The Ward library - Stories from the Placement

On the Thursday afternoon, Raman (the Mt Druitt TAFE placement) and I went to the UWS Ward library at UWS Penrith.  There, we got an overview of the "engine room".  The downstairs section of the library or "backroom".  The Ward library is where the centralised activities of the UWS library's occur.  This includes acquistions, sending of items out to the various libraries, bibliographic and cataloguing activities.  I was very glad that we got to see this because it allowed for us to get an overview of the range of activities that a library would be engaged in.  The main activity of the UWS Blacktown library was customer service and liason librarianship.  From a teacher librarianship standpoint it was definitely a better idea to do the placement at the Blacktown campus because it has more of a teacher focus than a library focus.  Most of the activities that I was involved in involved teaching and showing library users how to better access library resources.  Sometimes I think that I gave the students too much support.  As I often heard during my placement, the teacher in me kept coming out.  I kept wanting to do more for the students.  To an extent this compromised their need (which can be painful) for independennce.

Office gadgets casting a pall of 'time pollution'

Technology News    

Office gadgets casting a pall of 'time pollution'

Sydney Morning Herald, Nov 20, 2011 3:13pm

This story is very interesting because in contrast to the hype that we continually get in the media about how wonderful gadgets are, we have yet another underreported downside to 'gadgetting' (my term).  As well, as the fact that they can contribute to superficial and shallow thinking (through flitting from here to there and not concentrating on one thing at a time), and lead to losses in productivity (I can't remember the term for this but the idea is that when you have prepared to work on something and suddenly, you have to drop it and do something else, the preparation time is lost and must once more be built up when you come back to the original task being undertaken), they can also promote mechanical rather than reflective approaches (putting out 'brush fires' or 'muddling through'). 

In a critical sense, there is no denying the need for change.  Digital technologies (and it is important to remember sociologically that there are other technologies besides gadgets).  However, TLs and educators should not simply embrace them but should try to practically do something like a needs analysis.  What specific needs will these gadgets address.  The gadgets should then be targetted towards those needs.  Thus for example, instead of just giving students laptops that they can take home the library should lend out laptops for use during lessons or projects.  Accordingly, this would support the connection between educational needs and the gadgets.  Definitely a problem with the DET rollout of computers is that the need the DET seemed to have in mind was just a need for gadgets.  The laptops have not driven home to students the connection between education and gadgets.  Accordingly, the ability for educators to teach students to use their gadgets in a way that allows them to concentrate and complete tasks is largely non existent.

QR codes: stories from the placement

I am glad that all my hard work last night and today experimenting with QR codes payed off.  I gave a presentation at the library staff meeting and everyone was very enthusiastic about the potential of QR codes.  I think it would be a good idea to get in touch with ultimo TAFE to find out more.  I have to say that Monday was hard because it was the first day and I wasn't really given anything to do.  Today was definitely better.  I wish I could stay for the training tomorrow but I have to go.

ETL 504 Donham on leadership

What is leadership, according to Donham, J. (2005). Leadership.  In Enhancing teaching and learning: a leadership guide for school library media specialists (2nd ed.) (pp. 295-305). New York: Neal Schuman Publishers.

Leadership attributes
- technical competence - a knowldege of information organisation, teaching, management and
    resources.  A unique set of skills.
- conceptual skill - procedural knowldege but also principles and concepts: principles of organisation
   access, confidentiality and ethical use of information.  These inform policy making.  Conceptual
   understanding of info systems informs their resource management and information dissemination.
- people skills - communicate, inspire, and delegate.  Establish collaborative networks within their
   local learning community.
- judgement - making decisions in a situation of uncertainty, taking risks.
- character - guided by principles of librarianship as well as principles of the education profession.
   Commitment to open access to information, confidentiality for info users, affirmation of intellectual
    property rights and equity.

Bits of advice
-Understand what you can be and cannot be best at,
-Look for change opportunities,
-Anticipate and prevent problems,
 -Pursue what you are deeply passionate at.

