Reading Review Blog Post #3

        Researching these topics was a great reminder of the skills student need to acquire, as well as the difficulty and frustration they must feel along the way. When I first began searching the term "digital literacy education" or "information literacy education" through the UBC Library, the majority of articles were linked to Secondary and Post-Secondary learning. However when narrowing the search options, results were sparse. The first relevant article I found was "Our Information Literacy Heritage: From Evolution to Revolution." I was interested to learn that the term "information literacy" was first defined in 1989, well before personal computers and the internet were commonplace. Which lead me to think that in fact information literacy is not inherently connected to technology, but rather connected to the easiest method of attaining information. The video below also shows the evolution of literacy; that like the written word, technology is no longer a privilege or convenience as it was in the past, it's a requirement. While this article definitely highlighted some important history about the digital evolution, my original intent was to focus on how to implement effective strategies, as well as the positives and negatives of our students digitized world.

        The other two articles I found were much more along the lines of what I was hoping for. In "Participatory Technologies, Pedagogy 2.0 and Information Literacy," the author describes the limitations and concerns of using participatory tools such as blogs, wiki's and social networking sites to teach information literacy. such as privacy issues, lack of social responsibility and ethics, or reluctance from students to share work for the world to see. I realized these are all things we really need to take to heart, that being digitally literate does not equate to a necessity for the general public, or even your learning community,  to share in your learning experiences. Last week, with a group of Gr. 4-7, we began working on timelines. To extend our study on biographies I asked the students to make a timeline of their life using World Book. When asked if they had to post them, I debated and then decided no and the sense of relief on about a quarter of them was palpable. And after watching them work, I can see why, many have shared some incredible and deeply personal experiences, which is amazing. But does their success depend on if their classmates all get to read it and respond? While their are many, many valuable experiences that can be had using these technologies I realized it's also important to maintain a balance.

 

 Photo courtesy of American Library Association

        "Practicing What We Preach: Information Literacy for Teacher-Librarians in the 21st Century," had a lot of great implementation suggestions. One of the biggest lessons I took from the author is to experiment and have fun. Part of the reason technology tools are so great is because kids love them and use them frequently. It must be for a reason! Often I find it easiest to find out what other teachers are using in my school or network and then rather than teach a lesson on it, sit with the kids and learn it together. This is something I need to do more, although it's difficult to look "inept" in front of students, I think it also teaches them a valuable lesson about life long learning.

        The inquiry resources I found were easier in the sense that there were a plethora available, but more difficult in that there were a plethora available! The inquiry based blog I found was great (http://inquiry-based.blogspot.ca/), with lots of great ideas for primaries. The one thing I wondered throughout was how feasible inquiry in the truest sense of the word is? How does one provide children with suggestions for learning topics and then magically provide them with the tools and resources to discover that information? For example one idea on the blog started with "Do you want to learn about dinosaurs or planets?" The next post had a discovery table and hands on experiments which seemed fairly elaborate. Is this true inquiry if you provide minimal options and have already preplanned the categories they will learn about within each? This blog left me wondering about these issues. The other websites I found truly put my concerns to rest, that there is a large network and community of inquiry based teachers, that inquiry can be successful and that there are many tools out there to support it. Up until now, most of my readings have been on the importance of discovery learning, the why we should do it, the benefits. Now I finally feel as if the "how" has been illuminated as well.

 

        Overall, the resources I found were not only helpful but motivating. I now feel I can look objectively at my practices and see real areas I can work to improve on. One is to use more participatory tools, to get kids creating, collaborating and sharing more (safely and within reasonable limits!). Another is to being to think more critically about how best to unfold knowledge as a community, rather than deliver with authority. And lastly to start thinking about the tasks I choose, are they easily found and answered with nothing more than time and the internet or are they multifaceted, deep thinking, personal objectives that students can truly connect to and incorporate into their life experiences? So much learning, so little time!

References

Branch, J. (2009) Practising What We Preach: Information Literacy for Teacher-Librarians in the 21st Century. Feliciter, 55.3(May), 98-100. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/223158843/AE8042FB98A44B6PQ/10?accountid=14656 

Farkas, M. (2012). Participatory technologies, pedagogy 2.0 and information literacy. Library Hi Tech, 82-94. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/925975863?pq-origsite=summon

Laverty, C. (2009). Our Information Literacy Heritage: From Evolution to Revolution. Feliciter, 55.3(May), 88-91. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/223155710/3A615602E7407BPQ/7?accountid=14656

http://inquiry-based.blogspot.ca. Accessed Jan. 19, 2015

http://eduwebinar.com.au/web-tools-to-support-inquiry-based-learning. Accessed Jan. 19, 2015

http://www.inquiry-based.com/teacher-resources.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2015

Reading Review Blog Post #2

           

            I realized while browsing through sources after choosing to explore the topic of information literacy, the irony of having to essentially research “how to research.” As adults I think we often still struggle with being digitally literate, as our education took place in a much different time. Despite being rather early into my career and feeling rather up to speed on technology, I still often find myself learning as I teach while learning TO teach. Yet another example of how my second topic, inquiry based learning, is so intertwined. We will always learn as we go, and learn what we must!

