Topic 6 : Improving Student's Web Use

My notes from topic 6 module's activities. 

How could you teach this to a Year 7 class???

a)      DEFINING  Concept maps.  Student directed activity: what is a mind map?  Why do you need one?  What should it have in it?  Show students a range of different maps to stimulate ideas.  Ask how do you group ideas on a mind map/distinguish between the different sections.  Students work in groups & share ideas with other groups to come up with an outline that suits their needs.  Relate to a tree/branches. Show students how to use an online tool such as bubbl.us to brainstorm/create concept maps.

b)      QUESTIONING  Ask them why they should ask questions (purpose).  Groups come up with ideas through a mind map.  Share with class to explore reasons.  From "Teaching Students to answer their own questions" : “When you ask the question, you feel like it’s your job to get the answer, and you want to figure it out.”  Use QFT (question formulation technique): See QFT Six Steps  - prompt, produce, improve, prioritize, decide, reflect.

c)      SEARCHING  Developing search strategies. Brainstorm "search strategy"/concept map, reasons for. Other ways: Use Boolify to get students to look at different ways to search, look at how search engine works/different search engines, practice searching/comparing engines using Search Tools for Kids.

d)      SELECTION/EVALUATION  Teaching students to be critical readers/what to look for.  Concept map- benefits of website evaluation, then share ideas.  Using the Web from Education Place-  contains good pointers for students. Kathy Schrock's 5Ws- easy for kids to understand. Credible sources count! - useful for showing the importance of credible sources.  Students could create concept map of different ways to take notes.  Look at positive/negative aspects of each. Use this summarization strategy to develop note taking skills.

e)      REFLECTIVE/EVALUATION Teaching students to be reflective web users.  Include this IN the assignment! Allow students to grade their own and/or another students research process using a rubric.  Base the rubric on Bloom using questions similar to The Reflective Student to develop deeper reflection.

Website Evaluation Ideas on Pinterest

Well I've just been on Pinterest (yet again) and found some fantastic links to information on website evaluation.  If you havent tried Pinterest out yet then you really should.  I have found so many teaching and TL ideas that I just can't wait to try out in the classroom!  You can check out my Pinterest boards through my Personal Learning Network page.  The teaching and TL ones are towards the bottom.  Let me know what you think!  On my resources page I also have a link to information on how to use Pinterest in education.

Resource Page Updated

This short post is just to let anyone following this blog know that I have just updated my Resources page.  It is now in alphabetical order to hopefully make it easier to find stuff, and I have included a section on website evaluation (which I will add to as I work through this topic).  I have also done some general tidying up and organisation of categories.  Any feedback would be greatfully appreciated!

Twitterings No.1

A few interesting things I've found on Twitter lately.

• Try the new Wiki Summarizer features - via Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers blog.
  


• Live Binders - via Steve Anderson's Blogging About the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom



• 12 Most Time Saving Tips for Getting and Staying Organised - via Sharon Greenthal's 12 Most blog



• London Museum Hub Information Policy Toolkit - via Lyn Hay



• Boys and Reading: tips, ideas and strategies to inspire boys to read - via Heather Stapleton



• Education Everywhere: Finland's formula for success - via Edutopia



• Evaluating Online Resources - via EDSITEment



• 6 Steps for Drafting a Social Media Policy - via Prof KRG



• Digital Research Tools (DiRT wiki) - via Steve Anderson

ALA announces 2012 Youth Media Award winners

American Library Association announces 2012 Youth Media Award winners American Libraries Magazine

This includes the top books, video and audiobooks for children and young adults.
Winners include:

Australian Book Review Online

I was going to write about paradigms for this post but when I read about this on the National Library of Australia newletter. National Library member can now access Australian Book Review Online for free! Membership to the library is free so this is a great bonus.

A description from the website:
Australian Book Review (ABR) is Australia's oldest literary review. Created in 1961, it publishes reviews, essays, commentaries and creative writing. It has a national scope and is committed to highlighting the full range of critical and creative writing from around Australia. ABR Online can be read on any device with web-browsing capabilities, including desktop computers, laptops, iPads, tablets and smart phones. It offers full access to digital content, including back issues, extended information on contributors and an index that currently covers issues back to 2000. Selective coverage of articles back to 1994/95 is available in APAFT. Indexes for older issues can be found in the print version of ABR, and it is also indexed in AustLit and APAIS. (ABR, 2012)

This is a great resource for librarians to use to select items for their collection. You can search directly for a particularly resource, or browse topic categories or the A-Z resource list. While browsing I found things such as the Australian Dress Register (an online project about dress in NSW pre-1945), and the Atlas of Living Australia (providing info on Australia's biodiversity). You can access newspaper achives and geneology databases, as well as Ebsco and Informit databases.

Happy searching!

Resource Selection

So here I am up quite late working on an assignment for ETL503, Resourcing the curriculum. For me, this assignment has been more frustrating than others. For part of it we have to select 10 resources for an aspect of the curriculum (which we have chosen) that is not currently well resourced. Easy enough, you say, but we have to use "selection tools" to find these resources. We are being judged on the selection process, more so than the end result. I can understand why we need to do it, but it still annoys me that I have to write all the other stuff up. It's just one of those things we have to do, I suppose.

