Shannon Badcock – Portable Magic

Author: Shannon Badcock (Page 1 of 4)

ETL512 Portfolio

On September 26, 2025

PART A

An effective Teacher Librarian (TL) creates a library that is welcoming, inclusive and resource-rich. They collaborate with other staff to create high-quality teaching and learning opportunities aligned with curriculum objectives and the goals of the school. The TL models respect, resilience and being a life-long learner, engaging in professional learning that allows them to adapt, innovate and add value. An effective TL fosters a reading culture in the school, seeking ways to inspire young people to be curious, imaginative and open-minded. They ensure the library is a vibrant, comfortable hub for learning, reading, discussion and wellbeing.

PART B

1 – ‘Lifting Literacy’ and genrefication

There is growing concern in Australia about declining literacy rates (Hunter, 2024), while simultaneously there is a wealth of research showing the positive impact of Teacher Librarians (TL) on improving student literacy (Godfree & Neilson, 2018; Merga, 2019) and the benefits of reading for pleasure (Merga, 2022). Together, these would indicate that school libraries and TLs would be at the forefront of the Tasmanian education department’s ‘Lifting Literacy’ initiative (Department of Education, Children and Young People, 2025); yet no mention of school libraries has been made. In ETL401 and 504 I learned that, while the role of the TL is still ignored by education departments (Merga, 2019; Carroll et al, 2024), there is plenty that TLs can do at the school level to improve student literacy outcomes.

Enabling access amongst the student body and looking at ways of increasing reading for pleasure has been covered throughout this degree. In my senior secondary context, obstacles and challenges include students’ study load, part-time jobs and extra-curricular commitments, as well as a devaluing of school libraries in public high schools. As I learned in ETL402, I am keen to use my role as a TL to help build a reading culture in my school, as our usage data shows borrowing is quite low. anecdotally and via our annual questionnaire, it was clear that many students do not understand how the fiction collection is organised (alphabetically by author surname, for instance), or how to search for books using the catalogue. While ETL401 and ETL503, in particular, taught me the importance of managing a relevant, high-quality and current collection, it is redundant if students do not know how to access it. One solution raised in several courses was the option of genrefying the fiction collection, which has been found to increase reading motivation in adolescents through enabling self-selection (Fleming, 2019; Finden, 2024), which leads to increased borrowing and social engagement (Moeller & Becnel, 2019).

I had been resistant to this idea, but upon reflection found that I was too attached to a more traditional library and ignoring the fact that, when I go to bookshops, I love browsing by genre. I was willing to be ‘experimental and exploratory’ when it came to formats and strategies (Badcock, 2023, May 28), but I was being inflexible and stubborn in my rejection of genrefication. At an Australian School Libraries Association Tasmania mini-conference in 2024, I heard library designer Kevin Hennah speak about the importance of thinking in terms of how young people look for things. Realising that this can meld with the library cataloguing system quite easily, I led my team through an intense genrefication process. After our annual weeding of the fiction collection, we worked together to create a list of all the titles and their genres, sorted them, added genre information and changed their call number in Workflows (LMS), and then attached new call number labels to the spines before reshelving in designated genre areas. This doesn’t negate the need for the catalogue, but marries it with a more modern browsing experience.

The fiction collection before genrefying. September 2024

After genrefying: Romance

After genrefying: Science fiction, Horror and Dystopian

After genrefying – moving shelf units to create a more dynamic space, and buying more display shelves for outward-facing books.

We have yet to see the increase in usage statistics (borrowing stats) that many articles say is a benefit, but I remain optimistic. Genrefying on its own is not a panacea; there is more work to be done in teaching students how to search the catalogue, helping them be familiar with the library environment – even teaching them what ‘borrowing’ entails! Genrefication is only the beginning of a much bigger project to help young people find stories they love, and, hopefully, lift their literacy.

2 – The role of the library within the school

Throughout ETL401, I learnt about the common assumptions and misconceptions people have about TLs and their role. I explored these discouraging beliefs in my blog post (Badcock, 2021, April 25) but found encouragement in the evidence that students learn and perform better in schools with TLs (Kachel, 2015; Hughes, 2013). Both ETL401 and ETL504 focused on how I can advocate for my role as TL and the library itself, and how I can contribute to improved student learning outcomes. The success of the TL can be dependent on the individual and their principal (Lupton, 2016). As I reflected in a blog post for an ETL504 assignment (Badcock, 2023, October 4), my principal supports the library team in being reactive, responding to issues and queries as they arise, rather than being proactive and engaged in teaching. While there are benefits to this approach (Badcock, 2023, October 4), it restricts the library to a purely support role.

Yet there are helpful strategies offered by Ray (2013), Kachel (2017) and Bonanno (2011) designed to help the principal recognise my value as a TL. A common thread of all three is to find out what the principal needs, and help them achieve this. Kachel (2017) says this will help the TL gain ‘influence’ in the school; more important to me is to enact the teacher part of being a Teacher Librarian. In 2024, the Annual Report I compiled to promote the library focused on usage statistics; I plan to expand this to include the value of TL-run information literacy sessions.

Karen Bonanno delivering at the 2011 ASLA conference. Vimeo.

Working at a large senior secondary college where the ‘executive leadership team’ of five Assistant Principals (AP) and Principal make all the decisions, I have spent the last two years building a strong relationship with my AP and helping her to see the value the library – and a TL – can bring. Coming to the end of 2025, when staffing decisions are being made, I have successfully argued to be released from a minor teaching line in order to use that time in the library to run sessions aimed at ‘lifting literacy’, in line with the School Improvement Plan. ‘Literacy’ itself has a broad definition, of which ‘literacy as text’ is only one. Literacy is a skill, and we are not born being able to read (Rippin, 2022). With this understanding paired with my broadened knowledge of what ‘information’ means thanks to ETL401, my literacy sessions will focus on information literacy, filling the gaps in regular courses, such as research skills.

