Graduation Time & Year in Review

I want to congratulate those who are graduating with me this week from my Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) Degree.

I decided to graduate in absentia so I will not attend the graduation ceremony in Wagga Wagga tomorrow.

Looking back at 2012, I'm thrilled that I finished my masters especially when you hear of the stories of those who have struggled to complete the course; the fact that some pull out because of time committments and not complete the course. Some have to scale back their studies to the one unit per semester and the talk of people failing units.

Just finishing a course is a big achievement in itself.

I got there because I was focused and committed. I wouldn't let any challenges outside of my studies intrude on it. In fact I let the challenges encourage me to work harder because the rewards that await will be far greater than anything.

If I look back, I am glad I undertook certain actions like volunteering at All Saints Grammar. It boosted my self esteem and it helped me develop as a professional in a more relaxed setting where I did not have to be as scrutinised as in the classroom. I was amazed by the professional relationships that I actually created there. I hope to continue that committment next year.

I was also glad that I did my professional experience there too. Small schools have helped me thrive as a teacher and the fact that everyone knows and helps each other makes the work alot easier.

The volunteer work also helped in the classroom as well as a casual teacher as well. I noticed that I was alot more relaxed and confident and prepared to face up to the challenges of teaching even better than ever. I was eager to help kids in the classroom as well as much as I could even outside my subject areas. It might be helping students to locate information and seek clarification about something that they do not understand. Some might need help writing and presenting information. I found myself in that situation many times of helping and guiding students in their learning. I could go home with my head up knowing that I did something other than "babysitting".  I am not a casual teacher that likes to sit at the front of the room and reads a book like other casuals. I like to interact and support the learning process as much as possible.

I did not predict at the start of 2012 that I would do a paid casual block as a teacher librarian either and that gave me a full immersion into what I will face as a full time teacher librarian. I was lucky too I managed to learn alot more about my professional role, which sadly was overlooked in my actual studies. There was alot that had to be learnt but it was done and done well. I'm grateful that Waverley College gave me such an opportunity and the students liked my presence there.

I still felt that my knowledge of Information and Communication Technologies was lacking and I decided to take advantage of the offer by the Catholic Education Office Sydney to do a Web 2.0 course for teachers. Immersing myself in some new web tools has stimulated my interest in using them for teaching but even for leisure too. Students don't even know that some of the tools even exist. I cannot wait to teach them how to use them and they will surely love using them in their learning. I'll admit to having a lot of fun myself playing around with the tools. 

It was encouraging that so many teachers in the schools that I have been involved with have been supportive in my studies and endeavours this year. I've also enjoyed sharing my experiences and knowledge with them as well. I hope to continue this next year


I can hold my head up high at the end of the year with these achievements. I may not have a full time job for 2013 but if I can keep the good work up, the full time job will come. I'm ready to face up to the challenges of being a teacher librarian. Even if I have to work in a classroom, I will be able to undertake that role even better than when I completed my post graduate studies. I am better informed about pedagogy and practice. I want to apply it and help the kids aspire to their full potential.

The DET Suitability Interview

There are a few websites out there that do talk about the DET suitability interview for teachers wishing to work in NSW Public Schools.

Some even go into the liberty of posting all the possible questions that one could be asked.

I sat the suitability interview last week as I need to be approved for full time teaching. Before the interview, I had only been assessed as suitable for casual teaching in NSW public schools.

You might be asking me the question - What did they ask you?


The questions are based on the professional teaching standards for NSW teachers and the questions do encompass more than one element. Generally you will be asked questions about your professional knowledge, professional practice and professional commitment.

What they may have asked me last week, may be different for your interview.

I recommend viewing the information about the interview on the DET website because it guides you well in how to prepare for it and that has to be the best site to go to.

If I have to give some tips to help you I think you should:

• Make sure you understand the professional teaching standards and what they mean. Practicum reports can act as a guide. I know ACU list examples of evidence for each element to guide mentor teachers in assessing practicum students. 
• List suitable experiences that you have been through for each element. If you are a graduate teacher or lack experience in an aspect of teaching, think about how YOU would go about it for example - How would you plan a unit of work?
• View relevant documents as listed on the DET website link that I have provided. 
• Don't be afraid to share your own research and understandings of professional knowledge and teaching practice, particularly if a question is asked about possible challenges relating to teaching such as the use of ICT in the classroom.
• Obviously dress in professional attire for the interview. Give the interviewer the impression that you are serious about wanting to work as a teacher and that you take your professional role seriously. Remember first impressions count.
• Be familiar with what the syllabus requires you to do in your subject areas. 
• Avoid memorising answers from websites like those listed above and don't worry about preparing answers for them. Just read them to see and feel what you could experience.Just looking at them is time consuming in itself. At the end of the day you don't know what could be asked. It's like an exam. Anything could be tested. 

I hope that settles some of you down as you face an interview. Feel free to comment, share your thoughts and ideas or even post some questions. 

Feel free to contact me if you want help. There is no shame.

Cyberbullying is "overrated"

I have viewed some interesting emails relating to this article.

I feel I have to throw my two cents into this matter.

To me cyber bullying is a problem not matter how often it occurs in comparison to bullying that occurs offline.

If we look at NSW, the vast majority of school students in Year 9-12 now have a laptop due to the Federal Government's laptop rollout program.

Virtually every school student that I have come into contact with as a teacher owns a mobile phone or smartphone. Simply technology is around us.

We are proliferated with it. With this rise in technology, this provides the perfect setting for cyberbullying to occur.

The internet is a public place like the town square. Views can be said or heard by the entire world. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying, like physical or verbal bullying.

Unlike the physical world, it can be done anonymously and the offender can get away with it without penalty unless their identity is published. in the physical world, the perpetrator is often known to the victim and is more likely to get caught.

