04/13/21

Future Vision Project: Digital Toolbox to Support Digital Literacy

Goal:

For my final vision project, my goal is to create an area like a toolbox that would house booster activities, lessons, videos and various teaching materials to support building digital literacy within the library learning commons program.  The target age group for these lessons and activities is grade 8.

Key Elements and Research:

As I designed my final vision, I began researching digital literacy in more detail and sourced an abundance of material to support topics within this vast subject area.  I discovered early on in the process that I needed to focus my goals and evaluate – what would be the most valuable digital literacy skills for Grade 8 students to develop?  I focused on three main sources for material:

(Media Smarts, n.d.)

Media Smarts: I found a number of useful lessons that include interactive games, activities, presentations and videos.  As Media Smarts, “has been developing digital and media literacy programs and resources for Canadian homes, schools and communities since 1996.” and they “support adults with information and tools so they can help children and teens develop the critical thinking skills they need for interacting with the media they love” (Media Smarts, n.d.).  A positive with Media Smarts resources are that they are Canadian focused and driven to support Canadian media literacy curricular goals. The down side, I found much of the content to be less current than some alternative resources.  Formatting of lessons were in PDF and I found that it would be likely to require reformatting and updating through Google Classroom as they are selected for use.

 

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03/20/21

Vision of the Future: Developing Digital Literacy Skills within a LLC Program

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(La Trobe University, 2010)

Earlier this term, while working as a teacher-librarian, a social studies teacher shared with me an assignment where students were studying a variety of protests across the world.  I pulled together vetted resources from news websites, databases, encyclopedias, video and podcast sources to support this assignment.  A few days later, I was asked to gather a research hub of material to support a science class. In both cases this was for junior classes and designed to guide students in the right direction for gathering resources for their research projects.

My research gathering for these assignments fell at the same time I was working on the LIBE 477 blog looking for key words for our first assignment. I kept circling back to the broad term of digital literacy.  As I collected material, I wondered if students were developing the skills they need to be able to pull resources together if asked?  Would they struggle to locate material? Would they select credible resources? Often as TLs, we pull books, bookmark indexed topics and guide students through their research queries and this is a part of the job I love.  This supports students and classroom teachers by condensing research time and supports subjects with assignments at hand.  I still wonder, however, if our LLC program could do more to support students with the discovery process of acquiring resources when faced with a research query.  Are they developing the necessary digital literacy skills?

I mulled these questions over earlier in the term after reading Will Richardson’s book Why School, specifically the chapter, “Our kids are illiterate”.  After some feedback working with teachers, it was clear to me that students would benefit in developing digital literacy skills.  Learning how to navigate topics and knowing where to find material that would best support their research challenges a number of our students.   It felt like a great opportunity to frame developing this skill within our library learning commons program for my vision of the future assignment.

Our LLC does an orientation with grade 8 students in September.  This is an introduction and exploration of the space, resources and services.  For my vision of the future assignment, I plan to create a mid-year booster to the orientation.  This booster will be a unit designed around developing digital literacy skills which will focus on the strands:

        • Create
        • Understand
        • Use
        • Access

(Media Smarts, n.d.)

My unit will explore elements of digital citizenship where using technology safely and responsibly will be promoted.  I will delve into how to find digital resources using our databases, encyclopedias and Focused Education digital bundle.  The unit will explore: where to start, using keyword searches and how to narrow which resource is best? I will also explore how to identify “fake news”, teach students CRAAP detection and how to evaluate a website.  I plan to develop a toolbox for students to learn from.  This toolbox will include interactive lessons that we can pull from and include video demonstration clips through Screencastify.

As I am developing this project, I am developing it to be thematically connected by the topic of digital literacy, but my lessons are standalone per topic.  This will enable short mini lessons or longer library block flexibility.  I am cognizant that developing this toolbox does not necessarily mean it will get used in its entirety.  It will however, give me options to share, with subject teachers, ideas for boosting digital literary skills that works best for their subject areas.

Digital Literacy “is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process” (Martin, A.,  2005, p. 135).