Todd (2015) stresses the importance of TLs being reflective practitioners engaged in evidence-based practice. This was not something I expected to need to do when I decided to undertake this degree and become a TL, but as I reflected on in my blog post on the TL becoming an endangered species, we must actively work to prove the connection between student outcomes and libraries (Badcock, 2021, April 19). ETL567: Research in Practice taught me how to engage in research properly, while ETL504 gave me practical options on a smaller scale. To be an effective TL, I will need to collect data on the benefits of these sessions. This can include pre- and post-session diagnostic assessments and ‘exit cards’, analysing usage statistics and collecting feedback from subject teachers.

3 – Digital Literacy

I came into this degree thinking I understood what ‘literacy’ was, and what ‘information’ means, and learned that these terms capture so much more than ‘reading’ and ‘facts’. Similarly, I had a fairly basic understanding of ‘digital literacy’ and thought that I was doing a good job of using digital technology and tools in the classroom – and the library – only to realise that this, too, was under-developed (Badcock, 2024, March 13). In ETL503, I learned about the importance of ensuring information was available in different formats, including digital ones. In ETL402, I learned about different types of digital literature, from interactive media to transmedia storytelling, which utilises multiple media platforms (Hamer, 2017) which, in my senior secondary context, can be of benefit for students with learning needs.

However, in ETL523: Digital Citizenship, the concept of the ‘infosphere’, coined by Luciano Floridi (2007) which I learned about in ETL401, took on shape and meaning. To be a digital citizen is to be a responsible, ethical user of digital technologies, online and off. While in ETL401 I wrote an assignment on the topic, “What is the impact of the increase in social media usage amongst school students on the way they seek and evaluate information?” which examined the way things are, ETL523 focused on teaching students how to engage with technology appropriately. As much as I prefer paper and pens, myself, digital technology is not going away and the TL is in an ideal position to teach digital literacy skills.

To date, my involvement in this has been limited to teaching basic academic integrity and referencing skills, as this is a mandated topic. This includes warning students away from using Large Language Models (LLM), or ‘generative AI’ (GAI) as it’s commonly known. In a blog post reflecting on my GAI worldview (Badcock, 2024, April 26), I was honest about my reluctance to embrace GAI while acknowledging the importance of explicitly teaching the ethical use of these platforms. Since writing that blog post, more research has looked into the negative side-effects of using GAI on our brain development (Chow, 2025) – not to mention the environmental implications, especially in regards to fresh water usage. Understanding all of this is part of being a digital citizen.

For my assignment I created a website and an animated video intended as a tool and a guide for teachers and TLs to help them teach students about Deepfakes.

Screenshot from my video on Deepfakes. (April 2024). https://www.powtoon.com/c/cydfv4X8QSz/1/m

It is one of my goals to develop this further and run sessions with students in the library, teaching them how to detect a deepfake and why it’s important.

Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself praying on social media. Check out how many fingers he has. BBC News, March 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65069316

This is part of a larger concern regarding their digital footprint, and protecting their digital identity within a reality where information is the world’s most profitable resource (The Economist, 2017).

Parkins, D. (2017). Data mining [editorial cartoon]. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/05/06/the-worlds-most-valuable-resource-is-no-longer-oil-but-data

At its core, this is about teaching students to be ‘future ready’. The Future Ready Schools organisation in the U.S. has a framework that nicely captures the role of the TL in this and provides useful structure for staying relevant:

Future Ready Librarians Framework. Source: All4Ed. (n.d.). Future ready librarians hub. https://all4ed.org/future-ready-librarians-hub/

PART C

Evaluating my learning, attitude and skills in accordance with ALIA (2004) professional standards.

Professional Knowledge

As an English teacher coming into the school library space, my previous classroom-based knowledge and experience of educational pedagogy, literacy and curriculum has been a useful foundation. This degree has helped me expand my understanding of information literacy, library management and advocacy, and curriculum resourcing for the whole school. Through the module readings and assessment tasks, I have learned to view the learning and literacy needs of students through a Teacher Librarian lens and consider the needs of the school as a larger community. Courses have given me practical, evidence-based strategies for promoting the library, fostering a reading culture and developing strategic planning. The latter is daunting but through environmental scans, SWOT and gap analyses, I now have tools with which to assess and gain a comprehensive understanding of the needs of learners and staff. I need to continue my learning of information and communication technologies (ICT), information and digital literacy pedagogies, and standards of library management to remain current and relevant.

Professional Practice

Managing the learning environment has been an aspect of the Teacher Librarian role that I have embraced. I have previously worked in publishing and bookstores, and reviewed books online, and I have paired this prior knowledge and enthusiasm with the structured, theoretical approach required in a school library to ensure that our resources are varied, high-quality and relevant. Courses have taught me to consider curriculum needs, the budget, the diverse student body and their needs, and the school’s mission/goals when creating and nurturing the learning environment. This process includes collaborating with teachers, such as when making deselection decisions; teaching academic integrity and referencing; and establishing activities and clubs in the library to foster reading, community and wellbeing. An area that I need to work on making more tangible is evaluating services and practices, in order to continually assess what works and what doesn’t, and to update the library policy documents.

Professional Commitment

The main reason why I went to university as an eighteen-year-old was because I didn’t want to stop learning; this attitude to lifelong learning has continued and enabled me to support my school library by undertaking this degree at Charles Sturt. The degree has enabled me to manage the library properly, and I have already received positive feedback on my mentoring of other, new library staff. The coursework has taught me the importance of being part of the broader library network, such as ASLA, and my recent Work Placement at the State Library and Archives has enabled me to build strong relationships in that sector. My learning throughout this degree emphasised collaboration, which has been a weak area of my professionalism due to the culture at my school. Yet through creating professional development opportunities for staff and working collaboratively with a willing teacher, I can start small, reflect on failures and build on strengths. While I am on the school Finance Committee and have a standing invitation to the Senior Leaders meetings, building connections and engaging in the school as a leader is an aspect of being a Teacher Librarian I have to continually work on.

