This class left me wondering about information literacy. As part of an in-class exercise, Kristen read aloud a story about a moviegoer at an AMC theater in Ohio who was detained and questioned by Homeland Security ICE because he had worn his Google Glass, fitted with prescription lenses, to a showing of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (of all things). We began discussing the story, and after a while Kristen put forth the possibility that the story might not be completely true. Of course, everyone who had accepted the story five minutes ago now pointed out all of the aspects of it that seemed "off" or "fishy." We, information professionals, had been tricked into forgetting to be information literate.
The thing is, at this point (and at the time of the discussion), it seems much more likely that the story is true than false. Here's the story from the Columbia Dispatch. Here it is from Time. An extended interview with the victim from TechCrunch. The Examiner. Business Insider. NBC News, PCWorld, and the Associated Press. Just for good measure, here's AMC's confirmation of the event from Twitter.
Of course, it wouldn't be the first time that news media was fooled, and it is worth pointing out that the news reports are all a little different, and the only detailed report of the incident still comes from the man who was questioned. But some of the "fishy" elements of the story (Homeland Security's involvement, the presence of the MPAA, the fact that the man had prescription lenses in his Glass) are the things on which every one of the news reports agrees. All of the reports I included above were published before our class on the 23rd.
So we, the students, were right the first time. But does that mean that we exercised our information literacy? Short of witnessing an event ourselves, the only way we ever receive information is through trusted sources, and that's exactly what we did in class by listening to Kristen. Was it just luck that the story (as of right now) appears to be real?
I think that it is as tempting to be too skeptical as it is to believe unquestioningly. By using skepticism, cynicism, or just disinterest to hold ourselves back from believing in or engaging with something, we save ourselves the embarrassment of looking foolish later. We also miss opportunities, not to mention vital information about the world around us.
But then what does it mean to be information literate? Maybe it's walking the line between unquestioning belief and refusal to actually believe anything.
- K
Monday, January 27, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Some stuff from class today
* Image: Fry from Futurama with squinty eyes.
Text reads: Not sure if teaching transliteracy or just messing with 3D printer.
Librarian runs up to officer.
Librarian: Constable! My house is full of zombies!
Officer: Well, ma'am, you know how to use a crossbow?
Librarian: (pointing) If it's anything like a hot glue gun, I'll have the neighborhood clear in an hour.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Canva tutorial
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Readings, Week 3
For this week's assignment, I read (links require UM login):
- "Navigating the News" by Denise Koray, American Libraries, Nov. 2013
- "Not Just Literate, But Transliterate: Encouraging Transliteracy Adoption In Library Services" by Nancy Trimm, Colorado Libraries, Oct. 2011
- "Fabricating a Fabulous Home for Cocreation" by Lauren Britton and Sue Considine, Library Journal, Oct. 2012
Though I started my search intending to find one article each about information literacy, information fluency, and transliteracy, I ended up with two articles about transliteracy and one about information literacy.
I'll discuss first the Koray article, which concerned information literacy; more specifically, it was about high-school students learning about media literacy through analyzing the truthfulness of various news media sources. I don't think that news media is the first thing to come to mind when we discuss information literacy. After all, newspapers and television news have been around for a long time, and information literacy is an idea that I usually associate with online databases or the Web in general. However, librarian Erik Berman points out in the article that the lessons students learn from studying news media tie in with information literacy as a whole. "The role of libraries in the digital future is not just finding information," he says, "but how to know in a limited time if you can trust a source and know that the information you are receiving is credible." This is an important skill for library patrons (and librarians) to learn as more and more information exists outside of sources vetted by librarians, publishers, or vendors. Teaching information literacy of this kind empowers patrons to look for information on their own - because a lot of what's out there on the internet is worth investigating - while being confident in their ability to tell the good from the bad.
