The digital story ‘Australian Indigenous people as scientists’ covers a variety of Indigenous scientific areas including plants, astronomy, seasons and technology. The project has been created using Google Slides as students in NSW DET schools have access to G Suite for Education. Google Slides can integrate with other Google apps (such as Google forms and Jam) which can be used to assess student knowledge and assist collaboration. Hyperlinking sections increases student engagement and motivation. The use of Google Slides allows for the project to be published to the web for easy viewing. However, for use in school it would be shared on the teacher’s shared drive for access to all staff. Teachers could then share it on Google Classroom, enabling students to complete the activities on their own copy of the slide.
Design
The resource has been created to give teachers background knowledge and resources on Aboriginal knowledge and application of science. It is also designed as a stand-alone resource students in stage two upwards could use independently. The project also aims to increase a sense of belonging and pride for Aboriginal students and impart knowledge to other students.
Copyright regulations have been complied with and modelled by using images available under Creative Commons, sites requiring no attribution and the author’s own images and recordings. Videos have been referenced at the end of the project. Using images from these sources and embedding videos into the Slides (rather than download) ensures that the project can be shared digitally with students and they can make a copy of the work (Smartcopying, n.d.).
Students are easily distracted on the internet, many looking at off-task information (Wu & Xie, 2018, p.244), embedding videos decreases this risk. Slides also presents videos without any advertisements and allows the creator to choose portions of the video to show. Direct links to website pages have been used when required to also minimise student distractions.
There are optional links (shown by symbols) on the project so users can choose to get an overview of the story or delve into further enrichment resources and activities. The use of symbols also helps to orientate the user within the slides and provide choice of direction.
The aim of this project is to impart cultural understanding and make learning more authentic using local knowledge for that Country. This is achieved by using videos containing mostly Aboriginal people speaking of their culture.
Rationale
Indigenous peoples have been portrayed for a long time as ‘primitive’. However, this is not true, as vast amounts of scientific knowledge have been demonstrated throughout Indigenous cultures. Even when recorded, Indigenous knowledge has been discounted. For example, Blandowski’s work over 10 years (1849-1859) recording Aboriginal classification knowledge was never published (von Zinnenburg Carroll, 2014). This perpetual stereotyping of Aboriginal peoples has led to a lack of esteem in culture, particularly in science. Indeed, some Aboriginal people see science as not relating to them, with a belief that “Aboriginal people are not good at maths and science and all that” (Ball, 2015, p.14). It has also left a gap in Australian’s knowledge of it’s First People.
Digital story telling (DST) can be used for intercultural understanding by comparing cultures and experiences (Malita & Martin, 2010, p.3061) The aim of this digital story is to help students (both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) to become more aware of how Aboriginals peoples use/used science in their culture. This will bring more of an understanding of Aboriginal culture to all students and may increase Indigenous student’s self-confidence and sense of belonging.
It also aims to assist teachers in integrating Aboriginal culture into their lessons. In 2018, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) introduced 95 new elaborations for Aboriginal scientific practices into the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, n.d). Teachers are time poor and often do not have time to search for additional resources, so this digital project aims to provide resources for teachers.
Teachers often feel they have little knowledge about Aboriginal people (Harrison & Greenfield, 2011, p.65). When non-Indigenous people teach about Aboriginal knowledge it is usually as a unit on certain aspects of Aboriginal knowledge and may unintentionally be stereotyped about particular styles or locations of knowledge (Harrison & Greenfield, 2011, p.70), for example boomerangs and the Northern Territory .
As Aboriginal culture is not heterogeneous, the resources have been drawn from a variety of Country groups to show diversity of practices. Even though the learning is not presented by an Indigenous person in local context, it is hoped it will provide an insight into the use of scientific knowledge of Indigenous peoples. The best way for students to learn is from an indigenous community member or elder about local country (Harrison & Sellwood, 2016, p.208). Providing learning in this way makes it authentic and meaningful as it is produced locally and relates context to place (Harrison & Greenfield, 2011, p.74). Therefore, it is best if the suggested activities can be adapted to include local Indigenous knowledge.
Harrison, N., & Greenfield, M. (2011). Relationship to place: positioning Aboriginal knowledge and perspectives in classroom pedagogies. Critical Studies in Education, 52(1), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2011.536513
von Zinnenburg Carroll, Khadija. “What Would Indigenous Taxonomy Look Like? The Case of Blandowski’s Australia.” Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia (2014), no. 12. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc/6292 .
Wu, J. & Xie, C. (2018). Using time pressure and note-taking to prevent digital distraction behavior and enhance online search performance: Perspectives from the load theory of attention and cognitive control. Computers in Human Behavior, 88, 244 – 254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.07.008
My understanding of the work of an education professional in digital environments has developed immensely throughout this subject. As outlined in the blog post ‘Assessment 1 – Reflective Blog on digital literacy’ (Silver, 2020a) at the start of the subject I believed literacy in digital environments was primarily based on ebooks. I had little idea, other than that, what literacy in digital environments entailed. My knowledge of digital literacy types has grown to include games, hyperlinked texts (Walsh, 2013, p.182), Twitter stories (TEDSalon NY2013, 2013), and transmedia pieces (such as Inanimate Alice).
I have also gained awareness of the importance of reading as a social activity through social media. Whilst sites such as GoodReads and Inside a Dog are difficult to incorporate in primary school (as 13+ is the recommended age for social media sign up) these sites have many ideas and resources that could be incorporated into literacy activities. Using digital tools and publishing online can link curriculum work to interests and create authentic learning experiences via feedback from others (Price-Dennis, Holmes & Smith, 2015, p.201). Students could take advantage of the digital environment to make podcast or book trailers about what they have read and share these digitally with other students, classes in the school, or other schools nationally/globally. By working on their own digital pieces, students learn about purpose, structure, audience requirements, and imagery (Kearney, 2011, p.173). Already many students use digital technology for multimodal communication during their leisure time (Bjorgen, 2010, p.167). When students link their own lives and the use of digital tools, learning becomes meaningful (Peck & Cretelle, 2020, p.75). Students can achieve this by creating and publishing their own works and responding to others.
Prior to this course, I had not thought of multimedia stories giving people a ‘voice’ that can be heard by many (Matthews, 2014, p.28). Students can use this to their advantage to express ideas and feelings that build empathy and understanding (Sukovic, 2014, p.226) for and about others. This is similar to the way transmedia pieces cause a reaction from the audience or convey a message (Malita & Martin, 2010, p.3061).
I have discovered working in digital environments can have opportunities and challenges for students. Integrating the curriculum through multimodal narratives increases student engagement (Hovious, Shinas & Harper, 2020, p.3). Digital features can also improve literacy practices. These features include highlighting text for consideration, virtually shelving books for later reading, bookmarking (Serafini & Youngs, p.402), notetaking, and searching text (Lamb, 2011, p.13). Digital formats can also benefit students who struggle with literacy. For example, audiobooks provide an appealing avenue to access written material for students with reading difficulties (Grover & Hannegan, 2012, p.10). They also model fluency, pronunciation, expression, and comprehension (Hett, 2012, p.6) which increases students reading and literacy levels.
