ISSUE, PERSONAL INTEREST, OR OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION AND KEYWORD GENERATOR
Share with the class via your blog, your early brainstorming of thoughts
for this section. What topics, ideas or “keywords” are you interested in
exploring through some literature searches? What is in your professional
practice or environment that you would like to explore further about digital
technologies, web 2.0, or 21st century learning?
I had a tough time thinking of
one topic because I’m interested in so many things. I’m interested in exploring
collaboration using Google Classroom because we’ve already been using several GSuite
Apps and we’re getting a cart of Chromebooks in the next few months so the
grade 4/5 teachers want support with this. I’m also interested in ways to use
technology to support our ELL students because 27% of our school population is
ELL and I’m interested in exploring coding in relation to inquiry and math because
numeracy support is a large portion of my teaching assignment. In addition, I’m
interested in exploring the transition from a traditional library to a School Library
Learning Commons (SLLC) because we are in the process of transforming our space
and we’ve been working on a three-year vision for our library.
For the past several years, our library has only been used for book exchanges run by the Library Assistant, but recently we started exploring some important questions - What is a Library Learning Commons? What is the role of the Teacher-Librarian? How can we make our space more kid-friendly and inviting to foster a love of reading? Since September, I’ve spent a lot of time removing clutter from the space and weeding our collection of non-fiction books. In addition, we were lucky enough to receive Indigo’s Adopt a School Grant this year so I’ve been able to purchase many new high interest books. It is still a work in progress, but as we clean up the space, we are looking for ways to bring students into the library. I will be available for a few blocks to collaborate with teachers and students on inquiry projects, the library is now available for teachers to sign up and bring their classes when it is not being used, and we are planning to host an after school family reading event.
For the past several years, our library has only been used for book exchanges run by the Library Assistant, but recently we started exploring some important questions - What is a Library Learning Commons? What is the role of the Teacher-Librarian? How can we make our space more kid-friendly and inviting to foster a love of reading? Since September, I’ve spent a lot of time removing clutter from the space and weeding our collection of non-fiction books. In addition, we were lucky enough to receive Indigo’s Adopt a School Grant this year so I’ve been able to purchase many new high interest books. It is still a work in progress, but as we clean up the space, we are looking for ways to bring students into the library. I will be available for a few blocks to collaborate with teachers and students on inquiry projects, the library is now available for teachers to sign up and bring their classes when it is not being used, and we are planning to host an after school family reading event.
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Although I am interested in all
of the above topics, I’m thinking of focusing on Digital Literacy. In BC’s
Digital Literacy Framework document, Digital Literacy is defined as “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to
use digital technology and communication tools appropriately to access, manage,
integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, and create
and communicate with others” (p.1). To start with, I would like to have one central place where students can go to
access useful links for research. Last year, I added a few links to useful sources
for research on our school website, but I read a post from one of our
classmates talking about her school district library website and I was thinking
it would be useful to have a SLLC website for our district. When students login
to our school district portal, they have access to a list of useful resources,
but they have to go through three levels of navigation to get to it and it is a
combined list of resources for primary, intermediate and secondary students so
I don’t find it very useful.
According to Richardson (2012), “Access
doesn’t automatically come with an ability to use the Web well. We aren’t
suddenly self-directed, organized, and literate enough to make sense of all the
people and information online — or savvy enough to connect and build
relationships with others in safe, ethical, and effective ways” (2012, pp.
169-171). I agree with this which is why in addition to providing a central place
got younger students to refer to for research, I would also like to develop a
series of lessons to teach students about keyword searches, evaluating websites
and Internet safety. Given that I now have some time to collaborate with
teachers and support students with inquiry projects, I am interested in
exploring Information Literacy and Internet Safety because I think students
need these skills to be effective users of the Internet. In the past week as I
was thinking about this assignment, I received an email from the Assistant
Superintendent of my school district with a CyberStrength Knowledge Assessment.
Our school district recently developed a Cybersecurity and Privacy Framework so
they sent out this assessment to identify areas of strength and areas that
require further education because they are working on creating a Cybersecurity
Education and Awareness Program for all staff and students so I plan to inquire
about our district’s plan to see what this program with entail for students.
Keywords
Library Learning Commons
21st Century Learning
Inquiry-Based Learning
Digital Literacy
Research and Information Literacy
Critical Thinking
Digital Citizenship
Internet Safety
Privacy & Security
Digital Footprint
Copyright
References
Government of British Columbia
(n.d.). Digital Literacy Framework.
Retrieved from the Digital Literacy website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy?keyword=digital&keyword=literacy&keyword=standards
National
Council of Teachers of English (2013). The
NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies. Retrieved from the Position Statements website: http://www2.ncte.org/statement/21stcentdefinition/
Richardson, Will. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When
Learning and Information Are Everywhere [Kindle Single]. TED Conferences.
This is a strong first post. You have identified some important themes for further reading and research. I appreciate that you are catering your learning toward your personal context (G-Suite Apps, Digital Literacy, Library to Learning Commons). This relevance will help you create a Final Vision Digital Artifact that will have a life outside of this course. I look forward to seeing where this takes you. The addition of multimedia elements (pictures of your SLLC, screen-cap of digital resources and hyperlinked reference list) enhance the experience for your reader.
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