Assignment 3 OLJ / Evaluative statement

Part A: Evaluative statement

INF506 has clearly improved my abilities and understandings of social media in relation to schools and teacher librarians. Below, three OLJ experiences are examined in the light of the learning objectives of INF506. 

Mandated Digital Citizenry.

This OLJ task shows a well-defined understanding of the impact of social networking technologies, why information policies should be fundamental in organisations, and the issues in a socially networked world. It is made clear that whenever people and social networking come into contact, the opportunity is created to magnify both the positive and negative impacts of natural social behaviour (XPLANE, 2009). Companies are consequently more reliant on individuals policing their own behaviour, but the post clearly states that many people are either ignorant or dismissive of repercussions. “Information policies need to set out ethical boundaries, procedures and protocols, because it’s obvious the general population won’t.” (Wundersitz, 2012).  Schools balancing duty-of-care, cyber-safety issues, and the provision of a rich 21^st century learning education simply must have information policies (Jenkins et.al, 2006).  

The post continues to flesh out social networking issues. It outlines the need for information policies to define and protect the work and personal time of employers and employees as boundaries blur (XPLANE, 2009).  “…what is popular may not necessarily be what we should be paying attention to.  Additionally, if your information policy does not include a presence on social media, you may never enter the consciousness of many actual and potential customers” (Wundersitz, 2012).

Consisting of just over 500 words, this post did not and cannot comprehensively consider all the issues and benefits around social networking policies, or how social networking tools can meet the needs of users. Additionally there is only 1 mention of the benefits that social networking brings to organisations and how these too may be included in a policy. The statistics chosen seem to focus on the negative aspects as opposed to the opportunities.

A-Z of social networking for libraries

This post demonstrated understanding of Library 2.0, and a careful consideration of the informational and collaborative needs of a specific organisation and group of users. As a teacher at the school where the library is located, users, needs and school culture were well appreciated. Informed judgements and critical evaluations of social networking tools were then possible. Local knowledge regarding users, current management issues, existing policies, ethical aspects and the social tools themselves were all deliberated.

An understanding of Library 2.0 is demonstrated. The post shows social networking tools do not automatically endow a Library 2.0 status and that Library 2.0 is more about a shift from librarian-centred towards user-centred (Casey and Savastinuk, 2006). Besides, social media should never be adopted just to increase the amount of technology used, but to enhance the work that needs to be done (Frye et al. 2010).  Knowing that this library, as with most libraries, is not ready for a Library 2.0 shift in thinking or a major adoption of new technologies (Casey and Savastinuk, 2006), the suggestions were non-threatening, achievable, and use technologies already on campus. This shows further matching of user needs and technologies. Several suggestions harness the collaborative and social aspects of social media, making it clear the participatory nature (Schrier, 2011) and user-centeredness of Library 2.0 is understood (Casey and Savastinuk, 2006) including comprehension of social networking technologies.

Again it was impossible to comprehensively evaluate all networking possibilities and to meet all informational needs of users.  Practical experience with some of the suggestions is lacking, meaning they remain theoretical.

Delicious

The post on Delicious shows engagement with and evaluation of a social networking tool to support school needs. It is a frank assessment of Delicious from a social networking rookie and gives an honest picture of challenges and benefits. There is a balanced assessment of the usefulness of Delicious for schools with many practical suggestions. An understanding is shown of the conflict schools face as they are required to engage with Web 2.0 tools (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2010: ACARA, 2012) yet show duty-of-care as students search and engage online (Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., & Weigel, M., 2006): an information policy issue. A nod is given to Library 2.0 with suggestions clearly utilising Delicious as a way of engaging staff and students online, filling a genuine user need, while increasing the inclusive nature of the library.

Some critical analysis occurs regarding the features and functionality of Delicious but time and engagement issues seem to have hampered the exploration of Delicious’ full capabilities.  The main characteristics of Delicious are evaluated thoughtfully even though many issues understandably hampered interaction with Delicious. Additional time and exploration would have given a fuller picture. 

 

Part B: A reflective statement

Effective Teacher Librarians are information professionals (Purcell, 2010) who capably engage in a socially networked environment from a library not confined by physical walls (Hassett, 2007).  INF506’s impact on my development as a socially networked information professional, both now and in the future, follows below.