            I did find several interesting resources on information literacy, however with the whole concept being such a buzzword lately, it was tricky sorting through what was helpful and what was not. One article, from the publication Library Hi Tech entitled “Participatory technologies, pedagogy 2.0 and information literacy,” by Meredith Farkas definitely reaffirmed to me the importance of the topic. She states, “The internet has made it possible for people to access information at the point of need, rendering the ability to find information more important than mastery of knowledge in any one area.” She goes on to discuss the impact this could and should have on the idea of formal education, similar to the viewpoints of Richardson in our class reading, “Why School?” Most interestingly she discusses the need for a Pedagogy 2.0, which describes a new learning environment in which the “community is the curriculum.” Again, concepts that are very intertwined with inquiry-based learning.

            Another journal, Feliciter had more than one useful and relevant articles in it’s May issue of 2009. One example, “Practising What We Preach: Information Literacy for Teacher-Librarians in the 21st Century,” by Jennifer Branch has concrete suggestions for improving our Web 2.0 skills such as Diigo, Delicious and Slideshare, and encourages the idea of learning along with our students. Another article in the same journal, “Our Information Literacy Heritage: From Evolution to Revolution,” by Cory Laverty, reviews how the idea of information literacy came about, how it has unfolded and where we need to head in the future. Embracing those ideas is this Wordle he created to illustrate. 

            The other topic I began to research was inquiry-based learning, particularly for primaries. As noted above, the correlation between these two topics is becoming more and more enmeshed. A great blog I found, http://inquiry-based.blogspot.ca/, demonstrated some excellent strategies for young children. The accompanying pictures made the projects easy to understand and replicate and using ideas that have been tried and tested by other teachers is always reassuring.

            Both http://eduwebinar.com.au/web-tools-to-support-inquiry-based-learning and http://www.inquiry-based.com/teacher-resources.html were excellent websites for teacher resources that support inquiry-based learning. The web tools page even organizes it’s tools into helpful categories such as explore/locate, identify/define and create/share, making it easy to pinpoint which tools will be most effective for your specific needs.

            And lastly I stumbled upon a great video in the UBC Library called “School Library Programs,” which actually stars my former colleagues from last year, which discusses BOTH information literacy and inquiry based learning in the library! It has some great ideas for primary research projects and a graphic novels unit, which combines student interests with effective research and Web 2.0 skills. 

http://guides.library.ubc.ca/inquirybasedlearning

           Luckily, in this age of information I found no shortage of helpful resources, analyzing which ones to use and how to do so effectively is precisely what I'm trying to learn :) 

References

Branch, J. (2009) Practising What We Preach: Information Literacy for Teacher-Librarians in the 21st Century. Feliciter, 55.3(May), 98-100. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/223158843/AE8042FB98A44B6PQ/10?accountid=14656 

Farkas, M. (2012). Participatory technologies, pedagogy 2.0 and information literacy. Library Hi Tech, 82-94. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/925975863?pq-origsite=summon

Laverty, C. (2009). Our Information Literacy Heritage: From Evolution to Revolution. Feliciter, 55.3(May), 88-91. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/223155710/3A615602E7407BPQ/7?accountid=14656 

Richardson, W. (2012). Why school how education must change when learning and information are everywhere / Will Richardson. New York, NY: TED Conferences. 

School Library Programs. Retrieved Jan. 19, 2015 from http://guides.library.ubc.ca/inquirybasedlearning

 

 

 

 

 

Reading Review #1

This year I am at a new school, with a much more diverse group of learners than I've encountered at my previous schools. Our student population is more than 70% ESL and the needs of our students, particularly with regards to literacy,  are quite high. As an attempt to identify a baseline for learning and meet the students where they're at, during the beginning of a research project with a Grade 7 group recently, we deliberately neglected to discuss research strategies. Mostly, their classroom teacher and I just outlined the project and let them loose on computers. To my chagrin, but not much of a shock, many simply googled their topic, clicked the first link that came up, and either started writing things down, or even worse, cutting and pasting into their "notes". After a short time, we gathered them back together and began to have a discussion about evaluating resources, research strategies and critical literacy.

After hearing and seeing many of their strategies, I realized how important digital literacy has become. Our students are now bombarded with information, resources, applications and ideas without any idea of how to sort through them, think critically about them or use them efficiently and effectively. I think this is something I would like to focus on more during LIBE 477, specifically information and critical literacy. These are skills that we often still struggle with as adults, in both our careers and personal lives, and the earlier we can teach proficiency in them, the more students can focus on acquiring more valuable knowledge.

Another personal interest I would be keen to focus on would be inquiry based learning. The staff at my school has taken this on as a school community focus and I would like to acquire more resources and experience, so I can better assist them with their teaching goals.  Specifically, I'd like to learn more about how inquiry translates for  primary grades. With our intermediate students, it's often easier to give them free range of topics and mediums as they've experienced more and have more developed interests. Primary students I find often require a lot of guidance and I'm not quite sure how to facilitate the fine balance of inquiry along with direction.

Both these topics are very intriguing to me and I'm looking forward to being able to investigate and put into practice some new skills and resources!