Leadership from the middle through influence, collaboration and collegiality.
- seek connections between the school's mission and goals and those of the library media program.
- maintaining familiarity with the language of the classroom will enhance dialogue with teachers.
- the library media specialist can readily point out that he or she has a unique vantage point in the
   school as a result of working with all students and all teachers.

Upwey High school website

An excellent website I found today was that of the Upwey High school library.  Upwey is a school in Southern Victoria.  Many schools do not have library websites, including The Kings school.  So, it is very interesting that a school in what appears to be a town has a phenomenal website such as this.  It has a tab on information literacy with a quite extensive discussion and overview of information literacy and IL skills.  It has an extensive list of useful websites and pathfinders and many other good things.  I would love to know who designed this website and why this school saw the need for an excellent school library website such as this.

Blogs, Wikis. Podcasts 3rd edition

While I was at Dymocks in the city I came across an awsome book: Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). London: Sage.  This highly practical book has chapters on weblogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasting, twitter and flickr, Facebook, etc.  It has interesting background, hints, tips and step-by-step instructions for setting up wikis/wikipaedias and so on.  I haven't read the whole book but I am already thinking of ideas about how to get students to make a wikipedia entry on an original subject.  I definitely see now how I might use blogs effectively and what is and is not a blog.  Here's an interesting fact.  The word wiki is short for the Hawaiian word wiki-wiki, which simply means "quick".  I do agree that if more was known about how Wikipedias are made then more teachers might try to integrate them into their lessons. 

There is no chapter on using mobile phones but there are points here and there that are useful.  For example, students and teachers can make simple vodcasts from a device such as ipod touch.  I have tried making a voice memo and emailed it to myself.  I am just thinking that this would be good for doing listening tests.  Often times it is an absolate drag trying to find a CD player and record a text for listening on to a CD.  With the Ipod touch all you need is the ipod and speakers.

A very good book that will come in handy now and in the future.

ETL523 Toys to tools and others

I really like this book by Kolb, especially all the lesson plans.  I have a couple of chapters in the 523 folder.  The Fryer website has more stuff by Kolb including the article I think (cell phone skeptic to cell phone evangelist).  The website is good too.  The below is from the annotated bibliography for the second digital literacy assignment.

Kolb, L. (2008). Toys to tools: Connecting student cell phones to education.

Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.  Kolb strongly advocates the use of mobile phones in school classrooms and describes a number of teaching and learning strategies that can be used to make effective use of mobile phones in class, including: the teaching of mobile phone etiquette; and the creation of social contracts governing the use of mobile phones in the classroom.  Kolb (2008) is a reliable source because Kolb has taught both high and middle school social studies and spent four years as a high school technology coordinator in a school in the USA.  This source is helpful because it provides practical guidance for XXX High students, teachers, and school administrators on how to use and manage mobile technologies in the classroom.

Chatswood High school. (n.d.). Policy on the use of MP3 players, ipods and related devices.  Retrieved from: http://www.chatswood-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/about/school_ policies.htm  This school-based policy accepts that students will bring devices, such as MP3 players to school, and that they can be used in the classroom within acceptable limits, such as with teacher permission.  This is a very useful resource because it sets out guidelines for the use of mobile technologies in class.  Accordingly, a number of elements of this policy can be incorporated into the draft XXX High mobile technology policy.

Fryer, W. (2010). Teach digital: Curriculum by Wes Fryer. PBWorks.  Retrieved from:

http://teachdigital.pbworks.com/w/page/19791019/cellphones.  This website contains a variety of relevant resources, such as a Teachers TV documentary (2009) on the use of mobile phones in UK schools that covers a number of issues relating to the use of mobile phones in schools, such as how students relate to mobile phones and why schools should allow students to use these devices in class.  Many of the resources on this website are very useful in creating a school-based mobile technology policy because they provide both theoretical and practical advice from university researchers, principals and teachers on how to use mobile technologies in the classroom, and ways to ensure that they do not disrupt classroom learning and teaching.