I have made a significant shift in my position on, understanding of, and skills in social media. The three OLJ tasks do not reflect where I started or the distance covered. I had never engaged with these tools and didn’t see the need to. Starting with no experience or assistance was disabling and technical aspects often hindered my journey. I became overloaded frequently and usually before engaging effectively. My OLJ documents a gradual change in attitude, an increase in confidence, and a slow conversion to social media tools.

As a TL, I will be training staff to use online tools and must remember the anxiety and struggle I had to use them effectively. Introducing innovations is “...a process that is initially discomforting” (Donovan, Hartley & Strudler, 2007. p.276) that needs careful management. I will therefore employ a change management process, such as the Concerns Based Adoption Model (Hall, 1974) to cater for each person’s anxiety around change as well as ensuring they use the innovation at the most beneficial levels possible.   

Blogs, Wikis, and Second Life sent me on a journey of exploration and triggered a critical evaluation of various social media tools for use in primary schools, while utilising the collective knowledge inherent in social networking. Independently locating and evaluating a plethora of wikis, blogs, and corresponding research, I then searched out and established conversations with many school wiki creators: tapping the collective knowledge.  

Discoveries were made that will undeniably meet the information needs of primary schools. Blogs were very accessible for someone with little social media experience (Baumback, 2007; Frye, Trathen & Koppenhaver, 2010). Encouragingly, many blog creators were rookies and saw students blossom (Howard, 2011; Lapp, 2012): a great comfort to one who understood student improvement but not how social media contributed. This knowledge and experience will be extremely useful when working with students and staff trying to meet dual curriculum requirements of using digital technology for inquiry-based learning (ACARA, 2010: ACARA, 2012). Additionally, I now have a bank of contacts for future assistance.

Second Life will be something to watch. Although it is not yet beneficial for libraries or primary schools, it will indisputably develop (Helmer & Learning Light ,2007).  As barriers are lowered educational potential will increase.  One teacher in Northern Beaches Christian School provides inspiration as he sees incredibly and pedagogically valuable results with older students using Second Life (Collis, 2009).

To my great relief, Library 2.0 does not necessarily mean adopting the latest IT or vice versa.  “Even older, traditional services can be Library 2.0 if criteria are met.” (Casey and Savastinuk, 2006).  Thankfully Library 2.0 is about a change in attitude towards a user-centred library, serving users and meeting them at the point of need, as opposed to one set up and designed for librarians. Crowd-sourcing (Wyatt, 2009) is a good Library 2.0 example.   

Being forced to engage with social media has birthed a new idea: it has benefits beyond socialising. Being linked with a global audience allows access to collective knowledge and experience. However, the good, useful, and negative traits of people are also potentially magnified (Hutton, 2007). Students and staff need to understand they are leaving a webtrail and have digital responsibilities (Oatman, 2005). “The challenge is to take full advantage of technology’s educational potential while managing the problems it poses.” (Hutton, 2007, p17). Staff and students will need to be taught these issues and considerations (Oatman, 2005) and it must be based on a strong and practical Information Policy.

As an educator, I will eagerly transmit my discovery: social media tools can unlock the 21^st Century learning skills that teachers and teacher librarians strive to imbue but cannot easily achieve (Albert, 2013). Examples include developing a sense of audience in writing (Prentice, 2012), working collaboratively (Schillinger, 2011), problem solving, inquiry-based learning (Jerles, 2012), digital literacy (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2010) and using those elusive higher order thinking skills (Cruz, 2003). Yet technology should never be used just for technology’s sake (Frye, Trathen, & Koppenhaver, 2010). It needs to fit an educational framework, add benefits beyond traditional methods (Frye et.al, 2010), and always approached in the light of digital responsibilities (Hutton, 2007).  All important concepts I will communicate in my role as TL.

There is still so much to learn. As an effective TL, a perpetual learning curve (Herring 2011) and consistent professional development around digital advances (Marcoux 2009) will be routine. I am far better equipped but am still below par and need to engage in the life-long learning process that I will preach myself.

My social media journey has launched. Although still in its infancy, my feet are firmly on the path to building a library and delivering an education worthy of our socially networked age.