In the classroom as teachers, we have a challenging job controlling a group of up to thirty students in a room. I find that I have to move around the room quite frequently if students are using computers to ensure that they are on task that they are not using communication tools (facebook, phones etc). Even then Its extremely easy for a student to put their phone in their lap or under the desk and text or message away. I have caught students doing this. Its akin to passing notes in the old days from student to student, except it is now done electronically.

But for the article to say that cyberbullying is not as prevalent as it seems because 16 % have reported being bullied electronically as opposed to 39 % who might be bullied offline bemuses me.

16 % of students being cyberbullied is still a very high number.

There is no way that cyberbullying is overrated at all.

The article does not mention what percentage of students have been bullied either physically or verbally. There is also silent bullying (excluded from peer groups, not invited to social outings, being delibrately ignored by peers etc). And I will also add that a small percentage of students are bullied by their teachers. I was actually subject to bullying by a teacher when I was in Year 10. As one of my peers said it was done because in that teachers view that I "needed to be a man". If you were to break the offline bullying into the categories that I have mentioned, I think you will be amazed at how common cyberbullying is compared to other forms of bullying.

Web 2.0 Course - My Learning Journey

It has been a very exciting journey for me. I was motivated to do this course for the following reasons:

• My university studies (particularly undergraduate) placed little emphasis on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT's) in the Classroom. I graduated with little knowledge in this area.
• Eagerness to integrate more Web 2.0 tools into my classroom teaching.
• Become better informed on latest teaching developments.
• Highly relevant to my career as a Teacher Librarian and my role as a manager of information. I also would have to lead classroom teachers in incorporating online technologies such as Web 2.0 Tools into teaching and learning programs.
• Allowed me to build up my knowledge of ICT's in the classroom from my Master of Education (Teacher Librarian) Course.

I come to the end of this course and I have embraced the opportunities that have been provided to immerse myself in Web 2.0 tools and experimented with how I could use them in the classroom as a classroom teacher.

Some highlights from my learning journey include:

• Creating pages through IGoogle & Google Reader that allow me to centralise the flow of information from sources that I regularly visit, instead of going to each site individually. The internet experience becomes much more simplified and centralised. With so much information around us, we need a location where we can view the information that is important to us.
• Google Docs - Out of the tools that I have used in this course I have found this to be most useful resource for classroom learning. It allows for groups to collaborate in real time and removes the barriers associated with machines and emailing. It makes learning more productive and even better, students don't have to be in the classroom to learn.
• How to engage in Digital Storytelling - It encourages creativity and expression. Even though I may question the features of online tools compared to offline tools, I think its a great method for students to learn but also to communicate their information in multiple forms. Students love their technology and digital storytelling responds to their interests. Even I get excited and I have ideas in my head about some stories I want to share. 
• Prezi - Adds a new dimension to the presentation of information and goes beyond the functions of Powerpoint. It encouraged me to be more creative in presenting factual information and summaries. Anything that is brief does not require Powerpoint slides. I think students will love it especially in subjects like history where creativity might stimulate interest. I'd still use Powerpoint for presenting information that more abstract or detailed. In fact I think both can go hand in hand like embedding Prezi into a Powerpoint slide. 
• Bubbl.us - An excellent tool for mindmapping which is no longer limited by the size of the paper. 
• Using Twitter as part of professional networking.
• Consolidating my knowledge with Web 2.0 tools such as Blogs, Social Network sites and Photohosting websites and reflecting on their potential use in the classroom.

I've started to share with students some of the tools that are available to them and many of them have been amazed at the fact that Web 2.0 tools are easily accessible especially Google Docs. I filled in for a Year 11 Economics Class at one school recently and I explained to the students how they can use Google Docs to share notes with their peers as some of them share their notes via "old" methods online such as Email.

Hopefully as I get full time work as a teacher librarian, I can share my knowledge and experience of using Web 2.0 tools with other teachers, especially those that may be reluctant to use them and suggest strategies in how they can be incorporated into their teaching even if they have to start with something very simple and basic. I found that taking small steps does make a difference. The students I feel will welcome any use of technology even if it starts with something simple. Then I can work on teaching more complex tools and strategies. Rushing does not help.

If I do end up in a classroom role, this course gives me the scope to become more creative in my teaching. I'm lucky that I have a background in expressing myself creatively (photography) and I need to capitalise on it and use it to provide positive and engaging learning experiences.

Module 10 (Web 2.0) - Learning Communities, Constructing Knowledge Together in Wikis

Wiki's have proven to be quite popular for accessing information whether you are a student or a teacher. I try to avoid them because I question the accuracy of the information contained within them but I will often access a wiki such as Wikipedia to get a background on a topic of interest to me, and then head off to other well established websites or print resources.

They do have one advantage - the fact that you don't need any skills in web publishing and this works fine with many people who more than likely cannot be bothered learning the skills needed to make a website.

The focus is on the presentation of the information itself which is what people want to focus on when presenting their information. I like the fact you can update a wiki at any time from any location on any machine and that it can occur in real time. Groups of students can collaborate together to present information as it is sought and allow for input.

If I had to choose between students creating a web page/site or a wiki for a learning task, I'd favour the wiki. The focus should be on the presentation of the information as opposed to the layout of the site. Students don't need to get into the nitty gritty associated with creating web pages.


However the concern with Wiki's is that other students may "hack" into the wiki and wreck other students work. It might mean backup versions of text may have to be kept just in case the worst happens. Everyday on Wikipedia there are trolls that wreak havoc by changing information to cause trouble. I remember a Wikipedia entry for Ballina several years ago was changed to say that only one person lived there and that they were a "tool". The data and facts for the town had been removed. In fact according to the altered entry it was settled by the Balinese.

As for creating websites, I think they come in more handy where information may have to be presented in a variety of formats such as photographs or video. Websites are more personal as well. I'd use them where the task needs to be done individually and requires multiple formats to be used.