REFERENCES

ALIA. (2004). ALIA-ASLA standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. https://read.alia.org.au/alia-asla-standards-professional-excellence-teacher-librarians

All4Ed. (n.d.). Future ready librarians framework [infographic]. https://all4ed.org/future-ready-librarians-hub/

Carroll, M., Garrison, K., Oddone, K., & Wakeling, S. (2024). School libraries in Australia: A preliminary analysis of the Knowledge Bank of Australian and New Zealand School Libraries. IFLA Journal, 50(4), 769-779. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352241246442

Chow, A.R. (2025). ChatGPT may be eroding critical thinking skills, according to a new MIT study. Time. https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/

Department of Education, Children and Young People. (2025). Lifting Literacy Implementation. https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/about-us/strategies-and-frameworks/lifting-literacy/

The Economist. (2017, May 6). The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/05/06/the-worlds-most-valuable-resource-is-no-longer-oil-but-data

Finden, J. (2024). Finding the right genrefication balance in your library. SCIS, 130. https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-130/finding-the-right-genrefication-balance-in-your-library/

Fleming, S. (2019). How students’ reading habits are affected by library genrefication (Publication number 27736318) [Doctoral thesis, Concordia University–Portland]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23(1), 59-64. DOI: 10.1080/01972240601059094.

Godfree, H. & Neilson, O. (2018). School libraries matter! The missing piece in the education puzzle. Access, https://studentsneedschoollibraries.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Holly-Godfree-and-Olivia-Neilson-ACCESS-March-2018-editors-note.pdf

Hamer, N. (2017). The design and development of the picture book for mobile and interactive platforms: “You get to be Harold’s purple crayon”. In N. Hamer, P. Nodelman, & M. Reimer (Eds.), Words about pictures: Current research on picturebooks and visual/verbal texts for young people. Routledge.

Hughes, H. (2013). Findings about Gold Coast Principal’s views of school libraries and teacher librarians. Chapter 8, School libraries, teacher librarians and their contribution to student literacy development in Gold Coast schools. Research report, http://eprints.qut.edu.au/60260/38/60260b.pdf

Hughes, H. (2014). School libraries and teacher-librarians: evidence of their contribution to student literacy and learning. School Libraries Worldwide, 20(1), 29-50. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/school-libraries-teacher-librarians-student/docview/1543804965/se-2

Hunter, J. (2024). Australia’s reading fail. Grattan Institute. https://grattan.edu.au/news/australias-reading-fail/

Kachel, D. (2015). The calamity of the disappearing school libraries. The Conversation, https://doi.org/10.64628/AAI.xdcc5jq35

Kachel, D. (2017). The principal and the librarian: positioning the school library program. Teacher Librarian 45(1), 50-52.

Karen Bonanno. (2011). ASLA 2011. Karen Bonanno, Keynote speaker: A profession at the tipping point: Time to change the game plan. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/31003940

Lupton, M. (2016, January). Adding value: principal’s perceptions of the role of the teacher-librarian. School Libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 49-61.

Merga, M.K. (2019). How do librarians in schools support struggling readers? English in Education, 53(2), 145-160. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/04250494.2018.1558030

Merga, M.K. (2022). School libraries supporting literacy and wellbeing. Facet Publishing.

Moeller, R. A. & Becnel, K. (2019). Why on Earth would we not Genrefy the Books? A Study of Reader-Interest Classification in School Libraries. Knowledge Organization 46(3), 199-208. DOI:10.5771/0943-7444-2019-3-199.

Oddone, K. (2022). Making the shift: Guiding teachers into the exciting and challenging role of teacher librarian. Access, 36(4), 15-19. https://doi/10.3316/aeipt.234799

Parkins, D. (2017). Data mining [editorial cartoon]. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/05/06/the-worlds-most-valuable-resource-is-no-longer-oil-but-data

Rippin, S. (2022). Wild things: How we learn to read and what can happen if we don’t. Hardie Grant Books.

Todd, R.J. (2015). Evidence-based practice and school libraries: Interconnections of evidence, advocacy, & actions. Knowledge Quest, 43(3), 8-15. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/evidence-based-practice-school-libraries/docview/1643157876/se-2

UNESCO. (2006). Chapter 6: Understandings of literacy. In Literacy for life, 4^th ed. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000141639

Wall, J. (2021). Genrefication in NSW public libraries: A discussion paper. Scan, 38(10), 10-17. Retrieved from https://search-informit-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.3316/aeipt.226271

My GAI Worldview

By Shannon Badcock

On April 26, 2024

In Discussion post, ETL523, Reflection Post

Module 4.1

The methdology of Oddone et al. (2023) uses the CATWOE framework with particular emphasis on the concept of worldview. Oddone et al. explore the impact that worldview has on teacher librarians’ desire to engage with new technologies. Consider your own worldview and write a blog post reflecting on your perceptions of GAI and education. You may also like to conduct your own CATWOE analysis of your school to determine support for GAI within the school’s environment. Share your blog post via the Discussion Forum 4.1 activity.

Oddone and Gagen-Spriggs identify the two extremes of a teacher librarian’s response to generative AI (GAI): the one who sees the potential and embraces it, teaching students how to navigate it ethically and finding ways to incorporate it into teaching practices; and the one who avoids it and supports a ban (I’m paraphrasing and oversimplifying, of course!).

I fell naturally into the second camp – I say ‘naturally’ because it happened without any effort, it just aligned with my thinking on learning and the problematic nature of the world wide web etc. And my ongoing disappointment that no one teaches kids how to look up stuff in books anymore (it’s just so, so sad that that skill has vanished). I tend to see the problems, and I’m risk-averse by nature.