Works Cited:

eCampus News.  (2019).  “College Educated Adults Get an F in Digital Literacy”. [Image].  Retrieved 20 March 2021 from: https://www.ecampusnews.com/2019/07/02/college-educated-adults-get-an-f-in-digital-literacy/

Heick, Terry. (n.d.).  Teachthought: 4 Principles of Digital Literacy. [image].  Retrieved 20 March 2021 from: https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/4-principals-of-digital-literacy/

La Trobe University. (2010).  Why Can’t I Just Google? Retrieved on 20 March 2021 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N39mnu1Pkgw.

Martin, A. (2005). “DigEuLit – A European Framework for Digital Literacy: A Progress Report.” Journal of E-Literacy. Vol 2.

Media Smarts. (n.d). Digital Literacy Fundamentals.  Retrieved 18 March 2021 from: https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals

Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Conferences. Kindle Edition.

03/14/21

Reflection on Topics and Interests of Phase 2 in LIBE 477

 

In Phase 2 of LIBE 477 I explored how to use social media to foster reading cultures in schools and to develop personal learning networks.  I learned specifically how social media strategies in a professional setting can be a useful communication tool, but it also can be a great mechanism to engage learners.  I also explored methods and ways teacher-librarians can support teachers with technology and professional development, focusing on connections, collections, communication and collaboration.  My final topic studied, looked at building literacy through developing nations and focused on literacy programs offered by CODE and Worldreader.

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03/10/21

Building Literacy through Developing Libraries in Developing Nations

“At a time when we need to reinvent a world of hope, literacy is more important than ever. On this International Day, I thus invite all those involved in education to redouble their investments and mobilize all their resources to unleash the potential of each individual in the service of a shared world.”

— Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General, on the occasion of International Literacy Day

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02/28/21

Methods and Ways Teacher-Librarians Can Support Teachers With Technology and Professional Development

“The Learning Commons is the starting point—it’s the nerve centre of the school, the place where learning isn’t about collecting dots but rather about connecting them …. It’s our experimental lab: a place where kids and adults can take risks and experiment with new ways of doing school … where educational research can be played with and developed into programs that not only impact students but also provide “road maps” for teachers: “This is what innovation looks like … how it engages students … and how you can implement facets of it in your own classroom.— Gino Bondi, LearningtheNow” (Ekdahl, M., & Zubke, S, 2017.  P. 19)

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02/19/21

Using Twitter to develop a Personal Learning Network

 

(Teachers Using Tech, n.d.)

Last week we explored fostering reading cultures in our LLC programs.  My focus was on using social media to promote reading and create active engagement with the library program. It is ironic, because one of my person professional goals is to expand in this area as well.  I have maintained a social media presence starting in 2006 with Myspace, which I haven’t used in over 12 years. Currently I use: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snap Chat and TikTok.  The latter social media, less so.    My social media for the most part is personal and fairly locked down.  I use it to connect with friends and share family pictures etc. This not something that I would feel comfortable opening up outside of my friendship group.

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(Socialnomics, 2018)

The library program has shown me how social media can help with connecting educators and professionals but also how it can be used as a tool for sharing resources and engaging in learning experiences.  I chose to set up a professional twitter account for this purpose, in part for coursework, but am seeing now the professional value.  This twitter account is free from my child’s photos and doesn’t include personal commentary on politics or controversial subjects.

I have a professional social media account, but now what?

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02/7/21

Tools, Tricks and Ways to Utilize Audio Production in an LLC Program

My research process for the Reading Review Part A and Part B of the assignment helped me narrow my topic and I was able to source a number of academic resources.  I discovered, that for Reading Review Part C, the traditional searching avenues: looking at eBooks, databases and journals limited my research and didn’t include enough practical application ideas.  When I opened up my search on how to include audio/video production in an LLC program, I discovered that many of my resources branched into blogs, Apps, YouTube videos and podcasts.  Whilst this next step of research lead me to less traditionally cited references they offered practical based ideas shared by experts in the field.  My resources below are separated into three categories: why, how, and extra teacher tools.

INQUIRY 1 - Why incorporate audio or video production in an LLC Program?
Resources consider:
  • How does audio or video production foster media literacy in students?

