Learner considerations: Who is this project for and why?

The audience for my project, identifying French websites for early primary students, is French immersion students in Maternelle (K) and grades 1 and 2.  These students are just starting to learn French and also to read and write.  The students have a variety of experiences with communication technology; some have played on cell phones, ipads and/or computers prior to attending school. 

These young students: (Morrison 2010)

·         are energetic and cannot sit still for a long time;
·         are learning to control their emotions and social interactions
·         have an active imagination,
·         are often confident and eager to be involved,
·         want to be helpful and cooperative,
·         are solitary and independent workers at the same time,
·         like to talk.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, the teachers would like to have opportunities in their “computer time”, or on classroom computers, to not only promote technology skills, but also French language learning.  I found a couple of research articles that support the use of computers and computer games for young students learning a second language.  McCarrick and Li (2007) reviewed a number of studies and concluded that “computers may not enhance gains in language development, (but) computers do provide an environment in which children use a large amount of language.”  Turgut and Irgin (2009) found that when the language is contextualized in video games, which provides settings and situations, players increase vocabulary use and have opportunities to practice vocabulary repetitively.  The following video (Early Childhood videos 2013) shows how the computer can provide repetition and take concrete concepts and make them more abstract.  In this video we see that computer work is more valuable for a student when the teacher is nearby to help with student’s questions.

Computer activities for this age group should be quite short, due to their attention spans.  The activities should provide context to help the students create meaning of the vocabulary, which brain research, has shown helps students learn and retain information (Characteristics of young learners 2009). Computer learning may appeal to students with different learning styles of types of intelligence (Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences).  Using a computer to learn will provide students with another activity to engage and play with second language, reinforcing learning. 

The identification of computer programs will support teachers since teachers are already busy with planning classroom activities.  Having a selected, curated links on the school website will minimize time spent teaching students how to locate learning games.  These links will also be available to the students at home providing repetition and enhancing language and other concept learning.

References:

Characteristics of Young Learners.  2009.  Pearson Education.  Retrieved March 12, 2014 from http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0205535488.pdf

Early Childhood Videos.  Jan 30, 2013.  Introducing Technology to Young Children.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29ylsrxof48 (imbedded)

McCarrick, Katy and Xiaoming Li.  2006.  Buried treasure: the impact of computer use on young children’s social, cognitive, language development and motivation.  AACE Journal, 15(1) 73-79.  Retrieved March 12, 2014 from http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/25814/0000377.pdf?sequence=1

Morrison, G. S. 2008.  What are Kindergarten Children Like? From: Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education. Pearson Education. p 237-238.  Retrieved March 12, 2014 from http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-kindergarten-children-are-like/

SRI International.  2014.  EduSpeak® Speech Recognition Toolkit.  Image retrieved March 12, 2014 from http://www.sri.com/engage/products-solutions/eduspeak-speech-recognition-toolkit

Turgut, Yildiz and Pelin Irgin.  2009.  Young learners’ language learning via computer games.  Prodedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 1.  760-764.  Retrieved March 12, 2014 from http://www.gsedu.cn/tupianshangchuanmulu/zhongmeiwangluoyuyan/language%20learning%20via%20computer%20games.pdf

Project to compliment my vision of teacher-librarianship

A large part of my job involves identifying and promoting French language resources that support exploration and learning appropriate for an elementary school.  This includes both physical resources but increasingly online resources and programs that can be used to promote French language learning and engage students in learning.  I still anticipate that a large part of my job will be managing physical resources, especially in an elementary school where being able to see and pick up a book allows a child to identify areas that might be interesting to them.  I don’t think this part of the job will disappear. Another part of the management of physical resources that will become busier is lending digital cameras, video cameras, laptops, and other technology devices which will allow students to create and utilize digital media.  However, I think it is becoming increasingly important to be able to connect teachers and students to reputable online French language resources. I foresee, identifying and promoting online resources becoming a larger part of my job.  I think by considering what the teachers and students want to access, my focus is on “all the things we librarians bring to the mission of our institutions”... rather than “worrying about the future of the library” (T Scott. 2012).  By providing services that help the teachers and students in my school, I create a future for my library.

