Thing 1!

Can you believe it Ann? I'm reading! After my 2nd-6 mi. bike ride today I was determined to get started on "My Things." Having been hit by a brick wall of school work this year, I have been barely able to keep up in an insane double assignment. Even the TAP Coach commented that I have an insane schedule this year. Too bad I was the last to realize it. That said, I immersed myself in the Web 2.0 world this afternoon and evening. I reviewed the 8/08 powerpoint by Ann, I read the New York Times article, "Truth: Can you Handle it?" looked up the ALA site which was no longer available and watched the Teacher Tube video. So here's what I think. I can relate to both the school and public sector of librarianship. For the past 28+ years I have worked as a Reference Librarian with the Hennepin County Library System. I have manned a 24/7 public library information line. I have participated first hand trying to scan the available information on a subject quickly as well as accurately to convey said information to a waiting patron b/f they become frustrated with the wait time & disconnect the transaction. It's not as if we haven't seen "it" coming. By "it" I mean the transformation from book information or knowledge (the correct answer) to the use of online resources. Slowly over the past 3 years reference collections throughout the county have been weeded and not updated. More and more sources are available online. Wise teachers do limit the number of online sources a student may use. They usually come to us for the rest - a book, magazine article and/or encyclopedia or other reference material. I rarely use animal reference books, but I do still use Zoo Books; we don't even have the MN Statutes or any of our business Reference materials. All of it is online. I remember the first time a student told me they got their information from wikipedia! I was in disbelief! Three years ago we began using Moodle in classes from Hamline. It was quite a concept to grasp. Now Moodle is old hat. I feel the same about all of these technologies. I was just too overwhelmed with work to think too much about them at first. Now I am beginning to "see" how all of these "things" fit together - sort of. I'm still not as savvy as I would like to be, but I'm so much further along than I was 3 or 2 or even one year ago. Here I have been sitting @ this laptop since early afternoon, that would have been impossible just one year ago. I would either have to stay very late in the evening @ Jordan Park working on all my school work or sit up at the Maple Grove Library for as much time as I could during the library hours of 10-5 on Sat. & 12-5 on Sunday. I function so much better & with such frequency, it has been life changing. I couldn't exist as I do now w/o my laptop. Albeit, when the computers are down @ the public library, I am usually the only one who knows where the drawing books are (741.5) or can find butterflies (595.7) or whatever. Dewey Decimal still reigns supreme in some cases - it's an information vs knowledge thing.
I appreciated the information in the article. People do believe what they want to. I gather information through my text book, online academic magazine articles and additional required reading. I read it all, highlight the important parts, take notes, synthesize it and then write. I have a tendency to believe students just look something up on Google, oftentimes just copy it into a word document and then turn it in. I teach research, I teach citing sources, I teach how to make a bibliography. I don't think students really care; perhaps they pretend not to be able to comprehend. I make graphic organizers, I use the "Manual or Handbook for Writers" as a guide. At this point I'm not sure if the defn. of Information Literacy is adequate. I have the ability to solve problems and answer questions using information and technology but I don't think students do. I also understand the ethical/legal issues surrounding access and use of information, but even though I teach copyright, I don't think students care. They just want to finish the assignment so they can do what they want to do. Even though students know they are not allowed to play games during media class they are constantly flipping back & forth between the assignment and their email or music. It usually gets worse this time of year. No matter how hard I try to engage students, I find this to be the case for some students, especially the huge double classes of more than 45 students in a class. I want my middle school students to be able to use both print as well as online resources. I will know I have done a good job if my students have a good general foundation from which to build upon in high school. I will continue to work with the definition of information literacy as we continue our MILI coursework. My understanding and attitude has changed greatly toward the 2.0 tools since we have begun our journey. I feel like a sponge, I just can't soak up this new learning fast enough! Sometimes I need to hear it more than once and I can't always remember everything, but I am trying my best! Stay tuned for more posts. Over & out on Thing 1.