 

References

Albert, R. (2013) Deeper learning: defining twenty-first century literacy. In Edutopia.  Retrieved 2^nd February from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/twenty-first-century-literacy-deeper-learning-rebecca-alber

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2010) General Capabilities: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability. In The Australian Curriculum. Retrieved 12^th January 2013 from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Introduction/Introduction

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2012) Draft shape of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies. Retrieved 12^th January 2013 from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Draft_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_Technologies_paper_-_March_2012.pdf

Baumback, D. (2007). Here a blog, there a blog, everywhere a weblog. In Florida Media Quarterly, 32 (2), 11-15

Casey, M. and Savastinuk, L. (2006) Service for the next-generation library. In Library Journal.  Retrieved 14^th December 2012 from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html

Collis, S. (2009) Practical examples of using a virtual 3D environment for learning in high school.  Retrieved 26^th January 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-oeCkBbwWo

Cruz, E. (2003). Bloom's revised taxonomy. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved February 13, 2008, from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/bloomrev/start.htm 

De Rosa, C., Cantrell, J., Havens, A., Hawk, J. & Jenkins, L. (2007). Sharing privacy and trust in our networked world: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC. [ebook] Available http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/sharing.pdf

Donovan, L., Hartley, K. & Strudler, N. (2007). Teacher Concerns During Initial Implementation of a One-to-One Laptop Initiative at the Middle School Level. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 39 (3), 263-286

Frye, E. Trathen, W. Koppenhaver, D. (2010) Internet workshop and Blog publishing: Meeting student (and teacher) learning needs to achieve best practice in the twenty-first-century social studies classroom. Social Studies (1)101, 46-53.

Hall, G. (1974) The Concerns-Based Adoption Model: A developmental conceptualisation of the adoption process within educational institutions. Retrieved March 25 from http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED111791.pdf

Hassett, B. (2007) Playing with Legos in the Sandbox and Other Uses for a Library. Library Media Connection November/December p.24-26

Helmer, J. & Learning Light (2007). Second life and virtual worlds.  Retrieved 3^rd February 2013 from http://www.norfolkelearningforum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/virtual-worlds_ll_oct_2007.pdf

Herring, J. (2007). ‘Teacher librarians and the school library’ In Ferguson, S ed, Libraries in the 21^st century: charting new directions in information services. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW

Howard, M. (2011) Not an unfeasible “extra”: Blogging helps elementary students communicate and reflect on their science. Science and Children, 49(4), 32-35.

Hutton, T. (2007) Blogging for Columbine. American School Board Journal. 194(7), 14-17.

Jerles, J. (2012). Blogging in Elementary school: why, how and what teachers can do to encourage writing. National Teacher Education Journal 5 (3), 85-88.

Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A.J., & Weigel, M. (2006).  Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Retrieved 27^th January 2013 from http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Lapp, D. (2012) “Blogging helps your ideas come out”. California Reader, 46 (1) 14-20.

Marcoux, E. (2009). Intellectual access to information: the teacher-librarian as facilitator. Teacher Librarian, 36(5), 76-78

Oatman, E. (2005) Blogomania! School Library Journal, 51(8), 36-39.

Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3), 30-33

Prentice, S. (2012) Improving writing through blogging. NATE Classroom, 3(18), 24-26.

Schillinger, T. (2011) Blurring boundaries: Two groups of girls collaborate on a wiki. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 54 (6), 403-413. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.54.6.2

Schrier, R. A. (2011). Digital librarianship & social media: the digital library as conversation facilitator, D-Lib Magazine, 17(7/8) July/August 2011. Retrieved 27^th January from http://dlib.org/dlib/july11/schrier/07schrier.html

Wyatt, N. (2009). Redefining RA: The ideal tool (Large-scale tagging projects outside libraries put users at the center and offer a model for readers' advisory). Library Journal, (15 October). Retrieved 26^th January from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6700362.html?industryid=47126

XPLANE (2009) Did you know? Retrieved 27^th January from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

Spanish teacher and her Wiki

Below are the replies  I received from a teacher who had set up a Wiki in Spain for her students.  I had asked her about her experiences, challenges and joys.

December 30^th 2012

I'd be glad to help. I find your research very interesting and useful. I don't know about Australia but here in Spain teachers are still very reluctant to use ICTs in class and don't find it useful for students. They still focus on the boring textbook.
I discovered the wikis on a course on ICT's for teachers. This is my first wiki.

My wiki started last year with a group of students (15 years old). They were bad students, not only in English but also in behaviour and I thought that maybe this would motivate them. At first it was very difficult to focus them on writing the wiki as they kept on logging on facebook or checking out their emails.

But then they started to work on the wiki and begged me to keep going to the computer room. I asked them to write the grammar parts and vocabulary of the units (which are not present in the wiki you can see now as I've hidden these pages). Their behaviour improved and so did their grades.

