Webinars:
I have to say that I agree with what I've been seeing in my cohort's posts - the chat feature in the webinar platform often led down unrelated or irrelevant pathways instead of deeper discussion of the issues the webinars were addressing. Also, thank goodness for teammates who can watch the chat box while you're presenting - never have I had it driven home so clearly that I am abysmal at multitasking. I have to say that the webinar was actually a pretty cool experience, but with an amount of time that short, you've really got to think about what you want to get across and make sure all of your underlying notions are expressed, which I failed at, but I've learned my lesson for next time. The webinars I watched were really informative and interesting, but I doubt I did them justice in my interactions - I have been running on empty lately. Anyhow, good job everybody!
Professional Development Readings:
I found the ideas expressed in the readings this week to be engaging and interesting. (Though the comments in Blowers & Reed about how useful it was to learn to clean a mouse took me by surprise.) The principle, however, is timeless, even if the subject matter isn't. The idea of more self-motivated professional development really appeals to me, especially the notion of tailoring your program to your specific strengths and weaknesses. I have to say, I like that idea much more than the more traditional one-size-fits-all "Who Moved My Cheese?" style PD sessions. The Fusion program described by Semadeni definitely seems more empowering and useful than traditional PD efforts, and its usefulness in community-building would undoubtedly improve a teacher's chances of improvement and increase the dialogue among education professionals.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Week 10: Class reflection, Week 11: Twitter!
Week 10: Class Reflection
Last week in class we discussed Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science, as well as a couple of more recent incarnations of them. We spent the bulk of our discussion time on embedded librarianship and online learning. During the remainder, we met with our webinar groups to come up with a topic and a plan.
We discussed why institutions offer online learning program, why people choose online or face to face programs, possible pitfalls in online learning interfaces and communication. Before I came to SI, I had a choice between an online program at another highly ranked institution and the face-to-face program here. Because it was important to me to get to know my teachers and classmates, to get hands-on experience during the program, and to build up my professional network throughout, and because I know myself well enough to realize that I am not sufficiently self-motivated to stay on top of assignments in an online program, I chose the face to face program. Of course, every student has different priorities. If I was already working in a library with opportunity for advancement and an enjoyable work environment, I may have made the choice to attend an online program.
Week 11: Twitter
I've been on Twitter for a while, mostly using it to keep up with local events and friends, but this exercise has really revealed to me the usefulness of the tool in keeping up with library news and identifying innovative services and programs in libraries. I have to admit, however, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole retweeting thing. I don't really know why, though. I guess I feel like it's similar to introducing yourself to a stranger out of the blue, and that idea definitely makes me nervous.
I agree with Meggan, though, too. There's a lot of Facebook-ish triviality on Twitter. When I was looking for people to follow, I'd decide based on their descriptions. After I looked at my feed, though, I deleted the people who posted mainly about dinner, cats, etc. If I knew them personally, I'd probably leave them there and giggle at them. I find the wide range of topics interesting. Do many people, I wonder, have a personal and a professional Twitter account?
Last week in class we discussed Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science, as well as a couple of more recent incarnations of them. We spent the bulk of our discussion time on embedded librarianship and online learning. During the remainder, we met with our webinar groups to come up with a topic and a plan.
We discussed why institutions offer online learning program, why people choose online or face to face programs, possible pitfalls in online learning interfaces and communication. Before I came to SI, I had a choice between an online program at another highly ranked institution and the face-to-face program here. Because it was important to me to get to know my teachers and classmates, to get hands-on experience during the program, and to build up my professional network throughout, and because I know myself well enough to realize that I am not sufficiently self-motivated to stay on top of assignments in an online program, I chose the face to face program. Of course, every student has different priorities. If I was already working in a library with opportunity for advancement and an enjoyable work environment, I may have made the choice to attend an online program.
Week 11: Twitter
I've been on Twitter for a while, mostly using it to keep up with local events and friends, but this exercise has really revealed to me the usefulness of the tool in keeping up with library news and identifying innovative services and programs in libraries. I have to admit, however, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole retweeting thing. I don't really know why, though. I guess I feel like it's similar to introducing yourself to a stranger out of the blue, and that idea definitely makes me nervous.
I agree with Meggan, though, too. There's a lot of Facebook-ish triviality on Twitter. When I was looking for people to follow, I'd decide based on their descriptions. After I looked at my feed, though, I deleted the people who posted mainly about dinner, cats, etc. If I knew them personally, I'd probably leave them there and giggle at them. I find the wide range of topics interesting. Do many people, I wonder, have a personal and a professional Twitter account?
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Week 9: Class Reflection and Week 10: Readings Response
Week 9: Class Reflection
The main thing we did in the last class was to gather into our groups and deliver our workshops. The workshops delivered in our group were definitely enlightening. We had one on ethics in cataloging, one discussing Kickstarter, a tutorial on how to use Google Sites, and a workshop focused on engaging students with primary documents. I think the biggest challenge for our group was fitting everything we wanted to cover into such a short amount of time. 20-30 minutes is so much less time than you think, instructionally speaking, because you've got to introduce the concept, practice, and assess, then get feedback. I feel like we didn't have time for much depth, and in the workshop Tyson and I led, I don't think we quite accomplished our goals. The feedback from our participants echoed my own thoughts on the workshop and also pointed out areas of improvement that I hadn't noticed, things I'll be sure to keep in mind for next time.
