Katkin’s weBLOG

Over the past three months, our EDES 501 class has had the opportunity to explore a wide variety of new Web 2.0 tools. For many of us, these tools are fairly new and learning about them in depth through our course blogs has given us a great advantage in understanding the Web 2.0 environment. In our own schools, we are eager to share our new knowledge and put these new tools to use.  However, despite our own personal enthusiasm for these tools and applications, we need to be prepared that not everyone will embrace the Web 2.0 environment as eagerly as we have for many weeks.  In some ways, as “digital immigrants,” we have acquired a new language that is not spoken in many of our schools.  It is very possible that we may find ourselves alone, despite our willingness to share new understandings of how best to integrate these new tools into current practices.

In considering which of these new tools I plan to introduce to my staff, I am faced with the following dilemma. As I have previously mentioned during the course, our school division (like many others) employs a proxy server that filters web content to our schools. As much as I would like to introduce photo sharing sites like Flickr or multimedia sharing sites such as VoiceThread, I realize that these sites are not available for use in our schools at this time. Even if I was able to demonstrate how these sites might be used in a classroom setting, I don’t think it would be wise to tantalize colleagues with cool tools that are not at their disposal for school use.

As well, I believe that if I am to advocate for increased access to Web 2.0 tools in our schools, it is important that I first exhaust the teaching and learning potential for those tools that are already available for use through our Sharepoint portal.  From our portal, we are able to use blogs, wikis and podcasts within a secure environment.  Although this may seem to be a rather artificial setting, teachers and students can practise their information skills in a Web 2.0-like environment from within the privacy of the divisional portal.  What we are able to negotiate in terms of releasing some of our restrictions in the future will depend, in part, on how well demonstrate our use of the tools that we do have.  I believe that it will be necessary to prove that we have reached a certain level of expertise with the tools in the portal, before we can reasonably ask for consideration of a wider audience. 

The tool that I would initially choose to explore with staff would be the wiki. The main advantage is that it is readily available for everyone to use – students, teachers and other divisional staff – through their “My site” space from within the divisional portal.  The wiki environment is non-threatening and gives all learners a level playing field.  In “Exploring the wiki world: the new face of collaboration,” Sarah Ann Long acknowledges that wikis work well because “the participation of many increases the likelihood of buy-in by all concerned, as well as the possibility of a better product in the end… It is the old adage, “many heads are better than one.” 

In my own work, I am already introducing wikis to school library personnel, as a means of collaboratively planning professional development opportunities for both teacher-librarians and library assistants.  From my “My site” space, I am able to invite interested library personel to participate in the planning by assigning them permissions as “contributors.” In this way, everyone can provide input and the PD committee can review what the library staff needs and interests are in regards to planning their professional development activities.  At present, I use two separate wikis – one for teacher-librarians, and another for library assistants and technicians.  All library staff may read both wikis, but only members of each group may make changes by editing the content.  By using wikis in this manner, I hope to give all library staff members the opportunity to learn how to use this new tool, but within the framework of an authentic purpose.  We need to develop an ongoing professional learning plan, so we are using this new tool to manage and discuss content that we might otherwise be organizing by email or through monthly meetings.  Using the wiki with real purpose is key to adopting its use in other areas.

Wikis and the school library

In her article and powerpoint presentation entitled “Wikis in school libraries,” Dana Dukic observes that “among [all the] different Web 2.0 applications wikis are particularly attractive for school libraries” and I couldn’t agree more. Not only are wikis easy to use, but they are also so versatile that they can be effective for many different purposes in the school library:

• creating online tutorials (information skills)
• collaborative projects (research, problem solving, writing, journaling, portfolios, study guides)
• creating lists collaboratively (collection development, book lists, theme lists, summer reading lists)
• writing book reviews (peer reviews and recommendations)
• building a database of professional resources (online articles, slideshows, websites)
• professional development (Schlib)

In “An information skills workout: wikis and collaborative writing,” by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, the authors also suggest examining “your school and library collection development and technology use policies as they apply to the wiki environment.”  Even though wikis are wonderful collaborative spaces that students and teachers can use to synthesize new knowledge, it is also important for users to be savvy to issues such as the quality of peer editing, plagiarism, and the use of personal information such as real names and photos.  My next step might be to include a policy statement for wiki use that reflects and references our own divisional “IT Acceptable Use & Safety” document.

