Posts

Posted on

Brief interlude and life update

My apologies for interrupting your reading of my module posts but considering my lack of posts last semester, that I am at all half kept up with them is a miracle. So, outside of Uni, what have I been up to?

Professionally, I have been working at OSHC still and working at my retail job. As of this post, I have worked an 8am-6pm day where my patience was pushed almost to my limits. I have also written job applications for three full-time jobs next year and if I don’t get them (chances are small if you want my opinion) I’ll be starting to look for TRT work for next year.

Uni-wise, I have written two blog posts (and actually got them posted!) and am considering bed. But the likelihood of me going to sleep anytime soon is slim. I have kept up with INF533 but am about a module and a case study behind in ETL504. Not too bad if you compare this time last session where I was even more screwed.

Personally, I have battled two colds, a virus, a parasite (don’t ask how I got them, just don’t) and laryngitis. I’ve raced in a Pedal Prix race where I did 15 laps for my team – considering it’s my first year, I’m happy with that. I’m planning for a close friend’s wedding in September, and also for the 24-hour Pedal Prix race the weekend after. However, my first event is Tuesday where I am seeing Hugh Jackman in concert – which I’m am so looking forward to!

Anyway, off to drink my tea and do some work on ETL504. G’night everyone!

Posted on

INF533 – Module 2

This module discusses the implementation of technology and ICT within the curriculum and therefore within our classes, schools and libraries.  We – both as teachers and librarians – need to remember that it is not enough to think of ICT and technology as a whole as a tool to help engage students for a period of ten to fifteen minutes.  We need to be able to use technology to enhance the learning already happening and not detract from it.

The most pivotal point is that students are regularly seen as passive consumers of the curriculum and not active learners (Rowan, 2012, p. 219). One of the major areas where students are seen the most as passive learners is within the area of literacy. Students learn literacy skills the best through collaborative work with both their teacher and their peers.  The biggest aspect of this collaborative work is that teachers are just as engaged with the technology as what the students are.

A particular feature of ICT impacting on students and teachers is that more and more meaning is being made from common symbols that we would otherwise not glean. Simple punctuation symbols are now being strung together to create images designed to convey different emotions or to show affection to another person. As I alluded to in a previous post, we cannot assume that our students live in a world of 100% print; for a large portion of our students print is a foreign concept that they do not like and do not care for.

We need to learn how to balance how we utilise technology and how meaning can be gleaned from aspects that we ordinarily would ignore.  We need to adapt how we use technology and how we are engaged with it – it may mean that we use digital texts rather than print or learning what “<3” means (it’s meant to be a heart, by the way). There are plenty of other options and it is up to use as to how they are implemented and adapted within our schools and classes.

References

Rowan, L. (2012). Imagining futures (Ch. 13). In L. Rowan, & C. Bigum (Ed.),Transformative approaches to new technologies and student diversity in futures oriented classrooms: Future proofing education (pp. 217-225). Dordrecht: Springer Science +Business Media B.V.

Posted on

INF533 – Module 1

Module 1 opens with a generalised fear that the reading culture would be replaced by a visual one. I would have to say that 1970s-1980s fear is now true; movies and TV are more popular than books and the Internet is more popular than newspapers.

Over time, we have seen typewriters, postcards, the handwritten letter and more gradually disappear to the point where students of ours will not have seen any of them. They will only have heard of them as we have heard of VHS tapes and film negatives.

As we have become more digital orientated, texts have become more multiform (Huang, 2012, p. 288) through experimentation with formats to varying degrees of success. Electronic texts are generally seen as cheaper because they are easier to store (Felvegi and Matthew, 2012, p. 40); however, one must take into account the ‘cloud’ or hard drive space needed to store these digital files.

Technology – especially digital literature – can benefit classes greatly, however, they are not always seamlessly embedded into the classroom. This can be due to teachers nearing retirement or who are set in their ways being unwilling to change their practice. Or because of the classroom/school facilities cannot handle the high level of technology and digital material that we have. Similarly, some students may not have access to a laptop or tablet or even have the Internet connection at home – therefore making it impossible for them to connect to digital literature in the same way that we can.

Digital literature is something we (including “digital natives”) are still feeling our way with. We are still learning how to embed it into our classes, schools and libraries. While our generation has grown up with technology and the digital world, it may take the next to fully have digital literature embedded within our classes and schools.

