Media and Systems Services

So I spent the afternoon with Francis from Media and Systems services. (MSS) He was at pains to tell me he had only been in this role for 3 months and that actually the name of the service is historical and outdated. This area has recently been streamlined and now has limited functions. In other libraries this is now known as Electronic Services and Francis felt that this would happen soon when reorganisation happens.
One of the services offered is the maintence of the Edvideo. This is the legal recording of curent affairs, documentaries and educational programs shown on TV within HK. Once recorded these are then streamed online to enable researchers to access them. The work for this is shared between all the HKall memebers. 2 universities record a particluar program, the second in case of mishaps. The service also has some cataloguing to do in connection to this.
Another role is the up keep of the online resources… subcriptions, licences, e-books, e journals and databases. There is some cross over here between aquistitions and MSS due to the nature of journal subscriptions. Some are bought as an online package whilst others are purchased individually. Aquisitions deal with individual titles whilst Media deals with the packages. It sounds incredibly complex and the communication that needs to take place appeares to be time consuming. This is another area Francis felt needed to be streamlined. I was interested to learn that publishers now sell their journal packages direct to the universities. This did not use to happen 10/15 years ago. They were always sold through an aggregator such as EBSCO host or Jstor. Now institutions can get very good deals but obviously all of these need to be brokered which is time consuming.
There are also many issues with online materials and most have strictly binding contracts written by lawyers. These contracts are often difficult to interpet, making decisions as to whether a journal/ article can be loaned through an inter library loan or copied in a particluar format, hard to make.
HKIEd is about to begin some Patron Driven Acquisitions. This works by securing in bulk e-books from the vendor. The library only pays for the books that are utilised. If the book is not used it is not paid for. Howevere in order to do this a limit on spending has to be in place as if demand is too high then budget issues can occur.

There is an e first policy in place. If possible the e-books are bought in perpetutity. Some are subscription based in particular those text that date very quickly, such as those concerning computing and modern technology.

HKIEd had joined several consortiuums in order to ensure their students have a access to as many e-books as possible. They have joined with university libraries in HK, Taiwan and mainland China to give themselves more spending power and shared access. This has ensured access has increased by 20-30 000 items.

The Media department also deals with its own IR. ( Institutional Records.) As the call for open access has arisen, and questions concerning the use of public money to fund research that then gets printed in a profit making journal, IR has become common place in many institutions. Before a piece of research is published, when it is still in its print form, the institution from which the research developed is able to approach the publisher and request that they may ensure their students have access to the paper. Every piece of research needs to be checked with the publisher before the print version can be made available due to copyright issues that may arise. Publishers generally agree to this.
Collaboration between information sevice and media service is high. The information Service decide on the content ie workshops, library virtual tours, subject guidelines, but the Media service put it together. On top of all this they are also responsible for hardware such as computers and headphones.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/venessamiemis/4756760521/sizes/n/in/photostream/

What occured to me this afternoon is that the library is a much more complex place than I had anticipated. There needs to be very clear systems in place and communication needs to be efficient and effective if the user is going to get the best out of the service. Collaboration within the library and between different institutions needs to be high if the users are to be able to access wide range of appropriate resources effectively and efficiently. It made me question why we don’t do this as schools. Surely by creating consortiuums we would get more bang for our buck and increase our services to our students.

Games and learning

Reading this article by Oblinger has made me think further about education games and the gamification of learning and education. Games engage us and motivate. They have a powerful potential which could enable students to learn information, skills and change attitudes and ways of thinking.

They provide an opportunity to be involved in a  collaborative community in which older or more established players act as mentors for novices. The community share ideas, solve problems, socialize and work together to move things forward. Players are required to accept a set of values so they can integrate with other members of the community.

