We’ve Moved a Few Things Around
Introduction
When talking to my own children, I remind them that within my life's memory, I would drive to the bank to access my money, drive to a store to buy records and CDs, rent movies at a store dedicated solely to that purpose. And I’m only 37 years old! The pace of technological advancement has accelerated and I can only imagine the range of change the students of today will experience in their lifetimes.
The internet has opened the world to possibilities unheard of back in the 1980s. I can now order groceries, liquor, furniture, toys and other items to be delivered directly to my home through my smartphone. I can play cards online with people I’ve never met, I can read books on line which define unfamiliar words for me as I read, I can find my soulmate on a dating site, a house on Kijiji, or a roommate on Facebook market.
According to Statistics Canada, as of 2018, “nearly 84% of Internet users [are] buying goods or services online” (2019). It seems logical then that the reference section in our libraries would also be impacted by this transformational tool called the internet and that it would change how we access information. It is in fact, our responsibility to respond to the changes in our world and adapt the reference section to meet these new challenges – however quickly they come and how often we must adapt our resources and teaching practices.
https://ifunny.co/picture/we-ve-moved-a-few-things-around-travel-books-are-m5JOdhJ98
Current State of Digital Reference Collection
The library at the elementary school in which I work, has been slow to embrace these changes. My predecessor had some technology skills but were very compartmentalized as he knew a lot about coding, enjoyed making websites and spent time teaching students how to use specific kits such as Sphero and Snap circuits. Referencing the SAMR model, I would qualify his acceptance of technology as substitution or augmentation.
Our school division offers a password protected portal to each school in the division. This portal is accessible only to students who attend that school (or realistically, accessible to their parents if they are too young to navigate the portal themselves.) Under the Library Links section of the portal, there are currently 8 websites listed. Based on my visits into the classrooms earlier this year, I can say with confidence that students were unaware of the presence of these reference links, nor did they know how to confidently navigate the divisional site to find these useful library links.
A Growing Need for These Changes:
Seeing as all Manitoba schools are now in code orange many changes have impacted the library and the ability for students to access the reference sections. For one, I have been temporarily re-assigned to grade 1 and grade 2 classrooms and no longer plan collaboratively with my colleagues nor visit their classrooms to work with their students on information gathering and evaluating skills. Furthermore, the library has been transformed into a classroom and the shelves have literally been covered over with tablecloths to stop one specific student from pulling books off the shelves (her specialty when upset). This has had the result of severely limiting my ability to access books in general and the reference section in particular. Finally, with a current positivity rate of 14% in the city of Winnipeg, it is becoming more likely that schools will soon go remote in a code red situation which would further remove the students from physically accessing resource materials.
It is therefore with great urgency, that I have decided to improve the Library Links section of our school portal to become a digital reference resource open to all students through the internet. I see this as a complimentary offering and a way in which the school library can support students when, if rumors are to be believed, they go to code red remote learning after the winter break. I have included a chart below which summarizes the websites previously listed under the heading Library Links as well the list of recommendations for a new resources that I will submit to my administrator for immediate approval. Please note that the list appears alphabetically on the internet but for the sake of comparison does no in the table below. Also, for the sake of privacy, I've included generic (username/password) to indicate where log in information is provided on the portal but has been censored for the purposes of this blog post.
Proposed Changes to Library Links:
Old Library Links | New Library Links |
Britannica Image Quest | |
Britannica School | Britannica School (Encyclopedia & Dictionary) |
Criterion Pictures (teachers) | Criterion Pictures (teacher) |
| Criterion Pictures (student)(username/password) |
Destiny Library System | |
Google | |
National Film Board (teachers) | |
TeachingBooks.net | |
Tumble Books | |
Kiddle (Search Engine) | |
Plan for Implementation
Riedling reminds her readers that “transforming the reference section of the library into a 21st-century learning space will include developing easy access to technology” (2019, p.108) and so I would like to acknowledge that having a list of websites is only the first step towards ensuring students learning at home have the technology they require to make use of these online reference resources. Seeing as ensuring that every student has internet access and a device through which to navigate the web is outside of my control, I will focus my efforts on providing the most authoritative and free reference materials I can.
The first step for my redevelopment plan to succeed is to secure approval from the principal. In our meeting I will explain my reasoning for the inclusion of these sites and outline their usefulness to students studying from home. In the past, we have not seen eye to eye about the purpose of these quick links and she has expressed concerns about “anyone on the internet” using passwords and accessing information under our school account. I will have to be careful to explain with tact that since our portal is password protected, only students associated with our school have access to this information and that rogues on the internet making ill use of our passwords seems like an unlikely scenario.