References

Flevegi, E. & Matthew, K.I. (2012). eBooks and literacy in K-12 schools, Computers in the schools, 29(1-2), 40-52.
DOI: 10.1080/07380569.2012.651421

Huang, H-C. (2012). E-reading and e-discussion: EFL learners’ perceptions of an e-book reading program.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 26(3), 258-281/. DOI: 10.1080/09588221.2012.656313

Posted on

INF533 – Module 0

This module opens the scene for Digital Literature in schools. The good, the bad and the ugly.

There is the ability to explore what we can use in our classrooms as well as have avaliable in the library for school wide perusal. Digital Literature can encompass all creative environments, including iPads and flexible use of graphic interfaces and interactive multimedia.

Digital Literature can provide creative and easy solutions to common problems as well can create a host of their own.  These problems can include accessibility (both in a physical and intellectual sense), pedagogical integration and individual site and learner needs.

Digital Literature can be a blessing and a curse; it is up to us as to how we approach it with our students, staff and site.

Posted on

Early Childhood and Primary teachers are saints – here’s why.

I’m a secondary trained teacher and yet I work in a primary school OSHC. And it has convinced me that Early Childhood and Primary teachers are saints. I honestly have no idea how they do it.

In terms of the students, I find that I can be blunt with the older students where I need to be more gentle with the younger ones. And the older students tend to appreciate it, which I like.  Also, when they do something silly or out of the ordinary; keeping a poker face is so damn hard. I struggle with it constantly.

They say the most amusing things:

“Miss, why do you wear two necklaces?” – One from my partner and one from my grandparents.

“Do you have kids? Are you married?” – No and no.

“Why do you have two rings on one hand?” – One from my grandparents and one I bought for myself.

There is no way I could cope with constant questions like that. And generally they are asked one after the other, never ending!

Also, how on Earth do Early Childhood and Primary teachers deal with students when they say: “Miss, they’re not going out,” and (my personal favourite) “But Miss, I want to play with them. I don’t want to play with anyone else!” The latter is usually accompanied with tears.

Also, what about the ones who haven’t yet been toilet trained properly? Ouch.

When it comes to the planning of work, I don’t know how they do it. The planning would be insane; especially for multiple areas and if they are in areas that aren’t a strong point. There is no way I could do planning for Math and teach it. Not my strong area at all. And putting Reception to Year 2 students on a spectrum of how comptency – forget it. How you do it when they are constantly learning and changing? I have no clue.

I also feel that the offices and staff room would be a haven. And also that you would be craving intelligent conversation rather than trying to decode what students want/need.

Early Childhood and Primary Teachers, you all are saints. I take my hat off to you.

Posted on

ETL504 – Module 1

So you would think that after a semester, I would know how this whole Thinkspace blogs thing works, right?

Well, I have only just worked out how to put categories in place. And it was thanks to this module. Yep, it took me how many weeks? Way too many.

I was putting tags on all my posts thinking that would be enough but I discovered the difference between the two so (hopefully!) the posts I’ve gone through and categorized adapt OK!

Over this module, I drew out some things that I thought were great reminders of where we currently stand:

The overall learning context of our schools has changed dramatically; even in the last five years since I graduated high school. We need to be able to deliver content and services differently than what we ever have before because of how different our students are. Society is a lot more technologically advanced with mobile phones able to do a similar (if not the exact same) job as a laptop or tablet. We are able to use ICT in the curriculum in a way that we haven’t before with more and more real-life applications. Students and teachers alike have very little patience for clunky and hard to use sites. The biggest point, however, is that there are more and more ways for Teacher Librarians to model and lead in 21st-century ways of teaching and learning; and that it is our job to be that guiding voice.

Well, I hope that gives you an idea of what I took away from this module and that you all enjoyed this blog post!

Posted on

Digital Literature – my experiences

Digital literature is an interesting thing for me on a personal level. I dislike reading for pleasure on a Kindle/e-book but I quite like digital resources for work and study. I prefer using pen/paper when writing notes and hand correcting drafts rather than typing. I love the smell of a bookstore and that ‘new book’ smell. I don’t really like buying books online but I generally do because they’re cheaper than the bookstores (www.bookdepository.com is brilliant for cheap books. Plus, free shipping to Australia! Win!). However, while this may be beneficial and how I personally prefer my relationship with digital literature to be; not everyone has the same relationship that I do. Not everyone wants to have the same relationship that I do with digital literature.