Boggs, G. L., Fendler, R., Shields, S. S., Tripp, L. M., Pengelley, I. R., & Zenkov, K. (2017). Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy61(2), 213–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1002/jaal.680

    • The majority of the articles I have included in Part C of this assignment emphasize the practical application of how can I integrate audio/video production in a makerspace and link that to promoting literacy within the LLC program. There were a number of articles from my search, however, that focus on the WHY.  I have selected the top two for this selection of resources, but I had well over 15 in my research and some that I explored in Part B are part of that list.  The significant drawback with much of this type of research, is that though it explores pedagogy, it doesn’t offer a host of practical suggestions on how to apply the ideology explored into an LLC program.
    • “Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera?”, explores how student learning can be integrated in multimedia projects like video, but not take the fun out of the process and learning. I liked how this article focuses on video production and ties in the various literacies that the multimedia platform fosters.   Similar to Richardson’s Why School, Partnership Literacies, explores the value of “transferring the power” (Richardson, 2012) and enable students to ‘hold the camera’ thereby discovering their learning process as opposed to having it delivered by educators. This helps students to meaningfully build on their media literacy skills.

Regan, B. (2008). Why We Need to Teach 21st Century Skills–And How to Do It. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools15(4), 10–13.

    • This article by Bob Regan is older but I found it helpful as it sent me forward in other directions that have been useful on this search. Regan’s article explores also explores the WHY.  Why are collaborative technologies in a school so important?  This article helps reinforce the justification for building more collaborative technology in an LLC program and also poses critical questions and awareness that “students have the opportunity to view and learned from the work of students not just in their class, but worldwide, cultivating a 21st skill of global awareness” (Regan, 2008, p. 12).
    • This article prompted me to look up the Partnership for 21st Century Skills framework which offers a framework and a variety of resources that are useful to educators with teaching media literacy. I found Regan’s justification and philosophical connections to why we should include teaching media literacy as an essential component to education in high school thoughtful and it prompted me to explore other key words from his paper that helped me find other useful research, tools and links.
INQUIRY 2 - How to implement audio/video production in an LLC Program? 
Resources consider:
  • What strategies, software and techniques can a TL use for audio production in an LLC program? 
  • How can these strategies be accessible and be used over the curriculum and appeal to a wide community base of teachers and students?

Audacity: Audacity Team (2021): Audacity (Version 2.4.2) [Computer program]. Retrieved from http://audacityteam.org/

    • This inclusion is more of a tool than website analysis. I am including Audacity because it is free, open-source, cross-platform audio software that “is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux and other operating systems.” (Audacity, n.d.)
    • First released in 2000, and has more than 100 million downloads, Audacity offers a platform that enables users to record and edit out the ‘er’, ‘umms’ and pauses from their podcasts. It records live audio, enables cutting, mixing and has the ability to add in effects whether it is for speed or pitch.  The import and export features enable files to be WAV, AIFF, MP3, AU, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis, which means that there is flexibility for compatibility of use with a variety of different programs/apps and devices.
    • When I downloaded Audacity, I liked that there wasn’t a requirement to set up an account with Audacity to get the features and access the program. As it is open-sourced, there are privacy risks that would need to have more risk assessment undertaken before being rolled out in an LLC program.

ALCTS – A Division of the ALA.  (2014).  “Podcasts: What Are They and What Role Can Librarians Play?”.  Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/101514

    • This is an interesting link that offers a webinar for Librarians that are interested in “organizing and marketing podcasts” (ALCTS, 2014).
    • This resource is a professional development teaching tool that offers a YouTube presentation, slides and handouts.  The presentation itself is informative and is intended for Liberians.

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Herman, Amy.  (2021).  “Broadcasting From our Libraries”.  School Librarians United. Podcast. Retrieved from https://schoollibrariansunited.libsyn.com/broadcasting-from-our-libraries

    • In my search for how to include audio production in a LLC program, I discovered School Librarians United with Amy Hermon. This is a “podcast dedicated to the nuts and bolts of running a successful school library.” Started in 2018, there are now over 38 podcasts that have been released exploring topics that center around a LLC program and range from discussions about, collaboration, graphic novels, classroom libraries, self-censorship and weeding.
    • Though Michigan based TL, Amy Hermon, is an elementary school librarian, the topics are relevant to all TLs and I found the Podcast on “Broadcasting from our Libraries”. This podcast shares resources and strategies that TLs can use should they wish to broadcast from their own LLC.  The focus of the podcast is on building community and fostering a community of readers.