However, I’m also aware that technology isn’t going away, that I too use it and enjoy it (and I don’t like being a hypocrite), and that you can’t prevent students from using it – any of it. As with wanting to teach them how to research using books (not that I have an opportunity to do so), ETL523 has shown me that this is an important teaching area. So my worldview has shifted, cautiously so. It really does need to be taught, and teachers have a tendency to simply start using a technology (the internet/Google as a case in point) to replace an older technology (reference/non-fiction books) without actually teaching the ethics of it. And I think, in the context of my won school, that the TL is really the only person who is in the position to do anything about it. I can see the possibilities, and I might even be able to get the support of senior staff to offer sessions during Home Group. But I’m not sure there’s much enthusiasm for it, and I don’t know that I have the skills to make it fun/engaging/interesting.

But I do think an ethical approach to using GAI needs to be explicitly taught, so that our students have the skills to make better choices.

References

Oddone, K., Garrison, K., & Gagen-Spriggs, K. (2023) Navigating Generative AI: The teacher librarian’s role in cultivating ethical and critical practices. Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, https://doi-org/10.1080/24750158.2023.2289093

Understanding Digital Literacy

By Shannon Badcock

On March 13, 2024

In Discussion post, ETL523

Reflect on your understanding of digital literacy.

My understanding of digital literacy is clarifying somewhat, as I read my way through the modules in this course. Literacy and being literate is about making meaning, and communicating it, through signs and symbols – the semiotic system. Digital literacy seems to be all this, but in a digital realm – but this definition is also questioned, say Bacalja et al (2022, p. 254). The authors explain why digital literacy, and the teaching of it, is so complicated, especially because it changes so rapidly. I feel you.

Unlike other eras perhaps, we are in a self-conscious phase where we are already defining and labelling our times (rather than leaving that to a far-future generation). ‘Anthropocene’ has done the rounds, but also ‘information age’ and ‘digital age’. It depends on what people want to focus on, and use as the ‘defining’ quality of our time (hence why it’s usually left till much later!).

It seems like we will need more than one label, in the end, as everything is so much more, now. More information, more destruction, more extinctions, more mining, more consumerism, more technology. And yet also, we have stagnated: we seem to have flatlined in our understanding of what we do, including – especially – digital technologies.

I knew that the ‘digital native’ was a myth from my studies in an earlier unit, which aligned with my observations teaching students ages 16-18 for the last 10 years. Reading Fraillon’s (2019) round-up of the data was both vindicating and a bit depressing. But while Fraillon shared the stats for students performing at Level 1 or below, he didn’t say where the rest of students were sitting. For instance, in 2017, 3% of year 10 students were at Level 1 or below – which is actually pretty good, isn’t it? And an improvement on year 8 results. What are the other 97% achieving in year 10? Regardless, in my experience students are digitally comfortable – with scrolling apps.

It also didn’t surprise me to learn that the way we use technology in the classroom is pretty limited (PowerPoint presentations and Word documents, mostly!). What teacher has the time to a) learn a new technology and b) teach it to their students? I use Padlet sometimes in class, but that’s an easy one. I used Diigo with my Literature class last year, when they were researching for their Independent Study folio. Some of them liked it. I have tried, in past years, blogging – it’s all so much work and teachers are already overworked and stretched thin. So many digital technologies don’t actually make life easier, they actually complicate it.

There are some that I need to be more across, though, especially those digital tools that help students with learning needs like dyslexia, or vision impairment.

One of the things that stood out to me in the article by Bacalja et al (2022) is their acknowledgement that schools are being told to emphasise the teaching of a ‘narrow’ understanding of literacy, and to ‘get back to basics’ (p. 255). This results in a focus on what is assessable in a test, which in turn ‘deprofessionalises’ the teacher. I definitely feel this, and see it and hear in the media and political discourse. The more people focus on how ‘badly’ Australian students are ‘performing’ against other countries, the more they point at teachers and say ‘you’re not doing it right’. They simultaneously cram too much into the curriculum while insisting that we focus only on ‘core’ subjects.

Digital literacy is, of course, one of the first things to be squeezed out, along with learning how to touch type (I’m so saddened that this isn’t taught anymore! I type this with my eyes on the screen or on the paper, my fingers flying across the keyboard – such ease! I can keep up with my thoughts this way – what joy!). Yet of course we are also expected to somehow teach these things?

Digital citizenship or digital literacy isn’t covered in teacher training courses at university, of course.

References

Bacalja, A., Beavis, C., & O’brien, A. (2022). Correction to: Shifting landscapes of digital literacy. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 45(3), 389-389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44020-022-00027-x

Fraillon, J. (2019, August 05). Digital literacy: Myths and realities [Paper presentation]. Research Conference 2019 – Preparing students for life in the 21st century: Identifying, developing and assessing what matters. https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2019/5august/7

Common Sense Resources

By Shannon Badcock

On March 5, 2024

In Discussion post, ETL523

Register with Common Sense Media and explore their lessons. In a blog post, describe how you could apply one of the lessons to your own context. Share your blog post to Discussion Forum 2.1.

I narrowed my search to Years 11 & 12, and the Wellbeing tab caught my eye, as it’s an ongoing focus for Tasmanian government schools.

The lesson plan and resources for “Can Media be Addictive?” is designed to get students thinking about their phone ‘addiction’; the resources are really good and pitched well for senior secondary.

I could see a place for this lesson (and others) as an opt-in activity for Home Group (which is once a week, for an hour and a half). I would probably have to rewrite the instructions and tweak them a bit (but keep the attribution!) only because you can’t teach someone else’s lesson, you have to do the thinking yourself or it doesn’t work.

Digital Citizenship: Who’s responsible for teaching it?

By Shannon Badcock

On March 3, 2024

In Discussion post, ETL523

Credit: Steveriot1

It’s me, isn’t it.

No but seriously, digital citizenship must be embedded in our teaching, not just because it is one of the General Capabilities (ACARA, 2023).

In my role as a TL (though not yet qualified to call myself one!), I teach sessions on academic integrity
(which includes research and referencing) for other classes – today I did one with a Sport Science class; last week I taught an Accounting class. Part of my lesson is to stress the ‘integrity’ part, which is I believe key to being a digital citizen. Not plagiarising is part self-protection, part digital literacy and communication, and part self-respect and respect for others. My school is taking this even more seriously due to the increase in students who are submitting assignments that are completely or partly written by ChatGPT.

