Internet: free or controlled? and Loch Katrine

Sharp eyed readers will note that this is being written on a Wednesday (or Thursday if you are in Australasia) and that the promised Monday entry did not materialise. This was due to a hotel wanting to charge a ridiculous amount for Internet access. There has been a series of articles in The Guardian newspaper recently. The articles cover a range of issues, including what Google knows about our internet use, how Facebook and Twitter are essentially restrictive in how we use the internet, and questions such as ‘Can the internet be civilised? This question looks at how much porn there is available and whether it should be curtailed, and also whether tools such as Facebook and Twitter can be made part of the laws of different countries e.g. in relation to libel. So, this covers a great deal of ground. In relation to schools, I think that it’s important that we raise these questions with our students and one role the TL or SL can play in the school is to try to ensure that debates on the internet take place or that students are taught to question their own use of the web e.g. in relation to ethics.

Just back from a visit to The Trossachs (which is from the Gaelic [Scottish version pronounced Gallic] for ‘A bristly place’) in central Scotland. This is an area of extensive woodland and large lochs (aka lakes). The most famous is Loch Katrine (pr Katrinn) which was made famous by Sir Walter Scott in his poem ‘Lady of the Lake’. On the day of our walk, there were a host of threatening clouds moving funereally across the sky but our 5 mile walk along the loch side was only briefly interrupted by a shower. When we were leaving, the rain came down in what Thomas Hardy referred to as ‘silken strings’. The views across the loch to the mountains and hills are stunning and in the summer, 2 boats take loads of tourists across the loch and back. There was only one boat on the day of our visit, with a multilingual chatter coming from the queue as we  passed. One of the features of the walk along the loch side at this time of year, is the new leaves on the silver birch trees and the photos below shows the trees lining the loch, with Ben Venue towering above them, and looking up to the trees with the mountain behind.

40 years of school libraries and the Berwick viaduct

Firstly, I should tell you all that this is the final entry for this blog in its present format. I retire from CSU and the academic life tomorrow (31st January 2012). The blog will continue but will not always feature comment on something of an educational nature, which is relevant to TLs and SLs around the world. However, it may still be ‘educational’ in the wider sense of the word. The photographic content will continue. I have been involved with school libraries for 40 years this year and the vast majority of these years has been in the role of educator. Are school libraries as recognisable as they were in the early 1970s? To some extent they are, given that the space they occupy is still about the same in most schools, and that a range of bookshelves is still one of the dominant features. The addition of ICT hardware has changed the look of school libraries in most parts of the world, where schools can afford such equipment. Are teacher librarians or school librarians different? This is an intriguing question. It might be argued that the knowledge base of todays TLs and SLs is different, given the developments in ICT. The language used by today’s TLs and SLs would have been, to a great extent, unrecognisable to those of 40 years ago. On the other hand, the desire to actively contribute to learning and teaching in the school remains the same. Also, over the years, the most effective TLs and SLs have been able to be innovators in their schools, particularly in the areas of information literacy. So the terminology may be different but the mindset may still be the same. The look of school libraries is about to change over the next few years – printed books and journals will disappear for the most part in most school libraries – but the purpose of the school library/learning commons/i-centre/e-centre will remain the same. I’m intending to write soem articles about this in the near future and will expand on these points.

At the weekend, my marathon/half-marathon/10K running wife and I were down at the border town of Berwick to watch a cross country race, in which the runners crossed Spittal Beach before climbing up a ridge, running on track and returning via the same route. One of the features of Berwick – Berwick Upon Tweed to give the town its full name – is the viaduct which was built to enable the railway to cross over the estuary. Known as The Royal Border Bridge, this magnificent piece of engineering an architecture was designed by Robert Stephenson and opened by Queen Victoria in 1850. As the photo below shows, it has certainly stood the test of time, and if you are on the train going north or south through Berwick, you get superb views along the river and the estuary.

Berwick viaduct

Gooru and national libraries

Firstly, a very Good New Year to you all.There’s a new e-learning platform doing the rounds. It’s called Gooru and is designed to, in the words of the Gooru video, allow “teachers to search and teach, and students to search and study”. Teachers, and of course TLs and SLs although the video doesn’t say this, can put together classbooks which are sets of online resources, and be integrated into class plans. There are tutorials on the site and a video. For a fuller review of Gooru, try the Edudemic site, which is worth bookmarking and looking at from time to time. I have not studied Gooru in detail. However, it was designed by a Google employee – and yes, I know that not everyone will see that as a positive. It is certainly worth checking out and discussing with interested colleagues in your school.

I recently rejoined the National Library of Scotland (NLS) in Edinburgh, as a member. It is  … years(I’ll let you guess the exact number) since I was a member of the library as a 4th year honours student at Edinburgh University. The NLS is a wonderful place in which to study – although I have to say you must like almost total silence in the reading room where people do research. There was and still is, an eclectic mix of young students and (like me now) more mature researchers. As you walk into the Reading Room, some eyes will lift briefly before going back to books, pamphlets, journals. Each seat is numbered and if you order a book – there is only very limited open access to reference materials – or other material, it will be brought to your seat. Yes – a haven of civilisation. Once change since my youth is that you can now take your laptop into the Reading Room – no Skypeing of course! When I was in Australia recently, I made a brief visit to the Australian National Library in Canberra, another fascinating centre of learning and culture. In the photo below, the NLA is in the background, with a very pleasant walk to it, passing some very interesting sculpture.