This is all very well but how does this link to digital citizenship. I looked very closely at the iste nets standards for students. They state that being able to use technology is no longer enough and that today’s learners must be able to use technology to analyze, learn and explore. Under 5b Digital Citizenship they state that students should display a positive attitude towards using technology that supports collaboration, learning and productivity. 5c Digital Citizenship states that learners should demonstrate a personal responsibility for life long learning and 5d exhibit leadership for digital citizenship. I would argue that using games does all of this. Games allow learners to take on leadership roles whilst collaborating with others in the virtual environment. Being engaged, as many gamers obviously are, illustrates that life long learning is more than just a label but a true possibility. And finally that the opportunities through games for collaboration and learning are endless. In fact most of the 6 standards would be able to be achieved through game play.

However it is here we need to be a little more circumspect. The key is how the teacher utilizes the game and for what learning outcome. Just like another tools thought needs to be given as to how it is going to blend with the curriculum and to what effect? Can it be blended successfully with the current educational tool kit?

Other question the gamification of education raises are;

1. What happens to internet addiction when study and learning are linked closely to games?

2.  Is the hardware up to the job? is it appropriately configured and available for extended hours? Is the right equipment available such as headphones and working mics?

3. Are all the other networking tools that gamers need available?  Networked communication systems are a must. (Chat, IM, e-mail?)

 Games are still in an early stage of evolution. Although they can be effective learning environments, not all games are effective nor are all games educational. Games are now being designed based on learning theory and research. Their effectiveness rests on the massively multiplayer immersive worlds they create, where learners “learn to be” and a social network surrounds the learner. The time has come for games to be reintegrated with education, ending a longstanding rift between work and play. Oblinger (2006)

Are we ready for this change or do we remain rooted in the smoggy industrial past? Is the recent interest and push for games based learning based on research? Is it the educational tool of choice or just a current fad? Further reading and learning required!

 

Machine Learning

Wine and weed.

Something I’d read during the last subject (collection management) stated that although the TL is ultimately responsible for the collection others within the community should be involved in its development. So tonight I tried out a wine and weed hour. I invited our lower school teachers to come along and help weed the picture books. I offered wine and juice and around an hours worth of work.
Six willing crew turned up, one with snacks! A bit of music in the background, lots of laughs and large numbers of picture books culled. To anyone considering weeding their collection I’d recommend it. It got a big job done in a short amount of time and created a great collaborative atmosphere.
Only problem now is that I need to deaccession and sort the. I might ust have to recruit the monitors.

Final vision for the ETL504?

Found an interesting article today that flies in the face of some of the other works I have read. I have to say it made a lot of sense and it made me think a little more deeply. Mardis (2011) argues that we need to stop discussing as much collaboration and regarding it as the only way we can make a difference within school. She states that when preparing new teacher librarians collaboration is talked about and regarded as a very important skill, however when these new recruits get into school the reality is very different. The job is often to put into place the planning of others and time constraints mean that joint planning never really takes place, a frustration to those new TLs. (and more experienced ones I’m sure)
She sees the collection as a vital to make change happen and a tool capable of having great impact. She sees future school librarians using the collection’s diverse resources in order to help teachers differentiate instruction. The widening the collection’s spectrum to include multimedia and the learners needs will also acknowledge and account for differing learning modalities.

Hmmmm… so how does this all fit with vision? Well after a lot of thinking and with time ticking away too quickly I began to think that learning is supposed to be our bread and butter. (didn’t Ross Todd or James Herring say that somewhere?) Surely then the learner is the most important person. Therefore, in order to have a visionary library that deals with the learners needs and preferences we must place the learner at the heart of everything we do. So there it is, Quarry Bay School library, putting the learner at the heart of everything we do. Now I’m not sure if that is what they are looking for or whether it is visionary enough but I think if we did this, not just in the LC but also in every class and every school we would make that difference we are all looking to do.

Effective teams ETL504

Law, S. & Glover (2000) Leading effective teams. In education leadership ad learning: practice, policy and research (pp. 71-86).

