Why?

As a tech novice, I feel I have a huge learning curve ahead of me.

I think I'm getting a better understanding of web 2.0 tools but it is the mindset of the web 2.0 user that I'm trying to understand. I think this is the key to embracing web 2.0 technology with relevance.

The idea that the library has to be "there", ie everywhere the user is, to be relevant to the user, at first seemed a gross over reach of the library role.

My immediate response is "why?".

It appears that this is because kids are always "connected". To friends, to networks, to technology. The space they operate in is an open space, where input from "trusted" sources is always welcome and/or solicited and where they are constantly inputting their take on life. Getting/giving opinions, feedback, recommendations, ideas, reviews, and comments. It is a sharing space. Connectivity, community, engagement and interplay of ideas are welcomed and indeed actively pursued. I see lots of positive outcomes from such a world.

Hence, the library needs to be operating in this space to connect/engage the user and also be relevant to them. Not much good advertising on a billboard on the highway if everyone is using public transport.

But is education just about giving the user what they want or is it also about giving them what they need. Who decides need .........?

My thoughts run to this. The Web 2.0 world provides more active involvement of kids -which has to be better than the passive involvement of TV/listening to teacher talk. However, does this amount of "engagement", of doing, necessitated by the web 2.0 mindset, make more foreign to kids the concept of being?

Being in the moment, as the be-er (it's interesting that there is no such noun!), seems rather absent. Where there are no labels, nothing to do ie review, report, comment, advise, input, share,play, seek, critique, interact or any other verb that seems to so readily attune with the "social networked", there is space.

Space, not to be filled, or used - but to be.

PS I have the feeling that my posts might appear quaint, even to me. They are certainly not very literary. I find it hard to really think deeply about something and yet cross reference, cite and provide links, at the same time. One seems to work in a different headspace to the other. I don't think it's a web 2.0 headspace.

PPS Maybe schools should provide daily meditation sessions - and teach kids a skill that is beneficial to everyone but seems even more necessary for a web 2.0 mind. And philosophy, to encourage deep thinking and to get kids not just to ponder how, when, where and what ( to review, report, comment, advise, input, share,play, seek, critique, interact), but also why?

Be Blessed young Gamer!

My 10 year old son wants me to be a "gamer" like him! The fact that he identifies as a gamer scares me silly!! It has lots of very negative connotations for me.

I love it when he collects skinks and makes a terrarium, I love it that he's a voracious reader, I love that he practices the piano about 10 times a day, I love it that he likes Lego, I love it that he's so onto doing his school assignments and managing them, I love that he wants a pen knife for camping, I love it that he loves playing cricket and tennis and I love it that he's not that interested in watching much TV.

But I don't love it when he spends time in his room watching Good Game Spawn Point over and over on his Ipod, I don't love it that he wants an ipod touch and I hate it when he nags me to have more than his two sessions of 1 1/2 hours on his Wii each week.

I don't mind when he wants to go on the computer and do stuff like explore new tools ie prezzie, game building sites, Scratch and lots of other cool stuff I get off OZTL - much!

I don't want my son hanging indoors on a beautiful day watching a screen. But i don't even like it that much when it's raining! I think I'm suffering from severe technological distrust. (I was gonna give it an acronym but it seemed inappropriate!)

The more i read about being a teacher librarian the more I wonder if I've chosen the right profession.

Somethings give me hope. In the Module 1 reading "Libraries for a post - literate society", Johnson (2010) talks about a return to storytelling, debating and dramatisation since digital media can capture and store these modes as easily as writing. There is a wealth of possibilities there for teacher librarians! Imagine having digital resources created by one group of students ie a debate, stored and accessible to be used by another group of students. Imagine having students in small groups having access digitally to the teacher (or author!) reading aloud their story. The list of ideas is endless.

I wouldn't like to compare myself to Plato but I love the quote of his misgivings about writing at the end of the reading, and am hoping that this particular fear of mine becomes a blessing.

Critical Synthesis

My learning curve on my view of the role of the teacher librarian (TL) has been huge!

I really had no idea what a TLs role involved beyond my own experience of the TL at primary school, which was as a resource manager and advocate of children's literature within the school community, my love of which led me to this course. When asked what masters degree I was doing, my reply of “TL” was almost given apologetically, as if it was a pretty lame choice!

My early blogs, “Farewell Technophobe” (Ealand, 2010, July 4) and “Kid’s View” (Ealand, 2010, July 20b) in which I mention my daughter’s comment that “you don’t love IT, you love books. You should go to the library not be a librarian”, highlight my initial dismay at finding the role may not be as I’d thought and I must confess to wondering if I hadn’t made a mistake in my choice of masters degree.

