Google translate and football

I referred to search switching in the previous post and from the same source Search Engine Showdown, comes an article on Google Translate, which Greg Notess (I was about to write ‘notes’ but won’t) argues that Google’s translation services have improved recently. The article has a number of examples of how the translate service, including translated search, has been improved. I have normally advised people to use translate only for words or phrases and not sections of text. I have just copied a paragraph from the French newspaper Le Monde and the English translation starts with “Members French adopted by 312 votes against 218 reform their rules” and ends with “majority attempts to gagging”. So my advice has not changed.

Tonight is the big game. [Non football (soccer but only if you must) fans look away now and go to the llama photo below as a diversion.] The Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona takes place in Rome and might just be a great game, although finals can disappoint as no one wants to lose. As a neutral, I want an early goal, then some dazzling football from both sides, then more goals, then more dazzling football. It may not work out like that. Of course, it is mandatory to accompany this viewing with some Belhaven beer. 

Llama near Coldingham beach

Search switching and meeting the llamas

One of the sites I occasionally dip into is Greg Notess‘  Search Engine  Showdown. In a recent post, the topic is search switching i.e. doing a search on one search engine, then switching over to another butwithout having to type in the address of the other search engine. One tool for doing this, recommended by Notess,  is Turboscout. In this site, you put in your search terms e.g. I tried metacognition school students and I clicked on Google. The results came up and at the top of hte page, the search terms are in the search box, but underneath are a range of other search engines e.g. Yahoo, Clusty, Dogpile, Snap, Teoma and Wisenut. One advantage of switching is that sometimes, you can find a better i.e. more relevant, website in a different search engine. Try it out.

On a walk on Sunday, between Coldingham and St Abbs Head (referred to before on this blog), we passed a few people walking seriously (i.e. strong boots and rucksacks), others strolling along, enjoying the sunshine but not the wind. As we turned the bend, in front of us was a man leading two llamas! Earlier, on the steep cliffs, we had seen kittiwakes, razorbills and gullemots either clinging to the rocks or flying about in such numbers that you wonder how they don’t crash into each other. This is what you expect to see at St Abbs but llamas? One thing I must say about llamas, is that they are very patient when being photographed. See below.

Llamas at Coldingham

Metacognition and gravestones

In writing up some of my research on information literacy, one of the attributes of what can be termed information literate students relates to metacognition. Encarta defines metacognition as “Knowledge of your own thoughts and the factors that influence your thinking” and the term is also referred to as “thinking about thinking”. So how does this relate to information literacy and, in my case, year 7 students? In my research, I found that, in the 3 Australian schools I studied, there was a small group of students who were engaged in metacognitive practices. This means that they thought about how they learned as individuals and could reflect back on their own learning.  Some of these students took a critical and reflective stance when deciding which information literacy skills/techniques they might use. For example, some students preferred a written concept map or a mental concept map because it suited their learning style and they were awareof this kind of reflection. Most students do not take a metacognitive  approach but this is not because they lack the ability to do so. It appears to be that these students need to be taught how to reflect on their own knowledge and how they reflect on the skills/techniques they use.

On our recent visit to the Scottish highlands, my wife and I were taken to the picturesque village of Cromarty which lies on the coast and dates back to the 10th century. One feature of this former sea port is that some of the houses are built withthe gable ends facing the sea, to avoid the worst effects of winter storms. In those days, folk had fewer luxuries and having a sea view from the front room was not seen as a high priority and might even, amongst some of the strict Presbyterians who lived there, be seen as somewhat sinful. Another feature of the town is the historic graveyards where there are quite a few gravestones with a skull and crossbones as a feature. There are different interpretations of this e.g. it symbolises our ultimate fate but many are accompanied by tools of trades and may well be the gravestones of freemasons or other trades organisation. The stone in the picture below is a good example. Morbid maybe, but fascinating all the same.

Web literacy and Edinburgh

There are many sites related to various aspects of students’ use of the web and one of the terms commonly used is web literacy. A very good site on this topic is one of the great sites for teaching about  series, and focuses on aspects of web literacy such as website evaluation (Kathy Schrock), quality of information (Hope Tillman) and some sites on internet safety. So worth a look, even if you question the term web literacy, which I would see as a subset of information literacy but, on this site, information literacy appears to be a subset of web literacy. Whatever term we use with teachers and students, the key aspect is to focus on students using information and accepting that finding information is overrated as a skill.

For the past 2 days, I’ve had my colleague Bob Pymm staying here in Dunbar. Yesterday, I took him into Edinburgh which is 20 minutes away on the train. Edinburgh of course is the capital of Scotland. On my travels round the world, I’ve met many people who would put Edinburgh near the top of their favourite cities to visit. Bob was suitably impressed by the stunning architecture in Edinburgh and it’s city that you can walk round and see many of the key cultural and historical sites. We briefly visited the castle and then walked down the Royal Mile, with a wee detour to look in at ( as you might expect for 2 librarianship lecturers) The National Library of Scotland . On then to the Museum of Childhood  (mentioned before on this blog as being as much for adults as it it for kids), before visiting the new Scottish Parliament  building. One of the good things about getting visitors is that you can become a visitor yourself for a while. A grand day out.