Digital literacy has moved away from the traditional scanned print books to involved digital pieces such as vlogs which include video plus snippets of social media sites (such as The Autobiography of Jane). These new formats involve new literacy skills beyond traditional literacy skills students must learn. These skills include; searching around the page, comprehending information from a variety of sources (images, music, language used), and using links (icons, sounds, etc) to navigate (Walsh, 2010, p.214). If students do not possess these skills, they may become disorientated or fail to identify fake websites (Lamb, 2011, p.17). Online digital literacy skills are still a problem amongst students as outlined in the blog post ‘Students and digital literacy – are they really literate?’ (Silver, 2020c).
An important part of working in digital environments is copyright. Students need to be aware of legal and ethical obligations of, as Ohler (2013, p.246) terms it UOPS – using other people’s stuff. This can be quite challenging. Knowing how to correctly source, use, and attribute information is increasingly important as the world becomes more digitally participative. Although I had some knowledge of copyright, by creating my own digital storytelling project I have had to hone my skills in finding images that can be used legally. Creative Commons, Wikimedia, Unsplash, and Pixabay have been useful. I have come to appreciate the complexity of copyright around images, learning myself how to attribute images. It was easier to photograph and record my own images, this has also added a sense of ownership to the project.
Overall, throughout the subject, I have increased my understanding of literature in digital environments enormously. I now have a greater knowledge of the types of digital literacy platforms, social aspects of literacy activities and how to assess materials for suitability, and skills students require when dealing with literacy in digital environments.
Bjørgen, A. M. (2010). Boundary crossing and learning identities – digital storytelling in primary schools. Seminar.Net: Media, Technology & Life-Long Learning, 6(2), 161–178.
Grover,S. & Hannegan, L. (2012). Listening to learn: Audiobooks supporting literacy. American Library Association.
Hallam, G., Thomas, A., & Beach, B. (2018). Creating a connected future through information and digital literacy: Strategic directions at the University of Queensland library. Journal of the Australian Library & Information Association, 67(1), 42–54. https://doi-org./10.1080/24750158.2018.1426365
Hett, K. (2012). Technology-supported literacy in the classroom: Using audiobooks and digital storytelling to enhance literacy instruction. IllinoisReading Council Journal, 40(3), 3–13.
Hovious, A., Shinas. V. & Harper, I. (2020). The compelling nature of transmedia storytelling: Empowering twenty first‑century readers and writers through multimodality. Technology, Knowledge and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-020-09437-7
Kearney, M. (2011). A learning design for student-generated digital storytelling. Learning, Media and Technology, 36(2), 169-188.
Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(3), 12-17.
Malita, L., & Martin, C. (2010). Digital Storytelling as web passport to success in the 21st Century. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3060-3064.
Matthews, J.,R.G.N.B.Sc P.G.Dip. (2014). Voices from the heart: The use of digital storytelling in education: The journal of the health visitors’ association. Community Practitioner, 87(1), 28-30.
Ohler, J. (2016). Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning and creativity. (2nd ed.). Corwin.
Peck, S., & Cretelle, T. A. (2020). Place-Based Learning and Participatory Literacies: Building Multimodal Narratives for Change. In Mitchell, J. S., & Vaughn, E. N. (Ed.), Participatory literacy practices for P-12 classrooms in the digital age (pp. 74-94). IGI Global. http://doi-org/.10.4018/978-1-7998-0000-2.ch005
Price-Dennis, D., Holmes, K. A., & Smith, E. (2015). Exploring digital literacy practices in an inclusive classroom. Reading Teacher, 69(2), 195–205. https://doi.org./10.1002/trtr.1398
Serafini, F. & Youngs, S. (2013). Reading Workshop 2.0: Children’s literature in the digital age. The Reading Teacher, 66(5), 401-404. www.doi.org/10.1002/TRTR.1141
Walsh, M. (2010). Multimodal literacy: what does it mean for classroom practice? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 33(3), 211–239.
Walsh, M. (2013). Literature in a digital environment (Ch. 13). In L. McDonald (Ed.), A literature companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).
An effective teacher librarian (TL) can help to establish the library as the learning hub of the school. They are approachable, friendly, and make it their mission to help students and staff with their learning needs. Effective TLs can suggest required resources to suit student and staff needs and provide for equitable access to resources and technology. They increase student learning by incorporating 21st Century skills such as critical thinking into their lessons. Effective TLs provide guidance in areas most teachers lack – information literacy and integrating aspects of the Australian Curriculum and technology into learning. They are proactive, collaborative, instructional partners, and leaders.
Part B – The top three themes
As I am not currently working in a library, the experiences listed here are based on a temporary librarian position I held in a primary school for a year prior to commencing this course. The future recommendations are how I would implement the knowledge when I am working in a school library. The Teacher Librarian (TL) has a diverse role that is often underrated by teachers and sometimes executive. The three main themes that stand out for me as a TL are the roles of the TL, collaboration and networking, and advocating the TL and library services.
Theme 1. The roles of the TL
As outlined in the blog post ‘The perceived role of the TL’ (Silver, 2019a) many teachers view the TL’s role as borrowing out books, providing resources, release from face to face (RFF), and encouraging reading. The role of the TL now includes more than just providing resources and fostering a love of reading (Lupton, 2016, p.57). The TL is also an instructional partner in literacies, technology, and curriculum integration.
Information literacy
As information abounds in an increasingly digital world students need to be taught information literacy (Burkhardt, 2017, p.29). Ensuring students are information literate is one of the main roles of the TL (Herring, 2007, p.33). I entered this Masters with a narrow view of literacy, as outlined in the blog ‘What is information literacy?’ (Silver, 2019b). In the past, I often taught information literacy skills as stand-alone lessons. I have since learnt one of the best ways to introduce information literacy to students is by incorporating inquiry learning through literacy models. Inquiry learning is an effective tool to create authentic learning experiences as it assists students to become independent learners who apply critical thinking skills (Stripling, 2020, p.16). The use of such models also allows students to be aware of their affective and cognitive states when engaging in information literacy. Firsthand knowledge of these states is detailed in the blog post ‘The research rollercoaster’ (Silver, 2019c).
Digital literacy/ Technology use
Technology is becoming increasingly important for gaining information and communicating (Gulatee & Combes, 2018, p.82). However, many students lack digital literacy skills. Research shows students rely on the internet when searching for information but have poor search and evaluation skills and satisfice with information found rather than find accurate information (Coombes, 2007). Students pay little attention to information sources on the web, which may be biased (Kammerer, Brand-Gruwel, Jarodzka, 2018, p.83). A report on this is outlined in the blog ‘Students and digital literacy – are they really literate? (Silver, 2020a).
The TL can show how to implement technology, ensure students know how to access data and research effectively (Mann, 2011, p.29). Being able to critically evaluate a website and its information is increasingly important. One such way to do this is with the CRAAP test – currency, relevancy, author, accuracy, and purpose (Berg, 2017, p.9). Critically evaluating web sources for validity and relevance is one area I would strongly work on with students.
TLs also teach ethical use of information (Mann, 2011, p.30). By making students aware of copyright and plagiarism, the TL fulfills the Australian Curriculum’s outcomes on ethical protocols in using ICT general capabilities. Introducing students to creative commons is one way of providing them with knowledge to create and share their work ethically. Creative commons are detailed in the blog post ‘Creative Commons – lets share that creativity!’ (Silver, 2020b).