As more teachers are starting to take it seriously, so too I hope they consider integrating digital literacy and digital citizenship into their classes, throughout the year. Krueger (2022) states that digital citizenship needs to be integrated across all subject areas, all year, in order to be effective. Her suggestion regarding research projects, of teaching students how to curate sources, would work well in the senior secondary context I work in – the challenge is finding the time in a tightly-packed curriculum to do this.

Which brings me to the Smithsonian Museum’s Learning Lab, which has designed resources for teaching students to curate sources, respect copyright and correctly reference – I will park this link to Darren Milligan’s article here so I can find it again later!

In the video interview with Dr Mike Ribble (Learning Technology Center, 2023), he talked about a teacher who got her students to put the assignment into ChatGPT and then work out where its responses were lacking or wrong, and redo it. That’s an excellent way to develop strong literacy skills while also teaching them not to trust everything they read online. As Dr Ribble says, ChatGPT can make things up, including references. That I didn’t know; I had however heard that it can’t really tell the difference between information and misinformation. So part of my job is to teach students how to assess sources of information – all part of digital citizenship.

I am currently reading Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future by Tracey Spicer which adds another layer to Ribble’s point that you can’t actually trust AI. I might have had some suspicions, but I didn’t know. I didn’t realise the extent of the problem: that when technologies are designed and programmed by a select few, who are all mostly the same (Spicer identifies them as primarily white and Asian men, usually young), all sorts of gender and race biases are built into the technology. She mentions one early experiment, an AI ‘bot’ released on Twitter called ‘Tay’, that – through machine learning (otherwise known as artificial intelligence) – became an anti-feminist neo-Nazi in just 24 hours. That is, it learned this from other Twitter uses. You can read more about it here.

The other part of the video that I felt myself nodding along to, is the role of parents – the vast majority of parents in Australia give their young children mobile devices to play on and watch videos on, from a very young age. It’s become ‘normal’, it’s normalised, and as a parent I totally understand the motivation for it. But I think parents forget that they’ve just added another layer of teaching to their role, one they themselves might not be so knowledgeable in (we use devices all the time but that doesn’t mean we’re good digital citizens). I don’t know what the answer is there, but if we can teach out students to be digital citizens, throughout their schooling, then hopefully when they become parents themselves they’ll be able to impart some of that wisdom before their children even start school.

All of this aligns with Bombardelli’s (2021) point about life-long learning, active citizenship and discrimination – that our (very human) prejudices are being built into our technology (which we are encouraged to think of as ‘neutral’), and that this needs to be taken into consideration when promoting active online participation, as discussed by Bombardelli. It’s basically an extension of the idea that we can’t believe everything we read online. There are so many benefits, but if we (schools) aren’t teaching people from a young age not only how to be a responsible online citizen, but also teach them the tools they need to navigate this vast and tumultuous space, the problems of the present will only continue – and worsen.

References

ACARA. (2023). Digital Literacy. Australian Curriculum, v9. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/teacher-resources/understand-this-general-capability/digital-literacy

Bombardelli, O. (2021). Digital Citizenship and Life Long Learning. In: Auer, M., May, D. (eds) Cross Reality and Data Science in Engineering. REV 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1231. Springer, Cham. https://doi-org/10.1007/978-3-030-52575-0_67

Learning Technology Center. (2023, November 28). A.I. and Digital Citizenship with Dr. Mike Ribble [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzTEwQr8T88

Krueger, N. (2022, September 27). 3 Ways To Weave Digital Citizenship Into Your Curriculum. ISTE. https://iste.org/blog/3-ways-to-weave-digital-citizenship-into-your-curriculum

The Smithsonian. (n.d.). Welcome to the Smithsonian’s Learning Lab. Smithsonian Learning Lab. https://learninglab.si.edu/

Spicer, T. (2023). Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future. Simon & Schuster.

Digital Citizenship: is this term still relevant?

By Shannon Badcock

On February 29, 2024

In Discussion post, ETL523

“In a world where the online and offline are increasingly blending, to what extend should we emphasise the role of the ‘digital’ in ‘digital citizenship’?” (Cortesi et al 2020, p. 4)

Write a blog post using the prompt: Is digital citizenship still the best terminology to use?

Two students sit together absorbed by their mobile phones.

Credit: Natureaddict

Before exploring the term ‘digital citizenship’, it is prudent to consider what we mean by citizenship and why it’s important.

To be a citizen is to bear certain rights and responsibilities – it is the ‘responsibilities’ – or boundaries (Öztürk, 2021, p. 32) – part that people tend to forget, or overlook, while focusing on their ‘rights’, or privileges, as citizens. These include “being respectful and polite, responsible and making positive contributions to the society” (Öztürk, 2021, p. 32). Öztürk points out that it is the community that is at the heart of citizenship, not the individual.

Kershaw (2004) points out that the concept of citizenship became a focus in the 1990s – which coincides with the home computer and the early mobile phones, then the ‘arrival’ of the world wide web – including Google, email, online chat forums and, later, Facebook. He refers to an “alleged decline” in “civic-spiritedness” (2004, p. 1) which aligns with Ribble’s ideas of digital citizenship: treating others “with empathy and understanding both on and offline” (2015, p. 13). I don’t mean to suggest that the advent of digital technology in the home and school caused a decline in being of good character, but that the decline in good character which Kershaw (2004) refers to was – and is – felt in the online sphere, too. However, it can easily be seen that digital technologies, and the apps and programs accessed with them, have exacerbated the problem.

Ribble (2004) argues for the need to teach ‘character’: that is, being a good person who treats others well, and kindly. Their ‘nine elements’ (pp. 15-17) go further than just being ‘good’ and ‘kind’: they embrace the full scope of what it means to be a citizen of a society, in this case an online one. For instance, Element 1: Digital Access, is about equity, which in our intensely capitalist world is sorely lacking. Reading the list of nine elements, I can see that each one is relevant and necessary.

