Tag Archives: Digital

LIBE 467 Theme 3 Reference Materials Reflection

I learned so much from theme three, especially how the web works and what exactly the “deep web” entails.  Before this theme’s  readings,  I really did not understand the deep web and had only heard horror stories about the “dark web”. In fact I think I developed an irrational fear of the dark web, so much so that the mere thought of researching it felt unsafe! Yes I knew that the classic search engines like google, yahoo or Bing only give a very narrow result and that those results are biased and based on your past searches and web history. But, my mind was blown when I realized that the deep web accounted for 96% of what is available on the web! There is so much information out there that it is overwhelming.

I found this infographic really amazing for explaining the deep web vs the dark web and plan on sharing it with my middle school students:

Image from:. Inside the dark web: What every parent needs to know. The Mac Security Blog. https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/inside-the-dark-web-what-every-parent-needs-to-know/

I think the sheer vastness of the internet highlights the importance of teaching critical thinking skills. We cannot control all of the internet and the information it contains. But, we can teach kids how to decipher it and make wise choices.  That being said I don’t think I am comfortable yet about teaching the deep web/dark web to kids. I teach in a middle school and I think they are way too immature yet. I could just see them going home and saying, “Ms. Clarke taught us all about the dark web today!” or worse, them learning how to conceal their search history from their parents and looking up inappropriate things. I think one way to start this conversation with kids is just to let them know that the deep web is very vast and that their searches on typical search engines only uncover a small fraction of what is out there. I did find this website that lists a lot of search engines on the deep web that may be worth checking out or demonstrating with kids who are ready : https://deepweblibrary.wordpress.com/ . I think that by focusing on  few sites teachers are able to really develop skills around navigating the deep web and  work on critical thinking skills while being ale to monitor the kids and their safety.

My mind was further blown when I realized that we are already accessing and using the deep web on a daily basis! Many search engines and sites provided by our district are subscriptions that staff or students need to log in to are part of the deep web. As Fisher states, “it’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for with a standard search engine, especially if you’re in search of something a bit complicated or obscure”. Perhaps that’s why, even though we teach them not to, our students navigate to the free-citizen built online encyclopedias like Wikipedia. As Harris puts it, “[e]ven if you filter Wikipedia and its typically prominent results on Google, students will just use it at home” (26).

I grew up with Wikipedia and believing it it was bad and super unreliable. Throughout high school and college we were told to not use it at all. When I started the pdp program we were told we could use Wikipedia for ourselves or with students, but only as a starting point, never to be cited or relied on.
Now, I have ‘unlearned’ a lot and definitely consider Wikipedia to be a valid research option deserving a place in our reference resources. I still think students need to understand how these crowd source materials operate and what to watch out for. That being said a lot of the critical thinking skills we teach are transferable to evaluating info on Wiki.
This course has really helped me wrap my head around how many resources are out in the world, whether they be print or digital. It really also changed my mind about print and digital resources. Before the course I was really a lover of print resources and thought they were “superior”. Now, I think here are room for both digital and print but I favor digital when it comes to information that changes quickly. I still think there is room for both but for me digital is cheaper, and more up to date. It is still overwhelming to think about all of the digital resources on the deep web and regular web too! Its also overwhelming thinking about role as a TL and helping kids through thus endless digital world. To be a teacher during the information age!

References:

Deep Web Library. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://deepweblibrary.wordpress.com/

Fisher, Tim. “The Invisible Web: What It Is & How to Find It.” Lifewire, 19 July 2019, https://www.lifewire.com/invisible-web-how-to-find-it-3482490.

Harris, Chris. “Can We Make Peace with Wikipedia?” School Library Journal, vol. 53, no. 6, June 2007, p. 26.

Vrijenhoek, J. (2017, July 5). Inside the dark web: What every parent needs to know. The Mac Security Blog. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/inside-the-dark-web-what-every-parent-needs-to-know/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LIBE 467 Assignment 2: Collaborate with a Teacher and Evolve their Practice

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Evaluation of a Reference Work

Learning

The focus of this assignment is to evaluate a  reference resource in our learning commons with the intent to determine if it is appropriate for our library or if a  replacement is needed.  The reference resource I have chosen to focus on is our World Book Encyclopedia series (2009).  Our library’s reference section is somewhat thin and outdated. It is difficult to keep it up to date because a lot of these books are expensive and quickly become outdated. This is the only multi-volume encyclopedia set we currently have available in our library and the only reason it hasn’t been weeded is that it is still used as a teaching tool when introducing students to research using reference sources such as encyclopedias.  Print encyclopedias have a place in elementary school libraries but given the replacement cost of this resource, how quickly they become outdated and the fact that we have access to World Book Online it may not necessarily make sense to replace it with an identical updated version.

