Facet Publishing

Summary

There has never been a more interesting time to be an archivist. That is something of a grand claim and one which this book hopes to reflect. Archives are moving from a profession predicated on the unquestioning repetition of routine towards a more self-aware, self-reflexive professional outlook, which can only be of benefit to the archival profession.

In the last 50 years there have been a number of changes, both inside and outside of the profession, which have impacted upon the way that archivists work and the way in which we conceive of ourselves, and these themes are echoed in this book. Chief among these themes are the impact of postmodernism on the discipline; the rapid rise of technology and the challenges that this poses for us; the increasing interest in archives outside of the profession and the resulting democratization of archives; and the place of archives within related fields, such as records and information management. It is imperative that archivists engage with these challenges if we are to remain professionally relevant in the 21st century. Each of the contributions to this book engages with one or more of these themes to explore how archivists can respond to these challenges and as a result strengthen the discipline and emerge as a renewed force.

This book is designed as a reader in archives. It is primarily aimed at those studying towards a postgraduate qualification in the subject, but will also be of interest to practitioners and those outside the discipline who wish to gain a deeper understanding of how archival theory and practice has been evolving. It is not intended as a practical guide to professional practice, but rather as a reader around the concepts and themes highlighted above. Each of the chapters question the changes that have taken place in archives since its early theoretical foundations, and how these have occasioned rethinking and revisioning of the archival mission. Although grouped around four core themes, outlined below, there is no expectation that readers will need to follow the specified order. Each chapter represents a defined argument in its own right to enable readers to dip in and out of the collection as they wish. The structure is there to guide readers as to the content of the collection and to highlight chapters that share a common theme.

Summary

Introduction

As was emphasized in Chapter 7, learning resources for students that are focused on the needs of particular groups of students studying curricular topics in schools are more likely to be seen by students as being designed specifically for them rather than for any students in general. Locally produced learning websites will motivate students more than general ones as the students will recognize not only the name of the school and their class on the website, but also the direct link between what they are learning in the classroom, or what assignment they are completing, and the content of the website. If students can be involved in the further development of a learning website, for example by adding web sources which they have found and evaluated, then this is also likely to motivate and engage students.

Deciding on the content of learning websites can be a challenge for teachers and teacher librarians. The content of learning websites needs to be guided by the needs of the student group for which the site is designed. Chapter 7 examined aspects of good design for learning websites, but a well designed site with content that does not match the needs of students, for example has an inappropriate level of language, will not be successful. In deciding on content, teachers and teacher librarians also need to consider differentiation, as student groups are likely to include a range of abilities and reading levels, particularly at the primary or elementary level and early secondary or high school level.

This chapter will focus on presenting subject content in learning websites, developing e-pathfinders, and enhancing student participation in wikis and blogs. The aim is to present a range of ideas for developing the content of learning websites and to provide examples which can be adapted by teachers and teacher librarians for their own schools.

Subject content

Including subject content in a learning website can give students an experience of online learning, which can be beneficial for students as online learning is likely to increase in the future. Teachers and teacher librarians planning a learning website have to decide what to include in the subject content part of the website.

Summary

The aims of this book

The growth of the internet and particularly the web, and the increasing need for students and staff in schools to be able to use information effectively when they study, work or socialize, has meant that there is now a greater recognition of the need for information literacy and web use to be seen as key aspects of modern education and society. Most studies of the ability and competency of teachers and teacher librarians (including school librarians and school library media specialists) to use the web effectively show that school staff need advice, guidance and in-service training. Similarly, most research on students’ use of information literacy skills, including effective web use, demonstrates that most students do not use the web effectively, and are unlikely to transfer what they are taught about web use across the subjects which they are studying. The primary aim of this book is to provide schools with a practical guide, built on a sound theoretical base, to developing better use of the web by staff and students, in order to improve learning and teaching in schools. The aim is to change staff and students in schools from web users to critical web learners.

This book also aims to raise the profile of information literacy in schools, with a view to persuading teachers, teacher librarians and school management that information literacy skills and abilities should be a key focus in the school curriculum. Students are increasingly seen as being independent learners, who make use of the vast array of learning resources of the web, in order to widen their knowledge of curricular topics and complete assignments. If students are to be web-alert, web-critical and webreflective, they need to be taught a range of information literacy skills, so they can develop abilities which make them reflective practitioners.

A third aim of the book is twofold. First, it is intended to provide new teachers and teacher librarians (including those studying for professional qualifications in these areas) with a resource which they can use for a range of purposes, for example to expand their own learning or to teach students about web use. The book contains many examples of good practice in schools and new teachers and teacher librarians can use or adapt them in their own work.