Whilst I had knowledge of plagiarism and a slight understanding of image/music copyright my knowledge of copyright has grown considerably. Through INF533 Resourcing the Curriculum I’ve become aware of copyright’s impact on schooling, as outlined in the blog ‘Copyright – don’t be in the wrong’ (Silver, 2020c). Sorry teachers, no more popping on a Netflix movie during wet weather!
During the course, I have used many digital tools including Pinterest, G Suite for Education, Powtoon, Screencastify, Adobe Connect, Zoom, and Padlet. During virtual placement, I transferred these skills and used Microsoft Teams and Stream to create ‘how-to’ videos on accessing and using the Ebscohost database. In the future, I could use this knowledge to create mini-lessons for patrons on how to access the library catalogue and research effectively. During COVID lockdowns I taught a teacher how to use ICT more effectively in online teaching by using Screencastify. He then created an online demonstration for students on how to submit work in Google Classroom. In the same way, it is beneficial to teach students how to use tools that can be applied to other situations, even though the tools may be different in the future.
Integrating the Australian Curriculum
Previously I tended to base library lessons on Science or English outcomes and had little knowledge of the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities and Cross Curricular Priorities. I now know TLs can provide guidance on how to integrate these areas into lessons and programs. For the General Capabilities, particularly relevant are the Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities.
The TL can also integrate Cross-curriculum priorities – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia and Sustainability into the library program This is demonstrated in the following program I created for stage 2 Science on the seasons which integrates CCT, Aboriginal culture, and information literacy.
Throughout the course, I have also been able to provide suggestions for resources for teachers in the form of an annotated bibliography about sustainability.
Theme 2. The importance of collaboration and networking
Traditionally the TL has taught in isolation in the library. I often felt isolated in the library from other staff and school activities and learning. Frequently primary school TLs are used for RFF with limited time to teach skills. For students to integrate their learning from the TL, lessons need to be taught in situ with class lessons, not just viewed as a ‘library lesson’ that only applies in library. Teaching content and skills together creates more meaningful learning for students and is remembered for longer (Kowalsky, 2014, p.112).
Using a flexible timetable rather than an RFF timetable allows for more flexibility in collaborating time with teachers or time to teach in the classroom (Kaldenberg, 2011, p.44). It allows for greater information literacy and technology integration by the TL. When using a flexible teaching model there are obstacles to overcome, such as replacing planning time lost from using library lessons as RFF and teacher attitudes and experiences (Sturge, 2019, p.28). Not all teachers are aware of the skills and knowledge the TL possesses or have ever collaborated with the TL (Montiel-Overall, 2010, p.48). Many teachers do not realise that the TL is aware of new technology and how to assist teachers to integrate it into lessons for effective learning (Baker & Willis, 2016, p.58). Teachers may not know that the TL can integrate information literacy and inquiry learning as well. An ideal way to highlight and promote these skills is through collaboration with teachers.
TL’s need to work with classroom teachers (in the library or the classroom) on the lessons being taught. The teacher has knowledge of the students’ abilities and the curriculum and the TL has knowledge of resources, information literacy, and technology. The TL and teacher can collaborate on what students need to know, plan out when to teach skills and knowledge, and provide ongoing assessment and feedback (Cooper & Bray, 2011, p.50). When teaching together the synergy of each person’s skills can increase student knowledge and application. The teacher is also able to reinforce the ideas taught throughout their other lessons. Despite the skills and knowledge of the TL collaboration is not always easily implemented as detailed in the blog post ‘Collaboration’ (Silver, 2019d). Understanding how to collaborate also helps, as outlined below (Bastow Institute, 2015).
Bastow Institute (2015, July 26). Collaboration – What do you bring to the table? – Tracey Ezard
However, if successful, collaboration can be achieved the benefits are enormous for students. These range from increased ethical understanding (Mohamed, 2017, p.137) to knowledge of content, increased communication skills, and use of information literacy skills (Copeland & Jacobs, 2017, p.25). A flexible timetable that allows time for collaboration is my ideal library model. However, I have learnt that if a flexible timetable is not currently feasible there are strategies that can be used to lay the foundations for it. One such way is to choose a few teachers who are willing to work collaboratively. Start small on a task, plan together, and help teach the unit and then advertise your successes (Cooper & Bray, 2011, p.49). In this way, more teachers (and administration) will see the benefits and want to work collaboratively with the TL.
Although the TL can often work in isolation in the school, the TL can feel supported and grow through networking. Before beginning this Masters I attended some TL networking meetings, conferences, and followed (lurked in) Yammer. In INF532 Knowledge Networking for Educators, I learnt more about how technology can be incorporated into networking for teacher and student learning. I grew in confidence and came a long way in overcoming my reluctance in using social media for networking. One way educators can stay informed and grow their practice is through the use of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Twitter allows educators to connect and communicate with people around the globe as demonstrated in my digital artifact on ‘Using Twitter for beginners to establish a personal learning network’ (Silver, 2019e).
The use of Twitter helped me to widen my network and opened up a world of new people, ideas, and resources as outlined in the blog post ‘Using Twitter – an update’ (Silver, 2019f).
Using technology makes it easy for TLs and teachers to connect and collaborate with people in different locations (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter, 2011, p.21). This can be advantageous in organising students to work together across the world. Students can also work with community knowledge via Twitter or connect with subject experts via Skype. In my studies, I learnt that just like classroom activities the social media experience should be planned out so students get the most benefit from the experience. Benefits of connected learning include critical thinking (questions to ask and how to pose them), learning social protocol, reflecting on writing skills, and increased vocabulary (Tolisano, 2011). Through the use of technology students and teachers can experience the benefits of becoming connected educators by connecting, collaborating, creating, and sharing with others. This is one area I am very excited to explore in the future.
Theme 3. Advocacy – Showcasing the TL
However, all of the great knowledge and skills of the TL are wasted unless staff know about the advantages of a TL. Qualified TLs are essential in improving student learning in a school. Schools with a qualified TL perform better in NAPLAN results than schools without (Dix, Felgate, Ahmed, Carslake, & Sniedze-Gregory, 2020, p.10). However, the role of the TL that is most often visible/thought of by staff is the administration role.
Even administrators may not value the TL as evidenced by a recent study (Lupton, 2016, p.53). The TL and library need to be viewed as learning areas first and resource providers second (Herring, 2007, p.27). This may be achieved by having a strategic plan, assisting the principal, and being an active member of the school community.
Advocacy is an area I did not do well at in the past, as outlined in the blog post ‘The principal and the teacher librarian – a reflection on practice’ (Silver, 2019g). I lacked the use of strategy and data in trying to achieve my goal. Having a mission statement and strategic plan based on the statement is important for guiding the direction of the library and how it links to the school’s mission (Wong, 2012, p.22). The library I worked in did not have a library mission statement or strategic plan and I didn’t value their importance. Had I aligned the library’s mission to the school’s my efforts as the TL may have been more valued. Aligning the budget with the strategic plan also highlights how resources support student achievement (Wong, 2012, p.24). I spent most of my budget on purchasing an online encyclopedia, updating reference material for stage three research, and buying popular fiction books to encourage reading (particularly amongst the boys). Had I created a mission statement and strategic plan I could have linked in how spending this money was increasing the literacy of students at the school.