Week 10: Readings Response
How People Learn, Ch. 7; Online Webinars! (Montgomery, 2010); The Embedded Librarian (Matos et al, 2010)
The two articles we read were about embedded librarians and webinars. I must admit, I have little experience with librarians within courses or schools and rarely utilize the reference services provided by libraries. I do agree with Matos, though, that a librarian who is physically in the same space as the faculty he is responsible to will have more opportunity to keep abreast of topics and trends in the department. I also found the differences between librarians' experiences with the faculty and students in various subjects to be interesting. It makes sense that the business librarian would also be seen as a resource for technological methods used frequently in business and that a music librarian who is also a musician would take on many different roles within the performing arts community.
At the same time, however, SI has its own librarian, right? At least theoretically? I don't think I've ever actually spoken to her. I've read her emails, but I wonder how much interaction with SI students and faculty members she has. That's the thing. There are so many resources available to students, and the vast majority of us utilize only a small proportion of those resources. I could see webinar attendance as a course requirement succeeding, but if it's not required, I really wonder how many students would take advantage of such a thing. Speaking personally, my focus is schoolwork, work, internships, and day-to-day concerns, then I'll think about talks and webinars and other enrichment opportunities, and I take advantage of those all too rarely. I don't know. I'm skeptical.
As for "Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, or Science," I found it fascinating, but I finished unsure of the effect these techniques and insights would have on my (future) professional practice. I guess the concepts could be incorporated in programming, but that would be strikingly different from the classroom experience, in that it would likely be a one-shot sort of program. (And here begins my thinking-out-loud, rambling section.) I wonder, though, if public libraries could partner with local organizations or institutions to enact some sort of a companion program to the traditional summer reading program, a primarily educational exploration/enrichment sort of thing. Beginning with a nontraditional format in mind, how cool would it be to let the participants determine the specific content? Say, envisioning a program led by an avid outdoorsperson or other expert under the wider umbrella of the natural world or local ecosystems (or something) and letting the students narrow the focus and come up with questions to lead their exploration. Man, that would be awesome. Question is, would kids want to participate? Hmm..
The main thing we did in the last class was to gather into our groups and deliver our workshops. The workshops delivered in our group were definitely enlightening. We had one on ethics in cataloging, one discussing Kickstarter, a tutorial on how to use Google Sites, and a workshop focused on engaging students with primary documents. I think the biggest challenge for our group was fitting everything we wanted to cover into such a short amount of time. 20-30 minutes is so much less time than you think, instructionally speaking, because you've got to introduce the concept, practice, and assess, then get feedback. I feel like we didn't have time for much depth, and in the workshop Tyson and I led, I don't think we quite accomplished our goals. The feedback from our participants echoed my own thoughts on the workshop and also pointed out areas of improvement that I hadn't noticed, things I'll be sure to keep in mind for next time.
Week 10: Readings Response
How People Learn, Ch. 7; Online Webinars! (Montgomery, 2010); The Embedded Librarian (Matos et al, 2010)
The two articles we read were about embedded librarians and webinars. I must admit, I have little experience with librarians within courses or schools and rarely utilize the reference services provided by libraries. I do agree with Matos, though, that a librarian who is physically in the same space as the faculty he is responsible to will have more opportunity to keep abreast of topics and trends in the department. I also found the differences between librarians' experiences with the faculty and students in various subjects to be interesting. It makes sense that the business librarian would also be seen as a resource for technological methods used frequently in business and that a music librarian who is also a musician would take on many different roles within the performing arts community.
At the same time, however, SI has its own librarian, right? At least theoretically? I don't think I've ever actually spoken to her. I've read her emails, but I wonder how much interaction with SI students and faculty members she has. That's the thing. There are so many resources available to students, and the vast majority of us utilize only a small proportion of those resources. I could see webinar attendance as a course requirement succeeding, but if it's not required, I really wonder how many students would take advantage of such a thing. Speaking personally, my focus is schoolwork, work, internships, and day-to-day concerns, then I'll think about talks and webinars and other enrichment opportunities, and I take advantage of those all too rarely. I don't know. I'm skeptical.
As for "Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, or Science," I found it fascinating, but I finished unsure of the effect these techniques and insights would have on my (future) professional practice. I guess the concepts could be incorporated in programming, but that would be strikingly different from the classroom experience, in that it would likely be a one-shot sort of program. (And here begins my thinking-out-loud, rambling section.) I wonder, though, if public libraries could partner with local organizations or institutions to enact some sort of a companion program to the traditional summer reading program, a primarily educational exploration/enrichment sort of thing. Beginning with a nontraditional format in mind, how cool would it be to let the participants determine the specific content? Say, envisioning a program led by an avid outdoorsperson or other expert under the wider umbrella of the natural world or local ecosystems (or something) and letting the students narrow the focus and come up with questions to lead their exploration. Man, that would be awesome. Question is, would kids want to participate? Hmm..
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Week 8: Class Reflection
Last week in class, we discussed a couple of different library issues in an ethical context and hashed out the details of our one-shot workshops for this upcoming week.
The issues we discussed in class were, hypothetically, how to deal with the recent ebook price hike, and the possibility of putting ads on the back of Toronto's public library's date due slips. One thing that came up in the first discussion was whether and how to share this development in the ongoing ebook struggle with your patrons. So many libraries have blogs now, could they include a "News from LibraryLand" category? Would that come off as whiny? Do patrons want to know? I mean, public libraries are largely publicly funded, so do we have an obligation to our patrons to notify them of major changes that will affect how we spend that money? It's undeniable that budgetary information should be available, but how specific should we be? I believe strongly that most public library patrons would care about what's happening behind the scenes, so why is that information not promoted? I mean, yeah, there are librarian blogs all over the place, but the library web site outside of catalog functionality seems (from my limited experience) to be mostly a promotional and PR tool rather than a place to learn about library issues. Maybe I'm just looking at the wrong library web sites?