 

 

Rubric for assessing a Reference Resource:

Reference Work Not Meeting Meeting Exceeding
Relevancy Not many visuals or visuals are unappealing for audience.

Authors and publishers with little or no authority/no author found.

Visuals further content understanding and engage reader.

Authors and publishers with good authority.

 

Visuals are highly engaging and age appropriate and strongly connect to content.

Authors and publishers with excellent authority.

Purpose Expensive and may need to be replaced frequently.

Difficult to navigate – organization is illogical.

Information is presented with bias or connected to commercial agencies.

Resource is created to sell or sway reader’s opinion.

Cost effective.

Easily navigated-table of contents/index/

glossary are available.

Minimal level of bias.

Information of presented with no intention to sell or sway reader’s opinion.

Resource is created for educational purposes with possible connection to commercial agency.

Little or no cost to the library.

Logical sequence

Obvious and logical navigation available – table of contents/index/glossary simple to follow.

No level of bias.

Information is presented in a neutral way.

Resource is created for educational purposes only.

Currency 10 years +.

Little of no updates available.

Little or no search features.

Information is out-of-date.

5-10 years old.

Updated yearly.

Basic search features.

Less than 5 years old or is continuously updated.

Link maintenance

Basic and advanced search features.

Curricular Connection Materials meet some of the curriculum.

Content is presented in singular format, reading level and student needs.

Does not reflect student interests and cultural background of student population

Materials meet most of the curricular needs.

Content is presented in a few formats, languages and reading levels.

Meets from variance of student needs.

Somewhat reflects student interests and cultural background of student population

Materials meet all of the curricular needs.

Content presented in different formats, languages and reading levels.

Meets diverse student needs.

Strongly reflects student interests and cultural background of student population.

Use of Lib. Space Stored on high shelf out of reach for most patrons.

Occupies an entire shelf or is difficult to fit on shelf.

Meets the needs of a few learners.

Complex organization that is difficult to follow.

Accessible for all patrons most of the time.

Fits easily on one shelf or does not take up any shelf space (digital).

Meets the needs of most learners.

Organization can be followed with some direction.

Easily accessible for all patron use.

Takes up little or no space in the library.

Meet the needs of diverse learners.

Organization is user-friendly.

How to use the materials is explained clearly.

 

Reference Resource to be replaced:

World Book. (2009). World Book Discovery Encyclopedia: series.

 

Reference Work Not Meeting Meeting Exceeding
Relevancy Not many visuals or visuals are unappealing for audience. 

Authors and publishers with little or no authority/no author found.

Visuals further content understanding and engage reader.

Authors and publishers with good authority.

 

Visuals are highly engaging and age appropriate and strongly connect to content.

Authors and publishers with excellent authority.

Purpose Expensive and may need to be replaced frequently. 

Difficult to navigate – organization is illogical. 

Information is presented with bias or connected to commercial agencies.

Resource is created to sell or sway reader’s opinion.

Cost effective.

Easily navigated-table of contents/index/ glossary available.

Minimal level of bias.

Information of presented with no intention to sell or sway reader’s opinion. 

Resource is created for educational purposes with possible connection to commercial agency. 

Little or no cost to the library.

Logical sequence

Obvious and logical navigation available – table of contents/index/glossary simple to follow.

No level of bias.

Information is presented in a neutral way.

Resource is created for educational purposes only.

Currency 10 years +. 

Little of no updates available. 

Little or no search features. 

Information is out-of-date. 

5-10 years old.

Updated yearly.

Basic search features.

Less than 5 years old or is continuously updated.

Link maintenance

Basic and advanced search features.

Curricular Connection Materials meet some of the curriculum.  

Content is presented in singularformat, reading leveland student needs. 

Does not reflect student interests and cultural background of student population.

Materials meet most of the curricular needs.

Content is presented in a few formats, languages and reading levels.

Meets some variance of student needs.

Somewhat reflects student interests and cultural background of student population.

