Some Geography fun in the library

As some of you may know, I love taking photos and came up with an idea today to tie in with a library display to reflect the winter season.

I've decided to post a photo of a snow capped mountain range rising over the suburbs of a city outside of Australia. There is a prize of chocolates for the first student to get it correct and an extra prize if they can name the mountain range!!!

I know many students dread Geography, but they are even getting into it. The senior students are most keen at this stage!!!

I do have a second one planned...

Wikipedia as a library of knowledge + tips

Judy O'Donnell has written an interesting article on the role of Wikipedia which allows for the creation of a library of knowledge (as I see it) and how we as a global society can shape it.

There are also some useful tips on how to use Wikipedia in research as well.

However in a classroom context, I feel that while it can guide a student in understanding an idea or concept, they can easily fall into the trap of relying on it solely for gaining information. 

I'd only recommend Wikipedia as a starting point for a research task and generally should not be included in a reference list or bibliography. We need to encourage students to locate resources in different formats from different locations. Students also are taught how to verify their information as they can compare information from one source with another source to ensure that it is correct and accurate.

My Fix to shelving books in setting up a library

One challenge faced in the setup of the library last term was how to allocated shelves for items belonging to a collection.

My colleagues and I were given a list of shelves and bays to be allocated to items within the fiction collection. It based on the allocation of items within the former site We stuck to it to begin with, but as we worked along, we found that some letters required fewer bays. Other letters required more bays. We were making changes using pen and paper.

Then we finding that there was no balance. Sometimes we would end up with empty bays or sometimes there were none left. Pen and Paper amendments were not going to work at all for me. It only made me and colleagues more confused.

I went to Excel and wrote the original list, then our list with amendments, The numbers had to balance on both columns (in filling the total number of bays available) otherwise I had to start again. I also did this for a set of letters that needed to be re shelved.

The numbers balanced and we had our shelf allocation done with no fuss. I was happy and everyone was happy.

I decided to repeat the approach for the Non Fiction Collection because we ended up with more bays allocated than originally planned. We actually got the room to fit some more in. I applied some mathematical formulas (basing it on original percentages) and again done with little stress. 

We did make some changes along the way but it was never going to be an issue.

If your stuck with allocating shelves and bays, never be afraid to use excel and let it do the number crunching for you.

The marks are in

The good news at this point of semester is that I am on track to pass both units which is pleasing.

Assignment One was 65 % in ETL503. It shows that I am quite capable of resourcing a curriculum area. The topic that I selected was quite a dry topic overall which I overcame quite well. There is scope for improvement - particularly the application of selection procedures. My tools were not professional enough and need to make more effective use of them in Assignment Two along with the general principles.

Fortuantely I was able to justify how I approached the selection and acqusition of the resources which I think was a saving grace for me. I was also able to demonstrate how the resources satisfy resourcing needs.

ETL504 - The mark was only 52 %, and for the effort put in, that was a very generous mark. Given I was in a group that was not organised effectively that is actually a good mark. The markers comments were generally negative particularly that the assignment had "no single clear direction" that addressed no theory. A comment of that nature is normally rewarded with a mark of no more than 40 %, in fact it would be lower.

I personally have developed good group work skills particularly during my university studies and I did not demonstrate that to a large extent. My self reflection identified weaknesses such as the need to express firmer leadership and effective goal setting. Collaboraition was generally poot and I ended up not working that group culture effectively.

The assignment was generally rushed. I perform poorly in such circumstances and I find it increases my anxiety to a point where I cannot perform. I wanted to start straight away but it was a week before group members were able to locate me and another week to organise a suitable time.

I wanted to communicate with skype, but the group members were reluctant to use that tool. To me Skype is better than a telephone because it's clear and there was also the prospect of using a face cam to provide an emotive element. Online assignments miss that component because you can understand how one feels as well. You cannot see that when in a chat room typing your thoughts.