Aligning the library program with the principal’s priorities will result in the school library having more value to the principal (Kachel, 2017, p.50). This can be achieved by identifying problems the principal is facing and how the TL and library program can help to overcome these problems (Ray, 2013, p.23). I’ve learnt to think about what the TL can do for the principal, not what they can do for the library. I believe if I had thought this way previously, the outcome with the principal may have been different.
The TL can integrate the school library into the school by being involved with people and committees within the school and offering leadership capabilities. Three areas the TL should be involved in are working with the school leadership team, stage levels, and the whole school (Roberts, 2015, p.32). It is important the TL be present when the school leadership team reviews data and when decisions are made to highlight resources and/or technology that may be required and incorporate strategic directions into library lessons. Working with stage levels allows the TL to coordinate and implement school directions across the stages and connect with individuals. Communicating with parents about what the library is doing is also important (Miller & Ray, 2018, p.25). I did carry out some of these involvements, communicating with parents through the weekly newsletter, participating in whole school activities such as Breakfast Club, and being an active member of the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) team. However, other areas I didn’t do well at, such as pushing to be included in school leadership teams and whole school literacy planning (ironically I provided RFF for these days). In the future, I will ask to be included, to make a seat for myself at the table (Miller & Ray, 2018, p.24)
Advocacy can also be improved by focusing on increasing student learning, working collaboratively with teachers to achieve this, and showcasing the successes (Stripling, 2020, p.16). Through my studies, I now have ideas to approach teachers with as to how the TL can improve student learning. I would also keep evidence of data and link this to how the work of the TL has deepened student learning (Keeling, 2020, p.5). Using this data and showcasing the success of student learning would inspire collaboration and increase the value of the TL.
In focusing on highlighting the work of the library some administration work may need to be delegated, such as returning and shelving books to allow for spending time on activities that influence student learning more (Purcell, 2010, p.31). This is one area I believe I struggled with. Recruiting student helpers would have alleviated the administration tasks and left more time for planning lessons that took advantage of the TL skills and made the TL a more valued staff member. By spending more time on value-adding activities and publicising how the TL and library programs support the school’s goals and improve student learning the library can become the learning heart of the school.
Part C – Development of skills and attitudes as per ASLA/ALIA standards
I have learnt a great deal throughout the course and I see the following actions as ways to continue to develop my skills and practice as per ASLA standards for proficient teachers.
2.1Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area and 3.1Establish challenging learning goals I want to work collaboratively with teachers to establish challenging learning goals for students that incorporate information literacy. I am keen to establish learning goals for different students based on their needs.
2.6Information Communication Technology (ICT) – Although I have gained some good ideas of technological tools and how to use these, I would like to apply these ideas in practice. I want to integrate technology more into lessons by collaborating with teachers to make learning more meaningful and authentic. I would love to incorporate Skype experts and Skyping (or Zooming) with other classes for students to work together.
4.3Manage challenging behaviour – This is my weakest area in teaching. In my role as the TL, I really struggled with maintaining a disciplined classroom. I did try implementing several behaviour management strategies but they weren’t very successful. This is definitely an area I need to work on, perhaps proactively seeking and talking to teachers about their students at the start of the year would be beneficial. Also working in collaboration with teaching staff on lessons would instill a sense of the TL also being a real ‘teacher’.
6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice I will grow by continuing to attend TL conferences from ASLA, Mantle, and local networking opportunities, such as the Central Coast Teacher Librarian Network. The events are always inspiring and informative. It is very worthwhile seeing how other librarians work, issues, and ideas they have.
Using social media is one area that I would like to improve in as it offers great benefits. Before starting the course, I was not a big social media user. However, as I have lurked and increasingly posted on sites I continually see the benefits. Due to my lack of experience with the library, I don’t feel confident in contributing to these networks yet.
6.4 Apply professional learning and improve studentlearning I see myself becoming more involved in this area as I have more experiences to offer. Blogging is a great tool for reflecting on materials learnt and integrating these into experiences. When I first began blogging, I found it difficult to put my ideas ‘out there’, open to comment, and possible criticism. In reality, comments made on blog posts have led me to think more deeply and gain further insight or other viewpoints on an issue.
Overall, I feel more confident in fulfilling the role of TL than I had in the past. I now know how the library can support the school’s mission and the many skills the TL can bring to support learning and how to promote these skills. As I gain more experience, I will be more confident to move onto working on the ASLA standards for highly accomplished teachers. Throughout the course, I have learnt so much new knowledge and many skills which I am eager to put into practice.
References:
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Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books, right? A look at the roles of a school media specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3), 30-33.
Ray, M. (2013). The Same Difference. School Library Journal, 59(2), 20–23.
Roberts, K. R. (2015). Collaboration: The Essential Role of Library Leaders. Library Media Connection, 33(6), 32–33.
Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). The power of networked learning. In Personal learning networks: Using the power of connections to transform education (pp. 1-14). Moorabbin, Victoria Solution Tree Press.
Wong, T. (2012). Strategic long-range planning. Library Media Connection, 31(2), 22-24.
Digital literacy can incorporate many aspects. In this blog post it refers to having an understanding of critically evaluating information. There has been immense growth in internet usage, however, it is more difficult to make meaning from digital information (Combes, 2016).
However, despite using the internet frequently adolescents do not possess high skill levels in reading online, in particular locating and critically evaluating information (Leu, McVerry, O’Byrne, Kiili, Zawilinski, Everett-Cacopardo, Kennedy, Forzani, 2011, p.8). This is a worrying trend when most young people trust media from friends, social sites or online which may not be correct, taken out of context or digitally manipulated (Combes, 2016).
The latest report by the Stanford History Education Group (2019, p.3) highlights some worrying results. Just over half of the students believed a bad quality video represented political fraud which was untrue. Only 0.1 % of students sought facts to check the videos credibility. 66% could not distinguish between political adverts and news stories and 96% did not question the credibility of a website based on the author’s bias.
Given the ever-evolving capabilities of technology to develop and distribute fake news, these results are indeed troublesome. Digital literacy is something that the teacher librarian and classroom teachers can work together on to improve results in the future.
References:
Breakstone, J., Smith, M., Wineburg, S., Rapaport, A., Carle, J., Garland, M., & Saavedra, A. (2019). Students’ civic online reasoning: A national portrait. Stanford History Education Group & Gibson Consulting. https://purl.stanford.edu/gf151tb4868
Combes, B. (2016). Digital Literacy : A new flavour of literacy or something different? Synergy, 14 (1).
Leu, D., McVerry, J., O’Byrne, W., Kiili, C., Zawilinski, L., Everett-Cacopardo, H., Kennedy, C., Forzani, E. (2011). The new literacies of online reading comprehension: expanding the literacy and learning curriculum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(1), 5-14. www.doi.org:10.1598/JAAL.55.1.1
Digital texts have progressed from books on CD Rom in the 1980s (Bartram, 2014, paragraph 5) to ebooks, interactive books and transmedia platforms (Lamb, 2011, p.17). Good digital texts have the ability to link digital features with literacy (Walsh, 2013, p.186). However, many do not take full advantage of digital features for education purposes (McGeehan, Chambers & Nowakowski, 2018, p.62) such as changing font size, highlighting and annotating. The use of narration and games help to scaffold learning, as do web links and dictionary meanings (Cavanaugh, 2014, p.8). Ebooks may lack numerous features due to the inconsistencies in formatting requirements and file size with suppliers (Kudler, 2020).