Materials meet all of the curricular needs.

Content presented in different formats, languages and reading levels.

Meets diverse student needs.

Strongly reflects student interests and cultural background of student population.

Use of Lib. Space Stored on high shelf out of reach for most patrons.  

Occupies an entire shelf or is difficult to fit on shelf.  

Meets the needs of a few learners. 

Complex organization that is difficult to follow. 

Accessible for all patrons most of the time.

Fits easily on one shelf or does not take up any shelf space (digital).

Meets the needs of most learners.

Organization can be followed with some direction.

Easily accessible for all patron use.

Takes up little or no space in the library.

Meet the needs of diverse learners.

Organization is user-friendly.

How to use the materials is explained clearly.

 

Relevancy: Although this resource has very well-known affiliation of “Reader’s Digest” and “Canadian Geographic”, the publisher and author are lesser known. As well, there are many colour visuals that strongly connect to the content; however, since the date of publication is 2009, it is now 12 years old and the visuals are dated and therefore unappealing to current students.

Purpose: In 2009, this resource cost $69.95, which, on a library budget is quite expensive and since this is a print resource about Canada, the content changes rapidly so if the library wants to supply reference resources with current content, the resource would need to be replaced at least every 5 years. There is a table of contents, a map index, and a thematic subject index that make it easy to navigate the contents but a bit complex for younger users. There is no glossary present so it would indicate that the resource is intended for users who already understand the vocabulary in the resource. The resource is affiliated with a commercial agency, “Reader’s Digest”, but the information is presented for educational purposes without bias and without any intention to sell or sway the reader. This resource is a Canadian atlas, so the purpose is singular.

Currency: This resource was published in 2009, making it 12 years old. It is a print resource; therefore, the search features are finite, and it cannot be updated automatically so much of the content is out-of-date.

Curricular connection: The contents of this resource focus on Canadian maps and facts about Canadian geography, environment and peoples. The contents may still meet some of the curricular needs, but it is difficult for students to know what information is still accurate, so it makes the resource unusable. As well, the information is presented with the intention for higher level readers only, with a lot of words in a small font. The contents are Canadian so it is well-suited to meet the interests and cultural background of most students in a Canadian Elementary or middle school.

Use of library space: This is a very large, heavy book with the spine measuring 37 cm tall, the covers measuring 45 cm diagonally, and weighing 4 lbs. Therefore, it is difficult to fit on a regular shelf, so it was stored on a low shelf out of reach for most patrons. The size and storage for this resource makes it challenging for most patrons to use.

In conclusion, this resource will be removed  from the Library Learning Commons because it is NOT MEETING the criteria for a Reference Resource. I think it would be acceptable to keep them with the teacher resources in case they had some use of them as they are still being circulated in the Learning Commons.
New Reference Resource: 

Home Smithsonian Institute. (2020). Retrieved 6 February 2022, from https://www.si.edu/

Search | Everything | Smithsonian Learning Lab. (2020). Retrieved 6 February 2022, from https://learninglab.si.edu/

Reference Work Not Meeting Meeting Exceeding
Relevancy Not many visuals or visuals are unappealing for audience.

Authors and publishers with little or no authority/no author found.

Visuals further content understanding and engage reader.

Authors and publishers with good authority.

 

Visuals are highly engaging and age appropriate and strongly connect to content. 

Authors and publishers with excellent authority. 

Purpose Expensive and may need to be replaced frequently.

Difficult to navigate – organization is illogical.

Information is presented with bias or connected to commercial agencies.

Resource is created to sell or sway reader’s opinion.

Cost effective.

Easily navigated-table of contents/index/

glossary are available.

Minimal level of bias.

Information of presented with no intention to sell or sway reader’s opinion.

Resource is created for educational purposes with possible connection to commercial agency.

Little or no cost to the library.  

Logical sequence 

Obvious and logical navigation available – table of contents/index/glossary simple to follow. 

No level of bias. 

Information is presented in a neutral way. 

Resource is created for educational purposes only. 

Currency 10 years +.

Little of no updates available.

Little or no search features.

Information is out-of-date.

5-10 years old.

Updated yearly.

Basic search features.

Less than 5 years old or is continuously updated. 

Link maintenance 

Basic and advanced search features. 

Curricular Connection Materials meet some of the curriculum.

Content is presented in singular format, reading level and student needs.