We used to learn how to write a letter with ‘correct’ formatting, salutations, structure and form, to ensure smooth, open and respectful dialogue. Digital technologies are here to stay but somehow, in our increasingly crowded curriculum, the teaching of how to use it ethically, responsibly and with kindness, didn’t eventuate. It’s not the same as passively watching the telly; as Ribble (2004) points out, digital technologies allow us to be producers, as well as consumers, of information, and the ‘real’ world and the online one have become the same (p. 12).

The Covid-19 pandemic puts digital citizenship into a new, stark context: as Buchholz, Dehart & Moorman (2020) point out, the lockdowns both showed the importance of citizenry – acting with responsibility for a greater good – as well as the need for digital literacy – finding the authentic, accurate information in a sea of online misinformation. Digital citizenship is more than digital etiquette (as important as that is); it is also the ability to use technology wisely (Öztürk, 2021, p.34). The pandemic showed us many things, including the sad reality that we were unprepared technologically, and that we have issues of equitable access. As more and more Australians succumb to online shopping scams (okay so I will put my own hand up here, as embarrassing as that is!), it is clear that there are serious gaps in our knowledge and ability to use technology safely, as well as respectfully. As I read more in Module 1, I find myself surprised at how we are not even taking this seriously, as a society, in Australia – for adults as much as young people.

Like language, we’re not born knowing politeness, understanding or respect, but as with language, we are born with the capacity to learn it. Parents know they have to teach their children to be polite and respectful, and they have to model it – it is the same with digital technology. I don’t think the term is out-of-date at all. ‘Digital’ still encompasses a broad range of things, from the technological tools themselves – from the cloud to a tablet to a mobile phone, its camera and microphone – to the online platforms accessed with them. I wouldn’t be surprised if a new term emerges in the next 5-10 years, because language evolves, but ‘digital’ still seems to cast a wide-enough net.

References

Buchholz, B. A., Dehart, J., & Moorman, G. (2020). Digital citizenship During a global pandemic: Moving beyond digital literacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64(1), 11-17. https://primo.csu.edu.au/permalink/61CSU_INST/15aovd3/cdi_pubmedcentral_primary_oai_pubmedcentral_nih_gov_7405058

Cortesi, S., Hasse, A., Lombana-Bermudez, A., Kim, S., & Gasser, U. (2020). Youth and digital citizenship+ (plus): Understanding skills for a digital world. Youth and Media, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3557518

Kershaw, P. (2004). Carefair: Rethinking the responsibilities and rights of citizenship. UBC Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=3412035&ppg=1

Öztürk, G. (2021). Digital citizenship and its teaching: A literature review. Journal of Educational Technology and Online Learning, 4(1), 31-45. https://primo.csu.edu.au/permalink/61CSU_INST/15aovd3/cdi_proquest_journals_2844067431

Ribble, M. (2015). A brief history of digital citizenship. In Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3rd ed., pp. 9-14). International Society for Technology in Education. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1072357&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_17

Education 4.0?

By Shannon Badcock

On February 26, 2024

In ETL523, Reflection Post

Informal thoughts on Tomasz Huk’s article.

It is a good time to reflect on the rapid changes in technology and its impact on education. I consider myself to be Gen Y (scraping through by old parameters) which is now called ‘Millenial’ and the goal posts have changed, pushing me back into Gen X, which I don’t identify with (but I don’t identify with Millenial either – sounds too young for my 44-year-old bones!). As someone who was a child in the 80s, a tween-and-teenager in the 90s, and a uni student at the turn of the century, I’ve experienced education pre-technology and post-. I grew up with it slowly inching its way further into the classroom by small degrees, and it was always just an appliance. A computer was like a microwave – not in functionality, but in how people interacted with it: it was designed for a purpose, you used it for that purpose, and otherwise you left it alone. It didn’t do much else.

And then I was in a weird tech cocoon for three years, living in Japan where I had a ‘fancy’ flip phone – in colour! – but used technology only to email home occasionally. I was still watching films on VHS. I felt sheltered, isolated, from changes and advancements in digital technology, and I still feel those gaps today. Like waking from a coma to find several years had gone by and things don’t quite make sense.

But working as a teacher now, it’s clear just how much has changed. Technology is still a tool, but it’s used in a different way – and for many of our students, they are incapable of ‘leaving it alone’. Integrating digital technology into the classroom means you can do all sorts of fun little things, or get them to work in more interactive ways, but it can’t replace the core essence of what teachers do. In that sense, it’s still just a tool. What’s really good about it is as an aide for students (and staff) who have things like dyslexia, ADHD, dysphraxia etc.

There is a persistent idea, which is present in the article, that teachers merely ‘facilitate’ learning, and ‘monitor’ it, but don’t actually teach (or rather, that this is an ideal model). It makes me laugh. Such ideas are always presented by people who don’t actually teach. Huk talks about an interview with a principal during COVID about the benefits of online learning – having experienced it myself, I and my colleagues know it isn’t as effective. Our students struggled, with motivation but also in understanding. As a teacher, my job is to translate content, break it down, explain it, present it, discuss it etc. This theory reminds me of SOLE, and of Gonski 2.0 – the idea that anyone can teach themselves anything. There are very few people who can do that, and usually only in one or two select areas (with a great deal of persistence!). But what they can’t really teach themselves is critical thinking, and so we now have the reality of millions of people ‘teaching themselves’ (“doing their own research” without the skills) about things and creating a whole whack of misinformation online.

It’s okay to see teachers as ‘gatekeepers’ of knowledge. Things have changed, and teachers aren’t autocratic dictators prepping students to work in the factory – which brings me to Industry/Education 4.0. Australia’s universities have already shifted from education to training, prioritising courses that skill students for a specific job, and not ones that teach them to think or encourage ideas. This is of great concern, and also marks a shift away from ‘experts’ in their field (e.g. scientists, medical researchers and academics) to individuals with an online platform and a camera.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a frightening, invasive and unethical dystopian vision!

