Asking questions and Skype

I’ve just been analysing some student diary data about question formulation and it was interesting to find out that most of the students saw question formulation as a) not very difficult to do and b) helpful to them when doing an assignment. The data is from student diaries and appear to contradict anecdotal evidence amongst teachers and teacher librarians that many students find question formulation quite difficult. A good source for teacher librarians on question formulation for students is Jamie McKenzie’s journal The Question Mark which raises an excellent array of issues around the topic of getting students to ask questions and getting teachers and teacher librarians to encourage students to ask questions. So I will continue to analyse what the students said about question formulation and then find out what they actually did with their questions. In a previous project, I found that some students were very good at formulating  questions, but less good at using  these questions.

One of the best new software packages to be freely available to people online is Skype which is a tool enabling us to make phone calls to other Skype users at no cost – as long as both parties are connected to the web. The addition of webcams – which have come down in price dramatically- means that the often promised one to one video phone is actually with us. So I can skype my colleagues in Australia at meetings (e.g. at 6am this morning my time) or for a one to one chat (my morning, their evening). I can also talk to colleagues in other countries and to my son in Dubai. The key difference with Skype if both ends have a webcam is that you can see the other person as well as talking to them. Even a few years ago, this type of web activity was seen as being the preserve of businesses or universities with very expensive videoconferencing systems. Now it’s available to anyone with a web connection. This really is beneficial technology.

Critical thinking and Thrappledouser

Some of my students are looking at what constitutes critical thinking this week- or should I say that some of my students, this week, are looking at what constitutes critical thinking, in that it’s not likely to change by next week. For those of you who work in schools, there’s a very good UK website related to the A-Level Critical Thinking and it covers a range of topical issues which are discussed in schools around the world e.g. today’s topic was “Are biofuels environmentally friendly”. Critical thinking is often related to Bloom’s Taxonomy and to De Bono’s 6 Hats. The ever reliable Teacher Tap has a very good guide for teachers and teacher librarians (and other sorts of librarians) on this topic. Encouraging ourselves, our teachers, our school management and our students to be critical thinkersis a key task for TLs. It’s very easy to read uncritically, so reminding ourselves of the need to be constantly critical is an everyday task.

At the weekend, I was at a wedding reception in nearby North Berwick which, like Dunbar is by the sea. One of the best drinking establishments in North Berwick is The Nether Abbey Hotel which regularly has a good selection of real ales. On Saturday evening, they had Inveralmond Brewery’s gloriously names Thrappledouser ale (pronounced Thrapple Dowser). Thrapple is Scots for throat and to douse is to wet or pour water on e.g. you can “douse the fire” or even “douse the lights”. Not to breach copyright, I contacted Inveralmond (which is near Perth i.e. the UK one) and got an email from Managing Director Fergus Clark giving permission for the the picture below. Having sampled this beer a few times – it was a wedding reception! – I can tell you that your critical thinking will be enhanced.

 

 

 

Pembina Trails, no iPlayer outside UK and creels

One of my students (thanks Rhona) has alerted me and the other students to an information literacy site which states “While your journey will have switchbacks, chances are you will take a path that has these steps: wondering about something, seeking information, choosing information, connecting useful information you have found, producing information of your own in a new form and judging the entire process and your product”. So it is similar in ways to some of the information literacy skills models used in schools. The site, developed by Pembina Trails School Division  has some good links and quotes and might be useful when working with students. See what you think. Pembina Trails sounds like good bike riding country.

I alerted you to the BBC’s iPlayer but a note sent to me from Western Australia (thanks Judi) tells that the iPlayer is only available in the UK but that the BBC are working on an international version, so let’s hope it arrives soon.

In my local harbour, a few wee boats go out with creels to catch crabs and lobsters. Bait is put inside the creel and the crab or lobster swims in to get the bait and cannot get out again. There’s also a restaurant in the town called The Creel which, of course, serves crab and lobster. The photo below is of a stack of creels at Dunbar harbour. So information literacy and creels? Getting students to take the bait we offer them.

Flickr and plain English, please

Very good article in today’s Guardian technology section about the photo sharing site Flickr. The article by Victor Keegan, states that “Flickr has reinvented photography for the digital age” and although the writer states that he was very sceptical about Flickr when it was first launched – i.e. would it be full of awful family photos? – the advent of tagging and the formation of online groups has made Flickr an excellent place to search for images. Flickr has also been instrumental in the development of what Keegan calls “citizen journalism”. Keegan then bemoans the fact that Yahoo, who now own Flickr, have launched a service offering to host people’s videos but at a cost to those posting. Keegan’s conclusion is that when large corporations take over aspects of the web, innovation ceases and profit predominates. Excellent topic for students to discuss.

For the past 4 weeks, I’ve been in correspondence with the National Australia Bank about a problem encountered at an ATM here in Scotland. Yesterday, following my online request for information on how the problem was being dealt with, someone from the bank’s Customer Relations (sic) section replied to tell me that “the interface of paper request for reconciliation is in place”. Now I think this means that the NAB is contacting the Clydesdale Bank here in Scotland to settle the problem but who knows? I’ve replied asking for an explanation in plain English. I’ll keep you posted or I’ll instigate a subsequent nonverbal communication heretofore.