The remaining two articles concerned transliteracy, the first as an overview of developing and teaching transliteracy in a library environment and the second related to transliteracy as embodied in one particular makerspace. From these articles, it is apparent to me that transliteracy is more important now than it ever has been, but that American culture, especially, increasingly takes it for granted. I think that transliteracy is inherent in the concept of "digital natives," those of us who grew up using computers and who adapt more easily to new technologies and tech-centered culture. The problem is that people are expected to be comfortable in a digital environment when they have not yet developed the skills and understanding necessary. Such cases illustrate the need for libraries, which in theory are safe and educational spaces, to teach transliteracy skills to ensure that people not only catch up with current technology, but are ready for the next thing when it comes.
The Britton and Considine article is an example of that sort of teaching in a less digital-specific context. Though the particular makerspace in this article uses digital fabrication (a 3D printer), the article stresses that book-making, robot-building, and similar activities also teach similar skills. According to the article, the Fab Lab caused some growing pains in the library and its community as people adjusted to the necessity of learning transliteracy skills, but it has been a success overall. In a digital world, creativity and exploration are important, and a makerspace like the Fab Lab is a great way to instill those values in the community.
K
Reflection on Class, January 16
Discussion this week focused on methods of teaching and learning and how those practices transfer (or maybe don't transfer) to a digital environment.
One aspect of that discussion that was interesting to me was thinking about the different ways that people organize information as they learn, sort of a cognitive infrastructure. When Kristin drew a "mind-map" on the board, at first I had no idea what she was talking about, but then I had a vague memory of using diagrams like that in grade school. I suppose that I had forgotten all about them because to me, a list broken up into categories is a much more intuitive way of organizing information to make it manageable. Mind-maps and flow charts feel cluttered to me, but I can see how to someone else a list wouldn't be effective in making connections between ideas. All of this carried over into the exercise in which we had to try to explain a database to an eighth-grader. Filing cabinets and notebooks were good analogies, but it was clear to me that a music library like iTunes or Spotify was better suited to the audience in question. A learner-centered approach really does seem to make all the difference in teaching.
It's easy to see, then, that online learning may present a greater challenge than expected. How do you make material learner-centered when you don't know who the learner is? It would be a bigger problem for public libraries than for academic or school libraries simply because they cater to a wider and more diverse population. A solution may be to survey potential participants beforehand or to pay attention to use statistics for different relevant library services. But for a one-shot workshop (or screencast), that may be all the librarian can do, aside from just trying to incorporate as many learning styles or needs as possible into the one lesson.
If the question is, "should online learning replace face-to-face workshops?," I think the answer is no, absolutely not. Screencasts and other online learning models are great, and they should certainly be developed to be even better. But there are still plenty of people, especially if we're talking about public libraries, that are much more comfortable in a face-to-face environment or who don't have access to digital resources. Those people shouldn't be forced to learn in a way that doesn't work for them. It's also worth repeating that there are kinds of workshops that are not well-suited for a digital environment, regardless of who the audience is. Like a lot of issues in librarianship, it seems, the answer is to do our best to keep up with the new without abandoning the old.
K
One aspect of that discussion that was interesting to me was thinking about the different ways that people organize information as they learn, sort of a cognitive infrastructure. When Kristin drew a "mind-map" on the board, at first I had no idea what she was talking about, but then I had a vague memory of using diagrams like that in grade school. I suppose that I had forgotten all about them because to me, a list broken up into categories is a much more intuitive way of organizing information to make it manageable. Mind-maps and flow charts feel cluttered to me, but I can see how to someone else a list wouldn't be effective in making connections between ideas. All of this carried over into the exercise in which we had to try to explain a database to an eighth-grader. Filing cabinets and notebooks were good analogies, but it was clear to me that a music library like iTunes or Spotify was better suited to the audience in question. A learner-centered approach really does seem to make all the difference in teaching.
It's easy to see, then, that online learning may present a greater challenge than expected. How do you make material learner-centered when you don't know who the learner is? It would be a bigger problem for public libraries than for academic or school libraries simply because they cater to a wider and more diverse population. A solution may be to survey potential participants beforehand or to pay attention to use statistics for different relevant library services. But for a one-shot workshop (or screencast), that may be all the librarian can do, aside from just trying to incorporate as many learning styles or needs as possible into the one lesson.