Being a casual teacher, I have found it quite challenging to engage as a member of a professional network because it is harder to meet and get to know other teachers. I feel encouraged by sites such as Ning that allow me to meet other teachers and share my ideas and thoughts on issues affecting the profession but also be informed on the latest happenings in teaching practice.

Module 9 (Web 2.0) - Networks on the web – professional and social

Like many others in Generation Y, online social networking has become a significant part of our lives. I think the challenge for me as a professional is to move beyond the social use of social networking and take advantage of the educational and professional opportunities that it has to offer.

I'll comment on each of the tools explored in Module 9 individually in terms of their educational use and how they can be used to enhance learning inside and outside of the classroom.


Scootle

I think it is a fantastic tool for teachers because it allows resources to be easily shared amongst teachers but also with students through the one site.

Exploring the History section of the site allowed me to access many resources that would otherwise not be accessible either online or in hard copy formats.

I like the fact that I can create Learning Paths containing resources from the database that are most relevant to student learning and make that accessible to students.  I also provide learning activities through Scootle.

I was also impressed that students can upload and host their own content provided it is their own work of course.
Facebook

In my Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) Degree, I did an elective on ICT use in the classroom. As part of our studies, we were required to engage in discussion via a Facebook group created specifically for the subject.

Our lecturer Lyn Hay made a very good point about its educational use which I did not pick up. I was interacting with other Facebook users yet I was not their friend.

You don't need to be a persons friend to interact with them on Facebook.

There was alot of discussion going on in the group on our learning experiences as well. I thought it was nice that were learning and using a social networking site as a means to learn.

Lyn was also the administrator for the group and only let those study the subject access the group and contribute to discussions.

So lets shift towards the classroom.

I think Facebook does have educational use in the classroom given my experience of using the site provided that the teacher can control the activity that goes on within the group. Obviously I would have not "friend" any of them for professional reasons. I didn't "friend" my lecturer in my studies nor did she with me.

My concern is that restricting access to sites such as Facebook can actually do little in terms of encouraging responsible use of the internet and develop appropriate digital citizenship within our students. If a site is blocked they are more likely to use the alternate sites to break the firewalls of the servers especially with Facebook. I think it also prevents students from exploring alternative uses for Social Networking, which can help them in their tertiary studies or careers.

I think within the next few years, restrictions on Facebook etc will have to be lifted. Social Networking has become a crucial part of life in our society and it is inevitable that this will have to happen.

In the meantime, I have to accept restrictions placed by educational authorities and explore alternative sites that cater to school students.

LinkedIn

I signed up with LinkedIn earlier this year and in a professional sense I think its a great way to promote myself as a professional. If you are to look at my account, I've been able to virtually make my CV available in electronic form. If professionals want to know about my work history etc, they can access it. There is also scope to engage in professional discussions by joining various groups that exist online.

I have noticed too that people have actually viewed my profile that are curious to find more about who I am professionally. These people are usually listed on my page. Its good overall.

Twitter

I find that Twitter is quite limited in how one can express themselves. 140 characters is quite limited to express yourself. The curriculum requires students to engage in critical thinking and Twitter sadly does not allow this. I would not use it in this format.

However I do like Twitter as a form of communication to remind students of upcoming assessment tasks, posting useful links etc. It can also be used for lesson reviews e.g "List one thing that you learn't today". For learning it can be good for keeping records of events happening at a moment in time e.g. "What is the temperature at home?" or to report on findings.

In professional contexts as a teacher, I am trying to explore it as a tool of communication with members of the profession whether it may be sharing items with other professionals or contributing to professional discussions. This was after being encouraged by this article published in The Sydney Morning Herald on Monday (click below to read):

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/teachers-unlock-tweet-smell-of-success-20121109-292zz.html

I would love to get in touch with other teachers not just in my area of expertise, but also other areas.

You can follow me on Twitter at @FabianAmuso1.

Second Life

I've always been curious about Second Life and what it offers. I have never considered its educational use at all. I like the fact that you can provide a virtual experience of the world and how it works whether it may be viewing artworks, experiencing life in Ancient Rome or visiting a village marketplace to understand how business transactions may take place.

The question I have to ask is - How can I use Second Life in the classroom?

Here are several methods in which I could apply Second Life. 

• Role Playing exercises. Kids love to role play in the physical world, but the big challenge is that they have to do it with no props. You can do that in the virtual world with props. In fact you enter a virtual society and you can immerse yourself, whether it is the world of the 21st century or ancient Rome. 
• You can experience the world as another person sees it through custom built environments and gain insights into how they experience life or even enter an object and explore its functions.
• Its impossible to take people back in time. Second Life can allow the students to explore the world at a certain point in time.
• Scavenger Hunts - locating information relating to a concept or topic. This might be locating definitions, key people or creating a timeline. In a subject like Ancient History, Second Life allows students to locate objects from the historical period that they are engaged in study at that point in time e.g. Ancient Rome. 
• Creating 3D objects relating to their unit of work.

The big challenge in applying Second Life is that this is the time needed to engage in such a experience. As teachers we already have to spend alot of time to cater for set up and pack up. Periods can be short as 40 minutes at some schools - not really much time to get much done.

Glogster

Finally, Glogster got it's act together and I was able to create my glog to show my ideas of Web 2.0 in classroom learning. I enjoyed this because it allows for more creativity and for students, they would make great summaries of what they have learn't in the classroom. Need to play around it a little more to see how much further I can go with it.

Module 8 (Web 2.0) - Managing your flow of information on the Internet

I've heard for sometime about RSS Feeds but was too lazy too to even try it.

A day after joining Google Reader, I realise how easy it is to access feeds from the internet.

I have a friend that is currently living in Chile and I find her blog a useful way of keeping in touch with us here in Australia.

I went into Google Reader this morning and walla, a new blog entry from her. I am now right up to date. I was even able to go to her blog and provide a comment.