That's the main thing that's been bouncing around in my head since class.
Side note: When I started applying to library schools, I started trying to be more aware of issues in LibraryLand. One of the things I found then was (I'm sure you can guess what it was. Last year, uproar in LL?) Harper Collins' 26 circulation cap on ebooks. Of course, I just wanted to discuss this with everybody I knew. So I did. Many of these people were longtime public library users. I don't think a single one of them knew anything about it, and they universally reacted with surprise and consternation, prompting some very interesting discussions.
The issues we discussed in class were, hypothetically, how to deal with the recent ebook price hike, and the possibility of putting ads on the back of Toronto's public library's date due slips. One thing that came up in the first discussion was whether and how to share this development in the ongoing ebook struggle with your patrons. So many libraries have blogs now, could they include a "News from LibraryLand" category? Would that come off as whiny? Do patrons want to know? I mean, public libraries are largely publicly funded, so do we have an obligation to our patrons to notify them of major changes that will affect how we spend that money? It's undeniable that budgetary information should be available, but how specific should we be? I believe strongly that most public library patrons would care about what's happening behind the scenes, so why is that information not promoted? I mean, yeah, there are librarian blogs all over the place, but the library web site outside of catalog functionality seems (from my limited experience) to be mostly a promotional and PR tool rather than a place to learn about library issues. Maybe I'm just looking at the wrong library web sites?
That's the main thing that's been bouncing around in my head since class.
Side note: When I started applying to library schools, I started trying to be more aware of issues in LibraryLand. One of the things I found then was (I'm sure you can guess what it was. Last year, uproar in LL?) Harper Collins' 26 circulation cap on ebooks. Of course, I just wanted to discuss this with everybody I knew. So I did. Many of these people were longtime public library users. I don't think a single one of them knew anything about it, and they universally reacted with surprise and consternation, prompting some very interesting discussions.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Week 7: Reflection, Week 8: Reading Response
(Week 7) Book Clubs!
I had a lot of fun this week during our book club sessions, and I feel like it went very well. I don't think anyone was hesitant to speak up, but there were a few moments when we were a bit stumped about what to say. All of the facilitators did a good job with this, though - very encouraging. The main problem I ran into was when someone was perhaps more eager than others to talk at length, drowning out some of the quieter voices. It seemed very teacherish to try to control those voices, and I was definitely a bit too reluctant to take that step. However, when I imagine a book club style discussion, I don't imagine anyone controlling the conversation, just encouraging it. Comments? Suggestions?
(Week 8) Ethics!
The Code of Ethics felt like a very strong stance to me. Weren't we recently discussing activism in here? Or am I thinking of another class (or outside of class) discussion? "Dangerous Questions at the Reference Desk," however, felt somewhat opposed to the ALA Code of Ethics. Lenker's stance that it is a librarian's responsibility to factor his or her own personal moral stance into the answering of a "dangerous" reference question seems completely contrary to two points in particular from the ALA document, "We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources," and "We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources."
Now, in answering a "dangerous" reference question, it's quite possible that the "aims of our institutions" might come into conflict with our service to a patron, but if we "resist all efforts to censor library resources," then I don't see the place of the librarian to keep any library resources from the patron. The idea of letting our own moral rules have a limiting effect on the information we provide to patrons makes me a little nervous. A couple of weeks ago in my reference class, we discussed library service to LGBT youth, and the article we read evaluated various librarians' reference service on the subject of GSA formation in schools. Overall, the librarians evaluated didn't do very well, though whether it was personal bias or a lack of knowledge of available resources was unclear in most cases. I hold that it's not the librarian's job to pass moral judgement on the patron or hinder her search for information. Does the possibility of illegal or "dangerous" future action on the part of the patron change that? I don't have an answer for that one, but I'd tend to lean towards no. I'm looking forward to hearing some other opinions, though, and I hope they'll help me clarify my own thoughts on the matter.
I had a lot of fun this week during our book club sessions, and I feel like it went very well. I don't think anyone was hesitant to speak up, but there were a few moments when we were a bit stumped about what to say. All of the facilitators did a good job with this, though - very encouraging. The main problem I ran into was when someone was perhaps more eager than others to talk at length, drowning out some of the quieter voices. It seemed very teacherish to try to control those voices, and I was definitely a bit too reluctant to take that step. However, when I imagine a book club style discussion, I don't imagine anyone controlling the conversation, just encouraging it. Comments? Suggestions?
(Week 8) Ethics!
The Code of Ethics felt like a very strong stance to me. Weren't we recently discussing activism in here? Or am I thinking of another class (or outside of class) discussion? "Dangerous Questions at the Reference Desk," however, felt somewhat opposed to the ALA Code of Ethics. Lenker's stance that it is a librarian's responsibility to factor his or her own personal moral stance into the answering of a "dangerous" reference question seems completely contrary to two points in particular from the ALA document, "We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources," and "We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources."