Brainstorming (2) and dolphins at Fortrose

In the last post (as opposed to The Last Post when you’d hear a trumpet sound) I outlined some of the positive aspects which students saw in brainstorming. In the studies I’ve done, students have consistently identified some of the negative aspects of brainstorming – because I asked them what they did not like about brainstorming. What’s interesting is that a) many students in each study comment that there is nothing they don’t like and b) students’ comments on negative aspects are about behaviour as opposed to learning, sharing ideas and cooperation. Comments from students relate to brainstorming sessions being noisy e.g. “Too many people shouted and no-one listened to me”;  or being argumentative e.g. “They were all arguing and I got fed up with it”. My favourite was in one study where two students write the same thing when asked what they did not like. They wrote “Amy was in a mood”. When asked later to say how they had chosen their group topic, from a list including interest, prior knowledge etc, they both wrote “Amy chose it”. Amy will go far.

Last weekend, my wife and I were visiting friends (thanks Colin and Doreen) in the picturesque highland village of Fortrose which is very historic e.g. the cathedral was built in the 13th century. It’s also known for the dolphins  which many people have seen. Until last weekend, despite many visits to Fortrose, we had never seen the dolphins. On Sunday, however, 2 dolphins appeared and gently rose out of the water and back in again. No leaping in the air, just a casual sway. I only had the standard lens on the camera, so there’s not much dolphin to be seen below but it was a lovely afternoon and the red sailing boat added to the scene.

Dolphin and sail at Fortrose

Brainstorming (1) and Christy Moore

This week, I’m revising some research I’ve done on information literacy and looking at what year 7 students say about brainstorming. What students like about brainstorming has been consistent over a number of  studies  I’ve done over the years. Firstly, they like sharing ideas and make comments such as “It was great how we got ideas from each other” and “I got to tell them my ideas”. Secondly, students cite brainstorming as a good way of looking at their prior knowledge e.g. “We got to look at what we each knew  and about the topic” but also gaps in their knowledge e.g. “We talked about things we did not know”. Students also like the cooperative format of brainstorming e.g. “If I didn’t understand something, they would help me”. Most of the students saw brainstorming as very useful in making their assignment easier to do. For example, in some brainstorming sessions, students discussed the questions that might be posed in relation to their topic and a typical comment was “It helped with thinking about the questions we could have about the dictators”. Brainstorming can be noisy and can appear chaotic but it can also be a very effective way of getting students to think more clearly about their approach to an assignment.

I’ve been a fan of the Irish folk singer/singer songwriter Christy Moore and, having listened to him being interviewed on the excellent Mike Harding radio show, I have just bought his new album Listen. It has been very well reviewed, so I’m looking forward to playing it a few times. I’ve heard it once so far and like most new albums you buy, you pick on a cuple of tracks that you like but need to hear it a few times before you get the best out of it. Christy Moore has been singing a long time now but appears to improve with age.

Resources for School Librarians and Deuchrie Dod lambs

An excellent source for a wide variety of topics relating to school/teacher librarianship is Resources for School Librarians. This is a site that some/many of you may have visited and it regularly pops up when you search for school library topics. Its areas include Learning and Teaching (including information literacy); Information Access (including collection development); and Technology (including a very good section on Web 2.0). It is USA based but international in nature and certainly worth bookmarking for future use.

Out in the countryside recently, up near Deuchrie Dod (pr. Due-kri), the fresh spring grass was providing excellent food for the sheep feeding their lambs (see picture below). A Dod is a Scottish word for ‘a bare hill with a rounded top’ although it has other meanings which you can search for in the Dictionary of the Scots Language.  Spring lambs in Scotland of course are nice to look at but also (vegetarians stop reading now) make a very nice roast. So put your leg of lamb on a layer of shallots, add stock and good red wine and cook slowly. Serve with new potatoes and Knowes Farm ”sun and dung” dirty carrots. Delicious.

Lambs near Deuchrie Dod

PLUS model and pinotage

This week, I had two emails from school librarians in the UK about my PLUS  information literacy model. The elements of the model are Purpose, Location, Use and Self-evaluation and the model can be adapted for use in individual schools. My thinking about the model has developed over the years and I now see the model as both something which students can use as a guide but also as a model for students to think about while they develop their own model which suits their particular learning style. Also, the librarians who contacted me (thanks Philippa and Alison) are planning to have posters of the model in their school classrooms but also, in one school, they are planning to replicate the model poster in the students’ diaries. So, it’s good to see how something you planned can be taken on board by others and developed.

The wine shop which I use regularly is in the neighbouring town of North Berwick, is Lockett Brothers. Now I am reluctant to advertise anything on this blog but the service is so good in this shop that I make an exception. One of the discoveries I’ve made recently – thanks to a recommendation from the wine shop itself - is The Ruins Pinotage . This is a really tasty and different wine which takes a wee while to get used to (don’t ask how many glasses) and once you become accustomed to its flavour, you”ll be back for more. All in moderation of course.