienced and knowledgeable students have kindly provided directions.
More on Using Blogger
I was grateful for the assistance of an experienced blogger user to check my set-up and to help me navigate my way around such MINOR points as, logging on, finding the url for my blog, remembering the password when I signed in AND remembering that this uses my gmail address and not my work email address. Just as well, because this time I forgot nearly everything and couldn't find the piece of paper I wrote all that information on. After trying three times to read the impossible string of letters they use to stop spam users I went back to the google page and used the gmail-linked login page. This, of course, was one of the reasons this bogsite was recommended. The gmail prompted me to remember to use my gmail address and my trusty Mac remembered the password, saving me further embarrassment.
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