Implications for teaching and learning of adults (andragogy)

Teachers have very demanding jobs that require that they take on many different roles during the school day – teacher, facilitator, role-model, counsellor, parent, reader, writer, mathematician, scientist, historian, artist and technology expert, to name a few.  With all that they need to do in their jobs, added responsibilities and new ways of thinking are not always as welcome as we might like to think.  When change is on the horizon, it can be difficult for individuals to embrace new developments, unless the necessary support systems are firmly in place.

This is especially true of new technologies that impact the way teachers teach and students learn. If teachers cannot envision how they might use these new technologies in their current practice, they may be reluctant to try unfamiliar methods and new tools.  If they perceive these changes as unrelated to their work with students, feelings of resistance can quickly surface.   All learners, both students and adults, can transition through change more easily when they are able to identify a worthwhile purpose and a true understanding for the implementation of new trends or policies.

In order to support our school library staff in learning how to use these new Web 2.0 tools, we have worked together with the instructional technology department to offer mini sessions in blogging and using wikis.  Sometimes these sessions are embedded into other PD events and other times they are offered after classes at different schools.  In “The Read/Write School Library,”author Michael Stephens advocates “hands-on staff development workshops” to help teachers learn these new tools.  He advises that, if possible, it’s “even better to bring the course to teachers and administrators [to foster] the buy-in necessary to facilitate a 2.0 framework.”  If we expect our teachers to invest their time in learning new tools like wikis, we also need to ensure that they understand how to use them effectively in concert with our divisional priorities of teaching and learning.

Teacher-librarians as change agents

In order to assist teachers and other school staff to explore the potential of the Web 2.0 environment, teacher-librarians are able to offer support and instruction in adopting these new tools for learning. In their article “Change agentry: an essential role for library media specialists, Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Violet Harada describe how teacher-librarians are well-equipped to act as “change agents” in supporting staff during times of unsettling change:

1. “Big Picture” overview (teacher-librarians work with everyone in the school which gives them a unique perspective including “a broad view of the curriculum, student learning needs, teaching styles, resources and technology use.” Not only are they poised to identify problems that might arise, they are also able to assist staff in working through their concerns)
2. Collaboration (teacher-librarians are “experienced collaborators” and have expertise in “collaborative planning, teaching, and assessment”)
3. Flexibility (teacher-librarians have “the flexibility and time to model effective teaching practices and to act as coaches and mentors” – they can work with teachers by co-teaching, modelling new strategies and helping teachers to improve their own teaching practices)
4. Continuous learning (teacher-librarians are always learning and “must stay current with educational trends, emerging technologies, new resources and community connections”)
5. Instructional partnerships (teacher-librarians are not involved in teacher evaluation, like administrators, so they are viewed more as colleagues, and teachers are more willing to share their concerns with them)

Source: Hughes-Hassell, S. & Harada, Violet H. (2007) “Change agentry: an essential role for library media specialists,” School Reform and the school library media specialist. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Integrating new technologies

As all these new technologies begin to impact how we teach and learn in our schools, teacher-librarians are in an important position to help colleagues and administrators navigate this new Web 2.0 landscape. As “change agents,” teacher-librarians may act as “caregivers, faclitators, coaches, enablers, negotiators, or catalysts” (Hughes-Hassell & Harada, 2007) that provide support to teachers in their daily work during periods of change and shifts in the information landscape.

In collaboration with our instructional technology coordinator, our teacher-librarians have been recruited to act as “change agents” by working together with classroom teachers to support inquiry-based learning experiences and the implementation of our ICT continuum. We began this process in spring of last year by using three separate wiki environments, set up by our instructional technology coordinator, as planning spaces for three groups of teacher-librarians. Each group used a wiki to collaborate on creating a list of ICT skills students should be able to manage at K-3, 4-6 and 7/8 grade levels.