Summary

Introduction

Teachers and teacher librarians in schools across the world are faced with an ever increasing number of initiatives from local and central governments. They are also encouraged to link these initiatives to greater use of ICT in the school. Therefore teachers and teacher librarians are often so busy keeping up with current trends and new technological initiatives that they are in danger of losing sight of the key purposes of education and the key aims of their school. The use of ICT in schools is now often viewed as a sine qua non for learning and teaching. Staff are reminded of the cost of ICT developments and it may appear that teachers and teacher librarians must use ICT developments such as interactive whiteboards because they are expensive and therefore that expense must be justified. There is also pressure on teachers and teacher librarians to be seen to be using ICT in their teaching, but this use of ICT can often be superficial, for example when they use an interactive whiteboard merely to replicate what was previously done with a laptop and a projector. Thus the way in which ICT can be used to meet the school's aims and promote better learning and teaching in the school should be emphasized.

In most schools teaching students how to use the web has moved on from isolated classes in a computer lab where students were taught the technical aspects of using Google, how to bookmark sites, and how to cut and paste information. One of the problems schools often face, however, is that although students now use the web for all mainstream subjects, there is often no systematic approach to teaching web use. Teacher librarians in schools may attempt to teach information literacy skills, including web use, but there are only sporadic instances of teachers either developing or reinforcing these skills.

Web use and information literacy skills should be part of each student's learning and the focus in schools should be on how students can use information literacy skills to enhance their learning. Learning from eresources is the key educational factor here, not the student's increased use of the web.

Summary

Introduction

In 21st-century schools web-based resources are becoming the most common way for teachers, teacher librarians and students to access information. This chapter focuses on the need for teachers and teacher librarians to be experts in evaluating websites (Chapter 7 covers how to teach students to evaluate them). The importance of effective, as opposed to cursory, website evaluation cannot be underestimated. When teachers and teacher librarians are searching the web to find relevant websites to use in teaching, or for students to use, they will ensure that they find the best possible sites for themselves and their students by evaluating potentially useful websites.

In this chapter a range of website evaluation criteria are introduced, and some examples are critically analysed. Then the author lists his evaluation criteria for websites, which can be practically applied by school staff. The chapter ends with an example of a workshop for school staff, which can be adapted to suit local needs. Being able to evaluate websites effectively is an undervalued skill in most schools, but given the increasing use of websites in schools it should be among the core competencies of today's teachers and teacher librarians.

Website evaluation criteria

Why evaluate websites?

Brown (2002) identifies a number of reasons why teachers and teacher librarians need to evaluate websites:

Summary

Introduction

Using the web for school work is now an integral part of the modern student's life. The web is the first port of call if students need information for subject learning or for an assignment. Outside school, the web is also the key information source for most students, although not all students have web access at home. As the web is now such a large part of many students’ lives, it is surprising that, in most schools, little time is allocated to teaching students how to be not only web users, but web learners. A web user is a person who uses the web, but this use may be superficial, mainly technical and involve little or no reflection. If students are to be web learners, they will develop effective search strategies (derived from an analysis of their purpose), critically evaluate what they find on the web, select information that is relevant to their purpose, use information and ideas found on the web ethically and effectively, and will learn from each use of the web, by reflecting on what they found, and how they found it. In most schools, there is an assumption that students will be web learners as well as web users, but there is little evidence of this, either anecdotally or in the research literature (Herring, 2010; Kuiper, Volman and Terwel, 2008).

To develop students from being web users to web learners, there needs to be a focus on teaching web learning skills to students, and to reinforce these skills across the school curriculum. If schools can develop an integrated approach to web learning, there is an opportunity for students to extend their use of information literacy skills and abilities and develop their own model of information literacy.

This chapter seeks to provide teachers and teacher librarians with ideas and examples for teaching students how to improve their use of the web. Most students need to be provided with scaffolding, which will help them to use the web effectively and to reflect on that use. The chapter focuses on key aspects of information literacy, which relate to students’ use of the web, including planning for web searching, using effective search strategies, evaluating websites and web-based information, reading for information, reflecting on web use, and developing a personal model for web use.

Summary

Introduction

This chapter focuses on teachers and teacher librarians as the creators of customized learning websites in school. There is a plethora of information on the web relating to the subjects being taught in schools. There are also examples of learning websites designed by other teachers and teacher librarians on the web. Although these sources can be useful, they often have to be adapted and are not designed to meet the needs of a particular group of students in a particular school. The advent of easy to use tools now makes it much easier and quicker for teachers and teacher librarians to design their own learning websites, which can be designed to be much more relevant and personal to students. For example, a learning website designed by a geography teacher and a teacher librarian which states that it was designed for year 8 students in School X studying climate change, and which includes the opportunity for student input, is much more likely to be seen as valuable by students than a general website.