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone from Kindle in Motion is an exemplary enhanced ebook, offering animated illustrations, dictionary, annotation and translations. The reading experience is further extended by an active link to Pottermore – the digital world of Harry Potter. An excellent example of a transmedia text is Inanimate Alice which traces the story through multiple digital platforms and formats.
My own reading experiences are different between print and digital texts. When I have to read in-depth, such as university readings, I prefer print as it is easier to comprehend the information read. This is not unusual, a study by Mangen, Walgerno, & Bronnick (2013, p.67) revealed when reading text of more than a page in length participants comprehended more reading from paper than on a screen. Although, this appears to be linked to text type, such as expository texts rather than narratives and the amount of reading time available (Halamish & Elbaz,2020). Like many others (Jabr, 2013) I like to physically highlight and notate on the page. I am also able to see an overview of the text and find it easier to orientate myself or remember the location where something is written. It is easier to locate where specific text is on a physical page, plus print books offer the ability to easily flip back to locations to recheck information (Mangen, Olivier, & Velay, 2019, p.8).
When reading for leisure I also enjoy reading a print book. I like the aesthetics of holding the book and turning the pages. I also find it less fatiguing on my eyes, which research reveals may result from the rolling of the computer screen (Combes, 2016), screen illumination, character size or spacing between lines (Lee, Ko, Shen & Chao, 2011, p.6) .
When I read digital texts I read differently, expecting a more instant result. I tend to skim and scan the text more, looking for key words to find the information quickly. This is typical of most people reading online (Cull, 2011, p.7). This may be due to the fact that when reading online most people are looking to answer a question (Leu, Forzani, Timbrell & Maykell, 2015, p.40).
However, digital texts are instantly available worldwide to anybody with an internet connection and device. This makes them available to different ages and interest groups. They also offer the convenience of carrying books easily and without the weight.
Digital texts also may have benefits over print in the classroom. E-books provide a motivation for students to read for pleasure (Cavanaugh, 2014, p.5, Lamb, 2011, p.17). They can be used to provide differentiation for student learning (Lamb, 2011, p.16) and students may feel more comfortable using ebooks due to privacy of reading content, level and progression rate (Knapp, 2019, p.56). The technology used can assist struggling readers, utlilising text to speech, definitions and translations (Knapp, 2019, p.58). In one study reading remediation students who incorporating ebooks exited the program two months earlier than their peers (Guernsey, 2011,p.32). Digital texts can also be used to improve students comprehension, critical thinking and discussion skills increased via digital literature circles (District Administration, 2017).
Outside the classroom digital texts may connect readers through social media, where students can post and read book reviews (Knapp, 2019, p.59). Social media can also be used to connect readers and access authors, from Twitter to websites such as Pottermore (Valenza & Stephens, 2012, p.77) which have games, fan stories etc.
Of the ebooks reviewed, I most enjoyed Water Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas. After viewing and discussing the book it could be incorporated into a stage 3 program as a prompt for Science, Art or English.
For Science students investigate the different states of water, outcome ACSSU077 (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], n.d.a) by linking to images in the book. Brainstorm, research and add other situations where water is shown in the three states.
For the literacy strand in English – Creating texts, outcomes ACELY1704 and ACELY1707 (ACARA, n.d.b), students follow the books format to create their own digital book on what a subject can be…… For example ‘a stick could be…..’ .
For Art students explore ideas and practices (outcome ACAVAM114) and communicate meaning (outcome ACAVAR117) (ACARA, n.d.c) by creating their own artworks about water, drawing on other cultures, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks on water.
Combes, B. (2016). Digital literacy: A new flavour of literacy or something different? Synergy, 14(1).
Cull, B. (2011). Reading revolutions: Online digital text and implications for reading in academe. First Monday, 16(6). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i6.3340
District Administration. (2017). Digital literature circles. TechXcellence.
Guernsey, L. (2011). Are Ebooks Any Good? School Library Journal, 57(6), 28–32.
Halamish, V. & Elbaz, E. (2020). Children’s reading comprehension and metacomprehension on screen versus on paper. Computers & Education, (145). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103737
Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning and leading with technology, 39(3), 12-17.
Lee, D.S., Ko, Y.H., Shen, I.H., & Chao, C.Y. (2011). Effect of light source, ambient illumination, character size and interline spacing on visual performance and visual fatigue with electronic paper displays. Displays, 32(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2010.09.001
Leu, D.J., Forzani, E.,Timbrell, N. & Maykel, C. (2015). Seeing the forest, not the trees – Essential technologies for literacy in the primary-grade and upper elementary-grade classroom. Reading Teacher, 69(2), 139-145.
Mangen, A., Walgermo, R. & Brønnicka, K. (2013). Reading linear texts on paper versus computer screen: Effects on reading comprehension. International Journal of Educational Research, 58, 61–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2012.12.002
Mangen, A., Olivier, G., & Velay, J. L. (2019). Comparing Comprehension of a Long Text Read in Print Book and on Kindle: Where in the Text and When in the Story? Frontiers in psychology, 10(38). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00038
McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just Because It’s Digital, Doesn’t Mean It’s Good: Evaluating Digital Picture Books. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2017.1399488
Purdie Salas, L. (2014). Water Can Be. Millbrook Press TM.
Valenza, J. K., & Stephens, W. (2012). Reading Remixed. Educational Leadership, 69(6), 75-78.
Walsh, M. (2013). Literature in a digital environment (Ch. 13). In L. McDonald (Ed.), A literature companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).
Yokota, J., & Teale, W. H. (2014). Picture Books and the Digital World. Reading Teacher, 67(8), 577–585. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1262
Changes in technology are changing the way literature is accessed, understood and created. Increasing internet connectivity and usage of personal devices is increasing access and use of digital literature (Picton, 2014, p.4). Ebooks are one form of digital literature used.
Two of the ebooks reviewed are picture books, therefore a rubric by McGeehan, Chambers & Nowakowski (2018, Appendix A) for assessing elements of digital picture books has been used. These are considered under the heading ‘affordances of digital features’ in the reviews and include:
Appropriate presentation of the text for digital format
Use of features to move text past print
Alignment of supplementary features with the text
Features support concepts of print (text moves left to right, top to bottom etc)
Features support readers comprehension and new vocabulary
The ebooks will also be assessed on availability, classification of ebook, appearance, functionality, and if applicable literacy features.
E-book – Water Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas.
Availability
I accessed this ebook using my local library membership via the Libby app for Apple and Android devices and Overdrive on computers. Overdrive is available to schools via the student app Sora (Overdrive, n.d) for schools that hold a subscription to Overdrive.
Classification of ebook
Despite this book being published in 2014, according to Yokota & Teale’s (2014, p.576) categories of digital picture books it would fall into one of the earliest types of ebook categories. It is a scanned version of the print book and contains the same cover, endpapers, font etc as the print version. This has been categorised as an ebook as it is available in digital form.