“computer applications used at schools could allow for automatic substitution
for absent teachers and planning of education for each student.” (p. 44) Again, COVID taught us that you can’t replace real teachers.

References

Huk, T. (2021). From education 1.0 to education 4.0 – Challenges for the contemporary school. New Educational Review, 66(4), 36-46. https://doi.org/10.15804/tner.21.66.4.03

Education Paradigms

By Shannon Badcock

On July 25, 2023

In ETL504, Reflection Post

Informed by Robinson’s presentation, think about the influences upon a school – structural, cultural and societal and identify a key driver for change in each area that the teacher librarian could respond to through school library programs.

Photo by Remy Gieling on Unsplash

The British educational theorist Ken Robinson and his ideas regarding systems and structures of education – and how they fail 21st century children – are well known. Anyone working in a school knows that the disengagement and distractions of students – and the disrespect that seems to come with it – is a problem, and that our educational model doesn’t fit all. In Australia, we have the (probable) consequence that our educational attainment measures – such as NAPLAN and the PISA ranking – show that our students are struggling.

I wonder if, in our desire to embrace so many different pedagogical theories, and in drastically expanding the role and responsibilities of teachers, we have become fragmented and overwhelmed by options and choice. They do say that too much choice is actually a negative (is this a structural, cultural or societal influence? It can be hard to separate them!).

Similarly to Robinson, Paulo Freire famously theorised (and challenged) the concept of ‘banking education’, the idea that teachers/adults possess the knowledge and they deposit it in children’s heads (because, y’know, their heads are empty otherwise). This aligns with the factory structure of schooling that Robinson talks about. To be honest, you can see where the comparison comes from, and why it developed that way: efficiency. Anyone who has taught others would know that it’s pretty straightforward instructing a homogenous group, where the learners are of the same ability level, similar background, and non-neuro-divergent. Though also quite boring. And for the longest time, our schools ignored difference, forced left-handed kids to write with their right hands, and offered little extra support for anyone struggling.

Absolutely the historical traditions of pedagogy still influence schools. There have been plenty of ‘experiments’ led by departments of education in an effort to ‘fix’ the system – especially to engage those students for whom the mainstream school system doesn’t work. Many of these are well-funded and make for good ‘announceables’, meaning that a Minister for Education can look good on the news and then quietly let it all slip into obscurity when the data doesn’t show it’s helping.

Yet the Teacher Librarian (TL) is in an ideal position to support new initiatives precisely because they don’t have a rigid curriculum to follow: they can be more flexible, more adaptable, and offer a more personalised approach to student wellbeing than teachers often can (due to large class sizes, time pressures, expectations etc.). The TL – and the library – are well-placed to help with student wellbeing, which is a current social issue dominating Tasmanian schools.

There are major problems with our school system, and serious challenges. No one really seems to know how to fix them, because they’re bigger than schools. And many schools in Tasmania no longer even have a library, let alone a TL. We are floundering, the education department is adding more to our plates, and one societal influence that is occasionally discussed is the growing anxiety among young people – climate change, job insecurity, housing unaffordability, health concerns etc. With so many anxious young people, it’s really not surprising that they’re educational scores are dropping, the older they get.

Certainly a lot has changed in schools, even since Robinson’s talk (his reference to an ADHD epidemic doesn’t really fit an Australian context, and he doesn’t offer any analysis of the reasons why diagnoses increase across the eastern states – but it aligns fairly well with an increase in parental involvement and ambition, class and wealth. Getting a diagnosis is expensive, after all). In Australia, one of the big influences on schools is the notion of ‘choice’, and the growing class divide. Pasi Sahlberg’s essay “By design: New foundations for teaching and learning” in the Griffith Review is enlightening and brings a lot of strands together. In Australia, structural issues must include this incredible funding divide we have here, which only exacerbates class tensions.

Robinson describes the earlier understanding of people’s abilities as being either academic or non-academic, which is still a polite way of saying ‘dumb’ (but shouldn’t be). Sahlberg’s essay explains how providing parents with choice – and politicians encouraging them to ‘shop around’ (thus treating education/schools like a consumer product) is a major part of the problem. The other is our emphasis on ‘excellence’. We end up having to teach to outcomes, rather than skills – even though our Australian curriculum is skills-oriented. The recent push to collect data, and be ‘data-driven’, only adds to this.

Regardless of the type of school, the school library can and should be a neutral space, welcoming to all, not just so-called academic students. It can, through fun and engaging programs and resources, be an inviting space that may help students engage better in school. But to ensure that a school maintains the TL role – and its library – the TL must exercise leadership skills. I see this leadership role as a way of connecting the TL to every facet of the school: to be indispensable. Not as a power-hungry move, but to be able to perform the role as it is intended and to achieve the best outcomes. It’s a win-win, really.

References

Robinson, K. [RSA Animate]. (2010, October 14). Changing education paradigms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Sahlberg, P. (2022). By design: New foundations for teaching and learning. Griffith Review 75. (pp. 84-97)

Reading From the Screen

By Shannon Badcock

On May 2, 2023

In ETL402, Reflection Post

Reflection: Think about how you process information and read. Are young people any different? Do they use technology differently to older people? Have ebooks ‘taken off’ in your school? What reasons could explain this?

Several years ago our school brought in Mark McCrindle for an all-day PL – repeated a few years later, weirdly. He used selected data to show that teens are ‘digital natives’ – a misleading term that has been widely countered – and thus that they needed a different style of instruction, using lots of short, multimodal texts. Pop Teaching instead of Pop Art, if you will.

Yet all of us listening were all thinking the same thing: that’s not our experience.

I don’t see a lot of difference in how they use technology, or how confident they are with it, only that they’re more engaged with SMS apps like Snapchat, and will be on multiple platforms. ‘Older’ people will probably only use text, Messenger and What’s App, and communicate via Instagram messages. Young people don’t like using email, but then no one uses email to chat anymore – that’s what apps are for.

