Part B: Critical Reflection
In terms of the role of the school library as an information centre, I suggested the creation of a makerspace in a primary school library for my assessment 1: Library Services Design Proposal. The assessment gave me a chance to think about how library services are able to meet the needs of the school community challenged by the developments and changes of information technology. In addition to it, assessment 2: Library Research Guide and Reflective gave me a more practical way to create a pathfinder and reflect on what I have learned from this subject.
The pathfinder I created was for the Year 3 classes looking at Rainforests as part of a Science subject. While I was selecting websites to include them in the pathfinder, I realised that Schrock’s website evaluation of 5W’s (who, what, when, where and why) was very practical and informative. It is important for teacher librarians to teach students how to evaluate websites with ‘the 5W’s of web site evaluation’ created by Schrock (2018) to find relevant and appropriate digital resources.
A pathfinder is ‘a path guiding students as they navigate the complex world of the information age” and it “helps students to develop their information-seeking strategies”. (Kuntz, 2003, p.1-2) The information technology is utilised to create pathfinders which contain print and digital resources/formats to support resource-based, independent learning by students. The roles of teacher librarians are to support students “by guiding them through the gridlock of the information highway” and to assist them “in the development of effective search strategies”. (Kuntz, 2003, p.3)
In terms of Web 2.0 impact on education in today’s schools, Daniel Murphy (2020), in his forum post, states that the 21st century skills of problem solving, creativity, collaboration and communication can be enhanced and developed in the digital space using Web 2.0 tools. Daniel Murphy (2020) also states that teacher librarians cannot afford to ignore Web 2.0 tools because ignoring Web 2.0 tools means ignoring part of the Curriculum and ICT Capability. We can see the impact of digital learning environment using Web 2.0 tools in today’s schools.
For the development of students’ information literacy in the digital learning environment, students as 21st century learners are required to develop essential skills which identify appropriate resources, locate relevant information and curate the information, construct their knowledge and create high quality products. (Australian Library and Information Association, 2016, p.1-2) One of the information literacy models is Guided Inquiry Design Process (GIDP) created by Kuhlthan, Maniotes, and Caspari (2012). In my blog post, The roles of the TL in Guided Inquiry (ETL 401, 2019), I described that the three main roles of the TL in Guided Inquiry are ‘resource specialist, information literacy teacher and collaboration gatekeeper’. (Kuhlthan, Maniotes, and Caspari, 2007, p.57)
To become a 21st century TL, I will need to be a resource specialist and information literacy teacher. Creating a pathfinder for the Year 3 classes gave me extended knowledge and understanding of the use of pathfinders to teach students curriculum subjects. I will create and use pathfinders with relevant and current resources to support students’ learning and teachers’ teaching the curriculum subjects through information resources. (IFLA School Library Guidelines, 2015, p.35)
References
Australian Library and Information Association. (2016). Statement on information literacy. Retrieved from https://www.asla.org.au/policy/information-literacy.aspx
Daniel Murphy (2020, August 21). Forum 4:4.1 Web 2.0 impact and opportunity [online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_47579_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_94201_1&forum_id=_202390_1&message_id=_3199630_1
Eun Hee Kim (2019, May 11). The roles of the TL in Guided Inquiry [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/eunhee/2019/05/11/the-roles-of-the-tl-in-guided-inquiry/
The IFLA School Libraries Section Standing Committee. (2015). IFLA School Library Guidelines. (2nd ed). USA: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.
Kuhlthau, C.C., Maniotes, K.L., &Caspari, K.A. (2007). Guided learning: Learning in the 21st century. London: Libraries Unlimited.
Kuntz, K. (2003). Pathfinders: Helping students find paths to information. Multimedia & Internet @ Schools, 10(3). Retrieved from https://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/may03/kuntz.shtml
Schrock, K. (2018). The 5W’s of web site evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.schrockguide.net/critical-evaluation.html