Internet Skills Framework

This week’s lesson focused on literacy goals and the research model.  We looked at four different research models and needed to think about which one would we would be most likely to use.  I posted that I would most likely use the BCTLA’s Research Quest.  First of all, I like that it is local.  I also like that there are 5 steps in the research process and all of them have student-friendly language.  Although many of the stages are similar to the Big6 model, I liked the language of “Communicate” rather than “Synthesis” for presenting the information.  I also preferred “Reflection” to “Evaluation” for the last stage of the process.  I think that students reflecting on their process and product is a better term than evaluating.  Students need to think about what they learned and what they could do differently next time.  I’m afraid that “Evaluation” would just have them thinking about judging the final product. 

Others posted about how poorly they’ve seen a research project used.  They’ve seen students just given a topic and sent to the computer lab to research it.  Of course they just type the topic into Google and then try to filter the results.  I agreed with them that this is not how student should be taught to research and they need to to be explicitly taught how to research and that it doesn't just involve typing the topic or subtopic into Google.  I liked one of my classmate’s ideas of requiring the students to use a minimum of six reference materials for their project.  Students must be taught, though, how to use each of these reference materials and then how to synthesize the information in order for it to be effective.

At my school, I believe that there is a need to promote an “Information Skills Framework” .  In the upper grades (Grade 6-12), there is an IT teacher who teaches some of these skills, alongside the other subject-based teachers.  In the lower grades (K-5), it is up to each individual homeroom teacher to teach the skills and nothing has been formally mandated by the school.

In order to accomplish this, we would have to change how our library and TL is used.  Currently each class from K-5 goes to library once a week, while their homeroom teacher has a prep.  There is little collaboration between the homeroom teacher and the TL and so library becomes a time for book exchange and story time.

I believe that the TL and the library would be better used if homeroom teachers collaborated with the TL to come up with and teach information literacy lessons together.  This means that teachers would come to the library with their class and that these classes would be coordinated with what was happening in the classroom.  In order for this to happen though, the library would have to upgrade its technology as well.  There are currently only two computers in the library, but we have a MAC cart with many laptops which could be brought in for some of these lessons. 

Terms and Definitions

When I first signed up for the course online, UBC did not include a description for the course.  I thought that the course was going to be about technology in the library.  After reading the course outline, I realize that I was mistaken.  This course is about library information services and reference materials.  Although it appears that there will definitely be many connections to how technology is incorporated into this topic. 

I am looking forward to this course because I do not have much knowledge on the reference material in our current school library. I am new to the school this year and teach grade 1.  I have never looked for encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, or other fact sources at our library.  My goal of the next week is to go into our school library and see what reference materials we have and if there is both elementary and high school appropriate materials because our school is K-12. 

This week our lesson involved an introduction to the topic and reading some glossary words.  There were some words that I had never heard of (Gazeteer) and many that piqued my interest.  In the discussion area I wrote about a few that I found interesting.

Reference Interview-Although this is something TL’s obviously do on a daily basis, it was interesting to read that it had its own term and definition.

Scope-I think I was drawn to this because I teach grade 1 and often find it difficult in our school library to find interesting sources with 6-year olds as the intended readers (not listeners) of the information. 

Big6 Information Problem-Solving Model: Our school is going to begin implementing the IB primary years programme soon and I am interested to know how this model may work within that framework.

Selection Policy- I’m interested to know if my school has an official policy, or what the process is for our TL to purchase new resources.

I was also interested in the differences between Bibliographic Instruction and Information Literacy.  Information Literacy is a term that we often use in education these days, but I had never heard of Bibliographic Instruction.  From the definitions, it seemed that Bibliographic Instruction mostly involved locating and using the materials, while Information Literacy involved not only locating and using the materials, but comprehending and evaluating the information as well. 

Another student in the class, Kyla, asked this very question.  She wanted to know how the terms were related and whether they were mutually exclusive or they were two different terms that meant the same thing.  Our instructor, Anne, replied to her and it turns out that Bibliographic Instruction was a term coined many years ago and was mainly about teaching library patrons how to use the library and how to use Library of Congress classification system.  Information Literacy is the more modern comprehensive term which is used to describe how to teach library patrons to “access, comprehend, use and evaluate information” (Reidling, Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips, 2^nd ed.  p. 134).  Can't wait to learn more!

Introduction

Hi!  My name is Brooke Lowden.  I am currently teaching grade one at an independent school in Vancouver, but am hoping to one day become a teacher-librarian.  Before this year, I had spent the past seven years teaching various grades (3-7) at independent schools in North Vancouver.  This blog is part of a course that I am completing in order to continue my journey towards finishing my diploma and becoming a TL.  The blog will contain my reflections about the course content over the next several weeks.