Towards the National Library of Australia

 

eSchool News items and Tauranga sunset

From this week’s edition of eSchool News (which is worth joining for free), some interesting items. The first is a list of apps which can be downloaded for free or cheaply. Some look interesting enough for TLs to pass on to interested teachers, although some are fairly basic and assessment orientated. There’s also a useful guide to starting a virtual learning programme. It lists 7 questions which schools should ask. Now these questions will be familiar to any of you who have been involved in any kind of school ICT projects e.g. “What challenge are we trying to address?” but such questions are fundamental to successful ICT projects, as you can see from unsuccessful ones which have been designed by techies who rarely ask the actual users why this project might go ahead. TLs should be involved at the heart of the design of virtual learning environments in schools, so having questions such as these is a good start. There are also features on Facebook, Twitter and texting – so very much worth a look.

I’m back in Scotland now after 7 weeks away – in temperatures from 19-36 degrees. Back to 3-4 degrees might seem hard but when it’s a sunny day like today and you “rug up” (Australian term) in winter coat and gloves, it’s a great experience. One stop on my travels was at my sister and brother in law’s house in Tauranga, New Zealand. When the wind blows down the estuary, it can be a bit “coorse” as we say in Scotland. However, on nights like those in the photo below, when the sun is setting over the estuary and the tide is coming in, and you have food on the decking, and a bottle of Morton Estate (not far from Tauranga) Pinot Noir, life is pretty good.

Sunset in Tauranga

Free ebook on school libraries and bird of paradise

Apologies for the lack of blog entries recently. In my email this week, a link for a new – and free! – ebook on school libraries: School Libraries: What?s Now, What?s Next, What?s Yet to Come. You can download this ebook in a number of formats. There 10 chapters in all with a number of contributors to each chapter. The content of the book covers learners, information literacy, teaching, reading, collection development and professional development. I would say that this is a must-see book for all TLs and SLs around the world. The quality of the contributions is variable and you may not agree with the stances taken by some contributors, but it is certainly worth dipping into from time to time. The foreword begins “The future of school libraries and school librarians hangs in the balance.” – an excellent reason to read part or all of this book.

I first saw the bird of paradise flower in South Africa and they are a spectacular species. I’m in Australia at the moment and these flowers can be seen in many gardens around Wagga Wagga. The flowers (see picture below) resemble a bird with a pointed beak and orange crest and must be one of the most unusual and colourful flowers around. When you first see these flowers, you have to look twice as you might think that you are, in fact, looking at birds and not flowers. The question I ask myself is – would these birds of paradise flourish in Scotland, in early December when I return? Mmm – probably not.

Bird of paradise flower

Technology myths and the birth of the bale

Skimming through some links on the Teacher Librarian website, I came across an interesting report on Educators, technology and 21st century skills, and I recommend that you have a look at it. The report looks at 5 myths about using ICT in schools and how research has shown these myths, while commonly believed, are nevertheless still myths. The 1st myth is that new teachers or teachers with greater access to ICT will be more likely to use ICT in their teaching. The research showed that newer teachers may use ICT more in their personal lives 9e.g. Facebook and Twitter) while ‘veteran’ (and you may or may not like that term) teachers are just as likely to use ICT. Another myth is that, because students are using ICT more at home and appear comfortable with its use in schools, it’s less important for teachers (and TLS) to use ICT. The research shows that using ICT is very important and that teachers need to be seen to be using ICT. This does of course mean that they need to be seen to be using ICT effectively, and not, for example, merely using a whiteboard as a projector. Whether you agree that the other myths are indeed myths in side or outside your school, this report is still worth reading. There’s a useful summary, so you don’t need to read it all.

It’s harvest time in Scotland again and, as I’ve noted before, it’s a time of year I particularly enjoy. A few days ago, I had my camera with me on a merry walk up the country and caught (see picture below) a new bale arriving into the world. Now, you may think that calling this a ‘birth’ is a bit OTT in the anthropomorphic scales. However, I am a great fan of fields with bales scattered across them. Indeed, I think that there should be a law against farmers removing bales from fields until they have been there for, say 3 weeks. Probably doesn’t make economic sense but aesthetically, it definitely adds to the countryside. In fact, when you see a newly harvested field with these new arrivals, everything else bales into insignificance.