The aim of this chapter is to provide teachers and teacher librarians with examples of tools that can be used to design learning websites of a particular kind, providing students with a package that contains elements of what they are studying, the assignment to be completed, mediated resources related to the topic being studied, and information literacy advice on learning from these resources and about completing the assignment. This approach is different from one that provides students merely with a list of websites related to their topic. The focus of this chapter is on designing such sites and learning to use a range of tools. Chapter 9 will focus on the content of learning websites and discuss examples of content.

This chapter provides this author's definition of learning websites and the benefits derived from developing such sites, evaluates approaches to website design, examines a range of tools for developing learning websites, and offers an example of an in-service session on developing learning websites.

Learning websites

This author defines learning websites as websites developed in a particular school, for a particular group of students who are studying a curricular topic. They may also be termed local learning websites as, although they may be adapted for use in other schools, they are focused on the needs of a local group of students.

Summary

Introduction

The use of the web in today's schools by staff and students is now taken for granted and there is an assumption that all staff and students will be effective users of the web. Anecdotal evidence tends to suggest otherwise, however, and this author found when visiting several schools in different countries that many teachers and teacher librarians have limited abilities in searching effectively for information on the web. Staff in schools across the world often have very limited access to staff training that focuses on searching for information. Most staff are self-taught or have learned how to use search engines from colleagues whose experience may also be limited. It can be argued that there is a large opportunity cost for schools whose staff are not fully aware and fully equipped searchers of information on the web. Because there is so much free information on the web that can contribute to learning and teaching in schools, lack of expertise in searching can lead to many schools in effect losing out on finding out about concepts, ideas and experiences that could help staff improve their teaching and self development.

This chapter will seek to address the issues discussed above and provide a guide for increasing teachers’ and teacher librarians’ knowledge of search engines and directories, and improving their skills in searching for information on the web. It will also present an example of an in-service session on finding information on the web.

Search engines

The most common way to search for information in schools and society at large is by using a search engine, and by far the most popular search engine is Google. Notess defined a search engine as ‘an Internet-based search box that provides text-match searching of its own crawler-built database of textindexed Web pages [which provides access to] millions of freely accessible web pages’ (2006, 98). An important point to be remembered in Notess’ definition is that search engines provide text matching, which is different from keyword matching, and this is one reason why people are often disappointed by the ability of search engines to find relevant information about the keywords they have used.

Summary

Introduction

As the previous chapters in this book have shown, there have been rapid developments in ICT in schools and society in general over the past five years. In the 20th century it was possible to look forward perhaps 10 or 20 years and forecast the changes that would occur in technology. In the 21st century this is no longer possible.

Learning and teaching now deal with how we use technology in the school to provide better education for our students, rather than the formats of technology. In attempting to look forward to the next phase of ICT in schools, we must base any discussion about the future of ICT on the learning and teaching context of schools, which was explored in Chapter 2. We cannot say with any certainty what technologies will dominate education in 2031, but can argue that the emphasis on constructivist approaches to education will continue and that students are likely to be more active participants in their learning in 20 years’ time. In order to give teachers and teacher librarians some possible views of the future of ICT in schools, this chapter will examine 21st-century skills, future developments of the web, future learning technologies for schools, the future role of teachers and teacher librarians, and the continuing need to develop information literate students.

21st-century skills

There has been much debate about what skills and abilities today's students need in order to be effective learners at school and in higher education, and effective employees in the workplace. The implication is that students need different skills than they did in the 20th century. The key skills identified by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2010) are learning and innovation skills, information, media and technology skills, and life and career skills. It can be argued that 20th-century students needed similar skills and that it is mainly in the area of social media that new skills are needed.

Teachers and teacher librarians can usefully reflect on whether the new skills needed, for example to be able to use Facebook or Twitter, are any more demanding than those that students may already have acquired when using the web.

Summary

Introduction

There have been many new developments on the web in the past five years, the most important of which is the development of Web 2.0, which has provided teachers and teacher librarians with a range of new concepts, ideas and tools to use in their schools. Web 2.0 has also transformed the way school students communicate with each other, and create, find and exchange information in text and visual formats inside and outside school. There has been a revolution in the way the web is used, with teachers, teacher librarians and students no longer being passive users of the web. Instead, they have become active creators of information and active respondents to information provided by others.

