Lost in the Reads

Pixabay From my place of privilege I have always taken public libraries for granted. I have never had to think about a world where knowledge and information would not be readily available to me in a variety of sources. Because of this, I was particularly interested in learning more about this week’s topic. As this article in  the Guardian  points out, public libraries can be very important places to learn new information, find new business connections, or research for professional advancement. They are vitally important to communities in developing nations. Below are a few programs who have worked to bring about equal access to information and technology.  Giphy The  Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation Access to Learning Award  has produced a number of creative outreach programs in developing nations to bring technology into communities. While researching this topic I was encouraged to see former recipients and the work that they are do...

Teachers lead busy lives. Between planning engaging lessons, coordinating extra curricular events, differentiating instruction, providing meaningful assessment for learning, teachers do not have time to sit through pages and pages of resources and ideas. Good pedagogy is founded in student centred learning. The same applies when teachers are the learners. As a teacher librarian I should be able to provide meaningful, relevant, and current resources, that support what the teacher is already doing with their classes. Giphy Since nobody wants to be the teacher prolonging the meeting at the end of the day, my practice of sharing resources needs to go beyond the quick staff meeting blurb about what’s new in the library. I have come across a few tools that provide a framework for teachers to use in any subject area. These tools allow for the collection of resources and collaboration between collogues that does not require a significant time investment outside of already packed sched...

Giphy Twitter and I have a complicated relationship. I recognize the value of engaging on twitter, that it presents a unique way for professionals to collaborate and inspire one another but the best use I have found for twitter so far is to simply follow We Rate Dogs ( @dog_rates ).  It’s not that I am social media illiterate. I am current on the Instagram, I know a bit about tumblr, and Facebook is (sadly) still my jam, yet, the twitter platform itself is just not intuitive to my technological skill base. Likewise, I have always been a peripheral social media user, I watch and listen, but rarely contribute. This I realize is not an ideal way to ‘do’ social media, and that having a more conscious online presence would be beneficial to my teaching practice.  So, why twitter? This brief video seems to answer this pretty well. It is a few years old now (from 2015) but it touches on the main reasons twitter is still a good place to connect with other educators. It...

image from pixabay When reading we often gravitate towards a comfortable, familiar location where we can best enjoy our favourite books. Reading in school should be no different. In my elementary school library, we have several strong programs designed to encourage reading both in the classroom and at home.  What we don’t do as well (in the library anyways) is have designated, welcoming spaces to host that reading. I am quick to write off these fun spaces as frivolous and largely unnecessary to reading culture. What else could a kid need to internalize a motivation for reading but an interesting level appropriate book anyway? For this post I am tossing aside my former attitude surrounding décor in educational settings and instead diving into the many inspiring classrooms and educational spaces that have themed and decorated reading nooks and crannies to help foster a culture of reading. Image found at Buzzfeed This Buzzfeed article lists a number of creative r...

                This post will be wrapping up my exploration of fair use, copyright and digital citizenship in education. My initial decision to tackle issues surrounding fair use, copyright, and best practices of content creation did not lead to any particularly exciting resources at first. I found multiple teacher guidelines for using copyrighted materials filled with legal jargon, most of which scared me into thinking I was going to be facing multiple lawsuits any day now. As for student content creation and use, there was even less. It wasn’t until I broadened my search to include digital citizenship that I began to find some more relevant information.                  Including Digital citizenship as a search term led to the discovery of Alberta’s Ministry of Education’s in-depth guide on the subject. As I mentioned in the previous post this resource ou...

As I continue to dive into the fascinating world of content creation, copyright and fair use laws I continue to find interesting and relevant resources to bookmark. Further to the links listed in Part A are relevant resources to further explore this area. As I was looking for resources, the most interesting information arose from searches involving digital citizenship. I am excited to further explore the detailed guide from the Alberta Ministry of education. I did find it difficult to find information about copyright use for students; however, it was easy to find information about fair use for teachers. Copyright Law and Fair Use Guidelines: Copyright matters some key questions and answers for teachers 4th ed. By Wanda Noel & Jordan Snel, Barristers and Solicitors This booklet is an excellent starting point for understanding Canadian copyright law in an education setting as it presents basic questions and answers for educators. It largely deals with how educators can ...

As a teacher-librarian I see a lot of kids interested in generating their own online content. It would be helpful as an instructor in the learning commons to know more about fair use, terms of service, and copyright guidelines in order to help students navigate the creation of their own online presence.  The laws surrounding content creation on the internet are still taking form.  Decisions like the H3H3 YouTube lawsuit are setting new presidents and shaping how users are able to control their work. In the learning commons I feel we have a role of in helping shape our students into productive and responsible digital citizens. Because this is an area that has always intimidated me I would like to take the opportunity to research fair use and royalty free assets students can use in their own content creation, as well as the general terms of service and copyright rules major sites use. Open source media sites: Purple Planet Music Source- http://www.purple-planet...