Its so handy to have news sent to the one page.

Classroom usage - I think it would be handy in any KLA to keep a list of common news sites like The Sydney Morning Herald because from time to time in different subjects, students may be required to collect suitable articles. Through an application like Google Reader, they can easily locate articles that are suitable to their learning. This allows them to bookmark articles on delicious etc or print it out to keep on file.

I think they are also useful extensions to bookmarking sites as well.

Module 7 (Web 2.0) - Buiding Online communities

I've had the chance to play around with Delicious and had little difficulty uploading bookmarks from my computer onto my account. Finding other people is very tough on it especially if you want to follow your friends and colleagues and their use.

I find that there isn't much that you can do with it, apart from it being a central database of all your bookmarked sites. You cannot even organise your bookmarks into folders etc to make locating websites easy. I think you would need folders if you want to maximise its use in the classroom given that certain websites would be relevant to certain subjects. Having it one just one list would make it harder.

Given the limitations, I wouldn't recommend it for classroom use at this point in time.

Module 6 (Web 2.0) - Exploring photos and videos on the web

This is an area that I am quite familiar with.

Those who have known me, know that I have fondness for photography and I am always eager to share my latest snaps.

Primarily I have used Imageshack (imageshack.us) to host photos as they can be shared easily with HTML codes, forum codes etc always available at the touch of my hand.


I was happy to give Picasa a go because I wanted to see what another site can offer. As part of the Module, I was required to create an album and share some of the images publicly. Featured below is an album containing some of my photos that I have taken.

I hope you can see this. If not, please let me know.

Looking at their use as a learning tool, I think sites like Picasa they make excellent photo hosting websites where students can keep a record of photographs that they have taken that are relevant to learning tasks. The images can be used again for other learning tasks either within or another subject area. I would emphasise that they post their own images only as a means of encouraging originality.  I think it encourages one to take pride in their work as well because they shot the image/s themselves and gives them the chance to showcase their skills to others.

Plus there are basic editing options available that they can use to improve the images whether it may be cropping, altering colours etc. There is even creative elements available through the Creative Kit. This comes in handy if they want to add some humor.

Picasa I feel also can be used for digital storytelling. Captions can be added to describe the images. Also a movie feature is available. 

Fortunately I am familiar with editing photos and there was nothing new that needed to be learn't about this aspect of sharing photos online. I will continue to do them offline because software like Adobe Photoshop provide the advanced features that online photo editing tools do not.

Module 3 (Web 2.0) - Google Docs

I had never known of the existence of Google Docs before starting this module and wow I was impressed what you can do with it.

I find that it comes most handy in classroom settings for collaborative learning tasks where students have to work in groups. Traditionally, each group member has needed their own computer with an offline version of Microsoft Office or word processing program. If ideas had to be shared emails with attachments had to be sent to each other. Changes could not be made in real time. You had to wait for team members to reply back to your emails with changes.

Now it can be done in real time. The file is uploaded on Google Drive onto the web and modifications can be made by team members using the apps. This allows for learning to occur at all times of the day. If there is an assessment task, group members dont have to meet at once unless to discuss who is doing what and progress. Content can be added or edited at any time. This works around the schedules of each team member. It also allows for accountability because team members can see who is doing what and when. Learning time becomes more productive, however there is that question of what to do should the internet go down and all the work can be accessed only in cyberspace?

Module 5 (Web 2.0) - Creating and Communicating Online

I was amazed by Prezi in this module. As a history teacher I have found that it can be handy for creating timelines or summarising key historical events. Instead of drawing a simple timeline, I am able to use graphics and use interesting fonts to present the information. Even better the slides make incredible transitions from one frame to another with excitement. If I was a student I would be wondering what the slide or event would be.

Here is the Prezi that I created. It is a timeline of the key events in the life of NSW Premier John Lang (1877-1975). This is part of Stage 5 History studies of The Great Depression.

John Lang on Prezi

I've also been trying to use Glogster as well. I am disappointed so far. I've tried to upload some images to create my handout and twenty minutes later, the images are still being processed. I will have to try again at another time.

Just putting some words on this handout wont be enough for me.

Bubbl.us I found was a very exciting tool to use for mindmapping. When I sat my HSC I remember having to cram as much as I could onto single A4 pages. My notes were mindmaps because for me they provided useful summaries. Sometimes the writing required some squinting.

I like to encourage mindmapping and brainstorming in the classroom as much as I can and I think the tool is handy for such a task. It addresses just about all the issues of doing a mindmap by hand.  It allows for better presentation of mindmaps and adds some colour and style to the presentation. Students can tailor the mindmap to their style or their needs. The mindmaps can be as big as they need to, however i wonder how one would be able to print them if they are big. That requires some further exploration.

Module 4 (Web 2.0) - Digital Storytelling: Podcasts, Vodcasts, Videos & Web 2.0

As I look back at Module 4, there is alot of scope for digital storytelling as part of classroom learning.

Everybody loves sharing stories -whether it is about something that they have read, seen or heard. It can be fact or made up.

I've been quite lucky through personal experience and radio training at University to be already exposed to tools that allow us to share stories in a digital format. For example I was taught to use a professional voice recorder and edit the mp3 file using audacity.

The big advantage of digital storytelling is that it allows for creativity. There are many ways that students can use the tools to express themselves as they learn.

I had a go with Animoto to create a photo slide presentation of Pyrmont which is used by Stage 5 and Stage 6 Geography students. It is often used as a case study as part of urban growth and development in their respective stages.

I was disappointed in what you could do with Animoto. For instance I wanted to add text to support the photos (all taken by me), but was limited in the number of characters that could be used. I could only use 30 characters for each slide. In the end I left it out.

Here is the video that I created:

I'm a big fan of Imovie. I created this short movie three years ago to give Stage 5 History students an overview of the Great Depression in Australia using a comic strip that I came across.