My primary and secondary schooling had very little emphasis on increasing digital literature – most of our work was done in workbooks and only research done digitally (even then it was “you’re on your own”) and we never had the option of digital versions of texts. The school library had a small group of computers that were only just large enough for a class and e-books/audiobooks were non-existent. The physical text collection left something to be desired; in both fiction and non-fiction. In my time there (Kindergarten to Stage 2 [South Australian equivalent to Year 12]) there was very little done in terms of keeping any of the resources up to date.

Within my workplaces, it varies quite a bit. The Out of School Hours Care I work out, places great value on play and ‘doing’. There is very little in the way of digital literature. We, as staff members, on occasion get articles that relate to the pedagogy and our practice; however, they tend to be printed out for us rather than an email link to it.  At my retail position, there is a lot of training that occurs and much of it is now through an online portal that we can access at any time. This makes it very easy for us to do what we need to at a time that is convenient to us and our schedule.

As a whole, we tend to get caught up in the excitement of technology and the impact that it has that we forget about the disadvantages. While, yes, accessibility and teacher ability to successfully integrate digital literature can be an issue, it is a fairly common problem and covered extensively elsewhere. One less covered disadvantage can be how much the students are taking in and whether they are actually advancing their reading skills (Cull, 2011, para 33). With students being more likely to browse, scan and key word search, the skill of in-depth reading is quite possibly on the decline. This is one thing that we, as Teacher-Librarians, can assist our students in is developing the skills that they may not otherwise naturally gain.

I hope this shows an insight to my background with digital literature and one disadvantage to the increase of digital literature in our schools.

 

References

Cull, B. W. (2011). Reading revolutions: online digital text and implications for reading in academe. First Monday, 16(6). Retrieved from https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3340/2985

Posted on

ETL503 – Assignment 2 – Reflective Practice

I am going to preface this saying that personal, online reflection is not a strong point of mine. I prefer pen and paper over anything else which has made writing my own blog and forum posts a challenge. I hope to do an adequate job, here, showing my understanding of the subject content and how it affects the future. In order to do this, I will be answering the following three areas:

  1. The role and nature of school library collections;
  2. The importance of a Collection Development Policy as a strategic document; and,
  3. How a Collection Development Policy assists in future proofing the collection.

A school library collection is important to any school regardless of its context as public or private, primary or secondary. A school library collection needs to fulfil a wide range of needs, from fiction to non-fiction resources, digital and physical formats and what level they are appropriate for and whether they suit the needs and context of the school (International Federation of Library Associations, 2015, p. 32).

When developing the collection, there needs to be input from teaching staff, especially when looking for teacher specific resources (Hong, 2019). While a Teacher Librarian makes every effort to become knowledgeable in all areas across the curriculum (both Australian Curriculum and South Australian Certificate of Education, in my case. The Year Eleven and Twelve curriculum, may vary from state-to-state), there are small nuances that they may overlook and the teaching staff in that area can pick it up.

Students also play a role in the development of the collection by recommending areas or themes that they would like to see more of. Students can also give their input by simply having a conversation with the Teacher Librarian about a recent book that they are reading or have heard is good or even by saying something as simple as “the library looks boring” (Spigt, 2019).

By simply keeping conversations going with teaching staff and students, Teacher Librarians can learn a lot about what is required within a collection or what areas need improving. However, while recommendations can (and should) be made, how is the collection governed; giving the final “yes” or “no” when deciding what to include?

The school library collection is governed by a Collection Development Policy; which outlines the requirements and selection criteria for the collection. This document is vital to the successful implementation of collection development and management and helps the Teacher Librarian keep the collection current, relevant and true to its purpose and needs (Johnson, 2009, p. 16).

The Collection Development Policy is a (and if it is not, it should be*) a requirement of all school libraries or resource centres; with all staff that work within the library knowledgeable about the contents of the document. I believe that sections of the document should be reviewed annually; with a larger review occurring every three to five years. These policies are evolving to include digital content outside of websites or journals but to now include videos, music and mobile device applications.

A Collection Development Policy is also in place in order to “future proof” the collection. This, in part, segues into copyright which all staff (Teacher Librarian or not) should be aware and mindful of. If copyright is taken into account when acquiring resources (especially digital) for the school collection, plagiarism could occur and this means that the Teacher Librarian is not displaying appropriate conduct for the students. We, as Teacher Librarians, have to be mindful of our own personal censorship due to personal bias, as mentioned in a blog post by another student in this topic (Keogh, 2019).