 

To contribute to this goal one of the things I would like to do is curate educational French websites for students in the K-2 grade level. I identified curating websites as important task in my original post for this course (Beaudry 2014).  I have a couple of teachers in my school plus a third teacher in another French immersion school in my School District interested in K-1 student websites.  These teachers would like to have opportunities in their “computer time” to not only promote technology skills, but also French language learning.  So my topic is aggregation and curation of French language digital sources for young primary students.  Aggregation, curation and reference are basic library “functions that will probably continue to be needed, even in a digital world where all content is electronic.  … In fact … these functions are more critical than ever.” (Coffman 2013)

I plan to seek out online digital resources through my teachers, members of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and web searches.  I will evaluate any identified resources, since curation includes the evaluation of resources before sharing. I will compare website content to the PLO's for these primary grades.  I will consider language ability of these immersion students.   For websites that meet these initial criteria, I will then share them with my small group of interested teachers to collect their opinions on website appropriateness.  If there is time I will see what the students think of the sites. The final set of selected websites would then either be purchased and/or linked on our Learning Commons webpage (insert link) with clickable links to make it easy for students to access them.

I have some experience already purchasing licenses for online French language resources.  I bought my staff a year’s subscription to a teacher resources website "Le jardin de Vicky”.  Purchases of online sites show a “library investing in learning environments … by purchasing the ability for (a teacher) to provide the experience she wants her students to have.” (Mathews 2013)

My final project will either be a database of the links that I can have our school website developer add to the school webpage, or I myself will add these to the school webpage.  The school webpage has recently been moved to Weebly.  The advantage of our school webpage is that it is easily available by other students in our District and beyond.  Therefore the final project will be shared with my larger teacher-librarian community.  The database will include rationale of why a site was selected or rejected, annual costs, hyperlink, subject area and grade level (K-2 range).  The database can also be published on this blog for the larger teacher-librarian community.

In the future, if these sites are received positively I will consider curating other French language resources for elementary grades.  As said by a UBC librarian “What will distinguish libraries in the future is not what we electronically license, but what we have in our collections that we make available to the world,” (Bates, 2012)  

References:
LeFurgy, Bill.  Oct 12, 2014.  Digital preservation: a role for public libraries.  Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://agogified.com/tag/libraries. (image)

Beaudry, Leisbet.  Jan. 12, 2014.  Personal Interests and Issues in Educational Technology.  http://beaudrylibrary.blogspot.ca/2014/01/personal-interests-and-issues-in.html

Bates, Andrew, 2014.  Turning a Page: the changing role of the university library.  Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://ubyssey.ca/features/turning-a-page-the-changing-role-of-the-university-library/

Coffman, Steve.  Jan/Feb 2013.  So now what?: The future for librarians.  Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://www.infotoday.com/OnlineSearcher/Articles/Features/So-Now-What-The-Future-for-Librarians-86856.shtml

le jardin de Vicky, 2005-2011. http://jardindevicky.ca/

Mathews, Brian.  2013.  Curating learning experiences: a future role for librarians?.  Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2013/09/05/curating-learning-experiences-a-future-role-for-librarians/

Scott, Tl 2012.  Comment on blog post “The future of libraries is”.  Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://librarian.newjackalmanac.ca/2012/11/the-future-of-libraries-is.html

Teach Thought Staff. 2013.  8 ways the librarian of the future will keep themselves busy.  Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://www.teachthought.com/literacy-2/8-ways-the-librarian-of-the-future-will-keep-themselves-busy/ (image)

personal reflection on topic inquiries

So as I complete this course and reflect how it currently fits in my personal learning, I realize that my “French language resource” lens is a huge part of any learning I am doing.  I still feel I have a lot to learn and my learning is critical so I can effectively support the teachers and students in my French immersion elementary school.  This lens is clear in my learning as reflected in this Wordle of my blog labels for this course. It has also been mentioned by Kacy (March 5, 2014) among others.  I have reflected on some of the ideas that have helped clarify my thinking for choices in my school library setting.

I appreciated Emily’s comment about giving students choice to encourage reading (Feb 1, 2014).  We had an interesting discussion on how limiting one choice to French can still be open if a wide variety of resources are available.  Aaron Mueller (Feb 10, 2014) commented that “Graphic novels, magazines, high-interest, even Guinness Book of World Records can be that gateway book for a lot of kids”.  This comment made me see that I am providing choice in my school library since I am expanding my French language collection of graphic novels, the only magazines I buy are French magazines for intermediate students, I am purchasing many non-fiction titles like “the 100 most repugnant animals” in French to provide students choices that are not only novels. 