The students liked it. I think they were impressed by my storytelling skills.

From my experience, I have found that students do enjoy tasks that allow them to present stories digitally. They enjoy experimenting with the features that are available to them in movie making software. It allows for creativeness and is a fun method of understanding new concepts and knowledge. Also many are familar with the technology itself. For instance some enjoy making movies in their leisure time. It may be filmed on their phone, camera or laptop. They may edit it using Imovie to create a personal touch and then host it online on video hosting websites like youtube for the world to see. As teachers digital storytelling allows us to cater for student interest in digital technology and engaging in their interest and/or skills to express their learning.

Module 2 (Web 2.0) - Blogging

Blogging is one web 2.0 tool that I am highly familiar with.

Currently I main two blogs

1. The blog you are reading (The Fab world of learning) which I have created as part of Master of Education studies
2. Fabian's Corner (http://fabianamuso.wordpress.com/) - An online newsletter about recent happenings in my world.

 I blog for two reasons.

1. To keep a professional record of my teaching and learning (this blog).
2. To share news with family, friends and colleagues. I have family and friends that live either interstate and overseas and it is hard to get in touch with them. 

Viewing the videos have helped me to reinforce my understanding of blogs. When I look at my blogging habits, it reinforces what blogs are for. Blogs are used to share news. Thats why Fabian's Corner was created - to share news relating to me. Blogs can be used to document information (like this blog) or even share our interests.

My audience is potentially the whole world, but at the end of the day there are specific audiences. I've identified that with Fabian's Corner. With this blog, its more about sharing my teaching and learning experiences with colleagues and peers and hopefully foster discussion on issues relating to the teaching profession.

In the classroom there is alot of scope to include blogs as part of learning. I find it would be of most use in assessment tasks particularly one that is undertaken over a long period of time such as a major work or portfolio. The student can keep a record of their progress during that time. They could be asked to list activities or work completed during that week, reflect on sources used and identify strengths and weaknesses. It is akin to maintaining a learning diary, except that this is done online. As a teacher, I can monitor their progress and provide the necessary feedback

Module 1 - Web 2.0 Course

I've already covered part of Module 1 such as introductions in my last post. This allows me to comment on what I have just learnt in the module itself.

Recently, I have been asking myself exactly what is Web 2.0? I've heard about it but had no clue exactly what it meant.

Web 2.0 builds up on Web 1.0 where it was company run and hosted web pages that controlled the information that was available to us. Now we as individuals can customise the Internet experience. We have control over content and how it is presented to us. Applications allow us to host our own content, whether it is through blogs, media hosting websites or wikis.

Information is easily transferred and is all done in real time. I think of the social interactions that take place through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. We can share virtually anything. We can collaborate on projects with colleagues and with students online and in real time. As I made mention in my portfolio, learning no longer needs to occur in physical settings. Think of recent world events such as the Arab Uprising across the Arab World. I think Web 2.0 is shaping current events and will continue to shape events in the future. People in the Arab World have let the rest of the world know whats going on, and in ways that conventional media cannot. In Australia, I think of the Alan Jones saga after making highly insensitive comments about the death of Julia Gillard's father. The campaign against Alan Jones has largely occurred online.

IGoogle - I think its a fun way to customise the Internet experience by providing a one stop shop for information that is of interest to me. It allows me or the student to provide one location to access information and/or sites of interest to them instead of opening new tabs or URLs.  This could be good in a learning context as relevant apps suited to each subject can be included on their iGoogle web page. These can easily be added or deleted according to the learning that is taking place at that particular point in time.

CEO Sydney Web 2.0 Course & Greetings

While I await the results of ETL507, and to keep the momentum going, I've decided to enrol in a Web 2.0 E-learning course that has been organised by the Catholic Education Office Sydney.

To those doing the Web 2.0 course at the moment, I say hello to each and everyone of you.

Who am I?

To keep it short I've been studying the Master of Education (Teacher-Librarianship) degree for the past two years through Charles Sturt University.  I am hoping to graduate at the end of this year.

I am also a qualified secondary school teacher specialising in subjects such as History, Economics and Commerce.

Currently I am a casual teacher. I have been employed at a number of CEO Sydney schools and public schools. As listed in the index of blogs I am currently employed as a casual teacher at Bethany College and Waverley College. At Waverley College, my casual employment has mostly been as  teacher librarian. Though not listed in the index, I am also currently a casual teacher at De La Salle College, Ashfield and St George Girls High School, Kogarah.

This blog was created with the intention of keeping a record of my learning journey in that course but as teachers it is important that we keep a record of our development as professionals.

As this course ties in with my masters, I think its appropriate to comment on my learning in the Web 2.0 course here as well.

Semester II 2012 Wrap Up

I finally finished my ETL507 Portfolio this week. I submitted it on Monday and by the next day, I had an email to say that I had passed it. It meant that I passed the unit as well.

The problem with the portfolio was the choice of wiki to host the content and this led to presentation problems which was raised in the marking. I think its fair because I personally found it to the most frustrating aspect of the task. At least I have been provided with possible alternative sites such as wikispaces.

But the content side of it was great. While I had many readings to draw on, resources acquired from practice and this blog, it was a challenge putting it all together. I felt at times when writing the reflection and evaluaton that my learning was inadequate but further reflection realised that I did learn something even if it was not applied. I think as I gain more work as a teacher librarian, this will be overcome.

It helped me to realise my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher librarian and that will come in handy for when applying for a job because I can draw on the portfolio to provide answers to questions should I gain an interview.

With ETL507, I had worked on the dewey decimal classification numbers for the past few weeks. It was very challenging but webdewey really simplified it for me. It gave me the scope to examine different numbers and combinations and draw on that to identify the most suitable number. The exercises helped me a lot because it made sure that I stuck to the rules that went with it. If I didn’t do the exercises, I would have been in trouble.