Libraries also are becoming less ‘book central’ with the inclusion of computer labs or areas to charge students own devices. Many are also including 3D printers in that area to make it a truly multi-functional space. Teacher Librarians are becoming more and more diverse in their skill set and this is something that should be encouraged within both study and work.

Overall, I have learnt an incredible amount over the course of this semester and while I have been lax with my own blog posts, I have found the discussions with fellow students and their own posts incredibly enlightening.

*Outside of study and retail work, I work within an Out of School Hours Care and many believe that the school does not have a Collection Development Policy.

References

Hong, C. (2019). Collection Development Responsibility [Blog]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/librarianbecausebookwizardisntanofficialtitle/2019/05/14/42/

International Federation of Library Associations. 2015. IFLA School Library Guidelines.

Johnson, P. (2018). Fundamentals of collection development and management (4th ed.). Chicago: ALA Editions.

Keogh, C. (2019). Censorship [Blog]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/teacherlibrariancordelia/2019/05/22/censorship/

Spigt, J. (2019). Collaborator, Steward and Thinker [Blog]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/jannet/2019/04/08/59/

Posted on

ETL401 Assignment 3 – Part C Reflective Practices

When it comes to this reflective practice blog post, I feel that I will fall short and not be truly effective. I have struggled with being reflective publicly during this semester, and therefore have not posted much in the way of weekly forums or blog posts. This is something that I hope to improve on as I continue my study.

Information Literacy is defined by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals as “Information literacy is the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to reach and express informed views and to engage fully with society” (2016). To generalise it, this means that we look at the information in front of us and decide not just how we should use it but how we can do so with the wider community (whether that be the workplace, school or family) in mind. One thing that needs to be kept in mind, is how students access the information. Those with dyslexia or dysgraphia, in particular, can struggle to comprehend the information adequately due to struggles with their level of literacy comprehension. A Teacher Librarian can assist the students by working with the subject teachers to locate resources that are literacy level appropriate, subject appropriate and engaging for the students. They can also work with teachers to help students to scaffold their learning. This leads one to different Information Literacy Models.

It should be made clear that Information Literacy Models do not refer to programs that concentrate on merely teaching the Information Literacy skills. The Models are meant to take the skills to the next level and produce high quality work that show creativity and thought.

There are many different Information Literacy Models, however the New South Wales Information Search Process (NSW ISP) and Guided Inquiry Design Process (GIDP) are the ones I’ll be commenting on here. NSW ISP utilises the different stages of inquiry learning; “defining, locating, selecting, organising, presenting and assessing” (New South Wales Department of Education, 2019), in order to help students increase their Information Literacy skills to a high level. Students are encouraged to move back and forth between stages as their research and inquiry progress. The GIDP, in comparison, has the stages of “open, immerse, explore, identify, gather, create, share and evaluate” (Caspari, Kuhlthau & Maniotes, 2019). This too, helps students to bring their Information Literacy skills to a high level; however, I feel that it (GIDP) opens students to the idea of it in a more gentle manner. I feel that the GIDP allows students more freedom to begin their inquiry by immersing themselves in the topic before identifying what they require in the way of research. NSW ISP, on the other hand, seems to “throw” the students in the deep end by asking of them in the first stages of the process what they require in the way of information.

The Teacher Librarian role within Inquiry learning is varied. They are a support person for the teacher and for the student when it comes to research and resource acquisition. They can help both parties gain access to areas that they otherwise could not. They can help scaffold learning and make the Inquiry process more accessible for students that have learning disabilities or other factors that impact their ability to fully participate in the Inquiry learning.

I have learnt a lot over this semester in ETL401 and while my reflective practice my not necessarily reflect it; I hope that I am able to somewhat convey my understanding of the subjects content.

 

References

Caspari, A., Kuhlthau, C., & Maniotes, L. (2019). GID – Guided Inquiry Design. Retrieved from https://guidedinquirydesign.com/gid/

CILIP Information Literacy Group. (2016). Definitions & models – Information Literacy Website. Retrieved from https://infolit.org.uk/definitions-models/

New South Wales Department of Education. (2019) Information Search – North Sydney Public School. Retrieved from https://nthsyddem-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/learning-at-our-school/library/information-process.html

Step 1 of 2
Please sign in first
You are on your way to create a site.

Log in