Johnson, Doug.  (2019). “The School Librarian: Your Ultimate Digital Resource”.  The Tech Savvy School. Educational Leadership. 76(5).  Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb19/vol76/num05/The-School-Librarian@-Your-Ultimate-Digital-Resource.aspx

    • Doug Johnson’s article explores the need for “future-ready librarians”  (Johnson, 2019).  He discusses the six roles that ‘digital librarians’ fill in today’s school libraries.
      1. Curating resources to support individualized instruction
      2. Sharing expertise in locating and evaluating resources
      3. Helping students—and teachers—produce digital content
      4. Being the “digital copyright guru”
      5. Teaching digital citizenship and online safety
      6. Planning and managing school maker-spaces                  (Johnson, 2019)
    • I found the sections on helping students and teachers to produce digital content as well as planning and managing school maker-spaces to be the most useful sections to me in the article.  The context of the article is from a teacher- librarian perspective and is useful because it provides practical suggestions of how TLs can support teachers in a school with the production of digital content in their classes.  The only downside to this article is that I wanted more!  This article is contemporary, practical and useful for TLs that are looking to expand their digital role within the LLC program

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Corwin. [Kindle Edition]

    • This eBook offers practical suggestions on how blogs, wikis and podcasts can be used over a number of curricular areas. My focus was on audio and video production, so I focused on “Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses” (Richardson, 2010, ch. 8).
    • Richardson rationalizes that “podcasting is yet another way for them [students] to be creating and contributing ideas to a larger conversation, and it’s a way of archiving that contribution for future audiences to use” (Richardson, 2010, ch. 8). I found suggestions of how podcasts could be used for reading workshops, language practice lessons, storytelling, oral histories, interviews, historical re-enactments, lab or dissertation narratives, recitals, or for special events.  The ideas demonstrate how audio production can benefit a wide range of subject areas and helped me see how it could be a valuable inclusion in a LLC makerspace.
    • Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts was useful in providing program suggestions. I found some useful ideas like Audacity and PodOmatic.  The drawback of the date of the eBook, was that I wasn’t entirely confident that these suggestions still held the same value they did in 2010.
Extra Teacher Tool Sites:
  • Common Sense Education I found this site holds a lot of useful information regarding education technology and specifically reviews. For example, Audacity, is a program for podcasting that I’d like to learn more about from a third party.  Commonsense.org provides their take on the pros, cons and bottom line for this software in the context of educational use.  What is also a great feature, is that below their rating, there is also space for community reviews which I was able to go through.  Sites like Commonsense.org are helpful to reflect on when researching education technology.
  • Media Smarts – Canada’s Center for Digital and Media Literacy “Media Smarts is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization for digital and media literacy.”  What I like about Media Smarts is that it has a Canadian focus and it offers practical, useful teacher resources.  Some of these resources I plan to adapt and use.
  • NPRs – A Studio at your Fingertips: Five Apps Teachers are Using to Make Student Podcasts. This singular webpage offers helpful information about podcast Apps for students to use.  It is current and I have placed it into General Teacher tools for me to reflect on in future.  Additionally, NPR offers a Student Podcast Challenge and there are many student related links within this section that can be accessed.
Concluding Thoughts:

The search to find resources for including audio production in an LLC program started with a broad approach that led me to theoretical papers that offered  reflective ideology on why multimedia production in education is a necessary tool in developing media literacy.  These papers and links lead me to more practical application sites that offered tools and tricks on how to implement video and audio production.  They introduced me to software ideas like Audacity and Garage Band and hosting sites like PodOmatic.

Bibliography:

Adame, Diane. (2020) “A Studio at Your Fingertips: 5 Apps Teachers Are Using To Make Student Podcasts”.  Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/807372536/a-studio-at-your-fingertips-5-apps-teachers-are-using-to-make-student-podcasts.