Sample excerpt from grades 4-6 teacher-librarian planning wiki:

Please add items that you feel would be important to have on the grades 4-6 ICT continuum.  What should students in this age group be able to do with ICT in order to support inquiry?

Cognitive Domain

• use search engine appropriately within customized search
• refine word searches (keywords, boolean)
• demonstrate knowledge of various search engines
• understand the various domain naming conventions (extentions such as .org .net .edu)
• note-making skills (avoid plagiarism)
• use of graphic organizers (Inspiration)
• use of applications other than word processing (excel, powerpoint, tables, one note)
• how to navigate between two open programs and/or panes
• purposeful use of Intranet email
• how to import files (audio, video, music, picture images)
• how to use the iPAC or online library catalogue to search for resources
• use printer etiquette and understand printer status
• navigate the “hand in” and “hand out” folders on the desktop
• use electrontic databases for research (World Book Online, eLibrary, visual thesaurus)
• understand the use of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and wikis
• recognize the limitations of Wikipedia

Affective Domain

• applies “Acceptable Use” document
• cyber safety
• evaluates the authority of online resources
• respects copyright and acknowledges authorship of intellectual property (crediting sources)
• ethics (plagiarism, cyber bullying, hatred promoting sites, licenced software)
• collaboration over distance

The teacher-librarians were able to add, remove and amalgamate ideas that eventually resulted in organizing all their outcomes for student learning into two domains, the cognitive and the affective, complementing our Literacy with ICTcontinuum in Manitoba.  After using the wiki to organize their thinking, the teacher-librarians began the process of creating and integrating specific ICT lessons into the inquiry model (Alberta Learning’s Focus on Inquiry) used for student research.

This fall, our teacher-librarians began planning an inquiry-based learning experience, with a classroom teacher from their school, that included implementing the “big ideas” of the ICT continuum, as well as Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis and podcasts.   This initiative was supported by professional development sessions in questioning and building a culture of inquiry.   Release time for planning was also provided in which both teacher-librarians and their classroom teacher partners could collaborate in exploring new Web 2.0 tools within the portal and consider how they might use these tools within the context of their inquiry project.

Over the months of October and November, the projects have been taking place in the schools and we are eager to find out how the learning of both the adults and students has evolved.  In January, our group will meet again to share our experiences in how these new tools were used to support student inquiry and encourage student engagement.  The School Board has expressed an interest in this project, and we will certainly take the opportunity to share our personal reflections on the process with members of the Board.  We hope to offer a similar project in the spring, with a new group of classroom teachers.

Envisioning the big picture while supporting divisional priorities for student learning

In many ways, the role of the teacher-librarian seems to be gaining momentum like never before.  With the predominence of technology in our everyday lives, information skills that comprise our school library programs have re-newed value and interest in this new information landscape where anyone can create and publish content for the world to view.  By teaming teacher-librarians and classroom teachers together as instructional partners, there is increased opportunity for students and staff to benefit from these powerful collaborations.  It is our hope that these partnerships will advocate the use of new learning tools and generate further interest in the Web 2.0 culture.

In our division, school library staff are working collaboratively with instructional technology leaders to realize our mutual goals in supporting our divisional priorities for student learning.  The purpose of our divisional inquiry project is multifold -  to increase the profile of the teacher-librarian as an instructional partner in our schools; to provide leadership in inquiry-based learning; to support teachers in implementing the ICT continuum into their practise; to assist teachers in understanding new technologies and how they might best use them in their classooms; and ultimately to enhance teaching and support student learning in our school division.  These are worthy goals that make it an exciting time to be a teacher-librarian in our schools.

In “The Read/Write School Library,” Micheal Stephens quotes David Warlick as declaring “that today’s students experience a rich, collaborative world – until they enter school.  The same goes for libraries.”  He goes on to ask “Can blocking social networking sites do students any good as they navigate the information world?… How then can school librarians and others who serve digital natives begin to engage these technologies?”    These will be the future challenges for school library staff as we eventually become more immersed in the Web 2.0 culture.