Now, in answering a "dangerous" reference question, it's quite possible that the "aims of our institutions" might come into conflict with our service to a patron, but if we "resist all efforts to censor library resources," then I don't see the place of the librarian to keep any library resources from the patron. The idea of letting our own moral rules have a limiting effect on the information we provide to patrons makes me a little nervous. A couple of weeks ago in my reference class, we discussed library service to LGBT youth, and the article we read evaluated various librarians' reference service on the subject of GSA formation in schools. Overall, the librarians evaluated didn't do very well, though whether it was personal bias or a lack of knowledge of available resources was unclear in most cases. I hold that it's not the librarian's job to pass moral judgement on the patron or hinder her search for information. Does the possibility of illegal or "dangerous" future action on the part of the patron change that? I don't have an answer for that one, but I'd tend to lean towards no. I'm looking forward to hearing some other opinions, though, and I hope they'll help me clarify my own thoughts on the matter.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Week 6: Reflection and Week 7: Reading Response
Week 6: Reflection
We discussed book clubs, do's and don'ts, Socratic Seminars, and how to implement them. I found the discussion about our own perceptions of book clubs to be interesting. I've never participated in one, though I have participated in lively discussions in literature classes, which seems to be similar. The one book club I've known of was actually a group of men I knew who read contemporary literary fiction and discussed it periodically. They missed literary discussions like they had participated in in college, so formed a group of like-minded people from their circle of acquaintances and made it happen. I've known quite a few people who talked about forming a book club, but never took the initiative.
I believe that there's a desire for lively discussion, whether it's of books, movies, or shorter works, but there's no argument to the fact that people's preconceived notions about book clubs contribute to a reluctance to participate. Perhaps beginning a new marketing strategy or empowering patrons to work with librarians to organize a discussion group would be ways of changing people's minds about book clubs. I don't know.
Week 7: Readings
It seems that most people in my reading group chose fiction. "Darkness" is a webcomic, though I didn't investigate further to see if it is part of an established series or a stand-alone. Honestly, it was not to my taste, but I'm looking forward to hearing what others got out of it. "Donkey Skin" is a fairy tale. I don't think I've read it before, but one of my comfort books (Deerskin, by Robin McKinley) is based on it, so it felt familiar. I'm going to have to work to keep my thoughts about the book out of the discussion of the fairy tale. At any rate, with the almost-incest, fairy godmother, voyeurism, and love at first sight in the story, I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about. "Cinnamon" was the story I found most interesting, also told in the style of a myth or legend. (I think it's the first thing I've read by Neil Gaiman. Don't judge) I'm definitely going to have to give everything a few more reads before I feel comfortable talking about the pieces. I have a feeling I'll be pretty quiet during the comic discussions anyway, though.
This exercise so far has driven home the importance of building a book club around common interests and tastes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how all of this works out tomorrow.
We discussed book clubs, do's and don'ts, Socratic Seminars, and how to implement them. I found the discussion about our own perceptions of book clubs to be interesting. I've never participated in one, though I have participated in lively discussions in literature classes, which seems to be similar. The one book club I've known of was actually a group of men I knew who read contemporary literary fiction and discussed it periodically. They missed literary discussions like they had participated in in college, so formed a group of like-minded people from their circle of acquaintances and made it happen. I've known quite a few people who talked about forming a book club, but never took the initiative.
I believe that there's a desire for lively discussion, whether it's of books, movies, or shorter works, but there's no argument to the fact that people's preconceived notions about book clubs contribute to a reluctance to participate. Perhaps beginning a new marketing strategy or empowering patrons to work with librarians to organize a discussion group would be ways of changing people's minds about book clubs. I don't know.
Week 7: Readings
It seems that most people in my reading group chose fiction. "Darkness" is a webcomic, though I didn't investigate further to see if it is part of an established series or a stand-alone. Honestly, it was not to my taste, but I'm looking forward to hearing what others got out of it. "Donkey Skin" is a fairy tale. I don't think I've read it before, but one of my comfort books (Deerskin, by Robin McKinley) is based on it, so it felt familiar. I'm going to have to work to keep my thoughts about the book out of the discussion of the fairy tale. At any rate, with the almost-incest, fairy godmother, voyeurism, and love at first sight in the story, I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about. "Cinnamon" was the story I found most interesting, also told in the style of a myth or legend. (I think it's the first thing I've read by Neil Gaiman. Don't judge) I'm definitely going to have to give everything a few more reads before I feel comfortable talking about the pieces. I have a feeling I'll be pretty quiet during the comic discussions anyway, though.
This exercise so far has driven home the importance of building a book club around common interests and tastes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how all of this works out tomorrow.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Week 5: Reflection -- Week 6: Book Clubs & Socratic Seminars Response
Week 5: Reflection
This week, we touched on transfer, gave more attention to the gaming discussion, discussed and identified the key issues we found in our blogger readings, and picked partners for the book club discussion. I must admit, I was looking forward to a little more discussion of transfer in class, but I feel that neglected that topic a little in our eagerness to discuss McGonigal's ideas of gaming. I did find our discussion of the bloggers' issues very interesting. Some of the contrasts between the issues discussed by the different types of bloggers were surprising. I was surprised in particular by the more detached style adopted by the public library bloggers in contrast to the reflective, open style of the academic library bloggers. Our small group discussion delved into the ideas of audience, purpose, and branding, which turned into a pretty engrossing class discussion.
Week 6: Book Club & Socratic Seminar Readings
"The Book Club, Exploded" focuses on ways to mix up the traditional focus of book clubs, mixing media, fiction and nonfiction, focusing on topic or genre and letting the group compare and contrast bigger issues than the ones contained in a single book. Hoffert also suggests connecting to authors, offering book club kits, and including "bonus materials," like author interviews and other works on similar topics or with similar themes.
