This is the website you are looking for!

LIBE 477: Module 11: Final Vision Project Learner Considerations

Who is the target audience of the website? Who will view it?

Creative Commons Licensed imaged courtesy of mpalma. 

There are a number of groups that I hope will find the new Library Learning Commons website a place to visit often.

1. The students. The website will be most useful to them and they are my primary focus.  To get them to visit, our landing page has the links to the Destiny on-line catalogue and to other useful information: links to divisional data bases; links to "how to" sites for citations. As well, the landing page will have: library hours, book recommendations, new book lists, and information about what is going on in the library. There will also be links to projects that their teachers are collaborating on. I think these things are all important, but I will run this plan by the students that are helping develop the website to make sure it is a place they will want to visit.

2. The staff.  I'd also like the website to provide teachers with information, links, ideas and ways for them to support their students.  I'd like to promote the collaborations between the TL and the classroom teachers so that they will be able to see the value of the library in supporting their work with the students. Since I want this to be valuable to the teachers I work with, I will present the ideas for the content of the website at our next department meeting to get feedback that will ultimately help make the website more useful.

3. The administration. The school administration plays a significant role in supporting the library learning commons through staffing and budgetary allotment. The webpage will highlight the success of the library in supporting students in learning and teachers in teaching. The website can provide proof of the dynamic place the library is. Advocating for the LLC in this way is important.The website is a way to promote the value of the library as the learning hub of the school.

4. The parents of our current students. Parents will use the library website. The link to student projects/collaborations on the website can provide information about the inquiry projects  their children are working on.

5. The wider community. The website is a public document. It is window into the workings of a part of the school. It is important that it be professional, informative and easy to explore.

6. The elected board members of the school division. The school division and the board have invested significantly in libraries and in teacher-librarians. Improved literacy is one of the divisional goals. The website will promote and foster a culture of reading in the division.

Creative Commons Image, no attribution required. https://pxhere.com/en/photo/774947 

I realize that the website will always be a work in progress. According to Dian Schaffhasuer in the article, "Will This Website Save Your Library (and Your Librarians)?" "We're always recalculation, recalibrating, reinventing, re-envisioning," (p.40)  in order to provide what is required and desired by students and teachers.

Works Cited

Schaffhauser, Dian. "Will this Website Save Your Library (and Your Librarian)? Education Digenst, vol 80, no. 1, Sept. 2014, pp. 37-43. EBSCOhost, ezprozy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspz?direct=true&db=eue&AN=97950287&site=ehotlive&scope=site.

Vision of the Future

Module 10: Final Vision Project Design Considerations

The What: A new website

I have been thinking about, and worried about, what I will do for my final vision project since the start of LIBE 477. I took this course early in my diploma program because I needed to improve my technology skills. Initially I thought my final vision project would focus on information literacy or on ethics and the use of technology. These are still areas that I want to investigate further, but I have decided that the most pressing task is to build a new website for the Library Learning Commons where I work. Once complete I plan to share this site with the school staff at one of our staff meetings and with the divisional librarians at one of our common learning days. I will also promote it with the students daily. The current website is a wiki. (link to the current website is here. ) The website needs to be updated. Many more sophisticated platforms to construct websites have been developed, such as blogger and WordPress, and I plan to use one of these to build the website for our library.

I see the new website as a way to share with students and staff all that is going on in the library. I have looked at a number of different websites (some great ones as a result of recommendations from colleagues in this class) and I'd like to have a page that  highlights:

• activities in the library
• opportunities for staff collaboration
• opportunities for student collaboration
• useful links for student research and project work
• new books
• links to the library Instagram and twitter accounts 
• library policies, hours and staff
• student work

The How: Planning, planning, planning

To do:
1. Investigate different website platforms and figure out which one to use. I have spent time exploring Google Docs, Weebly and WordPress.

2. Make a specific plan about what information to use and how to organize it. For this part I'd like to include students. In the article,  How Usable Are School Library Websites? A Random Sample from All Fifty States, the authors Chow et al make the point that adults who design website that they think are cool or appealing to students often miss the mark. According to Chow, "A growing body of research suggests that working with youth throughout the life cycle of a website - analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation—is the appropriate way to ensure that youth perspectives and priorities are appropriately included." According to the article, to be most effective  school librarians have to engage with students in the design processes and content of the library website. Now I have to find a few (willing) participants to work with me on this project.


Works Cited

Chow, Anthony S. .., et al. “How Usable Are School Library Websites? A Random Sample from All Fifty States.” Journal of Research on Libraries & Young Adults, vol. 7, no. 3, Dec. 2016, pp. 1–28. Accessed March 10, 2019.

Nick Youngson. “Under Construction.” Picserver.org, Creative Commons, www.picserver.org/highway-signs2/a/under-construction.html.

“Woman, Girl, Balloon, Thought Bubble.” Pixabay.com, pixabay.com/illustrations/woman-girl-balloon-thought-bubble-1172718/.

Reflections

Inquiry Blog Post #5

This course has truly been a growth experience and as I think about the modules and assignments I realize that much of the difficulty I had has been due to my worry about my lack of tech skills.

Blogtrepreneur, https://www.flickr.com/photos/143601516@N03/28018096810. (Image social media links).

The biggest learning piece for me was the importance and ease with which social media can be used to share, build a PLN and to collaborate. Due to a lack of confidence in my technical skills I kept the use of social media on the back burner. Even though using social media to promote the library was high on my to-do list I did not engage in it enough. One of the best changes I have made is to do at least one thing everyday. For the most part I post something related to the LLC on Instagram.  At the end of a month it was pretty satisfying to see all of the work done. At the end of the school year, I will have a record of some of the activities that I can include in the library report. Having this record is also a way to promote the LLC to the administration and the community. They can see how the library is collaborating with classes and promoting literacy. While Instagram is currently the platform I am most comfortable with, I intend to expand my social media tool kit. I did set up a twitter account at the beginning of this course and it is next on my list of tools to learn how to use more effectively.

The week on world libraries held so many aha moments I could hardly fashion a cogent response about what I had learned.  I had no idea there were so many worldwide projects that promote literacy in developing countries. The research I did for this module changed many of my ideas about mobile devices and learning. Even after reading Richardson’s book, Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere with its promotion of mobile devices I still viewed phones as a negative influence for teaching and learning. But after learning about the usefulness of using these devices to promote literacy in developing countries, I think they are worthy of a second glance. The UNESCO report was particularly effective in providing information about the ways mobile devices can be used to improve literacy. 

How Mobile Phones Drive Literacy, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3NqU6gqsTM


Richardson, Will (2012). Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere (Kindle Single). Ted Conferences.

Mark West, and EI Chew Han. “Reading in the Mobile Era: A Study of mobile reading in developing countries.” UNESCO, 22 May 2014, unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000227436.