Appearance
The illustrations are appealing, support the text meaning and lose no quality in being converted to digital format. The images are able to be made larger by zooming out on the screen. The digital features do not detract from the book as the page enlarges and the digital features disappear from the screen when the book is being read.
Functionality
The ebook does contain basic features found in ebooks such as the ability to change the brightness of the screen from bright to sepia or dark (black background screen). This is beneficial to readers who may experience difficulties with light sensitivity. By clicking on ‘recent places’ in the menu, the reader (or teacher) can see the current location in the text, number of times the narration was paused, which page the reader came from and the number of minutes until the end of the book. It also shows the total time spent reading and percentage of the book read. This provides useful data on the reading experience which may indicate the difficulty of text for the reader and their level of engagement.
Other features including search, highlighting and bookmarking appear in a ribbon at the top of the screen. The search function works well, even though the pages on screen present as a digital copy of the physical book. Pages can be bookmarked, allowing for easy access to important pages. Unlike other ebooks, the text is unable to be highlighted which can hamper teachers or students drawing attention to certain sections.
Navigation is assisted by the portrayal of a slider bar, showing how far through the text the narration is. There is the ability to pause or scroll to a page number. It also shows how many pages there are before and after the current page. This is important as it allows the reader to orient themselves as they would in a printed book and not get lost in the digital text, such as flipping pages backwards (Lamb, 2011, p.14). Students must have some knowledge of digital literacy with regards to the features of functions on the screen (Kucirkova, Littleton & Cremin, 2017, p.73). In this case, readers need to know how to swipe the screen to access the next page and how to use two fingers to enlarge the screen and zoom in on the illustrations.
Affordances of digital features
Appropriate presentation of the text for digital format – digital features are easily found, however, they are not accessible once the book is being ‘read’ until the top corner of the screen is tapped. This may be confusing for some readers.
Use of features to move text past print – it has no extra features, it is the same as reading print on a page.
Alignment of supplementary features with the text –no supplementary features available.
Features support concepts of print – text appearance is of a reasonable size and easily read.
Features support readers comprehension and new vocabulary – there are no digital features that support readers. Although there are no definition hotspots in the book, the glossary at the back of the book supports the reader.
Literacy features
This is a non-fiction book presented in a poetic form. Although the text is limited (only two words per page on most pages) the illustrations support the text well to help the reader add meaning. The contents at the back of the book also supports the reader with a glossary, information and facts (such as 2/3 of the Earth’s surface is water) about the function of water depicted on each page in the story. There is also a suggested reading list of books for further investigations about water. The literacy features of the book make it an acceptable digital book, despite lacking many digital features.
Overall, this is a basic form of ebook. Greater use of digital features such as narration and hotspots could improve the reading experience. By digitising the print book the publishers have made it more widely accessible (Yokota & Teale, 2014, p.578). The benefits of providing this book as an ebook also allows a whole class to access the book at the same time and work at their own pace in reading the book, which they could not do with one print book.
Enhanced E-book – I don’t want curly hair! by Laura Ellen Anderson
Availability
The ebook is available via the Libby or Sora app.
Classification of ebook
This book is a hybrid of an ebook which is a scan of the print book and an ebook that transforms the book with features unique to the digital world (Yokota & Teale, 2014, p.576). It contains the same cover, endpapers, font etc as the print version whilst containing features of the digital world such as narration and text highlighting.
Functionality
As it is on the same platform as the ebook reviewed above it contains the same access and navigation features, however, frustratingly, not all appear to be operable with this book. Whilst there was a search function it did not work. A search for ‘hair’ produced no matches, despite it appearing many times in the story. The features are also limited in that they can’t be accessed once the narration has commenced.
There were some difficulties loading two of the audio pages. The pages wouldn’t load the audio and the reader needed to swipe to the next page where the audio began again. Frequently a page would freeze at the beginning and the reader needed to go back a page and manually swipe to the new page again. Some letters were missing from the text on the page that the audio would not load, this made it difficult for the reader to decode the text. In other parts of the book the formatting of the text makes reading difficult as the text overlays itself. These difficulties were frustrating and interrupted the reading process.
Affordances of digital features
Appropriate presentation of the text for digital format – sound effects and music are related to the text. There is enhancement through the accompaniment of musical instruments and sounds (such as laughing), which add to the atmosphere of the story. Although the noises are presented alongside the narration, they are not overly loud and do not detract from the storyline.
Use of features to move text past print – there is a use of narration which helps to convey the books humour to students. The use of narration also highlights the rhythm and rhyme of the story. The speed of the narrative is good – not too quick, expressive but only available in an English accent. It is beneficial to multilingual learning if the language could be changed (Yokota & Teale, 2014, p.584). The narrator is a famous children’s television presenter and comedian – Justin Fletcher. Whilst the narration is expressive and by a well-known personality, it doesn’t seem to suit the story. The narrator’s voice is important to the story’s characters (Yokota & Teale, 2014, p.580). The story is about a girl and a female sounding narration would have suited the character better and made the character more believable. It would also be beneficial if the text size could be changed. Changing to a larger font size has proven beneficial to struggling readers (Picton, 2014, p.13).
Alignment of supplementary features with the text –no supplementary features available.
Features support concepts of print – individual text is highlighted as it is read aloud and is in a different colour (blue), highlights from left to right and top to bottom.
Features support readers comprehension and new vocabulary – there are no digital features that support readers. The use of hotspots can enhance the reading event by giving definitions of more complex words (McGeehan, Chambers & Nowakowski, 2018, p.63). The use of a dictionary would assist students in making meaning, for example the word ‘frazzled’ is used in the narrative and there is a picture of a girl looking angrily in a mirror. An explanation hotspot would have further clarified the meaning taking a digital affordance of what a print book couldn’t do.
There are several features to consider when choosing a narrated e-book (Bates, Klein, Schubert, McGee, Anderson, Dorn, McClure & Huber Ross, 2016, p.405). This book has several of the features including ability to read by self and ‘turn’ pages, narration, ability to replay narration and autoplay for narration and page turning.
This is an entertaining book for students with its use of rhyme and whimsical pictures. The functions of narration and text highlighting assist the reading process. The functionality issues effected the enjoyment and flow of the story. If these issues were fixed this book could be an ideal book for modelling rhyme and fluency to students.
Interactive book– Clio’s cosmic quest by Wonderscope
Availability
Available as a free app for iphone and ipad in the Apple apps store. Clio’s cosmic quest is a free book in the Wonderscope app. Other interactive stories are offered in the app for 7.99 AUD each.
Classification of ebook
This would fit into the category of the latest development of ebooks – transforming picture books to include digitally unique features (Yokota & Teale, 2014, p.579) including animation, sound and augmented reality.
Appearance
Upon beginning the story the user chooses a physical space for the story to take place. An augmented reality mystical galaxy then opens and the user is introduced to the main character ‘Clio’. Clio and the other characters are presented in three-dimensional forms who speak to the reader. Using augmented reality helps to engage the reader by the character entering the reader’s space and speaking with them. The space zooms in and out as the characters (and reader) travel through the galaxy. This movement enhances the reader’s experience within the story (Lamb, 2011, p.17).