Does not reflect student interests and cultural background of student population

Materials meet most of the curricular needs. 

Content is presented in a few formats, languages and reading levels. 

Meets from variance of student needs. 

Somewhat reflects student interests and cultural background of student population 

Materials meet all of the curricular needs.

Content presented in different formats, languages and reading levels.

Meets diverse student needs.

Strongly reflects student interests and cultural background of student population.

Use of Lib. Space Stored on high shelf out of reach for most patrons.

Occupies an entire shelf or is difficult to fit on shelf.

Meets the needs of a few learners.

Complex organization that is difficult to follow.

Accessible for all patrons most of the time.

Fits easily on one shelf or does not take up any shelf space (digital).

Meets the needs of most learners.

Organization can be followed with some direction.

Easily accessible for all patron use. 

Takes up little or no space in the library. 

Meet the needs of diverse learners. 

Organization is user-friendly. 

How to use the materials is explained clearly.  

 

Relevancy: This resource has a very well-known Smithsonian affiliation and therefore has a  good reputation so all patrons can trust the content provided through any links on the website. On every page of the website, there are visuals that appeal to patrons of varying interests.

Purpose: Si.edu is a free resource with no advertising popups! The information is presented without bias and is for educational purposes only. From the homepage, there is an easy to use navigation bar with many links to suit the needs of a wide variety of patrons. For example, on the homepage, one link on the navigation bar is “Learn and Explore” which has resources “For Educators”, “For Kids”, “For Researchers” and “Collections”.  In addition to offering information about various world locations, their environments and peoples, this site supplies information on almost every topic one can think of. So, this site can be used for multiple purposes which makes it extremely cost effective.

Currency: As a web resource, it is continuously updated and therefore the content is always current. Every link works, contains current content and each connects to educational contents always within the Smithsonian Institute website.

Curricular connection: This site meets all of the curricular content and more. It meets a variety of diverse patron needs by offering many different links through the homepage. If a student patron clicks on the “For Kids” link, it offers a selection of resources like games that reinforce a variety of content reflecting curriculum. Links can be found for all ability levels, interests and cultural connections. Under the “For Educators” link there is another link to “Learning Labs” where patrons can search almost any curricular topic, create a log-in and save links to favourite resources within the Learning Labs.

Use of library space: As a website, it takes up no extra space in the library and is easily accessible for all patron use. The website is well-organized and clearly explains how to use the various resources. The website offers content in different views that patrons can choose to meet their learning needs. I will be sure to demo the website with my students and teachers and allow them time to navigate the site.

In conclusion, Si.edu, Smithsonian Institute website, will be selected as a new resource for the Library Learning Commons because it is EXCEEDING the criteria for a Reference Resource. We will add a link to this website on our learning commons page and provide students with a “how to” video and a demonstration so they understand how to use the resource.

 

References:

 

Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds). (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian School Library Association &

 

The Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada (pp. 32-33).

 

Home Smithsonian Institute. (2020). Retrieved 6 February 2022., from https://www.si.edu/

 

Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Ed.). Santa Barbara, CA.: Linworth, an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC (pp.22-23).

 

Search | Everything | Smithsonian Learning Lab. (2020). Retrieved 6 February 2022, from https://learninglab.si.edu/search?st=energy&st_op=and&item_type=collections

 

The Sage Colleges. (2020). Evaluating Sources: TRAP. Retrieved 6 February 2022, from Libraries.sage.edu.

 

World Book. (2009). World Book Discovery Encyclopedia: series.

 

 

 

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Vision of the Future Reflection

My Final Digital Artifacts:https://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAACBe6ZHUAA42AhAK30w==

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfd-uuOzBps&feature=youtu.be

The first link I embedded is a Symbaloo I created, which features, authentic Indigenous digital read alouds and interactive websites, all to support Orange Shirt Day. I thought it was extremely important to support my school and staff for this upcoming fall. Although I know that Indigenous content needs to be taught year round, residential schools and Orange Shirt Day were my focus for this inquiry project. I wanted to create a digital artifact and tool that could be used by staff and students and help to make the difficult and painful subject of Orange Shirt Day a little less overwhelming. The second link I provided is a screen cast of me navigating the Symbaloo and going through some of the resources.