"The Evolving Book Group" focuses more on innovation in placement and conduct of book clubs - a mix of online and face to face discussion, group meetings in senior centers and bars, partnerships with local bookstores and other organizations, and also nontraditional book club fare, like graphic novels. Dempsey stresses the need to create book clubs "with careful attention to patron needs and interests," to be willing to think outside of the box with regard to meeting times and places, and to be unafraid to reconfigure a struggling group to better fit user needs.
Both of these readings hold important lessons for libraries - most importantly, don't be afraid to think outside the box, consider patrons' needs, and look for ways to attract non-users.
"Teaching Reading" looks at the day-to-day mechanics of using a Socratic seminar in the classroom, discussing tips for implementation, possible pitfalls, and positive results. It's more of a case study than a comprehensive look at the use of Socratic seminars in education. "Socratic Seminars," on the other hand, is more of an overview of their use in education, as well as a look at the positive results of their use.
Though I wonder if a Socratic seminar format would be useful for book clubs, it might appeal to those former liberal arts majors (like myself, sometimes) who miss college literary discussions. I could also see its appeal for professional development purposes, to facilitate conversation about new practices or innovation in the use of traditional ones.
This week, we touched on transfer, gave more attention to the gaming discussion, discussed and identified the key issues we found in our blogger readings, and picked partners for the book club discussion. I must admit, I was looking forward to a little more discussion of transfer in class, but I feel that neglected that topic a little in our eagerness to discuss McGonigal's ideas of gaming. I did find our discussion of the bloggers' issues very interesting. Some of the contrasts between the issues discussed by the different types of bloggers were surprising. I was surprised in particular by the more detached style adopted by the public library bloggers in contrast to the reflective, open style of the academic library bloggers. Our small group discussion delved into the ideas of audience, purpose, and branding, which turned into a pretty engrossing class discussion.
Week 6: Book Club & Socratic Seminar Readings
"The Book Club, Exploded" focuses on ways to mix up the traditional focus of book clubs, mixing media, fiction and nonfiction, focusing on topic or genre and letting the group compare and contrast bigger issues than the ones contained in a single book. Hoffert also suggests connecting to authors, offering book club kits, and including "bonus materials," like author interviews and other works on similar topics or with similar themes.
"The Evolving Book Group" focuses more on innovation in placement and conduct of book clubs - a mix of online and face to face discussion, group meetings in senior centers and bars, partnerships with local bookstores and other organizations, and also nontraditional book club fare, like graphic novels. Dempsey stresses the need to create book clubs "with careful attention to patron needs and interests," to be willing to think outside of the box with regard to meeting times and places, and to be unafraid to reconfigure a struggling group to better fit user needs.
Both of these readings hold important lessons for libraries - most importantly, don't be afraid to think outside the box, consider patrons' needs, and look for ways to attract non-users.
"Teaching Reading" looks at the day-to-day mechanics of using a Socratic seminar in the classroom, discussing tips for implementation, possible pitfalls, and positive results. It's more of a case study than a comprehensive look at the use of Socratic seminars in education. "Socratic Seminars," on the other hand, is more of an overview of their use in education, as well as a look at the positive results of their use.
Though I wonder if a Socratic seminar format would be useful for book clubs, it might appeal to those former liberal arts majors (like myself, sometimes) who miss college literary discussions. I could also see its appeal for professional development purposes, to facilitate conversation about new practices or innovation in the use of traditional ones.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Week 4: Reflection -- Week 5: Learning and Transfer Readings
Week 4: Reflection
This week in class, we watched Jane McGonigal's TED talk on gaming and discussed surveys and formative assessment.
I really enjoyed watching the TED talk, and the points McGonigal made were definitely interesting, but I think it would take a major game developer to get on board with her scheme to really make a big difference through gaming. I imagine a cross between Oregon Trail and Mad Max or the zombie apocalypse might catch on in the wider world and be able to impart some of the transferable skills she was talking about, but I don't imagine the scale she was working with was making that much of a difference. It was definitely thought-provoking, though, to take an activity like gaming and frame it in a different way.
We discussed surveys, including question formats, possible pitfalls, length, and tools for online surveys. We also discussed formative assessments, focusing mostly on strategies to utilize in a library setting.
Week 5: Learning and Transfer
How do we identify and promote information transfer?
The question of how to identify information transfer seems complicated. According to the readings, the evaluation of effective transfer is the speed at which learners apply previously learned skills to new situations. First, we'd have to identify the skills that we're measuring, then ask learners to implement them in a new context, and finally evaluate the efficiency of that ongoing process.
As far as the promotion of information transfer, the readings stress the importance of learners making meaning and thinking abstractly about knowledge. We must take into account and build upon prior knowledge, and remember that transfer is "an active, dynamic process." Allowing for ample time to build understanding during the initial learning process, emphasizing understanding rather than memorization, contextualizing knowledge, and both giving feedback and encouraging self-monitoring habits in learners are all important pieces of the puzzle of promoting transferable knowledge.
This week in class, we watched Jane McGonigal's TED talk on gaming and discussed surveys and formative assessment.
I really enjoyed watching the TED talk, and the points McGonigal made were definitely interesting, but I think it would take a major game developer to get on board with her scheme to really make a big difference through gaming. I imagine a cross between Oregon Trail and Mad Max or the zombie apocalypse might catch on in the wider world and be able to impart some of the transferable skills she was talking about, but I don't imagine the scale she was working with was making that much of a difference. It was definitely thought-provoking, though, to take an activity like gaming and frame it in a different way.
We discussed surveys, including question formats, possible pitfalls, length, and tools for online surveys. We also discussed formative assessments, focusing mostly on strategies to utilize in a library setting.