I had to re-write some passages correcting spelling and grammar mistakes and added some pictures.

This year it's a little bit different. I teach adults who cannot attend classes everyday so I'm writing the wiki myself so they can follow the classes. They've told me that they find it very useful because this way they can follow the classes and answer their doubts. If you want, I can ask them to write their opinion on the wiki but as you can see on "DEBATE" their written English is poor. Maybe I could add a debate page where they could write their opinions.

Let me know if you need any more help. I'll be glad to answer all your questions.

Jan 3rd 2013

My name is Paula Crespo Martínez and I am teaching at IES Enrique Tierno Galván in Parla (Madrid). I am an English Teacher. (IES Enrique Tierno Galván. Avda Juan Carlos I, 12. Parla 28981 (Madrid) Tlf.: 916 981 111)

Step by step!

How did you find the collaboration between your students? Was it obvious, not obvious?

I found that two people cannot edit the same page at the same time. So to solve this, I had them work in pairs or groups of 3-4 and while one group wrote the grammar part, other looked for grammar exercises or wrote their own sentences, others wrote the vocabulary and so on. Then, we switched tasks and have ones correct the grammar or change or add something, others write sentences with the vocabulary words...

Did you have to set out expectations regarding collaboration or how many times they contributed to the wiki?

Not much really, it was my first time working with wikis so it was like an experiment. They hadn't worked in the computer room before so it was new for both the students and me. I asked them to be participative and told them that if they worked on the wiki we could visit the computer room regularly. To be honest, I also told them that we'd visit the computer room if they behaved properly in class, so visiting the computer room was like a prize for them.

Were there any things you did in the classroom prior to starting the wiki to get the students used to collaborating face-to-face before expecting them to collaborate online?

I'm not sure if this answers your question (if it doesn't, let me know). In class I often made them work in pairs or in small groups to do the exercises because this way, they helped each other and solve each other's doubts (collaborative learning). We also did some contests and they needed to work in group. So in the computer room it was more or less the same (once I got them to work ;-) )

Did some students take the lead and others sit back? How equal were the contributions?

It was difficult to have them work equally as some students tried to have their partner do all the hard work, but more or less they worked in pairs. For example one typed and then both of them decided what to type. The contributions were pretty equal as they worked in class and not at home. But I had to keep an eye on them all the time.

Was it enough to communicate though the wiki or did they still need other ways to communicate, such as talking face-to-face, Facebook, or ordinary emails?
We still communicated in class. The wiki was to reflect what was taught in class so they could have their own "textbook" written by students for students and with all the vocabulary of each unit in one page. (The textbook had a short list of vocabulary and they had to expand it). I taught the grammar in class (sometimes even with the help of the Interactive Digital Whiteboard!) and followed the textbook. Once we finished the unit we went to the computer lab to write the wiki.

Yes, I think the teacher's preparation is an important part, but I think it's more important that the teacher has the courage to work them in class. I hadn't use wikis before I did this one. When you learn about ICTs is when you apply them in class with your students because it is only this way when you get to know which works better with a particular group of students. So that's why I think that the teachers' attitude is more important than the training. If you learn about blogs, wikis, webquests, treasure hunts and so on, but then you don't use them in class, what's the point?

The problem is often that teachers see the text book as the safe way and more comfortable. It's true, I couldn't imagine that having 20 teenagers in the computer room was going to be so tiring! They are asking things all the time, you have to solve the problems they may face and also be sure that they focus on what you've asked.

What surprised me was that eventhough they were teenagers and were supposed to be "digital natives" they had little idea of how to use search engines correctly (for example using " " ), give format to a word document or even create a wikispaces account. My idea was to get them to use glogster as well but to do so I would have needed lots of hours to teach them how to use it. So I needed to teach them how to use the wiki and edit it and give them some tips to use google. They even often forgot to hit the save button! So they are not as digital natives as we think...

It didn't even cross my mind that I had to ask for permission. Eventhough the wiki is a public space the name of the authors or any other personal data is not revealed. I forbade them to post their photos because I do know that for posting images of minors I need to get their parents' permission.

If yoy still have doubts about these questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them better.

I'll be glad to answer (or at least try) all your questions.