If the question is, "should online learning replace face-to-face workshops?," I think the answer is no, absolutely not. Screencasts and other online learning models are great, and they should certainly be developed to be even better. But there are still plenty of people, especially if we're talking about public libraries, that are much more comfortable in a face-to-face environment or who don't have access to digital resources. Those people shouldn't be forced to learn in a way that doesn't work for them. It's also worth repeating that there are kinds of workshops that are not well-suited for a digital environment, regardless of who the audience is. Like a lot of issues in librarianship, it seems, the answer is to do our best to keep up with the new without abandoning the old.
K
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Reading, Week Two
This week's reading assignment included:
The excerpt from Creating the One-shot Library Workshop concerned a process for creating workshops that Veldof refers to as "ADDIE" (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). The ADDIE system, like a lot of similar methods, is interesting because it formalizes an already-intuitive process. Or maybe it just seems intuitive to me because I took SI501. In any case, the steps are simple enough: analyze the need that the course will fulfill, figure out the material that will be taught, create the class itself, teach the class, and see how well it worked.
The "Best Practices" article, which outlined a survey of students who were asked to view how-to videos through a library's website, did not seem to reflect the ADDIE system. That's not to say that ADDIE or a similar system was not used when the video tutorials were being made, but this particular study would be an example of only the "evaluate" part of the process. Even then, the students who watched the videos were participating for the purpose of facilitating the evaluation of the videos, not because they had a particular need for which they sought out the tutorials.
The "Building Pathfinders" article, though, fits well into the ADDIE model, specifically in the design or development phases. After analyzing the audience for and purpose of an online course, a librarian would have to choose a particular platform, and this article provided several good suggestions.
We were also asked this week to consider what skills would or would not be well-suited for an online tutorial and whether the methods discussed in the readings were problematic from an accessibility standpoint. I think that online tutorials work best for straightforward skills - reading call numbers, for example, or using the online catalog to find a book by author or title. Skills that require more time, interaction with the teacher, or which are likely to require a teacher to answer questions from students may be better suited for in-person courses. This might include classes on preparing for an interview, classes focusing on literacy, or classes directed at students who are uncomfortable with technology.
As far as accessibility is concerned, I have to admit that I don't know very much about assistive technology and its limitations. Videos that rely on visual elements (titles that aren't read aloud or demonstrations in which the teacher does not narrate what she is doing, etc) could be problematic. And of course, assuming that those who would benefit from the course have access to the necessary technology would also be a problem. Accessibility is something I look forward to learning more about.
- The introduction and first chapter of Creating the One-shot Library Workshop: A Step-by-step Guide by Jerilyn R. Veldof
- "Best Practices for Online Video Tutorials in Academic Libraries: A Study of Student Preferences and Understanding" by Melissa Bowles-Terry, et. al.
- "Building Pathfinders with Free Screen Capture Tools" by Patrick Griffis
The excerpt from Creating the One-shot Library Workshop concerned a process for creating workshops that Veldof refers to as "ADDIE" (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). The ADDIE system, like a lot of similar methods, is interesting because it formalizes an already-intuitive process. Or maybe it just seems intuitive to me because I took SI501. In any case, the steps are simple enough: analyze the need that the course will fulfill, figure out the material that will be taught, create the class itself, teach the class, and see how well it worked.
The "Best Practices" article, which outlined a survey of students who were asked to view how-to videos through a library's website, did not seem to reflect the ADDIE system. That's not to say that ADDIE or a similar system was not used when the video tutorials were being made, but this particular study would be an example of only the "evaluate" part of the process. Even then, the students who watched the videos were participating for the purpose of facilitating the evaluation of the videos, not because they had a particular need for which they sought out the tutorials.
