Month: September 2020

Literature Research and Data Collection on Digital Literacy

As a continuation from my first reading review, I have chosen to broaden my topic a bit, as to leave room to research and find new ideas around this topic. I have chosen to dig further into Digital Literacy. This is something that I believe will be relevant to the current situation in my library. In my district, and specifically at my school, we are not having the students enter the library, instead I go from class to class with a bin of books, in hopes that I have chosen books that these students will be interested in reading. The little ones are fairly easy to please, but the intermediate students are very specific in the books/genres they will read. 

I have heard many times “I like that series, but I’ve read all of the books except the most recent one”, and “I only read books about adventure/dragons/haunted history”. How am I supposed to know ahead of time what they are precisely looking for? I am on the hunt for a new system I can implement to be able to satisfy their reading thirst, as well as not add heaps of extra work on my plate. I came up with the idea to introduce a bit of digital independence into the lives of these students, by teaching them how to browse, choose, and put books on hold through the system Destiny. This will make our lives much simpler (I hope!). The next step is “merely” teach them all how to do this.

Digital Literacy covers a wide range of topics, in which I will cover many as I dive deeper into the research this topic. Some of which will include helping students decipher between good and bad information online, how to find good and credible resources online, and being a good digital citizen.

Follow along with me as I embark on a learning journey of digging deeper into Digital Literacy, in order to provide practical techniques, good information, and new ideas for myself, my colleagues, and my students.

The first resource I will be using to do my research is Digital Literacies by Julia Gillen. In this book she covers a range of topics such as applied linguistics, particularly in the areas of literacy and multimodality. This book will be able to aid me on my search to discover ways to decipher between good and bad information online.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.4324/9781315813530

The second resource I will be looking into is Can we Teach Digital Natives Digital Literacy? by Wan Ng. This will be an interesting and insightful read, as I first need to find new and engaging ways to teach the use of technology in the classroom, so students who have known nothing other than technology in their life. It is likely they have things to teach me as well. Some highlights from this book include a study showing that digital natives are not familiar with educational technologies, thus they need to be made aware of and taught about these educational technologies (this is where I come in!).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.04.016

The third resource I would like to use is Supporting young children as digital citizens: The importance of shared understandings of technology to support integration in play‐based learning by Kelly Johnston. This will be a great support for information on being a good digital citizen. This paper provides an understanding of the complex and interwoven nature of factors that influence the belief of educators and practices in integrating technology.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1111/bjet.12664

Finally, I found a few youtube videos in which I can use to demonstrate to my intermediate classes how to place books on hold in Destiny. They both explain the process quite easily and simply, these will be helpful to provide visual and auditory examples of how to search for a desired book, and put said book on hold for future library checkout and book exchanges.

These resources and ideas are merely the beginning of my journey, but I am excited to embark.

Janelle, the Island TL

References:
Gillen, Julia. Digital Literacies. Routledge, 2014.

Johnston, Kelly. “Supporting Young Children as Digital Citizens: The Importance of Shared Understandings of Technology to Support Integration in Play-Based Learning Supporting Young Children as Digital Citizens.” British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 49, no. 5, 09/2018, pp. 896-910, doi:10.1111/bjet.12664.

Ng, Wan. “Can we Teach Digital Natives Digital Literacy?” Computers and Education, vol. 59, no. 3, 2012, pp. 1065-1078, doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.04.016.

SUSD Library Media. “How to Put a Book on Hold in Destiny.” Youtube, 2020, youtu.be/Kxit-9VEkbA. 

Tremper, Elizabeth. “Using Destiny Discover to Hold Books.” Youtube, 2020, youtu.be/umenFE-wS1I. 

I am a Teacher-Librarian on the beautiful Gabriola Island. This is a new role for me, at a new school, on a new island, during a pandemic. It has so far been wonderful but also terribly overwhelming. I have heard that this school has had quite a turnover of new TL’s year after year, so I get the impression that things have been forgotten or neglected in this library. It feels like the perfect time to give this Library a new fresh feeling.

I am impressed so far with the organization of the Library, and how well it has been maintained, although there are certainly things I wish I could change. We have these cozy looking bench seats, that no one can use right now because all plush items have to be taken away, and students are not allowed to step foot in the library, let alone cozy up in the plush chairs to read. I would love to bring in more carpets and pillows, but I shall have to wait on that dream for another year or so. There are incredible murals that cover the walls, that bring such a bright and joyous feeling, but in the future I would also love to see this vibrant library filled with happy faces day to day.

Some things I can and hope to tackle this year include binning some of the books. Very few books in my library have been binned, and this is something that I have taken quite a liking to in the libraries I have spent time in the past. I believe that it provides a lot of freedom of choice for all ages of readers.

This may be a pike dream for this year, but I would love to run clubs out of the library. Ideally this would look like a Minecraft club, a technology club, a board game club, or an art club (of ALL variations) to mesh together some of my passions with the students to build deeper connections with them. I may have to shift my thinking this year, and create a nature club, or something that can be done outside because of all the restrictions in place.

When I was sharing with someone that I was going to be stepping into this new role this year, they said “I see Librarians as the cool Aunt figure of the school”, and I LOVE this description, and plan to run with that as much as possible this year. I want my library to be safe, welcoming, and filled with exploration. I’m still not entirely sure how this will be achievable this year without the physical space to congregate, but we will take it one step at a time, together.

Maybe one day, all of the pike dreams will come to fruition, but for this year I will keep planning and dreaming for the betterment and the future of my school, my library, and my students.

Janelle, the Island TL