And the SCIS standards were quite self explanatory in truncating it if needed. It even simplified the process for me. Even if I didn't need to truncate or apply SCIS standards I made sure I mentioned the need not to apply it by merely stating it was consistent with SCIS Standards.

Dewey isn't that ardous at all and in modern libraries it is as relevant as ever. Books need to be placed according to subject, otherwise what hope is there for finding it?

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Waverley College Block - Term 3 2012

During weeks 1-7 of this term, I was approached by Waverley College to fill in for library staff that took leave during this period. This was the first block that I engaged in the role of teacher librarian.

Some of the jobs that I did included:

• Creating labels for the magazine collection and ensuring that they were easily accessible such as reshelving, ensuring that they were in the correct order. I found magazines and periodicals that required weeding as they had remained in the collection too long.
• Circulation (loans and returns).
• Assisting classes in accessing library facilities and services.
• Providing academic support to students during library lessons and when requested.
• Identifying suitable resources for use in the classroom.
• Responding to requests for resources e.g recording television programmes.
• Assisting library staff with catalouging - locating and downloading SCIS records and entering details into OPAC. 
• Updating learning resources such as providing texts for students undertaking HSC and Preliminary English studies. This was despite not specialising in this area of teaching.
• Assisting in the selection and acquistion of resources.
• Creating Resource lists.
• Recommending literature for reading programs e.g. wide reading programs or for leisure.

A fairly brief but concise summary.

What did I learn during this time?

• Developed familarity with the basic operations of SCIS - The fact I am doing ETL505 alongside this helped me to navigate and access the key features of SCIS. I found it confronting to start with but very quickly I was having little difficulty using SCIS.
• Able to have a "backup" system in the event of the circulation system failing such as keeping a manual record of loans.
• Effective liasion with members of various KLA's. At All Saints I only liaised with a history teacher. This time I had to liaise with teachers from across all KLA's. Feedback was positive.
• High focus on the client - I went for a retail approach to customer service because I find that this approach does work most effectively in catering to the persons needs. I was not afraid to ask teachers or students further questions about what they needed. This allowed for effective communication. 
• Updating learning resources - ensuring that resources available are current. I also considered their possible use for other subject areas and also around current student interests.
• Creating resource lists. I actually recorded them and provided them to the teacher librarian.
• How schools are incorprating ICT into their teaching and learning programmes and the role of the library in the process. 
• Building up a reading culture - Compared to All Saints, I tried to focus on locating items that students would actually enjoy reading as opposed to difficulty or reviews. For instance a year eight class was studying the writing genre of Science Fiction as part of their English studies. I was able to recommend to students a wide variety of books and where possible, related them to films and areas of interest to stimulate them in analysing texts or to read as part of their reading program. Many students ended up identifying a suitable text to anaylse and many borrowed a science fiction book for their wide reading. Also if students were unsure of what to read, I asked them questions relating to interests, preferences etc. With that information I recommended suitable books and in many instances, they borrowed the item/s.

SCIS Assignment Update

Assignment 2A is proving not to be as hard as I thought, so doing those exercises has helped me out alot.

Reflecting at the time, I realised that I had not done detailed searches on SCIS Subject headings nor the SCIS OPAC catalogue and that had pulled me back considerably. At least having a punt and typing in different terms would have helped me.

Neither did I read the notes on the subject headings as well as to how to use them. It was a matter of reading through.

I think noting the reasons why I created that heading (by keeping a log of my search efforts) helped me too. With that reasoning, I should be able to get a pass mark for this task as I have been able to give reasons for my headings.

I've also told myself to keep the headings simple. Looking at SCIS OPAC, they try to keep the subject headings simple. Simplicity wins the day usually.

SCIS and Fabs

I've been lucky to have an opportunity to familarise myself with parts of SCIS in my current block at Waverley College such as locating details of resources, and available resources that the library may want to acquire.

While this has given me confidence to use SCIS in my role of teacher libarian, I have not been impressed with how we will use SCIS for the upcoming Assessment 2A of ETL505.

I think being given the two weeks to prepare is highly inadequate. For an assignment that is 35 %, the topic areas should have been given at the start of this week. For every 10 % , you need to spend a week, not 17.5 % in just two weeks. I wonder how some are going to cope.

I am sitting here wanting to begin the assignment, because I dont want to waste a moment. I cannot deal with the stress of completing an assessment task the night before at all. I like to start it early. I have found that by the time the assignment is due, it is just a matter of toning it up and making sure that it is good, and 9/10 times, this has worked in my favour. I do get a decent mark.

The only thing I can really do, is practice the exercises on subject headings. I did them all this week but I did have inacuracies. It felt like the answers insisted on a particular answer and felt like there was no leeway or flexibility. If I am making inaccuracies, that says alot about my impending performance - FAIL. I did get a fair number right, but I need to work through those weaknesses.

Six Weeks in

Were six weeks into ETL505, and I think I'm surprised with how I have progressed over the past week.

I worked on it for three weeks at least and two weeks of it involved careful reading of texts and readings to get any gist. At least as the paper came together, the ideas made sense, and walla an essay.

As for the first assignment, I don't have the confidence that I will pass even though I have put in a fair good shot with it. Usually first assignments during semester two have tended to be poor, and much worse than semester one. I've tried to avoid "excluding" information and "staccato" like writing. I also think the HAL Text reader is a useful tool in proofreading my assignments because someone reads it aloud and i can look at it as if I am the marker.

But assignment one was quite interesting nonetheless looking at Resource Access Description. As a librarian and as a person I love writing detailed descriptions because I know people like to have information at their finger tips, especially in a connected world. I was shocked at the rigourous standards of AACR2. It turned out to me to be more outdated than I thought. In my view it ignores some of the fundamentals in reading and viewing information. 