A few posts on came the self-explanatory “Rapidly Expanding View” (Ealand, 2010, August 3). Reading Haycock (2003), and later Lonsdale (2003) and School Libraries Work (2008), and realising the extensive research that positively correlated the library and TL with student learning outcomes was an aha moment for me. This was the dawning of an understanding about the central and important nature of the TLs role within the school community and the potential that it holds. I was excited and enthused by this realization (para. 3).

There were a few key facets of the TLs role that seemed to be jumping out at me. One was connectedness. The possibility of the library as a central “hub” or heart of the school with branches reaching out to all parts - teachers, students, administration, principal, parents as well as the professional community - really resonated with me. Another was collaboration (Haycock, 2007). The idea of the TL as a member of the teaching team, providing curriculum support to teachers in planning, resourcing and teaching was new to me. Still another was agent of change. “How exciting that the TL can be an agent of change for the whole school and help create an information literate school community“ (Ealand, 2010, Aug 3). This concept seemed provide the opportunity to synthesise all my growing understandings of the TL role into their contribution to a school’s mission to create the best possible environment for the mastery of student and teacher information literacy (IL) (Henri cited in Henri, 2005).

Resource-based learning, inquiry learning and constructivist theory were all new to me, having not taught in the school system for many years. Exploring recent and evolving pedagogies of teaching and learning inspired the dormant teacher in me, and realising that the teacher part of a TL was so integral to the role (Hay, 2009) was very satisfying and has been one of my most enjoyable and inspiring realizations about the role.

My own IL was brought into question throughout the course, (Ealand, August 25) and I was reassured by reading the forums that other students were struggling in the same way (Hartigan, 2010). The relevance of this to my developing view of the TL was highlighted with particular reference to Kuhlthau’s (2004) ISP and the affective dimensions of the inquiry process, which seem such a valuable contribution to the understanding of this process by both the student and TL.

As my learning curve continued to arch, other facets of the role asserted themselves. Leadership, as articulated in the Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians (ALIA/ASLA, 2005), so necessary to facilitate the agent of change role (Farwell, cited in Haycock, 2003), seems vital. Getting the principal on board (Henri, Hay & Oberg, 2002 and Hartzell, 2002) seems ironically to be both a consequence of, as well as a prerequisite for, the enabling of TLs to fully realize their role. Also, professional development, important with any profession, seems even more so for TLs with the evolving and dynamic nature of ICTs. Furthermore, the outcomes based focus of the role and the importance of evidence-based practice to insure both an understanding and addressing of the evolving needs of the school community also contributed to my growing understanding of the TLs role.

It seems neat to finish with Covey (1990). His idea that good can be the enemy of best struck a chord with me very early on in the subject (Ealand, 2010, July 20a). I have since come to understand that the role of TL is a complex and demanding one. A challenge for TLs in striving for excellence must be to not let what they do well, (troubleshooting ICT problems, chasing overdue loans, covering books…) hinder the realisation of their unique contribution, (challenging current pedagogical practices, promoting and nurturing an ILSC, improving the literacy learning outcomes of all students, empowering others to become lifelong learners, capturing the hearts and minds of students by fostering a love of story…).

Putting off part 2?

Thank goodness I've just finished part one of assignment 3. I finished it the other day but it's taken me all morning to reference it! I'm about to delve into part 2. I've previously read the 12 standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians and given some thought as to the most crucial 3. I've got it down to 4 so will have another look in a minute. At first glance it is striking me as a tad dull and tedious but other than that I've no idea what part 2 is really about, how to approach it and what references will be needed. I'm really digging Kuhlthau's ISP as it really helps me to know my thoughts and feelings, especially the ones of uncertainty ,feeling overwhelmed and confusion are quite normal steps in information processing.

I wanted to blog about all the reading I did on collaboration. I spent a fab day at a local outdoor cafe reading about 5 readings on this. I found the literature illuminating, especially the dawning that a school is much like any other business organisation and has very similar management issues. I should posted that night when all the ideas were fresh, because now they're not!!!