The "Building Pathfinders" article, though, fits well into the ADDIE model, specifically in the design or development phases. After analyzing the audience for and purpose of an online course, a librarian would have to choose a particular platform, and this article provided several good suggestions.
We were also asked this week to consider what skills would or would not be well-suited for an online tutorial and whether the methods discussed in the readings were problematic from an accessibility standpoint. I think that online tutorials work best for straightforward skills - reading call numbers, for example, or using the online catalog to find a book by author or title. Skills that require more time, interaction with the teacher, or which are likely to require a teacher to answer questions from students may be better suited for in-person courses. This might include classes on preparing for an interview, classes focusing on literacy, or classes directed at students who are uncomfortable with technology.
As far as accessibility is concerned, I have to admit that I don't know very much about assistive technology and its limitations. Videos that rely on visual elements (titles that aren't read aloud or demonstrations in which the teacher does not narrate what she is doing, etc) could be problematic. And of course, assuming that those who would benefit from the course have access to the necessary technology would also be a problem. Accessibility is something I look forward to learning more about.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Reflection on Class, January 9
Well, I should have taken better notes. I always tell myself that I will remember what happens in class, but that is rarely the case. Unfortunately, I'll have to make do this time with faulty memory.
Something that struck me was how similar and how different all of our experiences with education turned out to be. Hippie schools, public schools, the right or wrong way to do research - it's astounding that we have all arrived at this course with such different perspectives. I'll just say it: I still don't know if I do research (or what passes for it in English Literature) the correct way. I never learned how. To this day, I do what I think the professor wants, turn it in, and cross my fingers. I've never been corrected, so I guess I've got the hang of it? I should probably figure this out if I'm going to be a librarian when I grow up.
The other thing that I have managed to remember was the brief discussion of what it means to be in a service profession. I have done service work my whole life, from a string of awful retail jobs to a short stint in food service (I wanted to be a chef at one point) to my current job in library circulation. It's all service, but libraries feel different. As a worker, I feel that I retain more of my dignity as a person when I work in a library as opposed to a department store. As a student of the profession, it is apparent that the reason for that is that in retail, the worker really serves the company. She serves money, and every interaction with a customer is reflective of that fact. In a library setting, the worker (whether a librarian, paraprofessional, or student employee) serves the best interest of the patron and of the community. That difference is why, though I would never consider a life-long career in retail, I am spending a lot of money and two years of my time on learning to be a good librarian.
Hopefully I still feel that way in three years when I'm a part-time librarian with enormous monthly loan payments to make.
- K
Something that struck me was how similar and how different all of our experiences with education turned out to be. Hippie schools, public schools, the right or wrong way to do research - it's astounding that we have all arrived at this course with such different perspectives. I'll just say it: I still don't know if I do research (or what passes for it in English Literature) the correct way. I never learned how. To this day, I do what I think the professor wants, turn it in, and cross my fingers. I've never been corrected, so I guess I've got the hang of it? I should probably figure this out if I'm going to be a librarian when I grow up.
The other thing that I have managed to remember was the brief discussion of what it means to be in a service profession. I have done service work my whole life, from a string of awful retail jobs to a short stint in food service (I wanted to be a chef at one point) to my current job in library circulation. It's all service, but libraries feel different. As a worker, I feel that I retain more of my dignity as a person when I work in a library as opposed to a department store. As a student of the profession, it is apparent that the reason for that is that in retail, the worker really serves the company. She serves money, and every interaction with a customer is reflective of that fact. In a library setting, the worker (whether a librarian, paraprofessional, or student employee) serves the best interest of the patron and of the community. That difference is why, though I would never consider a life-long career in retail, I am spending a lot of money and two years of my time on learning to be a good librarian.
Hopefully I still feel that way in three years when I'm a part-time librarian with enormous monthly loan payments to make.
- K
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Week One
The assignment for this initial post was to read/watch and consider:
That's a lot to consider (and the material feels somewhat disjointed), so I'll just go in order.