Functionality
The app is easy to use, starting with a character greeting the user and instructing them on how to set up their camera and microphone in order to participate in the story. The story also takes advantage of haptics to include the user in the story, such as tapping on the gas particles in the story and the phone vibrating at times when the character moves. However, whilst this is entertaining and relates to the story it can distract from the storyline. These kind of features do not support the reader’s comprehension process (McGeehan, Chambers & Nowakowski, 2018, p.59) or offer support to a user with reading difficulties (Lamb, 2011, p.17).
However, the user is unable to control the flow of the narrative with no option to repeat a section. Also, if the reader is unsure of the words in their script, there is no option to hear words pronounced. There is an option to touch an arrow to move onto the next part of the story but then the flow of the story is interrupted as the reader’s part disappears. The lack of these features may impede a student’s understanding and comprehension.
By being interactive with the character Clio, students are able to gain empathy for her situation of being bullied by another star and support her by helping Clio in her quest. There is the possibility of readers losing the main characters in the galaxy created, however, the narration and reader text continues so the story still flows.
Affordances of digital features
Appropriate presentation of the text for digital format – text follows basic reading concepts being placed at the bottom of the images, the text size fit well within the phone’s screen, digital features are found easily.
Use of features to move text past print – there is use of narration, however, it does not read a text. The animations used support the text meaning (Bates, Klein, Schubert, McGee, Anderson, Dorn, McClure & Huber Ross, 2016, p.404) by showing elements of space that may be difficult for students to otherwise understand.
Alignment of supplementary features with the text – at the end of the story Clio and the other particles are turned into the Sun. A map of the solar system is then presented where students can tap on the planets to discover more information about them.
Features support concepts of print – individual text is highlighted word by word in blue for the user to read. It highlights from left to right, top to bottom before disappearing like cosmic dust. Highlighting of text in ‘read aloud’ mode is an important element for literacy development of young children (Yokota & Teale, 2014, p.583).
Features support readers comprehension and new vocabulary – there are no digital features that support readers such as tapping on objects (for example the super nova) to get written labels of the objects or provide links to them.
Clio’s cosmic quest is a fun and engaging interactive narrative with the themes of inclusion and cooperation. It also contains informative elements about the solar system and how a star is formed. The interactive book takes advantage of digital features such as augmented reality, voice and haptics. Further use of digital features such as vocabulary hotspots and ability to rewind would improve the reading experience. Whilst some of the interactive features can be distracting, overall the digital features add to elevate the reading experience. They involve the reader and when the reader is engaged, they comprehend more (Frye, 2013). As a result of the animations and digital features this book could be useful for engaging reluctant or struggling readers.
References:
Anderson, L. (2017). I don’t want curly hair! Bloomsbury Children’s Books.
Bates, C. C., Klein, A., Schubert, B., McGee, L., Anderson, N., Dorn, L., McClure, E., & Ross, R. H. (2017). E-Books and E-Book Apps: Considerations for Beginning Readers. Reading Teacher, 70(4), 401–411.
Kucirkova, N., Littleton, K. & Cremin, T. (2017). Young children’s reading for pleasure with digital books: six key facets of engagement. Cambridge Journal of Education, 47(1), 67-84. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2015.1118441
Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning and leading with technology, 39(3), 12-17.
McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just Because It’s Digital, Doesn’t Mean It’s Good: Evaluating Digital Picture Books. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2017.1399488
Picton, I. (2014). The impact of ebooks on the reading motivation and reading skills of children and young people. National Literacy Trust. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED560635
Purdie Salas, L. (2014). Water Can Be. Millbrook Press TM.
My experiences so far of digital literacy are limited (or perhaps I know more than I do and don’t realise it) and somewhat confused. What exactly is digital literacy? Is web 2.0 technology such as blogs, YouTube and social media etc considered digital literacy?
Based on my experiences so far I believed digital literacy to be:
Reading traditional text that has been digitised (e-books)
Listening to audio books
Accessing pdf or html documents from databases for readings
Apps or programs to help students ‘read’ and understand a book via animations, voice overs and music.
However, further reading has drawn to my attention that digital literature is much more than that. Even being able to use the internet effectively is considered digital literature. Digital literature has additional skills to traditional literature. These include finding and evaluating information on line, combining information from different sources and communicating information. (Leu, McVerry, O’Byrne, Kiili, Zawilinski, Everett-Cacopardo, Kennedy and Forzani, 2011, p.7). These are valuable skills for all, particularly students to possess. Many student’s online literacy skills are poor despite the student’s opposing beliefs. One area in which students are weak is in analysing search results, particularly clicking on the first search result (Leu, Forzani, Timbrell & Maykel, 2015). I have seen this myself. When questioning year six students about search engine results many responded they choose the first result. On further questioning the majority did not know that many top results are sponsored ads. They certainly did not check for reliability and validity of websites, with many readily agreeing that they did not check the author or credentials of the website.
Walsh (2013, p.181) introduces the idea of digital texts being multi modal, incorporating images, music, and speech to support communication. Whilst I had seen digital stories on websites such as Story Time Online with the stories being read aloud along with some animation, I have not seen other digital narrative features Walsh outlines (p.187). These include:
non-linear progression of the story,
split screens, ‘mouse over’ effects,
interactive games, and
‘mash up’ features.
She encourages educators to evaluate if or how these features accentuate the story and allow students to engage more with the story (2013, p.185). Students also need to be aware of fact and fiction within these features, such as websites with information that appears real but is not, it is part of the story (Lamb, 2011, p.17).
Then there are considerations of reader navigation on the page, some people have difficulty navigating interactive texts (Lamb, 2011, p. 15) or indeed traditional texts in digital format (Jabr, 2013). Whilst I prefer a traditional view of text on a page for ease of navigation, will it be the same for the younger generation? And what about those students with text learning difficulties, do digital literacy features make it easier for them to comprehend ideas better than straight text does?
From the readings thus far in the subject I can see that digital literacy involves more than I believed of reading on a screen. It includes being able to use the internet successfully as well as choosing effective digital narratives. There is a lot for me to learn about the world of digital literacy.
I previously believed resourcing the curriculum entailed the teacher librarian (TL) choosing resources they thought appropriate for supporting the curriculum and reading for pleasure. I now know there are several steps in collection development and management and many elements in each. The processes are selection criteria and evaluation, collection evaluation and deselection (weeding). There are also ethical, budgeting and censorship issues to consider.
An important aspect for the collection is balance. This is more than a balance of fiction versus non-fiction or physical verses digital as I thought. Selecting resources incorporates learning styles, pedagogy, student abilities and backgrounds (IFLA, 2006, p.34). The collection also needs to be balanced in that it is diverse and inclusive of all students and perspectives (National Library of New Zealand, n.d.).
I am now aware of different ways of evaluating the collection (user and collection centred) to identify usage and gaps (Johnson, 2014, p.302). This is evident in the forum post ‘Using output measures as tools for purchasing’ (Silver, 2020a) and my reply to another student’s post in ‘Collection Analysis’ (Silver, 2020b).In the future, I will be able to use a larger range of strategies to gain more in depth evaluation of collection usefulness.
Curation is an important aspect of collection development to help users access useful resources. (Oddone, 2019). Curation can be equally applied to digital and physical resources. The TL can assist resource integration of cross-curriculum priorities (CCP) into programs through annotated bibliographies of available resources.