The concept of the school having the same functions as a corporation is quite a new idea for me. I have limited experience working in schools. I retrained and spent the majority of my teaching career teaching teenagers ESL in private colleges. A private college operates very much like a corporation, and lots of the issues that came up in the literature i could relate to my time teaching there. In this field of education, peer observation,review and sharing of ideas was a built in part of the system. Since my college also ran teacher training courses, my lessons were constantly being observed by trainee teachers as well as observations by the head teacher, my co-teachers and by members of the foreign organistaion to whom we were aligned. As a result I am very comfortable with being observed and evaluated and see this a a very necessary and valuable part of my own development as a teacher. It was seen as a natural part of our professional development, and was handled in a very positive way.

In contrast, in my experience the primary classroom often seems a very closed space. There is often the, untenable situation where the principal is not even doing in class observations of the teachers occasionally, let alone regularly. By only being observed when a problem arises, and not in the normal course of the running of the school, teachers naturally come to view observations and assessments as a negative process, and one they want to avoid. Maybe collaboration is also viewed as an infringement on the teacher's ownership of their space. I think the T/L can work in collaboration with the principal in developing a more collaborative, open door/wall space, one where teachers feel supported to try new things and feel valued by being encouraged to share their strengths with the faculty. Especially in this new environment where skills around information retrieval, storage, sharing, evaluation and use are so dynamic, i think a school environment where there is less "ownership" of ideas, and more a sense of the collective knowledge of the school, is necessary. Such an environment can be fostered by a gradual change to the way teachers view the sharing of information and lesson ideas, styles and approaches, facilitated by an increase in both peer observation and teaching as well as a focus on in-class evaluations by the administration.

Lesson observations are invaluable professional development and the T/L should collaboratively teach lessons with teachers as well as have teachers sitting in on their lessons as a natural part of the school timetable.

Random Thoughts on Info Process Models

I now see the benefits of Info Process models. When i first looked up the NSW process model in the very first week of this course I was amused at what appeared to me to be a mind map of common sense. I now realise that that was not far from the truth. Helping learners organise their cognitive processes and go one step further and engage in meta cognition, or thinking about their thinking, which doesn't happen automatically for most learners, is a great tool for them to control the stages or processes involved in their learning.

The staged process of help and its subsequent staged withdrawal is a useful attempt to engender these processes in learners even once the scaffold is no longer used, and a means to help ensure lifelong learning.

I see the potential of such models primarily if they are used beyond their compulsion. In evaluating these info process models learners were asked how the use of the scaffold made the process easier, more efficient etc. I think an important outcome needs to be whether using the model made the process more enjoyable to students. This didn't seem to be evaluated. Eg if the scaffold made the process more time consuming or tedious, it would be less enjoyable and the chance of students using this process when the mandatory use of the scaffold was taken away, would diminish. I think a worthwhile research study could involve the classroom use of a particular model over, say, 1 year and then at the end of the year a setting of a research project and an assessment of how many students actually choose to use the scaffold in whole or part, when they don't have to.

I also particularly like the mindmapping stage as in Herrings PLUS model, useful for collecting and organising, both ideas and possible info sources. Research is saying that todays learners are more visual, and mindmaping is therfore an increasingly relevant and useful tool.

literacy definition

I think the dialogue around the meaning of information literacy, and it's continual updating, is often superfluous. If literacy is the ability to effectively use (ie question, source, analyse, use and create) the current means of acquiring information and communicating ideas, as ICT's evolve and become an important means of doing both, naturally the nature of literacy must change to maintain the definition.
Spoken-print-ICT's

Authenticity

I am interested in the concept of authentic activities.

Wolf brush and Saye (p1) ,in the case study of the Big 6 model, talk of the need to infuse IL skills into the curriculum " in an effort to create authentic experiences for students in schools".

I would argue that their examples are not truly authentic activities as they do not fulfill the role of purpose, inherent in the nature of something authentic.

What is the aim of writing an article, designing a pamphlet, writing a letter etc? By ignoring the authentic purpose of the activity eg that a book review is to be read by other potential readers, a vacation schedule is to be followed, a newspaper article is to be published to inform, and replacing it with the unauthentic purpose of providing the teacher a product to assess, the authenticity of the activity or task is compromised. It doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile, but i would argue it isn't authentic.

It is the TL and teachers job to fulfill the purpose of the activity. This is an exciting opportunity for teachers to enhance collaboration within the school ie across classes/grades and to increase the use of ICT's in an authentic way ie between schools/countries, to use blogs to post book reviews/ research findings other students can access and use. Imagine if one class was researching info/ doing science experiment etc that another class was using as a source of info on a particular topic.

By truly authenticating activities by fulfilling their purpose, learner motivation, engagement and sense of purpose should be enhanced, which in turn should aid the cognitive processes in the processing of information.