The third activity I completed was to review the website Britannica Kids for the topic on Digital material. I decided to complete the review as it would allow me to play around and follow the different resources that they have as well as the noting the way the information is organised and depicted. I also considered the way different concepts and meanings are explained to different age groups. Completing this activity was able to give me firsthand knowledge of a website that could be used by children who are seeking new information, whether that is for school assignments or personal interest. The other thing that I found useful was the way information was divided according to four age groups, being prep to grade 2, grade 3 to grade 5, grade 6 to 8 and the last group being grade 9 and higher. Breaking up the information in this way mirrors theories about children’s stages of development I learnt earlier in the year with specific similarity to the chart in the Queen’s library. This chart is used to introduce new library staff to children’s services and breaks down the age groups in the same way (Cerney & Markey, 2006, pp.6-9). This meant that I was able to use the scaffolding of theoretical knowledge and see how these different levels of development were put into practice. This was particularly useful as the website did not reuse the same article with modifications for each age group but instead had entirely new pieces.
The Britannica kids website made it very easy to find resources aimed at children. This highlighted my lack of knowledge of resources that I could recommend to children and means that I will have to research these different resources myself so I can give recommendations from practical experience. If I can’t do this I will endeavour to gain at least theoretical knowledge and develop a pool of resources I can recommend to children and parents that they could be useful for their school work and personal interests. This leads into the last point that l found useful from the website which is that it made it easier for children to explore and find connections between information. One of the ways children learn is by exploring and following leads to gain information (Stewart & Moylett, 2018, p.39). This way of creating a system that children could easily explore to gain information could be useful in a library by setting up a display or event that could encourage children to follow their natural curiosity down a rabbit hole of topics and information that library staff had set up.
Reference
Cerney, R., Markey, P., & Williams, A. (2006). Outstanding library service to children: Putting the core competencies to work. ALA Editions.
Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Britannica Kids. https://kids.britannica.com
Stewart, N., & Moylett, H. (2018). Putting the Characteristics of Effective Learning at the heart of assessment. In J. Grenier, S. Finch & C. Vollans (Eds.), Celebrating children’s learning: assessment beyond levels in the early years (pp. 35-58). Routledge.