Our students, aged 16-18, aren’t all that familiar with technology really. They’re just really comfortable with navigating their phones. They don’t know how to use computer programs much, especially Word. They interact, rather than utilise or explore. They’re certainly capable of learning more, but in general, their technology use involves a lot of passive staring.

Our school library had a subscription to Wheelers but hardly anyone borrowed books from it. Certainly the selection wasn’t super great – but even for the texts we did have, it cost over three thousand dollars a year. We ditched it.

Part of its lack of popularity is that a lot of teens aren’t reading much at all – they prefer to watch, and their attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Some do read ebooks but they’re more likely to borrow them from the state library, which has a really good selection. Another issue is browsing; they’re just less likely to do it on an app or the website. Even getting to the Wheelers site seemed too difficult.

I definitely process information in limited ways compared to others. My students are content reading off a screen but I need a print copy or my eyes struggle. Partly due to glare, partly due to the fact that text on screen invites me to skim. I suspect my students too this too, though! Many of the articles for this degree, I have to print in order to read – which enables me to highlight and annotate, which is a good study habit anyway.

Module 5.1 Discussion: digital trends

By Shannon Badcock

On April 27, 2023

In Discussion post, ETL402

Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash

Working in a senior secondary public college, there is limited scope for embracing the latest trend in digital literacy or interactive media. A public school simply doesn’t have the funds, not is there space in the curriculum for much experimentation. With 30 weeks to teach 40 weeks worth of material and prepare students for exams, my experience has been not to get too clever. Working Padlet into my classes is about as inventive as I get.

What I do see is an increasing dependency on the mobile phone – not for learning but for distraction. Avoidance. There’s just so much going on in their lives, from relationship drama to sorting out a lift home to organising shifts at work. It’s hard to cut across that noise, so I’m not averse to integrating some form of digital learning – in the past I’ve tried student blogs, and creating memes, but these don’t have the same benefits of gamification, as described by Briggs (2016).

Their reference to the benefits of Minecraft in the classroom really highlighted for me the difference between what you can do in a primary school (or high school) setting, compared to a college. My son is in grade 6 and his teacher is using Minecraft almost every Friday morning to teach numeracy – but not just numeracy. Teams are given tasks, or challenges, to complete; doing so requires collaboration, maths skills and problem-solving, and then design and implementation followed by a reflection. Not only is my son super excited about being able to ‘play’ Minecraft with his friends in class, but he gets a chance to apply the learning in an engaging way.

Too often ‘engaging’ seems to mean ‘bells and whistles’, in digital device design. (There’s a nice bit of alliteration!) All those custom-made tablet-style devices for children, or the apps designed for them, seem to do little more than keep kids quiet. Some, like the ABC’s Reading Eggs (there’s also a maths version), are quite good at supplementing and consolidating more traditional classroom learning. The digital media mentioned by Springen (2011) are a lot more gimmicky than the publishers would like to admit. Which is why they haven’t ‘taken off’. There’s no substance to them. They’re not satisfying. You don’t get to sit with your thoughts, which we really need – our brains really need.

Photo by zhenzhong liu on Unsplash

Springen quotes several publishers as saying they don’t intend for digital media to replace print books; what’s not acknowledged is that young people are so distracted by shiny shiny, and getting so many dopamine hits from digital media/devices, that they’re not learning how to be present for a traditional book. It’s something that needs to be taught. My son’s primary school newsletter frequently includes messages about the importance of parents reading to their children from a young age, every. single. day. Digital media aims to free parents from this ‘chore’ and create a shortcut. But there isn’t one.

I’m generalising, of course. But that’s how we make a point. And my point is, it can’t be ‘digital media for the sake of digital media’. They’re not all equal. And just plopping a device in front of a kid doesn’t absolve adults from their responsibility to teach. There’s plenty of research on the benefits of print-based reading as opposed to digital, for learning comprehension especially (Delgado et al., 2018), as well as the potential harm caused by devices on children’s creativity (Ruder, 2019). Digital devices have a lot in common with TV shows like Cocomelon, which employs the same techniques to hook toddlers as poker machines do (Kosmas, 2022).

It must surely be about balance, and choosing digital media wisely and carefully. In terms of resourcing the library collection, I can see this being more difficult. Unlike books, Teacher Librarians can’t browse devices and apps with the same ease. And it’s not always obvious how a child will interact with it, or what exactly they will (really) learn. It will take a lot more work to research different digital media – and for teachers, more work to figure out how to integrate it in such a way that students actually learn something. They’re here to stay and so much has already changed; we do have a responsibility to teach children how to safely engage with and navigate digital and online spaces.

References

Briggs, S. (2016, Jan. 16). Using gaming principles to engage students. InformED. https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/using-gaming-principles-to-engage-students/.

Delgado, P., Vargas, C., Ackerman, R. & Salmeron, L. (2018). Don’t throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension. Educational Research Review, 25 (pp. 23-38). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X18300101.

Kosmas, S. (2022, Mar. 17). Cocainemelon: Why toddlers can get addicted to watching Cocomelon. Evie. https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/cocainemelon-why-toddlers-can-get-addicted-to-watching-cocomelon.

Ruder, D.B. (2019, Jun. 19). Screen time and the brain. Harvard Medical School News & Research. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/screen-time-brain.

Springen, K. (2010, Jul. 19). The digital revolution in children’s publishing. Publisher’s Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/43879-the-digital-revolution-in-children-s-publishing.html.

Portable Magic

"Books make people quiet, yet they are so loud.” – Nnedi Okorafor

Author: Shannon Badcock (Page 1 of 4)

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Understanding Digital Literacy

Common Sense Resources

Digital Citizenship: Who’s responsible for teaching it?

Digital Citizenship: is this term still relevant?

Education 4.0?

Education Paradigms

Reading From the Screen

Module 5.1 Discussion: digital trends

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"Books make people quiet, yet they are so loud.” – Nnedi Okorafor

Author: Shannon Badcock (Page 1 of 4)

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