ALCTS – A Division of the ALA.  (2014).  “Podcasts: What Are They and What Role Can Librarians Play?”.  Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/101514

Audacity Team (2021): Audacity (Version 2.4.2) [Computer program]. Retrieved from http://audacityteam.org/

Boggs, G. L., Fendler, R., Shields, S. S., Tripp, L. M., Pengelley, I. R., & Zenkov, K. (2017). Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy61(2), 213–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1002/jaal.680

Common Sense Education. (n.d.). Education.  Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/

Educational Leadership.  (2019). [Image].  Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb19/vol76/num05/The-School-Librarian@-Your-Ultimate-Digital-Resource.aspx

Herman, Amy.  (2021).  “Broadcasting From our Libraries”.  School Librarians United. Podcast. Retrieved from https://schoollibrariansunited.libsyn.com/broadcasting-from-our-libraries

Johnson, Doug.  (2019). “The School Librarian: Your Ultimate Digital Resource”.  The Tech Savvy School. Educational Leadership. 76(5).  Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb19/vol76/num05/The-School-Librarian@-Your-Ultimate-Digital-Resource.aspx

Media Smarts.  (n.d).  Teacher Resources.  Retrieved from https://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources

Regan, B. (2008). “Why We Need to Teach 21st Century Skills–And How to Do It.” MultiMedia & Internet@Schools15(4), 10–13.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.

Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Conferences. Kindle Edition.

Yesayn, N. (2021).  “Augmented Reality and Education:  Benefits and a List of Best 2020 AR Apps”. IT Craft. [Image].  Retrieved from https://itechcraft.com/augmented-reality-and-education/

01/31/21

Reading Review Part B – How can a library program promote media literacy through video production?

 

When beginning to tack my Reading Review Part B it was apparent that my key words were too overarching and rather broad.  I circled back to my initial ideas about audio technology in a makerspace but linked it with media literacy more in this second phase of researching.  My inquiry question was adapted to being more focused on how can a library program promote media literacy through video production?  This then enabled me to dig further within video production to more specifics centered around podcast, video publishing, screencasting and livestreaming.

Data Collection – Resources:

 

1. Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.[Kindle Edition]. Corwin. Retrieved from Amazon.ca

My strongest resource helping with learning more on this topic thus far has been Will Richardson’s book: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts (2010).  I have found the ideas that Richardson presents on practical cross-curricular connections through using this medium to be insightful. I am interested in learning more about how the technology could be incorporated within a makerspace to generate full school community use.  Richardson’s chapter explores how podcasting can support Languages, English, Social Studies and Science.  He also makes connections to how teachers, students and administrators can benefit from including this medium to enhance delivery of meetings, presentations and projects.

Some of the drawbacks I am finding with Richardson’s text is due to the date of the book, many of the suggested links are dead and technology has evolved since publication.  I would love to see a book or chapter on this topic with a 2020 perspective.  To find more contemporary topics on this topic, I looked at the UBC collections and discovered a number of journals that touch on elements of my topic.

2. Boggs, G. L., Fendler, R., Shields, S. S., Tripp, L. M., Pengelley, I. R., & Zenkov, K. (2017). Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera?Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy61(2), 213–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1002/jaal.680

A more recent article in my search, “Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera?”, explores how “managing a super saturated environment, where literacy, pedagogy, social justice, programming and social goals” (Boggs, 2017, p. 213) can be integrated in multimedia projects like video, but not take the fun out of the process and learning.  Though this article focuses very specifically on the video making process, I believe there are some takeaways when considering fluid partnerships literacies are interwoven within media.  An interesting takeaway was the consideration for educators to step back and enable students to ‘hold the camera’.  Constricting teens, through unintended forced, shaped perspectives holds back students from developing media literacy.

3. Regan, B. (2008). Why We Need to Teach 21st Century Skills–And How to Do It.MultiMedia & Internet@Schools15(4), 10–13.

This article by Bob Regan explores some of the 21st century literacies Richardson raises in Why School?  The focus of the paper is on how collaborative technologies in a school “contribute to students’ experience of working with people outside of their school” (Regan, 2008, p. 12). Students using multimedia tools for presentations are able to discover the movement of shapes, and images and “find ways to express ideas and explore subjects.”  The article further explains that “students have the opportunity to view and learned from the work of students not just in their class, but worldwide, cultivating a 21st skill of global awareness” (Regan, 2008, p. 12).   Regan refers to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills which offers a framework and resources supporting media literacy.