Good luck

 

A reply from a Wiki creator

Here is a reply I received from a Wiki creator during my investigation into the use of Wikis in schools:


Hi Emma,

Happy to help. I'm a big advocate of the Wiki as I am of any technology that motivates kids and helps them do things in new, meaningful ways. I tend to put my energy into more open-ended and non-linear programs that allow kids to tackle problems in different ways, and the Wiki suits my purposes really well.

I think the obvious and crucial point I'd want to make for your research is that the Wiki is just a tool, a really good one in my opinion, but at the end of the day it's up to the desire / skill / interest level of the teacher if they want to make it work for them. For some it really suits them to have their kids blog online, others prefer to write more traditionally in a journal...each to their own.

 But can it be a tool that increases student collaboration and motivation? Absolutely. Can it lead to improved learning outcomes? The evidence I've seen is very much so.

I've used the free Wikipaces for educators site for years. It's great but has certain limitations especially in terms of security which is really important. When I came to my current school I convinced the boss to subscribe to it school-wide. Meaning that not only is our school website 'Wikified' (which has good and bad points) we have the ability to make sub-Wikis for each class as well as a staff section, Digital Daybook, Library page, Music page, sports and special interest groups etc. I set it up and I guess am most responsible for managing it as a whole, but effectively it runs itself, with teachers managing their own Wikis.

And like I said before, some teachers are more interested in that than others. I would say with confidence that I am probably the teacher who uses it most interactively with students, it's part of my every day teaching. Students all have their own space and contribute to it, individually and collaboratively, regularly. Other teachers use it in a variety of meaningful ways such as uploading student work and communicating with parents. And others use it sparingly if at all.

I use it for setting homework and sharing units of work - I can embed clips, add worksheets, post assessment rubrics, share resources etc - which parents really appreciate being able to see so visibly. My students work in teams on various weekly tasks, one of which is to create a weekly class newsletter on the wiki - again, being able to add all the interactive elements they really love gets them very motivated. In the week leading up to Christmas I was going to shelve the weekly newsletter due to time constraints but the group whose turn it was was so angry they did it anyway, mostly in their own time (as it happens it didn't get finished - told you so! - but I couldn't fault their motivation!)

My class has a book blog in which they review books they have read - this was a very simple way to introduce them to collaborating on the wiki and it's the one that seems to get most readily embraced by other teachers. We record and post podcasts to our wiki - it has been great doing these this year in Canada and sharing them with my exchange teacher back home. He did the same with his kids so there has been a bit of international collaboration this year.

I've been in a comparatively technologically backward school in Canada this year so my class wiki has been a bit lame but you can have a look at welborne.marryatvilleps.wikispaces.net. The  most recent thing we've been working on is a music project in which the students had to collaboratively make a wiki page on a musical genre and make and embed a music video to reflect that genre. To be honest it's been a bit rushed and is not quite finished but some of the have turned out quite well. I have much better examples to show you but right now that's freshest in my mind

Each student has their own password-protected space where they complete a mix of compulsory and optional tasks. If we're doing a project or homework, I usually give the option of doing it on the wiki. Not all kids do - some are more interested than others, some don't have as much internet access at home as others... But those who get into it really take things to another level. The kids who are creative and motivated anyway really like exploring other applications that plug in to the Wiki such as Glogster, Prezi and Wallwisher and some of the stuff they come up with blows my mind. At the same time, many of the kids who you couldn't get to lift a pen in class if you paid them, really respond to the immediacy and interactivity that the wiki affords them. I have seen plenty of evidence - anecdotally, from work samples and from parent feedback - to show improved motivation and literacy outcomes from many students from different parts of the academic spectrum.

And of course we have gallery pages where we can show student work and school events - a window into the class which parents really appreciate. This along with the book blog is one of the first jumping off points for teachers starting out with the wiki. I guess they are comfortable with the idea of book reviews and displaying work in class so it comes naturally. Mrs Cann and her Year 1-2 class is a really good example of a teacher using the wiki effectively in a way that suits her purposes 2012cann.marryatvilleps.wikispaces.net

I'm on the road at the moment and struggling to write this on a tablet but I'm happy to keep answering questions and provide better links to some examples of good wiki use. I even have a power point somewhere of a presentation about Wikis I did at a computer conference not too long ago - I'll have to dig it out. Hope some of this has been helpful!

Feel free to keep in touch,

Best wishes,
Brad

A foray into the world of Wikis

Earlier in this subject I started researching the use of Wikis in education which I would like to document as an example of my digital journey.