Of the two chapters of How People Learn, I have the most to say about the first. Like a lot of prescriptive writing about education, this chapter seemed to hold up the current common teaching model as flawed and in need of revision. I won't argue with that. My own experience fits well within the "Teacher A" mode of education - concern with the end product and making sure that students have the opportunity to learn, while punishing them if they do not take that opportunity. A few particular teachers went out of their way to engage students and create an environment that encouraged learning in a positive way, but they were exceptions. They were also often teachers in "gifted" or Advanced Placement classes. Doesn't this seem backward? It has been my experience that students in classes where teachers provide sufficient motivation and means for learning have already proven themselves capable of learning under more difficult circumstances, while the students who need the most help and attention from teachers often receive the least because they cannot advance past general or even remedial classes.
- Chapters 1 & 2 of How People Learn
- ALA's Core Competences
- Josh Hanagarne's closing keynote speech from Internet Librarian 2013
That's a lot to consider (and the material feels somewhat disjointed), so I'll just go in order.
Of the two chapters of How People Learn, I have the most to say about the first. Like a lot of prescriptive writing about education, this chapter seemed to hold up the current common teaching model as flawed and in need of revision. I won't argue with that. My own experience fits well within the "Teacher A" mode of education - concern with the end product and making sure that students have the opportunity to learn, while punishing them if they do not take that opportunity. A few particular teachers went out of their way to engage students and create an environment that encouraged learning in a positive way, but they were exceptions. They were also often teachers in "gifted" or Advanced Placement classes. Doesn't this seem backward? It has been my experience that students in classes where teachers provide sufficient motivation and means for learning have already proven themselves capable of learning under more difficult circumstances, while the students who need the most help and attention from teachers often receive the least because they cannot advance past general or even remedial classes.
The problem becomes more pronounced as students grow older. I personally had the privilege of earning my bachelor's degree at a school where I was never in a class of more than thirty people, and almost every class was discussion-based. But having attended a semester of lectures here at the University of Michigan, I wonder how freshmen undergraduates manage to learn anything at all. The idea seems to be that as a student grows, she can be more responsible for her own learning. But what if she is learning something completely new, as we are all supposed to do in college? Does the learner of a new subject require the same kind of teaching as a young grade school student, for whom everything is new? Or is it the case that she has developed sufficient metacognitive abilities to be in control of her own learning by the time she reaches college?
Of course, there are plenty of reasons why, while everyone understands that American education needs to change, few changes are apparently being made. Class size is a big one. Thirty students might not be a lot for a college class, but it is a lot for a grade school teacher to handle, and it's a common class size. With that many students, it may not be possible for teachers to give individual students the kind of attention recommended by the text. The imposition of standardized tests is another factor. The book acknowledges that the focus of these tests must change from breadth-based to depth-based, but until that happens, teachers are forced to keep teaching breadth over depth. It's also worth noting that while educational advancement (placement in advanced classes, college admission, etc) depend on grades, students will not be willing to risk lowering their grade point average by taking risks, even if it means that they will learn more. I would be interested in hearing about a school that successfully uses a "Teacher C" approach.
I found the ALA Core Competences and the Josh Hanagarne keynote to be interesting when considered together. Hanagarne is a clearly inspiring person, and he seems to be the model of what a librarian should be: determined, kind, intelligent, and passionate about libraries. He also, like many librarians and information professionals who fit that description, is completely dismissive of library school, saying that the best part of his experience there was a hamburger. Though I don't know anything about the quality of his day-to-day work at his own library, I doubt that he fails to meet the ALA Competences that are supposed to be the result of attending an ALA-accredited program. Does that mean that he and other librarians like him underestimate the importance of their education, or does it mean that formal education is not the only (or even best) way of becoming competent in librarianship?
Before watching the speech, I thought about what makes someone a librarian and came up with this: "A librarian is someone educated in order to provide the best information service to her community within a library setting." I still think that is the case, but I wonder if it is necessarily so.
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