 

Jane Leslie (Feb 14, 2014) mentioned part of her PLN with the French immersion community is through the ACPI(L’Association canadienne des professeurs).  This has provided me with another important group to add to my PLN.  The website that she shared has many resources and opportunities for my personal learning.

 

I like Kimberly’s comment that collaboration takes a level of trust, the desire to work together and being open to other points of view (Birkland, Kimberly, Feb 28, supporting teachers” ICT curriculum blog post).  As I am learning about ICT options for students and the needs of French immersion teachers I am able to share ideas that can help them work with their classes.  I need to develop a level of trust with more of the teachers and find the time to develop collaborative relationships so I can support the work of the teachers.  I am having some success, for example, a teacher is collaborating with me to create videos of her students oral french skills (Feb 16, 2014). 

 

I liked Kacy’s (Feb 19, 2014) idea of “a fun way to practice vocabulary or themes for younger students or EFL students is to use a little game called hashtag of the day”.  The students are not only learning vocabulary using hastags, but also it is teaching students about social “tagging” and identifying key concepts that are relevant to their lives.  I can see using hashtags to promote French idioms with FSL students.  For this winter it would be “y fait frette” (It’s really cold!).  But unlike Kacy I still have a learning curve for hashtags; I have yet to use one with my Twitter posts.

 

So it is clear that I will continue to use a French language resources lens for my learning.  I can see sharing French language resources for immersion school libraries is a useful role for me as I learn more about what works in my school.  I have already taken on this role in my School District and I am now aware that sharing with a larger teacher-librarian audience is a good idea (Feb. 10 2014). As I talk to teachers at my school I am becoming aware of other topics I can share including:

·         French authors that have series that appeal to different grades,

·         videos of the authors and their books,

·         online French language resources appropriate for immersion audiences,

·         French language leveled readers that are particularly successful in immersion settings,

·         great book selections around teaching reading and writing strategies,

·         good examples of genres,

·         social-emotional teaching book choices.

I am writing this personal challenge to myself to continue sharing my learning in my blog.

 

References:

Beaudry, Leisbet.  Feb 10, 2014.  Continued ICT learning, blog post. http://beaudrylibrary.blogspot.ca/2014/02/conntinued-ict-learning.html

Beaudry, Leisbet.  Feb 16, 2014.  Supporting teachers learning ICT, blog post.  http://beaudrylibrary.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-teachers-learning-ict.html  

Birkland, Kimberly, Feb 28, 2014.  Supporting teachers” ICT curriculum, blog post.  Retrieved March 2, 2014 from http://mskbirkland.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-teachers-ict-curriculum.html

Brewarcilla.  Jan 23, 2014.  hashtags: are they appropriate?  Image retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://www.bubblews.com/news/2135050-hashtags-are-they-appropriate

Feinberg, Jonathan.  2013.  Wordle.  Retrieved March 2, 2014 from http://www.wordle.net/

Leslie, Jane.  Feb 14, 2014. Learning and sharing with others, blog post. Retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://mmeleslie.blogspot.ca/

Morgan, Kacy. Feb 19, 2014.  Follow me – 21^st century learning tools in the classroom - Inquiry blog post #2.  Retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://kacymorganlibe.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/follow-me-21st-century-learning-tools-in-the-classroom-inquiry-blog-post-2/

Mueller, Aaron.  Feb 2014.  Comment on blog post Fostering a reading culture in school.  Retrieved March 7, 2013 from https://blogs.ubc.ca/emilyrodgers/?s=fostering+

Morgan, Kacy.  March 5, 2014.  Take it all in, love it all out inquiry blog post.  Retrieved March 7, 2013 from http://kacymorganlibe.wordpress.com/.

Rodgers, Emily. Feb 1, 2014.  Fostering a reading culture in school, blog post.  Retrieved March 7, 2013 from https://blogs.ubc.ca/emilyrodgers/?s=fostering+

An Initial foray into World Libraries...