My chosen aspect of the curriculum is the area of the science syllabus to do with Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution. When I had to teach this topic while another teacher was on leave, I was very frustrated by the lack of current resources the school had and what they did have was way too heavy for the class of very average kids. I have found some amazing resources on The Teaching and Learning Exchange (TALE) (only available to NSW DET staff) that I wish I had access to when I was teaching the class. Some other sites I have found good stuff on were:

• School Library Directory selection tools page



• Commonsense Media Reviews



• Surfing the Net with Kids
  

I have also recently created a separate page on the portal for weeding and selecting which has a number of links to various useful selection tools.

I have so much to do before Christmas so I am really looking forward to finishing this assignment! Do you think it would help if I got to bed a bit earlier?

Free Technology for Teachers

I have posted a link to this website on my Tech Resources page. There are lots of free ebooks for teachers (or TLs) about using technology in the classroom, info on creating blogs and websites, great resources, and resources to help you develop your own PLN (personal learning network). There are too many other things to mention here so take a look. I'm sure you will find something useful!

Information Literacy

Quite long but lots of great information.

The Role of Libraries and Librarians in Information Literacy

View more presentations from PLAI STRLC

Inquiry Learning and PBL

I've started reading about inquiry learning, PBL, constructivism, and 21st century learning and what does this mean for us at TLs.

A few points that stand out:

• student centred/student lead


• higher order thinking


• implementation of technology


• collaboration


• 24/7 anywhere,anytime learning


• adapt, adopt, modify


• cyclic inquiry model


• intuitive, deep, conceptual knowledge


• knowledge is created by dynamic interaction with the learning environment


• lifelong learners


• strategies can be interwoven


• student generated questions


• technology


• motivation

Why is this important to TLs?

• related to the information process/info literacy


• show leadership by modelling constructivism strategies


• collaborate with teachers to embed in teaching/learning strategies


• promoted by various pedagogical initiatives


• to help students develop lifelong learning skills in an info-rich environment.

I think as TLs we need to consistently think "outside the box" and consider constructivist strategies whenever we are planning units of work or activities or collaborating with teachers.

The Herring Article

It sounds quite austere, doesn't it - "The Herring Article". For anyone not doing ETL 401, this chapter by James Herring (2007) "Teacher Librarians & The School Library" is from "Libraries In The 21st Century" edited by S. Ferguson. The information provided falls under the headings of:

• The learning and teaching context of school libraries;



• The school library mission;
  


• Standards for school libraries;



• The role of the teacher librarian;



• Information literacy in schools;



• The school library website and school intranet.
  

It's like a set of guidelines for the school teacher librarian. An extremely useful document. Every section I found interesting and packed with valuable information. I particularly liked the section on the school library website and school intranet. With the growing amount of resources available online this is one way the TL can select and group together suitable resources for students who could access them during school or outside school. As a parent and a teacher and a TL-to-be, I love the idea of teachers/faculties have their own webpages. Students would no longer to say they lost their homework/assignment sheet or didn't know when something was due, or couldn't find the info for it. Easy access - I love it!

Google Notebook

I have finally completed a thorough summary of the Herring article referred to in Topic 2 - The Role of the TL. Whew! So much information to get my head around. I had used http://bubbl.us/ for summarising info previously but it is only useful when summarising small articles. After a bit of a wander online I came upon http://www.google.com/notebook/ (Google Notebook). Very easy to use and most importantly FREE, it helps sort your info into sections with subheading and comments (notes). I'm sure it's not the only free note taking program available on the net but I found it helpful and will certainly use it again.

Another youtube video but by golly, I like this one! It could be used by a TL to educate staff on the importance of information literacy and the importance of the TL role itself. It made me realise how important the role of TLs and the school community in educating students in information literacy and how broad an area this covers. I also felt a sense of urgency that we've let this go too long. Even though schools have begun teaching ICT skills and information literacy, they are still moving too slowly. There is so much more to be done, particularly in the area of enabling students to critically evaluate websites and the information they provide.

Cool Tools

I had been looking for some organizational tools to sort my ideas for Assignment 1 on TL roles and I came across the following:

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

This is an amazing site! It's full of free internet tools you can use for presentations, organisation, drawing, writing, mapping etc. I used http://bubbl.us/ from organisation tools which is a brainstorming tool that helps you organisation your ideas, move them around the page, save and print. It would be fabulous on a smart board with a class as well. There are heaps of other great organisers to check out as well.

Busy, Busy, Busy

In between washing, cleaning and packing for a trip away on the weekend I've been fiddling with my blog (organising widgets, links etc), checking out websites, reading and making notes.

I'm gradually getting used to the idea of having a blog and adding bits and pieces to make it mine. I am really looking forward to seeing other students blogs as well.

I applied for a library card from the National Library and checked out Pandora, Australia's online web archive. What a fabulous resource it is! DH (Dear Husband) was most impressed when I found him some interesting info on Jack Brabham. (Other car nuts will understand this.) The website finds info to do with your search from all different websites, books and so on. I can't believe I have got this far in life without having come across it before.

Currently I am reading "Ch 5 National, State and Territory Libraries: information for the nation". This is one of the readings in the introduction module. What I've got most out of this reading is the fact that these libraries are incredibly important in collecting, preserving and enabling access to Australia's documentary heritage. They collect all kinds of items as well as books and more increasingly, digital resources.