It is at this exact point in my research that I notice my search had initially veered away from media literacy into the territory of tech inclusion in a library program.  For this assignment, my goal was to try and stay with my key words but get narrower – not to fully segue off.  Regan’s article brought me back to focusing on the connection of media literacy with technology integration.

Media literacy should to be a central educational focus when bringing in multi-media mediums into a classroom and library program. Students need to be taught when creating a moving images, podcasts and vlogs what the “collective impact these images have” (Quijada, A, 2013). One of the Tedx Talk videos I reviewed focuses on teaching students how to deconstruct media to create critical thinkers through media literacy.  This is an essential step that students be exposed to and taught before creating media and subsequently scaffolded during the creation stage.

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(Quijada, A, 2013)

4. Rodesiler, L. (2010). Empowering Students Through Critical Media Literacy: This Means War. Clearing House83(5), 164–167. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1080/00098650903505464

I found a helpful article by Luke Rodesiler (2010) which focuses on teaching students’ techniques to deconstruct messages within media.  Using MAPS (mode, audience, purpose and situation) as a “protocol for Critical Media Analysis” (Rodesiler, 2013).  Some of the ideas that Rodeliser shares pose relatable questions to consider within MAPS and within the context of non-verbal communication as well as through representation and selection.  A downside with this article is the lack of connection to multimedia production.  The focus is more about synthesizing what you have read, viewed, or heard.

5. Tucker-Raymond, E. (09/2016). Making it social: considering the purpose of literacy to support participation in making and engineering.  The Association. doi:10.1002/jaal.583

The article “Making it social,” focuses on the makerspace concept of problem solving through making.  I found that this article has a few supportive elements, but it is very focused exclusively to the making/creating side of education and considering how collaborative sharing and feedback through a process, enables students to learn more within their creating.  Are students posting/sharing throughout the creation process and thereby getting more ideas/questions from their peers.  The assignment isn’t just about the final product but openly demonstrating the process on how a student goes through their learning journey.  Their destination might also not be what they first intended it to be. Their assignment isn’t linear but rather evolves through process – very similar in ideology to the Reading Review assignment we are currently doing.

Concluding thoughts:

 

In my researching, I found that many of the resources cite many other resources that may be helpful for further review such as Regan’s frequent references to the Partnership for 21st Century Learning.  So, as I investigate further with my query, I am happy to see that there a number of resources that I can use for my topic.  Not one singular resource checks all of my boxes, but when combined I am starting to see a bigger picture come together.  Though as I investigate, this work in process shows that there is still much more to be explored, specifically with a contemporary lens.

Works Cited:

 

Boggs, G. L., Fendler, R., Shields, S. S., Tripp, L. M., Pengelley, I. R., & Zenkov, K. (2017). Partnership Literacies: Who’s Got the Camera? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy61(2), 213–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1002/jaal.680

Framework for 21st Century Learning. (2019).   Retrieved from http://static.battelleforkids.org/documents/p21/P21_Framework_Brief.pdf

Quijada, A. (2013). Creating critical thinkers through media literacy: Andrea Quijada at TEDxABQED [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE

Regan, B. (2008). Why We Need to Teach 21st Century Skills–And How to Do It. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools15(4), 10–13.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. [Kindle Edition] Corwin. Retrieved from Amazon.ca

Rodesiler, L. (2010). Empowering Students Through Critical Media Literacy: This Means War. Clearing House83(5), 164–167. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1080/00098650903505464

Thoughtful Learning [image] (n.d). How to Improve Media Literacy.  Retrieved from https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/blogpost/how-improve-media-literacy.

Tucker-Raymond, E. (09/2016). Making it social: considering the purpose of literacy to support participation in making and engineering.  The Association. doi:10.1002/jaal.583

01/23/21

Exploring Digital Technologies within a School Library Program

 

My keyword generation for my first LIBE 477 blog assignment was centered on the use of digital technologies within a school library program. I had a rough idea based on my current teaching assignment of the areas where technology integration in our library program might benefit from me investigating. I work in a secondary school part-time as a teacher-librarian/film teacher.  With the current pandemic and necessity for some courses to ‘go online’ or use a hybrid learning approach, there has been an increased demand from teachers that require technology to record lesson intros, demonstrate interactive video learning tasks, etc.  Our library learning commons has seen so much interest in this area that we have considered increasing our technology expenditures on portable microphones and webcams.