I'm glad that they are bringing it in. Even if I don't understand it yet, I can see the advantages of it without having to do too much

ETL505

Were just a few weeks into ETL505, and its quite interesting as I come to grips with the whole concept of biblographic information.

Metadata - I never heard the term before doing this unit, but I was amazed by the straightforwardness of the definition "Information about information".

I think biblographic information is important - We know to the key details of an item within a collection, particularly if we need to locate it. Like music, a book or a website or any item can have the same title, but have different content with it and more likely than not presented in different formats.

Anyways, I'll be back a little later to comment on the information that I come across.

Professional Placement Assignment

Yes, I think were going to see a fair few posts as I do this assignment as I get my thoughts into order.

I'm taking notes for Part D where the question states:

Reflect on the value of the placement experience in your development as a teacher librarian and a member of the wider library and information profession.

Obviously as a starting point, this means answering this question going back to ETL401 (Teacher Librarianship).

What is a teacher-librarian?

I answered this question in late 2010 here on this blog.

... the role of teacher librarian is to act as a leader in education. They advocate, develop and enhance lifelong learning amongst learners, applying their knowledge of education theory and curriculum, working collaboratively with classroom teachers and the wider school community to provide quality teaching and learning experiences for students to achieve student learning outcomes. They are responsible for the effective management of library and information services, including Information and Communication Technology. It is a role of leadership requiring commitment to the wider school community to ensure effective implementation of the school’s vision.

What do I think in 2012 and how this relates to the question at hand.

I'm thinking the placement has reinforced my viewpoint of teacher librarian as I listed back in 2010. It has made me appreciate it more.

But why?

Here are my reasons:

• I acted as a leader in education - I advocated, developed and enhanced lifelong learning amongst learners. This was shown through my ability to guide students in developing their information literacy skills via identifying and selecting suitable resources for learning tasks, either in a one on one basis or as part of a class group.
• I applied my knowledge of  curriculum. My lesson plan (will be uploaded soon) for a research session involving Year Nine History Elective will demonstrate how I have applied my knowledge of the curriculum to guide students in completing an assessment task by listing learning outcomes and their relationship to the syllabus
• I provided a quality teaching and learning experience for students to achieve student learning outcomes. The lesson plan as mentioned will also demonstrate this.
• Through weeding the vertical file and the commencement of digitisation of remaining files, I gained greater understanding of my responsibility to provide effective management of library and information services.
• Commitment to the wider school community as illustrated through my involvement in school activities such as assembly, pastoral care initiatives and the athletics carnival,.

Obviously this will have to elaborated on in my final draft but this is a good start to tackling Part D. A good set of notes hopefully.

Professional Placement

I've finished my ten day professional placement and I am going to post a summary of what I did and what I learnt during this period at my school.

What I did

·         Completed weeding of the vertical file system retaining only articles from 2010 to present along with items from previous years if they covered significant events or contained useful content relevant to classroom learning e.g. items on Ancient Rome. This had begun prior to placement.

·         Commenced the digitisation of the vertical file. I scanned several items from the vertical file onto the school network and began to classify them by topic. This included creating a filing system that will allow for easy retrieval of items and for record keeping.

·         Compiled a library guide to inform students of the collection and services provided by the library to encourage them to make greater use of library facilities.

·         Created a reading list for Year Seven students focusing on fiction items that are suitable for Year 7 Students including popular authors, series and titles.

·         Organised and presented an information session for Year Seven students on library services.

·         Applied skills in classroom teaching, curriculum, pedagogy and teacher librarianship to guide students undertaking learning tasks.

·         Functioned as a staff member within the wider school community – such as communicating with teachers relating to student learning. I was also required to assist at the school Athletics Carnival on Day 10.

·         Liaised with library staff to ensure that the library operated smoothly.

What I learnt

·         Ensuring clients are aware of library services – Libraries that I have visited such as local libraries, other school libraries and specialist libraries such as Parliament House provide details to their clients about their services. This may be available on the web and/or published as a brochure or pamphlet. This school did not have a website that provided such information nor a brochure. The Teacher Librarian also wanted to encourage younger students in the Senior (secondary) campus to continue to utilse the library as they did in the junior (primary) school maintaining their relationship. I felt that they needed to be aware of the library collection and services. The user guide, I felt would assist in informing students of library services. This would be built up through information sessions. After a session with Year Seven, they had a greater understanding of library services. Some borrowed items and others were asking me questions about the collection and library services.

·         Skills in Collection Management – Creation of a system to record and maintain the files that will form the digital vertical file identifying items  by subject, author, year, and article.

·         Using the library collection to Identify and select a thorough variety of resources to guide students in  their learning e.g. Identifying and selecting items from the fiction, non-fiction and reference collections to assist History Elective Students that were commencing a research task on Myths and Legends.

·         How to effectively communicate knowledge of the curriculum and syllabus to ensure that students meet learning outcomes. This would include explaining learning outcomes and the steps that are required to meet those outcomes e.g To meet the outcome of using a variety of sources, students must not rely on information in one type of format such as the internet. Students meet this outcome by using relevant websites, books, and visual aids. 

The assignment will give me greater opportunity to reflect on my experiences. There will be some items that may come up as the assignment is completed. i'll just add them as we go along. Obviously when you have been out for two weeks working hard, it takes some time to sit back and think back to what was done.

 

The Study Tour - The follow up

The Study Tour was a long week - I think the best way to show what I learnt in that week is to post a copy of my reflection task that was submitted following the study tour.

I've obviously removed my subject and student number for privacy reasons.

You can view it here.

While I felt the tours were of interest to me in terms of how libraries are managed, I still stand by my view that students in my course (Masters of Education - Teacher Librarianship) needed to visit school libraries.