Week 5: Learning and Transfer
How do we identify and promote information transfer?
The question of how to identify information transfer seems complicated. According to the readings, the evaluation of effective transfer is the speed at which learners apply previously learned skills to new situations. First, we'd have to identify the skills that we're measuring, then ask learners to implement them in a new context, and finally evaluate the efficiency of that ongoing process.
As far as the promotion of information transfer, the readings stress the importance of learners making meaning and thinking abstractly about knowledge. We must take into account and build upon prior knowledge, and remember that transfer is "an active, dynamic process." Allowing for ample time to build understanding during the initial learning process, emphasizing understanding rather than memorization, contextualizing knowledge, and both giving feedback and encouraging self-monitoring habits in learners are all important pieces of the puzzle of promoting transferable knowledge.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Week 3: Reflection -- Week 4: Reading Response
Week 3: Reflection
This week in class, we watched and discussed a few of our screencasts and discussed the information literacy articles we found and read before class.
Some of the positive points of our screencasting critiques included enthusiasm, suggestions of ways to use the tool, pacing, and clarity of instruction. Quite a few of us also learned of new tools from our classmates' screencasts. I definitely agree with my classmates that in that exercise, preparation was key, as well as the ability to edit my screencast.
Our discussion of the information literacy articles we had found and read revealed a huge breadth of investigations into information literacy, which makes sense considering the diversity of anticipated career paths in class. One point that seemed to figure into each small group discussion, however, was the need for collaboration - between faculty and librarians in academic libraries, between school and public librarians, and between public librarians and community members and organizations. The need for a library's patrons and community to recognize the value of the library and the services is especially important now, with many libraries facing continuing budget cuts, and the rapidly changing field of technology. We touched on the concepts of transliteracy, the ability to understand and communicate through many different media and platforms, and metaliteracy, (which I understand to be) a sort of unifying set of concepts that cross boundaries among multiple literacies to create a blueprint for understanding the information contained in different media environments.
Week 4: How People Learn, Ch. 6, and Sadler article
How People Learn, Ch. 6: The Design of Learning Environments
This chapter discusses learner-centered environments, knowledge-centered environments, assessment-centered environments, and community-centered environments and how they intersect and create a framework for learning. Along the way, formative assessment and the connection between educational television and student success are touched upon. Learner-centered environments build on prior knowledge to conceptualize new information, take into account the cultural norms of the students, and build connections between the language students use outside of the classroom and inside of the classroom. In a knowledge-centered environment, the curriculum begins with students' prior knowledge, as in a student-centered environment, but goes on to concentrate on the information that helps students to understand the subject, thinking critically about the information presented and seeking to understand in layers rather than just memorizing facts. Assessment-centered learning environments "provide opportunities for feedback and revision...congruent with one's learning goals." Formative and summative assessment both play a large part in these environment, though traditional assessment techniques frequently fail to measure deep understanding of the material, instead focusing on the memorization of facts and procedures. Community-centered environments encompass the classroom as community, the school as community, and the larger community to which the school belongs, including the global community. The ideal learning environment must balance all of these elements.
D. Royce Sadler, Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. 1989.
Sadler focuses on the concepts and skills necessary for students and teachers to assess work qualitatively and make improvements. The nebulous nature of qualitative assessment makes the conceptualization of this process somewhat challenging, but Sadler breaks it down into manageable chunks. Formative assessment must include both feedback and self-monitoring. The concept of metacognition has come up in our readings before, and I'm sure it will again. Sadler emphasizes the importance and challenges of the student's understanding of what quality work is and the uselessness of comparisons among students, instead advocating the use of standards and exemplars to show high and low quality work. Students must take ownership of a goal to begin effectively evaluating their performance. One part of the article resonated particularly for me - the idea that "if the rate at which expectations are raised is consistently greater than the rate of improvement, the inability of the student to keep pace results in little or no sense of accomplishment even though improvement may actually be occurring."
Throughout both of these readings, I kept thinking how much sense all of this made, and how hard it can be to actually implement strategies informed by these concepts. At the same time, I'm not sure how many of these ideas would be implemented in the sort of short-term instructional environments most often found in library settings. I'm looking forward to class to hear what everyone else is thinking!
This week in class, we watched and discussed a few of our screencasts and discussed the information literacy articles we found and read before class.
Some of the positive points of our screencasting critiques included enthusiasm, suggestions of ways to use the tool, pacing, and clarity of instruction. Quite a few of us also learned of new tools from our classmates' screencasts. I definitely agree with my classmates that in that exercise, preparation was key, as well as the ability to edit my screencast.
Our discussion of the information literacy articles we had found and read revealed a huge breadth of investigations into information literacy, which makes sense considering the diversity of anticipated career paths in class. One point that seemed to figure into each small group discussion, however, was the need for collaboration - between faculty and librarians in academic libraries, between school and public librarians, and between public librarians and community members and organizations. The need for a library's patrons and community to recognize the value of the library and the services is especially important now, with many libraries facing continuing budget cuts, and the rapidly changing field of technology. We touched on the concepts of transliteracy, the ability to understand and communicate through many different media and platforms, and metaliteracy, (which I understand to be) a sort of unifying set of concepts that cross boundaries among multiple literacies to create a blueprint for understanding the information contained in different media environments.