My initial thinking with this assignment and task was to look at how audio tools for recording and editing could be maximized beyond teacher tools but rather be incorporated to our makerspace and promoted within our library program.  My initial inquiry was centered around the question – how can audio technology promote literacy?   Could I create lendable kits that would facilitate producing online learning/teaching resources, podcasting, oral storytelling, video-conferencing, voiceovers, speeches or even radio plays?  Better yet, could I partition some of the existing makerspace to create a controlled acoustic environment like a sound room?  I still think that this is an area I’d like to investigate more, but through my inquiry, I encountered new ideas and there were a number of other keywords that generated my interest.

Keywords Generated:
  • Digital Wellness
  • Digital Literacy
  • Media Literacy
  • Inspiration lab & creation stations
  • Online Library Learning Commons
  • Digital Access

Most of the above keywords have some sort of crossover and all can tie directly to curriculum and a library program. What jumped out to me the most in my searches when integrating technology was the importance of promoting digital wellness.

Digital Wellness emphasizes on the following strands:

  • Well-being – maintaining balance
  • Digital citizenship – fostering “responsible, ethical, honest, and litera(cy) in today’s digital world.” (WOSU, 2021)
  • Etiquette – promoting positive online exchange
  • Safety – safe online practice and protecting what we share.

These ideas can be reinforced throughout projects utilizing technology and beyond.  Our library program works hard to ensure safety and etiquette are incorporated as students navigate within the digital realm, but digital citizenship and well-being are areas that I would like to explore more.

Media Literacy:  promotes critical evaluation, creation and manipulation of media.  As media literacy encompasses a variety of mediums, I would like to learn more about how audio mediums can be used to promote literacy.  Curricular areas such as English, Languages, Social Studies and Drama could benefit from a broader inclusion of audio mediums in the LLC as courses explore topics with spoken language, storytelling, radio plays.

Digital Literacy: “is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process” (Martin, A.,  2005, p. 135).  The broad definition encompasses elements of other keywords on my list such as digital wellness as well as components of media literacy and much more.

Inspiration Lab & Creation Stations: are new terms to me that I discovered in my search about audiovisual elements within a makerspace. Vancouver Public Library offers inspiration labs “dedicated to digital creativity, collaboration and storytelling” (VPL, 2021) and I was very intrigued by their design. Our library learning commons already lends green screens out of our makerspace.  We haven’t tapped into video production, as this is done through our film department.  Though we are looking at acquiring more equipment facilitate videoconferencing and recording on devices, we haven’t looked at this outside of teacher use to facilitate lesson delivery.  The concept of inspiration labs and creation station as part of a makerspace is something I hadn’t fully considered.  Whilst the VPL model is more technologically advanced than what our school community would need, there are elements that can be drawn from this that would elevate a high school makerspace.

Online Library Learning Commons: currently our online profile is the space where students and teachers can go to find the catalogue, encyclopedias and databases.  I am curious how our online presence can be broadened.  From social media usage for community engagement to creating online collaborative workspaces, I feel that there is more within this topic to be explored.  Could there be a landing page for podcasts for example?  Our online library learning commons is very much a search, find, locate and leave space, which differs immensely from our physical space.  An area that I would love to explore is bringing our online space into more alignment with our LLC philosophy that fosters community engagement.

Digital Access: ties into ideas about fostering online community engagement with our LLC.   As technology expands, the ability for all members of our school community to participate digitally must lead our thinking.  I included it as a keyword because the reality of expanding digital technologies might require different ways for lending and even skills-based teaching.  Such as, adjusting open hours to enable access and offering overnight device lending.  Further tutorial/booster sessions might need developing to ensure accessibility and ease of use for new technology to support both staff and students.

Works Cited:

Martin, A. (2005). “DigEuLit – A European Framework for Digital Literacy: A Progress Report.” Journal of E-Literacy. Vol 2.

Media Smarts. (n.d). Digital Literacy Fundamentals.  Retrieved from https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals

Vancouver Public Library. (2021) Inspiration Lab.  Retrieved from https://www.vpl.ca/inspirationlab

WOSU Public Media. (2021) Digital Wellness. Retrieved from https://wosu.org/classroom/digital-wellness/