PLUS model, Reindeer Girls and iPlayer

This week both sets of my students are looking at information literacy models, including my the model I developed – PLUS which stands for Purpose, Location, Use and Self-Evaluation. The Plus model (link needs updating) has been used in schools in the UK mainly but also in some schools in Australia and New Zealand. The model is similar to other IL models such The Big Six and has been used with different levels of students. Over the years, I have tried to stress that the model is not just a series of steps for students to follow in a linear fashion but should be seen as iterative, with students going back and forward in the steps. I now also think that the model can be used to get students thinking about their own approach to doing assignments or seeking information and that it might lead to students forming their own individual approach. When I interviewed some year 12 students in a UK high school, some of them told me that they had used PLUS as a basis for developing an approach which was their own and suited them.

On TV last week, there was an outstanding documentary called Reindeer Girls which follows 2 modern, mobile phone carrying, IPod listening teenage sisters who are part of the Sami people in the far north of Norway, as they help their family to take a herd of reindeer on a 250 kilometre migration. Stunning photography of the reindeer and the snow covered mountains, as well as an excellent commentary make this a must see programme. Until recently, only those in the UK who had watched or videoed the programme could watch it but now with the BBC’s iPlayer anyone in the world can watch the programme for a number of days after it was shown. Try it out.

 

Jux2.com and Fred Vargas

I’m taken to task this week by a teacher librarian (thanks Anne) in relation to my previous posting about the search engine jux2.com and I was directed to look at the note stating

Jux2 has been named Best Meta Search Engine by SearchEngineWatch!

This search engine is used by students in Anne’s school and encourages them to think outside the Google box as when you do a search in jux2.com, it produces results from Google, Yahoo and MSN. This enables students not only to get a wider range of results but to compare the results from the different search engines and actively thinkabout the results they are getting. These students have now become more discriminating searchers for information and evaluators of information. When I checked it last time, only Google results could be seen but it is now in full working order. Also, backing by SearchEngineWatch means that we should take very careful notice of it.

 At the moment, I’m reading a crime novel by the French novelist Fred Vargas and she is an excellent storyteller of intriguing tales. Her hero, the detective Adamsberg is a self-willed character, not always popular with the establishment and similar to Ian Rankin’s Rebus in that respect. This book Wash this blood clean from my hand  takes the reader on a trip from France to Canada and back again in pursuit of a serial killer. I’m not sure if it’s as good as her previous novel Seeking whom he may devour but if you like crime fiction of a high quality, then check out this author.

Google labs and highland wedding

From time to time, I have a wee look at  Google Labs - just to find out if there’s anything interesting happening. This week, I came across Experimental Search, which allows a user to take what Google calls “Alternate views for search results” and these views include a timeline and a map. I searched under one of the suggested headings “civil rights movement” and in the timeline view, you get a list of dates which you can manipulate e.g. go back from 1935 or forward from 1939. You can click on each date to find out what happened at that time. So, if you click on Jan 1956, you get a new timeline taking you from January to June 1956, with a revised list of sites below. In the map view, you get a map of the USA with flags on various cities e.g. Birmingham, Alabama and these are listed as A, B, C etc. The flags can be clicked on and resulting links appear. So, for TLs working with history or geography teachers, this could be a very useful tool and it’s worth checking out.

At the weekend, my wife and I were at the wedding of our friends’ son. The wedding took place in the picturesque Pittodrie House which, as you will see from the first photo that comes on the website, is set in countryside just below a hill called Bennachie (pr. benn – ah – hee). There are several walks on Bennachie and great views from the top. The nearest village is called Chapel of Garioch (pr. Geerie) although it’s more a hamlet than a village. Lots of kilts at the wedding and energetic Scottish country dances such as the Eightsome Reel and Strip the Willow – much enjoyed by the guests some of whom came from Venezuela, Spain, USA and Canada.

What teacher librarians do and light nights

I was posting a message on one of the student forums today and discussing the role of the teacher librarian (school librarian or school library media specialist). Now there’s a vast amount of literature on the role of the TL and some of it is written by me and there’s been some very good research on the importance of having qualified librarians in schools and the roles of TLs in relation to information literacy, collaboration and the use of technology. There has, however, been a real lack of research on what teacher librarians doi.e. on a daily and weekly basis. How do they spend their time? Can each day planned? Will each day follow that plan? The answers to these questions are likely to be yes and no i.e. each day can be planned in advance but school libraries by their nature are dynamic and open to their users, so a TL can plan a day and that plan can be thrown out of the window by one phone call. That’s not to say that the new plan – imposed from outside the library – is not of sufficient value to the original one. For example, if a teacher unexpectedly asks to bring a class to the library – OK, arrives at the library with the class without notice – that session can be very productive. This is one reason why it’s difficult to explain what TLs do because they do so many varied things. It has to be recognised however, that some TLs have a fairly narrow vision of their role, which is often skewed too much towards children’s literature and not towards the whole curriculum. So we need more research on this. Will I get round to it? Next year, I hope. This year is planned.

As we say in Scotland “Aye, the nichts are drawin’ oot” i.e. the evenings are drawing out. The clocks have changed here and I was amused by my friend Paul Gooden in Wagga Wagga who told me of people sleeping in because computers/mobile phones etc have been programmed to change on 29th March and not 5th April – when the clocks change in New South Wales. To those of you whose “nichts are drawin’ in” – commiserations. It’s 7.20pm and I’m away for a walk along the beach.