I wish to highlight to her as well that providing students with quick links simplifies the information finding process and reduces barriers as younger students need not have as many typing or search engine skills to find useful, teacher-approved websites. It is also of use to parents who are being asked to use websites such as Dreambox and Reading A to Z for math and English programs. Finding the school-specific access on the internet involves typing in a lengthy website addresses and the inclusion of a link on our portal would reduce the stress of accessing these important paid resources on a daily basis.
Once my principal is onboard and the changes are made public, I will send out an immediate email to my colleagues encouraging them to peruse the new websites added to the Library Links along with a quick document summarizing what each website offers. This email will also include a helpful step-by-step instruction list that teachers can follow to access the Library Links and share with parents. If passwords and usernames are required to access the website, they have been included beside each link using the following format: (username/password).
Finally, I will also encourage them to spend a bit of time sharing these new links with their students and carefully modeling how to find the library links in the portal so that they can make use of these resources confidently from their homes or through technology in their classrooms. In the past, I would model this step myself for the students, but seeing as my schedule has been gutted and that I no longer am free to visit each grade, I will have to rely on the cooperation of my colleagues to communicate this vital information. Although I don’t have formal time to meet with teachers, I will informally check in with each in person and see if they have found success or need some additional support.
Evaluating Success
The success of this plan will be difficult to quantify, but I think my informal conversations with my colleagues will illuminate whether they are using this resource. If the feedback is mainly that they have not shared this information with students and parents, I may ask permission from my admin to email parents directly to highlight these digital reference options as they would be of benefit to the students in their at-home learning. Hopefully this step will not be necessary as my colleagues see the benefit of having reference resources at your fingertips.
Furthermore, I would like to include the voices of the teachers. After a couple of weeks of implementing these changes, I will send an email inviting teachers to suggest other websites they would like to have included in our list. These would be evaluated using the following criteria before being formally added to the Library Links section of the portal.
Authoritative Source on the Subject(s) | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
Engaging/Ad free visual layout | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
Level of Reading Appropriate for Elementary | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
Price of Access | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
My hope is that we can collaborate to create the most useful digital reference resources possible for the students at our school. I will also reach out to our divisional teacher librarians, offering to share my list and asking if they would consider sharing the lists they host on their school’s portals. Since each school’s portal is password protected, I have no way of viewing their lists without their permission and I hope that by offering up my digital reference resource list as an act of goodwill, others will respond in kind.
Conclusion
The internet is not going anywhere, and sadly, COVID19 seems to be destined to stay with us for a while longer as well. I am grateful to have access to the revolutionary tool that is the internet during this difficult teaching time and plan to use it to its maximum potential in supporting the learning of the students from my school.
In summary, the current situation of teaching during a pandemic is requiring our libraries to adjust in how they meet the learning needs of students. The Ontario School Library Association reminds us that “The Learning Commons must be fluid: it must grow and evolve with school needs, emerging technologies and global realities” (2010, p.40). As we adapt to the changes around us, the reference resources must reflect those changes in student research needs and expectations for digital availability. In other words, and as the first comic of this article illustrates so well, teacher librarians must be prepared to ‘move a few things around’.
References:
Duckworth, Sylvia. The 4 Stages of EdTech – The SAMR Model for Technology Integration. Retrieved on November 28, 2020 from: https://lingomedia.com/stages-of-edtech-the-samr-model-for-technology-integration/
Ontario School Library Association. (2010). Retrieved from Leading Learning (2014, p.22)
Riedling, A. & Houston, C. (2019). Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips (4th ed.) [eBook edition]. Libraries Unlimited.
Statistics Canada. Online Shoping in Canada, 2018. (2019). Retrieved on November 19, 2020 from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-28-0001/2018001/article/00016-eng.htm
We’ve Moved a Few Things Around. Retrieved on November 22, 2020 from https://ifunny.co/picture/we-ve-moved-a-few-things-around-travel-books-are-m5JOdhJ98
Luisa T.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your post. I think your students will find the links incredibly valuable and easily accessible. I like how you lay out how you will have your ideas approved by your admin team. I think that it is important for non-librarians like me to remember that a successful school library/LLC follows a team approach- as discussed in the Leading Learning document.
Luisa T.
Hello Suzanne,
ReplyDeleteI think you are right when you say resources are moving to become more digital and online. It is our job to make sure the sites we use are relevant, unbiased, and easy to navigate. I think you did a great job in providing some links and websites for your students to use an explore.
Some questions I am still wondering about as currently I am not a working teacher librarian:
Is your next step to work on building a learning commons?
When it comes to adding new resources to the library who is apart of the discussions?
How do you know what the needs of teachers in your school are?