I became interested in November 2012 in how teachers were using Wikis with students and for what reasons.  It began with a trawl of the internet for Wikis used with primary school students.  I wanted quality examples and so filtered accordingly.  Here is a bit of a summary of what I found and who I contacted.

I learnt quite a bit.

Wikis I found and things I learnt

Kelly Jordan and Kathleen Morris  

Leopold Primary school Victoria

I found these ladies very early on and contacted them, only to be told their pages were blogs and not Wikis.  How embarrassing.  But a learning experience for me.

 Natalie Bernasconi. 

One of the co-creators of Digital-ID.  Emailed 30^th December 2012 through gmail but not reply. No direct email.

St Francis Xavier Community school

Canadian, Manitoba. Despite emails there were no replies. 

paulaenglisheso. 

English for ESO andBachillerato. Could not find a name for teachers on the wiki so I  sent a request to join the wiki late December.  She emailed me back and told me that there is a space in wikispaces where you can email the wiki creators – I didn’t know that! She was very willing to share and her replies are included this blog - "Spanish Teacher and her Wiki", posted above on Wednesday 6th February 2013.

Brad Edwards – Canadian exchange teacher

A teacher from South Australia on exchange in Canada.  He had set up a partnership wiki – one in Canada and one with his home school and exchange partner in Australia. After searching for the creator of the Wiki and locating his email address on his Australian school site, I emailed Brad and he was most happy to share his experiences and knowledge.  Most of his reply is included in this blog - "A reply from a wiki creator" posted above on February 6th 2013.

Web evolution: from 1.0 to 3.0

This is a nice little video that explains the difference between those mysterious numbers that get assigned to the Web : Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.  Its interesting to note the development and future predictions for the Web.  Living in these times and watching it develop is exciting.

 

 

 

And just for comparison, here is a clip from a 1969 video and its predictions regarding how the computers will be used in the future.  Although the equipment is very bulky, some of the concepts are bang-on.  Makes you think that if many of those predictions have come to fruition, what will Web 4.0 look like?

 



Online Sticky Notes

Found a great social networking tool that caters for the lower end of primary (that can get left out): PrimaryWall.  It’s a web-based sticky note tool where students and teachers can create or edit virtual sticky notes in real time.  The simplicity is probably one of the advantages as it there would be a very short introductory period for both the students and the teacher.  It would be a great tool for younger students to gather and save ideas and would scaffold their progression into the inquiry-based learning now required in the new Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2010; ACARA, 2012). There are a number of lesson ideas listed on the website so teachers can get straight into using PrimaryWall.  I can see that TLs culd use it as a visual resource list around a topic as well.  There is a slight cost but it is very low.

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2010) General Capabilities: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability. In The Australian Curriculum. Retrieved 2^nd February 2013 from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Introduction/Introduction

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2012) Draft shape of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies. Retrieved 12^th January 2013 from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Draft_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_Technologies_paper_-_March_2012.pdf

Primary Technology. (2012). Home. In PrimaryWall. Retrieved 2^nd February 2013 from    http://primarywall.com/

Easing the way

One thing I have struggled with during INF506 is quite a level of anxiety about using new online tools.  Also, I have found that although I have engaged with these tools, it has taken quite a long time to use them effectively or understand their practical applications. 

This led me to another thought.  As a TL I will be introducing online tools to staff and working with staff in PD sessions.  Undoubtedly, they too will experience anxiety and low levels of use as I did.  I need to remember this and find ways to ease the way so that staff can both use the tool effectively and not be hampered by apprehension. 

How wonderful to therefore find out that there are research tested systems that have been proven to reduce both the discomfort around innovations and increase their effective use, such as the Concerns Based Adoption Model (Hall, 1974).  This model is a practical series of levels that deal simultaneously with each participant’s Stages of Concern  (SEDL, 2012b) while simultaneously moving staff through increasing Levels of Use (SEDL, 2012c). It also ensures new innovations are used at the most beneficial levels possible through Innovation Configuration (SEDL, 2012a). 

I have become very familiar with CBAM and have saved many resources that I know I can use when I become a TL. 