From my learning I was able to discern areas to build upon previous experiences in collection development and management. Some of these are detailed in the blog post ‘Resourcing the curriculum – collection development process’. (Silver, 2020c)
A librarian’s job is to provide information and multiple perspectives (IFLA, n.d). Many librarians self-censor to avoid controversy (Dawkins, 2018, p.9). One way to overcome this is by including the issue of censorship in the collection development policy (CDP). This allows the TL to raise the issue with the principal and gain their views and support (Dawkins, 2018, p.9). I will definitely use this strategy in the future.
Digital resources require a balance of infrastructure and accession costs (licences, fees etc) within the budget. Whilst digital resources can be evaluated by several of the same criteria as print, they also require specific evaluations. These need to take into account elements such as accessibility (indexes, interactivity) and features for users with special needs (read aloud, highlighting etc) There is also a need to consider factors such as technical issues, budgeting costs (initial purchase and on-going), legal and licensing issues and access (how and for how long, how many users at once, effects of cancellation).(IFLA, 2006 p.34).
A reluctant weeder in the past, I have come to the realisation that weeding is important to increase a user’s ability to find relevant, current material (Morgester, 2018, p.27). There are many ways to weed, other than appearance (the main criteria I used to use). Date and relevance to curriculum and user needs are important (Vnuk, 2015, p.6). It reflects badly on the library and undermines user’s confidence and work if resources are outdated in information or attitudes (National Library of New Zealand, n.d).
Increasing digital resources usage and their ability to be shared raises many copyright issues (Moody, 2018, p.10). The TL can use Creative Commons to educate staff and students on how they can responsibly share, and remix work. I have furthered my knowledge about copyright and school exemptions as outlined in the Educational Licencing agreements. By studying the regulation outlines on the Smartcopying website (ref), I was able to apply these to common school situations (blog post, forum copyright questions). I now feel more confident in aiding the school community in this area
Reflecting upon the readings the future of the library looks exciting with the library being a multi-faceted place of learning in the areas of study, reading, collaboration and creating (Loh, 2018, p.4). This supports and extends student learning in a variety of ways from individual study to collaboration. It is a case of not only providing digital resource for information but tools (physical and electronic) as well to help the school community to create and communicate their own knowledge (School District of Palm Beach County, 2019). A virtual presence for the library can be achieved with consideration to budget and access. Libraries can create libguides, databases, curate free web resources, embed instructions and provide access to digital resources (Boyers, 2016, p.6).
The CDP is an important documented library plan. It supports the school’s vision and values (ALIAS & VCTL, 2011, p.8) and provides a framework for achieving this (Gregory, 2019, p.29). The CDP ensures efficient guidance of resourcing by matching user needs to the collection to support teaching and learning (Agee, 2019, p.6). It can be used as a reference for issues regarding selection, acquisition, deselection decisions and material challenges (Johnson, 2018, p.86)
By regularly reviewing the CDP it will remain a strategic document to future proof the collection. This allows for changes in pedagogy, curriculum and technological developments to be accommodated. There is a need for the TL to keep up with trends and changes in technology within library services and schools. Sources such as the Horizon Report (2015) outline these trends which can influence the direction of the CDP.
Changes in the information landscape such as increasing use of digital resources and the internet influence what the CDP includes. For example, increasing use of mobile technologies widen the digital divide as more resources are available online (IFLA, 2016, p.8). Libraries can create more equality via provision of internet access, digital skills, an understanding of digital issues (privacy etc) and combating fake news (Robinson, 2018, p.14).
Changing curriculum needs within digital technologies needs consideration in the CDP to support teaching and learning. Both students and teachers will need to be able to access resources that are relevant to the curriculum. Keeping abreast with changes in the Australian Curriculum and relevant state syllabuses can influence the CDP. Knowing the changes allows for planning of resources to accommodate new curriculums, which can be listed as a curriculum goal or priority in the CDP.
The major realisation from this subject is that resourcing the curriculum is not the sole responsibility of the TL, it is a collaborative effort. Teachers as subject experts need to be involved in requesting resources (IFLA, 2006, p.34), the deselection process (New Zealand Library Services, n.d.) and curriculum mapping (Gregory, 2019, p.39). There are many other opportunities to involve the school community in the collection including patron driven acquisitions, surveys, and selection committees.
References:
Agee, S. (2019). Curate a digital collection for all learners. Knowledge Quest, 48(2), 6-7. www.knowledgequest.aasl.org
Australian Library and Information Association School, & Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians. (2007). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. http://www.asla.org.au/policy/policy-development-manual.aspx
Boyer, B. (2016). Meet Your Learners Where They Are: Virtualizing the School Library. Internet@Schools, 23(1), 4–6.
Dawkins, A.M. (2018). The decision by school librarians to self-censor: The impact of perceived administrative discomfort. Teacher Librarian, 45(3),8-12.
Johnson, P. (2014). Fundamentals of collection development and management.
Loh, Chin Ee. (2019). Envisioning the School Library of the Future: A 21 st Century Framework. https//.doi.org./10.13140/RG.2.2.32524.36489
Moody, G. (2018). Libraries are Under Attack: Here’s How They Can Fight Back. IFLA Trend Report. http://trends.ifla.org
You know when you see something really cool – a poster, infograph, music or artwork that just explains a concept really well and you just want to share it around? Before you do, stop and think, that will have a copyright. A great way to find resources that you can reuse are to search for ones that have creative common licences. Under this licence the creator still has copyright but has given permission to users to share the resource. There are different versions of the licence as detailed in the infographic below.
If you would like more details, Sara Hawkins (2014) explains Creative Commons in an easy to understand manner on her website here.
Using Creative Commons is a great way to share ideas and resources and possibly recreate/mix and share again. They provide a great platform for students and teachers to use, reuse and possibly modify works to build knowledge, staying within the copyright laws.
As a teacher I knew that there were copyright laws about the amount of work we were allowed to legally copy – 10% or 1 chapter of a book.
During this subject I have learnt that there is so much more to copyright in schools and it is the TL’s roles to make others in the school community aware of copyright laws. Whilst I used to teach students to acknowledge where they got the information from (that is, not to plagiarise) I used to wonder about copyright specifically for education. Questions arose such as:
can a teacher copy parts of the text book, commercially produced work and worksheets for tests?
is a student able to put licensed popular music in their presentations?
Can the school use music for the bell song?
Is it OK to copy class sets of worksheets?
can you copy parts of videos and music to incorporate into your own work off the internet?
I found these answers and more on the Smartcopy website (National Copyright Unit, n.d.-a) , which details copyright information specifically for education institutions in Australia.
My main takeaways from the site were that Australian educational providers have extra allowances to the copyright laws under two licences.
However, the licences must be read carefully as there are certain criteria to be met and some services/copying are excluded (for example, streaming services such as Netflix).
A copyright infringement I was unaware of was that schools are breaking copyright if they show/view movies unless it is for an educational purpose. If the viewing is for a non-educational purpose (such as showing on a bus trip, wet weather entertainment etc) the school must have a co-curricular licence. This is not a blanket licence cover for NSW Department of Education schools. (National Copyright Unit, n.d. -g).
The rules of copyright can be complex, however, the Smartcopying website is relatively straight forward, easy to understand and has provided answers to my questions.
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