Week 4: How People Learn, Ch. 6, and Sadler article
How People Learn, Ch. 6: The Design of Learning Environments
This chapter discusses learner-centered environments, knowledge-centered environments, assessment-centered environments, and community-centered environments and how they intersect and create a framework for learning. Along the way, formative assessment and the connection between educational television and student success are touched upon. Learner-centered environments build on prior knowledge to conceptualize new information, take into account the cultural norms of the students, and build connections between the language students use outside of the classroom and inside of the classroom. In a knowledge-centered environment, the curriculum begins with students' prior knowledge, as in a student-centered environment, but goes on to concentrate on the information that helps students to understand the subject, thinking critically about the information presented and seeking to understand in layers rather than just memorizing facts. Assessment-centered learning environments "provide opportunities for feedback and revision...congruent with one's learning goals." Formative and summative assessment both play a large part in these environment, though traditional assessment techniques frequently fail to measure deep understanding of the material, instead focusing on the memorization of facts and procedures. Community-centered environments encompass the classroom as community, the school as community, and the larger community to which the school belongs, including the global community. The ideal learning environment must balance all of these elements.
D. Royce Sadler, Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. 1989.
Sadler focuses on the concepts and skills necessary for students and teachers to assess work qualitatively and make improvements. The nebulous nature of qualitative assessment makes the conceptualization of this process somewhat challenging, but Sadler breaks it down into manageable chunks. Formative assessment must include both feedback and self-monitoring. The concept of metacognition has come up in our readings before, and I'm sure it will again. Sadler emphasizes the importance and challenges of the student's understanding of what quality work is and the uselessness of comparisons among students, instead advocating the use of standards and exemplars to show high and low quality work. Students must take ownership of a goal to begin effectively evaluating their performance. One part of the article resonated particularly for me - the idea that "if the rate at which expectations are raised is consistently greater than the rate of improvement, the inability of the student to keep pace results in little or no sense of accomplishment even though improvement may actually be occurring."
Throughout both of these readings, I kept thinking how much sense all of this made, and how hard it can be to actually implement strategies informed by these concepts. At the same time, I'm not sure how many of these ideas would be implemented in the sort of short-term instructional environments most often found in library settings. I'm looking forward to class to hear what everyone else is thinking!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Week 2: Reflection -- Week 3: Information Literacy Articles
Week 2: Reflection
In class, we talked about formative assessment, professional development, the difference between novice and expert skills, ADDIE, and screencasts as well as the larger question of the efficacy of online learning modules. The questions that stuck with me most were those about online learning. I feel that there are specific needs that online instruction fills, the need for answers right now and for enrichment in addition to face to face instruction, and specific situations where it is the best of a limited variety of solutions. Personally, however, given the choice between an online-only program and a primarily face-to-face instructional setting, I pick the face-to-face, because the opportunity to actually get to know classmates and teachers and being a part of that educational community makes the experience that much more valuable and meaningful.
I think I got a little off-topic there, maybe. Anyway. Are online modules effective enough to replace face-to-face instruction? They can, in certain situations. For procedural skills, like learning how to use a tech tool or an introduction to searching a certain database, an online module completed outside of class can conserve valuable class time so the instructor can spend more time on more complex skills. Does it matter whether online instruction is effective, or does it just matter what the students want? Of course the effectiveness of the instruction matters. If it doesn't work, that student won't have the necessary skills/knowledge to achieve his goals or to do his job well.. Which is bad news.
Week 3: Information Literacy or Information Fluency or Transliteracy Articles
Both Trimm and Farkas focus heavily on the changing landscape of technologies, platforms, and information available to the average information consumer today. Farkas stresses the fact that evaluation of information available on the open web has become much more "nuanced" today than it was, say, six or eight years ago. Trimm addresses the need for librarians to keep up with changing technologies, to take time to explore and play with new tools so that they can incorporate those skills into library instruction and encourage their communities to explore new platforms "for communicating and producing information."
Birdsong discusses the Information Literacy Initiative at the University of Washington iSchool. This organization focuses on "outliers," or people who have not received information literacy instruction, of any age or social status. She explains two programs the organization has implemented: one for teens and one for older adults; she also enumerates the reasons information literacy instruction is so important for these "outliers."
Trimm, N. (2011). Not Just Literate, but Transliterate: Encouraging Transliteracy Adoption in Library Services. Colorado Libraries, 36(1).
Farkas, M. (2011). Information Literacy 2.0: Critical inquiry in the age of social media. American Libraries, 42(11/12), 32.
Birdsong, L. (2009). Information literacy training for all? the outliers. Searcher, 17(8), 18-23, 54.
In class, we talked about formative assessment, professional development, the difference between novice and expert skills, ADDIE, and screencasts as well as the larger question of the efficacy of online learning modules. The questions that stuck with me most were those about online learning. I feel that there are specific needs that online instruction fills, the need for answers right now and for enrichment in addition to face to face instruction, and specific situations where it is the best of a limited variety of solutions. Personally, however, given the choice between an online-only program and a primarily face-to-face instructional setting, I pick the face-to-face, because the opportunity to actually get to know classmates and teachers and being a part of that educational community makes the experience that much more valuable and meaningful.
I think I got a little off-topic there, maybe. Anyway. Are online modules effective enough to replace face-to-face instruction? They can, in certain situations. For procedural skills, like learning how to use a tech tool or an introduction to searching a certain database, an online module completed outside of class can conserve valuable class time so the instructor can spend more time on more complex skills. Does it matter whether online instruction is effective, or does it just matter what the students want? Of course the effectiveness of the instruction matters. If it doesn't work, that student won't have the necessary skills/knowledge to achieve his goals or to do his job well.. Which is bad news.