 

Hall, G. (1974) The Concerns-Based Adoption Model: A developmental conceptualisation of the adoption process within educational institutions. Retrieved March 25 from http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED111791.pdf

SEDL (2012) Introduction to the Concerns-Based Adoption Model.  In Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM).  Retrieved 2^nd February 2013 from http://www.sedl.org/cbam/videos.cgi?movie=Intro

SEDL (2012) Stages of Concern.  In Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM).  Retrieved 2^nd February 2013 from http://www.sedl.org/cbam/videos.cgi?movie=SoC

SEDL (2012) Levels of Use.  In Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM).  Retrieved 2^nd February 2013  from http://www.sedl.org/cbam/videos.cgi?movie=LoU

OLJ task - Delicious

I have engaged with Delicious for the first time as a result of INF506.  As brand new to social bookmarking, Delicious was not user friendly, a sentiment echoed by others (Tyler, 2010).  It threw up a lot of barriers that were not easily solved and needed a lot of initial time investment to get decent benefits. Although the organisation and tagging of links was very helpful, this was overwhelmed by the amount of unrewarded effort required to access the features. The email verification system was problematic. Once that was fixed by Delicious, I found a problem with following or checking my followers. I am sure that more time interacting with Delicious would result in a much higher benefit to effort ratio. However reluctance quickly developed around clicking anywhere new or exploring beyond the known.

Once past the initiation period, there are advantages for schools. It has the potential to be used as a topic pathfinder or comprehensive resource list for students where they are given access to safe and appropriate sites for research on topics. This would both increase student online safety while supporting the current curriculum requirements to conduct inquiry-based lessons using digital technology (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2010: ACARA, 2012).  Having access to an organised online set of bookmarks is a boon as students will rarely be on the same computer.  This opens up the possibility of students accessing resources from home and for homework. Delicious could be as an alternative reading list and reduce concerns around school bag weight.  School libraries could create resource lists for staff or students, or classify resources according to type (audio, video, graphic) by adding tags (Dixon, n.d.) or even crowd sourcing (Tay, 2009) to increase the participatory nature of the library (Schrier, 2011).

Teachers can harness the collective wisdom of other educators as they have access to comments, tip and traps regarding Web 2.0 tools and other resources before visiting any of the sites. Being able to narrow a tag search by using the tag filter usefully targets and refines searching. Multiple tagging is very useful as resources often fit into more than one category. The fact Delicious suggests tags means you are given the option to immediately be in line with what is already available. However it is essential to remember that as there are no standard for tag structures, and this leaves the door open to miss-tagging in areas such as capitalisation, spelling, and just plain misinterpretation of websites.

 

References

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2010) General Capabilities: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability. In The Australian Curriculum. Retrieved 12^th January 2013 from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Introduction/Introduction

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2012) Draft shape of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies. Retrieved 12^th January 2013 from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Draft_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_Technologies_paper_-_March_2012.pdf

Dixon, A. (n.d.) Social Bookmarking. In SVEA Project. Retrieved 30^th January from http://www.svea-project.eu/fileadmin/_svea/downloads/Social_Bookmarking_02.pdf

Schrier, R. A. (2011). Digital librarianship & social media: the digital library as conversation facilitator, D-Lib Magazine, 17(7/8) July/August 2011. Retrieved 27^th January from http://dlib.org/dlib/july11/schrier/07schrier.html

Tay, A. (2009). Libraries and crowdsourcing – 6 examples. In Library 2.0.  Retrieved 31^st January from http://www.library20.com/profiles/blogs/libraries-and-crowdsourcing-6

Tyler, J. (2010). 2.0 – Advantages and Disadvantages of the “delicious” method.  In What the cool people know.  Retrieved 20^th January 2013 from http://whatthecoolpeopleknow.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/20-advantages-and-disadvantages-of.htmlI)

Good reasons for information policies

This reading gave me a better idea why organisations need information policies:

Bryson, J. (2007). Chapter 10: Policy making. Managing information services: A transformational approach (pp/125-130). Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate e-Book. [ebook]

 We need policies around accessing and using information because basically it can be used for evil as well as good.  And companies can get bad publicity out of it – as in the UK phone hacking scandal.  Plus companies need them as a set of guidelines to follow in certain situations.

In a nutshell information policies should:

·         solve a problem or recurring problem at an organisational level.

·         provide guidance in decision making – just consult the policy!

·         ensure consistency – are we presenting a consistent face to the public? Are we all doing the same things?

·         declare where the company stands on issues

·         clarify company values or intentions

·         grant rights and entitlements

·         set out expectations

·         make commitments

It’s not a “set and forget” thing.  You have to have an ongoing process.  Things change, situations arise, repositioning of organisations occurs.