When I started looking at support for developing world libraries, I found an article by Curry et al (2002) outlines the conflict of globalization of libraries.  Curry et al(2002) say globalization negatively impacts “developing” countries by shifting power away from local governments to a handful of corporations and financial institutions looking for financial gain.  The digital library resources contain mainly information from Western cultures, in Western languages; and do not reflect local social, environmental or cultural values.  The access to digital information uses products from “Western” corporations from the internet to cell service, to the tools to read digitally streamed information.   These comments reminds me of the companies that promoted infant formula as a solution to malnutrition in the 1960’s to 80’s in “third world” countries (Corporate Crime and Violence 1987) rather than promoting local solutions.  The article by Curry (2002) challenges people to ensure they are partners in developing world libraries and not “Lady Bountiful”.  It suggests that programs intending to assist libraries in “developing” countries should focus on traditional areas of need including literacy, collection development (appropriate for local users) and indigenous book publishing among others. 

On the web I found a non-profit group (Bibliothèques sansfrontières 2014) that promotes library development in the sub-Sahara, India, and the Caribbean; areas identified as having the lowest digital connectivity (Freakonomics 2014).  Then I checked to see if their programs meet Curry’s (2002) guidelines for assisting library development.  I was happy to note that they include all of the concerns identified in their areas of intervention including: conservation of cultural heritage, information and culture, and capacity building.  The irony of finding this site about world libraries is that I found out information useful for my students, creating a local impact.  Bibliothèques sans frontiers (2014) has translated a number of the Khan Academy (Khan Academy 2014) math lessons into French.  This is a resource developed in the “US” to help children learn.  I have heard this is a great resource for students, so finding it in French has been a bonus that I will be sharing with my colleagues in my School District and the parents of my students!

The article by Curry, and the idea of assisting in developing world libraries has a link to our library education at UBC (LLED452; Vacca et al 2011) where we are encouraged to purchase multicultural literature to reflect our student population, so all students can see themselves in literature.  I checked out some other sites and realized there groups that support worldwide literacy whose websites don’t identify if they consider if the content of the books they are sending is multicultural (Book Aid International, 2014).  Then I found SCECSAL an African Library Association (SESCAL 2012) that has conferences to promote literacy and health.  One of the posts I read talks about developing regional school libraries in Zimbabwe.  I realize that these local people should be consulted to figure out how to best help with improving libraries in Africa.
Next I explored the development of internet access for access to digital library resources.  I listened to an interesting podcast  which talks about where internet is available in the world, a requirement for digital world libraries to download resources.  They mention that South Korea is the most wired nation and that rural areas of inland India, China and the southern Sahara are the least wired locations in the world.  I read another post that identified that libraries may not need internet, but could work with cellular service (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2013).  In rural Ghana, a library uses text messaging to provide pregnancy health information to expectant mothers.  This delivery of “library” information has increased pre-natal visits and cut infant mortality.  The delivery of this second service focused on needs of local people is one of the areas that SCESCAL promotes.  

I feel I have barely looked at this complex topic and I require much more information to really get a good grasp on how to help appropriately to develop world libraries. 

References
Bibliothèques sans frontières. 2014.  Areas of intervention.  Retrieved Feb 20, 2014 from http://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 2013.  Impatient Optimists.  Retrieved Feb 24, 2014 from http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2013/11/How-a-Modern-Library-Keeps-Mothers-Healthy-in-Rural-Ghana.

Book Aid.  2014.  Book Aid International. http://www.bookaid.org/publisher/the-books-we-need/

Corporate Crime and Violence.  1987.  Infant Formula, hawking disaster in the third world.  Retrieved Feb 27, 2014 from http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1987/04/formula.html

Curry, A. and T. Thiessen and L. Kelley.  2002.  Library Aid to developing counties in times of globalization: a literature review.  Retrieved Feb 20, 2014 from http://www.worlib.org/vol12no2/curry_v12n2.shtml.

Freakonomics.  Who runs the internet a Freakonomics radio podcast.  Retrieved Feb 20, 2014 from http://freakonomics.com/2013/11/14/who-runs-the-internet-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

Khan Academy.  2014.  Retrieved Feb 27, 2014 from https://www.khanacademy.org/

Khan Academy avec Bibliothèques sans frontières.  2014.  Khan Academy.  Retrieved Feb 27, 2014 from http://www.khan-academy.fr/

SCECSAL Forum.  2012.  Regional School Library Seminar in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.  Retrieved March 2, 2014 from http://scecsal.blogspot.ca/search/label/school%20libraries

Vacca R., Vacca, J., and M. Mraz.  (2011)  Content Area Reading, Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum, Tenth Edition.  Pearson Education Inc.  Boston, USA