There was also too much emphasis on the tours catering to those doing Information Management Courses. Even the details relating to placement were catered heavily towards them. This made understanding requirements for placement difficult for anyone doing teacher librarianship, which has its own guidelines for placement. I was fortuante to meet another student from my course who actually agreed with my concerns. Therefore I felt that the ten or so of us doing teacher librarianship were somewhat neglected.

The Study Tour

Next Week (May 1-4), I have to do the study tour as part of the degree.

At this stage, while I am interested to see how different libraries operate, I am questioning the relevance of the tour itself in terms of my degree. I am personally disappointed that there wont be many opportunities to visit school libraries. Being a teacher librarian, I need to see how libraries in different schools operate, because that is what the course is about - being prepared to function as a librarian in a school setting.

I will have to make a point of this if there is a feedback form associated with the study tour.

Term 1 Wrap Up

Here is a Term One wrap up in relation to my volunteer work at the school.

Primary School

The teacher-librarian has been overloaded with work, so I've had to assume more of a support role in just keeping the day to day functions going when I'm there. I helped out on Wednesdays. I found myself processing a very large number of returns and then rushing to get them back onto the shelves. Students at this school LOVE to borrow and virtually all of them are doing the Premiers Reading Challenge. They need access to those books as quickly as possible.

During times of borrowing the Teacher Librarian and myself both processed loans using separate computers to ensure they got their books issued quickly. Students were also issued with their own library cards meaning that books could be loaned out quicker.

In addition I helped in the set up of an art and craft activity for the pre schoolers and in the final week of term, decided to begin answering the phones and actually contact book suppliers on the Teacher Librarians request relating to incomplete book orders which I felt quite comfortable doing, even though I had to pass myself off as the "Library Assistant". Also I found myself actually helping kids complete library activities, often with little or no idea of what the task requirements. I had to think on my feet. The students thought I was a teacher, and I see this as a huge positive in terms of student-teacher relationships and being able to demonstrate this attribute in a professional setting. They were happy to ask for assistance and they were friendly. I also took interest in what they were doing and had informal conversations like "What are you doing for Easter?"

Secondary School

My last entry summarised my role. Apart from greater confidence, I found myself doing more one to one work with students undertaking research and assessment tasks. For instance, I helped a student identify suitable articles for a media portfolio in business studies given that they were struggling to find relevant articles. I was able to provide an assessment of the suitability of articles and then suggested a further list of articles to help them. I've begun to build relationships with a few teachers who are starting to appreciate my work at the school. This is a positive in terms of professional networking. My rapport with the students has also grown. They feel comfortable with my presence and I enjoy working with them.

How has it impacted on me as a professional?

During the term, I had some days where I undertook casual teaching and I have found that I can assist students to complete work in virtually any subject area, particularly where the task requires them to do :

*Assignments - Explain key words and phrases, what they mean and how the students must answer the question/s
*Identify key words/phrases in a passage of text particularly where they are lost.
*Communication of ideas in writing
*Internet Research Skills - Identifying suitable websites for research and how to use search engines effectively.

Obviously taking classes in Social Sciences (my main area of teaching) means I can give even greater assistance.

Semester One 2012 is here

Here we go, a new semester has begun in a new year.

What happened over the summer?

A bit happened.

The final grades for Semester II 2011 were good. I actually got a credit in Introduction to Educational Research (EER500) helped by a very good performance in assignment two. I was able to justify my selected model, and approaches to research in that paper. I still stand by the fact that I really learned little and months later still feel quite confused. At least my ability to reason got me through. I obviously passed ETL 411 (ICT Experience) as predicted. No surprises there.

Meanwhile I have been concerned over my ability to get employment as a teacher even on a casual basis. I decided to begin volunteering at schools. In Term 4, I made the decision to begin helping out at least once a week at a Pre School-Year 12 Independent School here in Sydney. I started in their primary school library, learning how to use the ALICE system to loan and return books. I have also used the database to identify books from the NSW Premiers Reading Challenge that require stickers placed on them. I've so far found 235 books that need stickers, and stickers have been placed. I also assist the Teacher Librarian in keeping the library tidy through shelving, shelf tidying and packing up. I've also had to liaise with teachers such as notification of overdue loans to students and attending to their requests for assistance. I have met wonderful students and teachers and I get along with them quite well despite my volunteer status. From helping out, I've felt more confident about dealing with library routines and using the equipment to undertake the job effectively. I continue to assist in that library.

In Term 1, 2012 I have also commenced helping out in the secondary school library. My main focus is on weeding articles from the vertical file which will be digitised. It has been quite a tough challenge Quite often they may be dated, but provide the only useful information on that topic or aspect of it. Some articles may be sourced from outside NSW or overseas, but are highly useful. Obviously, duplicate copies are weeded. I have found for some topic areas (especially areas within law) that some articles need to be weeded because I feel that students studying legal studies for instance may be confused if articles are not related to either NSW or national law. At the end of the day weeding articles is really dependent on the topic and how the students may use it. I'm also challenged by my lack of familiarity of the syllabus outside Human Society & Its environment, meaning I cannot weed as effectively as I should. I've also been asked to assist students locate relevant resources that relate to their study. I'm usually briefed on the topic area and what they require, which helps me. As a bonus, I observe classes that the Teacher Librarian is directing such as research skills lessons. This means I can understand how a teacher librarian can build a relationship with the students, not just at the library but in the classroom as well. It is important that I build this relationship and offer that classroom presence, because it helps the students with their learning in terms of research and information skills in their learning but also provide another outlet to promote the library and its services.

As well as helping out in schools, I also volunteer during holiday periods at Hurstville City Library during basic duties such as shelving and shelf tidy. I also get to observe how larger libraries work and the systems that they use to manage library resources effectively. I've already been able to incorporate those ideas in the school setting such as sorting books by area (fiction/ non fiction) etc and putting them in alphabetical or numerical order to ensure that books are placed in their correct position.