Birth of the bale

IASL and Jamaica

This week, I am in Kingston, Jamaica for the annual IASL Conference. I’m presenting a paper (in one hour’s time) on research I’ve done into what I’ve called the bookless school library (title deliberately controversial). I want us all to start a conversation about the future in which there is no printed material in the school library. I think that this will happen, and that the decisions made to bring in such a library, will not be made by teacher librarians. Now, one stance to adopt is that this will never happen, so don’t discuss it, James. I think this comes from seeing a totally virtual library as a threat and not an opportunity. I’ll be interested to see what my audience thinks this afternoon. It’s a full-on programme here at the conference and the papers cover a range of aspects including web 2.0, 21st century learners, information literacy, the education of teacher librarians, and research on reading.

I’ve had very little time to explore Kingston itself but others at the conference have been to Port Royal which combines history with seaside leisure activities. My free time was on Sunday when, unfortunately, all the cultural centres are closed, but on my next trip here I would visit The Bob Marley Museum, Devon House, which is a magnificent mansion with lavish gardens, and the National Gallery of Jamaica. I’m afraid that I forgot to pack my camera, so can’t send photos e.g. of the beautiful flowers around the town or the two little black birds with shiny yellow beaks and apparently humming wings. As Captain Mainwairing in Dad’s Army used to say to young Pike “You stupid boy!”.

Reference in the library and Le Tour

This week, my students are discussing what might constitute reference in a school library and, indeed, whether we should still be using the term reference. In pre-web days, reference works were easily identifiable in the library. They were large books, kept on separate shelves, and could not be borrowed. Today, fewer and fewer reference works are visible, mainly because of free online sources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories etc. So, should we urge our students to use a reference source for initial information on a topic, or a brief explanation of a term? Or should we just drop reference and refer to sources. There is no definitive answer here. It could be argued that keeping the word reference might encourage students to see the value of sources which they use briefly, and to distinguish these from more detailed sources. On the other hand, it could be confusing to use the term reference, given its previous definition.

Another July, another Tour de France and just when you think that it couldn’t be as good as last year’s, it is. If you are not interested in cycling or sport in general, stop reading now. For us afficianodas, it’s compulsive. We’re not looking for the crashes which the TV news stations tend to gruesomely highlight, and while we really enjoy the close finishes and the electric finishing of Mark Cavendish, or the gritty determination of the winner, Australia’s Cadell Evans , Le Tour for us is the grandeur of the French countryside, and in particular, the mountain stages. Just watching the riders go up the winding roads of the Cols makes your own legs feel sore. It’s also inspiring of course and when you get on your bike the next day, you always feel that bit more motivated, as if you are sharing in the pain and the glory of Le Tour.

SLJ webcasts and Scottish walls

If you would like some easily accessed CPD (continuous Professional Development) then you might want to take a look at – and listen to – the webcasts provided by School Library Journal. I’ve just accessed one which looks at integrating digital resources in the school curriculum. The webcast has 3 presenters – a teacher librarian, an administrator and a teacher, who all give their own perspective on this topic. My impressions were that this was very down to earth, not that difficult to achieve, advice on using e-resources. You will need time to listen to the webcast, and it would be a good idea to dedicate some time to doing this – and importantly, tell your colleagues, managers etc that you are doing this and when you are doing it. Too often, TLs/SLs do this kind of self development without indicating that they have done so. Letting your manager know, in particular, is important.

One of the questions I always get asked by visitors to Scotland from Australia, New Zealand, North America and elsewhere, is why are there so many walls in the Scottish countryside? In the south east of Scotland, where I live for most of the year, you will see many farms with walled sections,  high stone walls stretching out often for perhaps 100 metres. Also, along fields, you will see dry-stane dykes i.e. dry stone (no cement used) walls which edge huge fields. The simple answer is that, perhaps 300-400 years ago, wealthy farmers had a plentiful supply of free stone – from their fields – and a plentiful supply of very cheap labour – their farmworkers. Walls were also status symbols for owners of large estates and were build, not just to keep other people out, but to impress them. During a walk near Peebles on Sunday, I took the photo below of this dry stane dyke, carefully constructed only from stone – an impressive work.

Dry stane dyke near Peebles

Report on school libraries and an iris

The big happening this week in Australia was the issuing of the report of the Federal Government’s inquiry into school libraries and teacher librarians. The report provided a number of recommendations about providing databases to all schools (something which has been urged for some time by TL leaders), a policy statement on digital literacy for teachers and principals; more statistical evidence of the numbers of TLs; reading promotion; school libraries and student achievement; and providing support for school libraries. Some people had high hopes for this report e.g. in relation to the guaranteed provision of teacher librarians in all schools – but this was never likely to happen. The report is potentially useful to the TL profession in Australia but it is also fairly predictable and very general. There appears not to be much forward thinking in the report.

Late spring is when the irises in my garden appear. These tall, elegantly stemmed plants produce exquisite flowers of yellow, white and purple. They sway gently in the wind. Their height gives them a superior manner, reinforced by the fact they do not appear until all the daffodils and tulips have long faded. For a short while, they dominate the garden and attract all the attention. What’s interesting when you go close up to irises – see picture below – is the complexity of the flower, and the raindrops emphasise the sharp colours. Close up, they are more abstract. The only pity is that they don’t last long, so you need to really appreciate them when they bloom.

An iris - close up