In the school context the existence of Web 2.0 does not guarantee that students will automatically become more effective learners or that teachers will become more effective educators. Web 2.0, in the form of blogs, wikis and other applications, has to be used as a tool that creates opportunities for learning or enhances teaching. For example, teachers who use wikis to list unannotated websites or to display the contents of handouts previously given in print are not making creative use of Web 2.0. Thus Web 2.0 needs to be seen in the learning and teaching context of the school. This chapter will examine what Web 2.0 is, and specific tools including blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, photo sharing and social networking.

What is Web 2.0?

O'Connell argues that ‘Web 2.0 is fundamentally participative, and is about sharing code, content and ideas. It is about communication and facilitating community’ (2006, 46). Web 2.0 refers to a new stage of development in the world wide web. Whereas the web was formerly mainly static and noninteractive, and most websites were created by businesses, universities and research institutions, Web 2.0 is seen as dynamic, interactive and much of the web activity is about sharing information and ideas. Also, new web tools such as wikis (see below) make it much easier for many more people to create web content.

Summary

Introduction

Information literacy has been recognized as one of the key abilities which people in society should have for the 21st century. Because of the rapid expansion of technology and the ever growing amount of complex information (in a range of formats), which students, school staff and the general population need to review, select, evaluate and use effectively, information literacy is one of the fundamental aspects of education for today's students. As will be seen below, there is no agreed definition of information literacy, and aspects of information literacy in schools are often referred to, for example by teachers, as study skills, research skills, media literacy and digital literacy. The term ‘information literacy’ is now being used more widely than it was at the end of the 20th century and can be seen in reports in the areas of business, education and ICT in society.

There have been debates in recent years about the nature of school students, who are referred to by Prensky (2009) as digital natives, and the argument of Prensky and others is that because today's students have grown up with technology and digital information, they are innately better at finding and using information, particularly from the web. This is a very debatable view, given the anecdotal evidence from schools and research studies, which show that, although a minority of students may be effective web users, most students lack the essential skills and abilities in this area. While today's students may be excellent finders of information, they are often found to be ineffective at finding relevant information. The need to develop students who can understand, use and reflect on information literacy skills is a key challenge for teachers and teacher librarians.

This chapter will examine definitions of information literacy; evaluate information literacy models; discuss the issues relating to the transfer of information literacy skills and abilities; focus on collaboration between teachers and teacher librarians in teaching information literacy; and provide examples of in-service sessions for staff, which could be used in a primary or secondary school.

Summary

This book is about bringing the library to the learner using the mobile device that the learner already uses for other activities. The current estimate is that there are over four billion mobile phones in the world, 75% of them in developing countries (The Economist, 2009). The biggest increase in the acquisition of mobile phones over the past ten years has been in developing countries. As the use of mobile technology grows globally, libraries are digitizing information for access by anyone, from anywhere and at any time. Hence, the use of mobile devices to access library information will allow everyone to have a virtual library in their pocket.

The role of mobile technology in society

Different sectors of society are using mobile technologies to reach customers and members of society. Mobile banking is allowing people to conduct their banking from anywhere and anywhere using mobile technology. This allows for real-time transactions that benefit both the banks and their customers. In healthcare there is mobile health, where citizens can access health information from anywhere to help prevent illness and to find healthcare advice. Mobile agriculture gives farmers the ability to access information on growing healthy crops, determine market demands for crops and decide on the market price for their produce. This information allows farmers to make informed decisions at the right time to maximize their profits. Mobile shopping puts shopping in the consumer's pocket, to shop from anywhere and at any time. Consumers are able to compare the prices and quality of products using mobile devices before deciding which one to buy and from whom to buy it. Mobile government gives citizens access to government information using their mobile device; hence, government in the citizen's pocket. Mobile fishing enables workers out in the sea and rivers to access up-to-date information on types of fish, the price of fish and market demands for the different types of fish. This provides fishery workers with current information on which to base decisions. Mobile learning, puts the school into everyone's pocket, to learn at their own convenience. Now we have the mobile library, where learners will have a library in their pockets to access information at any time and from anywhere.

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Miscellaneous Endmatter

Index

Introduction: seeing the future of archives and recordkeeping

Summary

8 - Developing learning websites for student use - content

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Introduction

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Index

1 - The big picture: learning and teaching in today's schools

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Frontmatter

3 - Evaluating websites

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6 - Improving student use of the web

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7 - Developing learning websites for student use - design and tools

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2 - Finding and using information on the web

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Dedication

9 - The next phase of ICT in schools

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4 - Web 2.0 and schools

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5 - Information literacy

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Introduction

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