How I started…

I was reading a book,”Genocidal Love” by Bevann Fox, while more news was coming out about children being found in residential schools. I was of course thinking about what I can do this fall to help my staff and students in regards to this news. At first, my inquiry was how can I use digital sources and resources to help support reconciliation? I was a little overwhelmed because there are so many sources out there. I began by creating a curation  of digital books that focused on residential schools. They are all mostly picture books but could most definitely be used for ANY age. The books are fantastic and as mentioned before they are all authentic and mostly local, Indigenous books that will be very helpful to support Orange Shirt Day, or any day throughout the year.

So I had a great list of curated books but thought that it needed something more. So then I began curating a list of interactive websites to help support inquiry and the list of books. Now I had all of my resources I wanted to share but I needed a platform to share them. I felt like if I were to email both lists out it would probably just get lost amongst all if the digital files my staff has stored on their computers.

Trying a new App

I was introduced to Symbaloo from a classmate. It seemed like the perfect tool to share all of my digital resources. Some of you may be asking, “what is a Symbaloo?” It is basically is a visual bookmarking tool that makes it simple and fun to organize the best of the web. You have all your favorite websites at your fingertips. With an account you can access your bookmarks from everywhere with any device and share your online resources with others. It is absolutely free to sign up (the paid version is ad-free) here is a link to sign up if you haven’t done so already: https://www.symbaloo.com/signup/start

I have learned throughout this course and program that as a TL it is our job to learn and teach all about new technology. This was my chance to try something new! So I created my Symbaloo mix. It was very user friendly. I even created another theme around digital tools for the classroom. I am very excited about this tool and hope to collaborate with staff in the fall on other themes and topics.

But it still was not quite right….

I still could not shake the feeling that if I emailed my Symbaloo and a hard copy of all the wonderful books and resources I had curated, it still might get lost in the mix. I could imagine that a lot of teachers and staff may have never heard of Symbaloo and the idea of learning about a new app at the beginning of what is sure to be a chaotic school year is crazy. How could I introduce them to these sources and at the same time demo a new app? That is when it was suggested to me to try doing a “Screencast”. At first I was very terrified to try yet another thing I have never done. I do not like hearing my voice in a recording. But, I realized that I need to get over myself and just give it a try.

Screencasting

So my incredibly resourceful teacher emailed out a google slide document that showcased how easy it is to do a screencast.With a few touches of a button I was ready to record. It took me a few tries to get it right. But otherwise it was pretty seamless. I think I really just had to get over my own ego and the thought that this had to be perfect. I came to realize that a lot of digital resources I may create in the future may not be perfect either. But, as long as I am learning, growing, reflecting and serving my school, perfection is not the goal. I think there is a lot of pressure to be perfect because of the permanent nature of our digital footprint. But I will remember to balance it out with realistic expectations. Otherwise, I feel like I could get stuck rewriting and overthinking even the simplest  post!

This Course

This course, my colleagues, my teacher and all of the previous blog posts really helped set me in the right direction, when it came to creating my digital artifact. I learned early on in this course the importance of inquiry based and digital learning opportunities. In the book, “Why School?” By Richardson,  we see Minecraft  as an example where digital learning could provide open ended inquiry learning. This book helped push me towards using digital sources and websites that were interactive. Like the example of Minecraft,  I wanted to highlight skills such as: collaborating, self directing inquiry, problem solving, and integrating digital and multi media. In my previous blog posts I wanted to focus on digital resources to support Orange shirt day and this book and discussion with my peers definitely helped propel me there. I was also thinking a lot about collaborating and the need to build strong relationships. I think this led me to creating a Symbaloo because it is highly collaborative in nature. The app also allows the document to be changed and edited at anytime which is so important because information and perspectives are always evolving. I am very grateful for my time with this course and the people in it. I thank everyone for their time, energy and support!

Here is a link to my previous post which also contains my digital artifact and how to use it:https://blogs.ubc.ca/brittlovesbooks/2021/08/07/__trashed/

Best

Brittany

References:

Clarke, B. (n.d.). Orange Shirt Symbaloo. Retrieved August 7, 2021, from https://youtu.be/AoLmJi8YId8

Fox, B. (2020). Genocidal love: A life after residential school. Regina, Saskatchewan: University of Regina Press.

McNee, D. L. (n.d.). Tech4Learning: Making Thinking Visible with Apple Technology[Google Slides].

Richardson, Will. Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere (Kindle Single) . TED Conferences. Kindle Edition.

 

 

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