Week 3: Information Literacy or Information Fluency or Transliteracy Articles
Both Trimm and Farkas focus heavily on the changing landscape of technologies, platforms, and information available to the average information consumer today. Farkas stresses the fact that evaluation of information available on the open web has become much more "nuanced" today than it was, say, six or eight years ago. Trimm addresses the need for librarians to keep up with changing technologies, to take time to explore and play with new tools so that they can incorporate those skills into library instruction and encourage their communities to explore new platforms "for communicating and producing information."
Birdsong discusses the Information Literacy Initiative at the University of Washington iSchool. This organization focuses on "outliers," or people who have not received information literacy instruction, of any age or social status. She explains two programs the organization has implemented: one for teens and one for older adults; she also enumerates the reasons information literacy instruction is so important for these "outliers."
Trimm, N. (2011). Not Just Literate, but Transliterate: Encouraging Transliteracy Adoption in Library Services. Colorado Libraries, 36(1).
Farkas, M. (2011). Information Literacy 2.0: Critical inquiry in the age of social media. American Libraries, 42(11/12), 32.
Birdsong, L. (2009). Information literacy training for all? the outliers. Searcher, 17(8), 18-23, 54.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Week 1: Reflection -- Week 2: Workshop Readings
Week 1: Reflection
I agree wholeheartedly with Andrew that our first class felt like a better version of Ed school – specifically, a much better version of the technology class we took (which was universally regarded by the students as completely useless, in part because barely any of us had access to the necessary technology, but never mind that, I'm getting off topic). I have to admit, I wondered whether this course would be useful to me, but I've come to the conclusion that it will. I'm excited to dig into the material, to learn more about the approaches and tools I can use in the educational setting.
Week 2: Readings
As I began the One-Shot Workshop reading, the material seemed pretty common-sense to me, but then I do have some experience planning instruction. ADDIE is definitely a logical set of steps to take when preparing a lesson, and I can definitely appreciate the idea that a the whole and the pieces of a workshop can be continually updated and reused, adapted to fit different content, and be a solid foundation for beginning instructors.
The ADDIE model definitely showed through in the Johnston and Yelinek readings. I think that the fact that those readings were in line with One-Shot is a reflection of the sensibility and applicability of that set of concepts to the planning of workshops and tutorials as well as assessments.
The Griffis article was a clear, concise summary of the pros and cons of various free screen capture tools, and I don't doubt that it wil come in handy. As far as what sort of skills would be best improved with the use of screencasts and online tutorials, I feel that these tools would best be utilized to demonstrate the use of different platforms and software, both for the basics and the advanced features, where a visual demonstration is more useful than a textual explanation.
I agree wholeheartedly with Andrew that our first class felt like a better version of Ed school – specifically, a much better version of the technology class we took (which was universally regarded by the students as completely useless, in part because barely any of us had access to the necessary technology, but never mind that, I'm getting off topic). I have to admit, I wondered whether this course would be useful to me, but I've come to the conclusion that it will. I'm excited to dig into the material, to learn more about the approaches and tools I can use in the educational setting.
Week 2: Readings
As I began the One-Shot Workshop reading, the material seemed pretty common-sense to me, but then I do have some experience planning instruction. ADDIE is definitely a logical set of steps to take when preparing a lesson, and I can definitely appreciate the idea that a the whole and the pieces of a workshop can be continually updated and reused, adapted to fit different content, and be a solid foundation for beginning instructors.
The ADDIE model definitely showed through in the Johnston and Yelinek readings. I think that the fact that those readings were in line with One-Shot is a reflection of the sensibility and applicability of that set of concepts to the planning of workshops and tutorials as well as assessments.
The Griffis article was a clear, concise summary of the pros and cons of various free screen capture tools, and I don't doubt that it wil come in handy. As far as what sort of skills would be best improved with the use of screencasts and online tutorials, I feel that these tools would best be utilized to demonstrate the use of different platforms and software, both for the basics and the advanced features, where a visual demonstration is more useful than a textual explanation.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Week 1 - How People Learn, Ch. 1 & 2
On Chapter 1
Most instruction I have observed has been a struggle between the teacher's desire to impart a comprehensive understanding of the topic and the limitation of time with the student. In the grade school setting, teachers were further limited by pre-set curricula and pressure from administrators to teach to the test. Teachers did examine and engage students' prior knowledge, and more metacognitive practices were implemented in higher-level classes than in basic ones. In the library setting, the greatest limitation was time. It seems that most library-based educational opportunities tend to be one-shot sessions. Effective "chunking," however, could lessen that limitation. Some of the library programming I've seen (which, admittedly, hasn't been very much) has had the problem of too much information and too little time, coupled with inexpert instruction. The participants might've remembered a few fun facts, but overall, it wasn't the most productive use of their time. The instructors did engage some prior knowledge, but an emphasis on metacognitive skills was not apparent.
On Chapter 2
I think that some, if not all, of the best teachers I've had in my academic career have encouraged their students to examine their own thoughts and conclusions about the material to promote deeper understanding and structured their instruction in such a way that they built a sort of framework for the material covered in that class and students' future learning to grow on. By focusing on how to solve or think about problems rather than focusing on simple facts, teachers encourage students toward expert-level growth.
I think the concepts introduced in this reading will be important for the instructional librarian, though the text won't be universally applicable, as it seems to be focused on a traditional learning structure rather than the one-shot approach more frequently found in libraries. However, if a one-shot educational opportunity is informed by the lessons imparted by the text, with the instructor focused on conditionalizing students' knowledge and metacognition, it is more likely to be transferable by the learner. School librarians, of course, will more likely have opportunities to build upon previous instruction with the same students and construct a farther-reaching web of information.
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