Team leadership is the only form of leadership acceptable in a society where power is shared and so many people are near equals. ( Belbin 1993: 107 Team roles at work)

So our team has come together … we share a common purpose and have some interconnectedness however I’m not sure the other attributes are in order. We don’t yet have a team identity… number 9 is not really an identity, only a label and I’m not sure we have agreed values. We are regulating our behaviour but I don’t know the other members well enough to say we have the same values.
We have to belong to this team but I don’t yet feel I completely belong. I am having to try too hard. I think there is at present a lack of fluency between members and certainly no intimacy as I don’t even know what some of them look like. As a group I think we all have concerns such as where we will be placed within the group and if we have anything valuable to offer. Other questions and issues are will the group like me? Will they think I am a positive addition? Will I have any influence within the group?
So we are still forming but we don’t yet seem to have entered the storming stage as there has been no real conflict.
We have conformed to an established line but more openness is beginning to appear and a common ground is being sort. By working together these norms will begin to appear.
We have yet to reaching the performing stage or “mature stage’ but hopefully it won’t be long. Will we be the A team?
If we can get the subject right we might just well be.

Meeting 2 ETL 504

Well tonight was our second meeting. Arthur didn’t reject the first suggestion out of hand but there has been a flurry of work, research and ideas. This has lead to a narrowing of the title and an attempt to link it to only one LO. Challenging your hierarchical structure in order to improve school performance: recognising the power and potential of the teacher librarian. Now it would be great if we got the green light and then we could start work and focus on the task at hand.
There have been lots of emotions this week, particularly uncertainty. I think there has been a bit of stepping carefully around each other and a worry that we are not contributing enough or that we don’t know enough. I have definitely felt that I need to work harder…not that anyone has suggested it but I don’t want to let the team down. At present we are going through the forming stage ( Hough &Paine 1997 Collaborative decision making with teams. In Creating quality learning communities pp 110-127)
We are obviously forming a collaborative decision making team. We need to be dynamic and creative and hopefully share some core beliefs. ( Would these be that the TL has an important role? That learning is vital and valued? Literacy and information literacy are the most important vehicles for learning?)
There is obviously going to be a great emphasis on team learning and as we all bring ideas, experiences and knowledge to the group.

Forming and storming!

Great to collaborate with such a positive group of people today. Everyone seems ready for the challenge and to get going. Your school library, a case study in effective change management. Sounds really interesting, seems to fit the LO criteria…now we just need to see if Arthur approves. A bit scared that everyone seems to know more than me but I suppose that is always going to happen and that the others maybe feeling uncertain too.
I used Wordle to highlight the key words from the LOs in the hope it might help guide us/ I’m not sure it will but it was worth a try.

Core steps in decision making… problems, challenges and mindset.

An interesting read with some great diagrams that made it much clearer. Step one, get the mindset right. I started to think about this on my run today and how I view problems and challenges. I asked myself the question, did I ever see a physical activity as a problem or did I always see it as a challenge? Well I realised I always saw it as a challenge.

I’ve been very lucky in my life and have been able to try out new things. I’ve trekked for 5 days along the Great Wall, kayaked in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, trekked for a week in Nepal, walked coast to coast in the UK and run a marathon. Was it ever a problem? No, it was always the mindset. So what now interests me is why, if it is physical it is a challenge, but never a problem.

Lance Armstrong’s come back from cancer was not a problem, climbing Mount Everest is not viewed as a problem, swimming the Channel… not a problem… why do we perceive these things differently to situations that arise in our daily lives?
If we perceived the everyday as challenges too we would perhaps be more successful. We would have that positive mindset with which to approach the ‘problems’. These everyday situations that need attention should be seen as opportunities just as walking the Cumbrian Way or the Overland Track is. They are of course different opportunities but both may change the way we think about things. Opportunities encourage us to innovate and think creatively and this combined with a trusting an supportive environment creates a situation that is more conducive to meeting challenges.

Harvey, T.R., Bearley, W.L. & Corkrum, S. M. (2001) Core steps in decision making. In The practical decision maker: a handbook for decision making and problem solving in organisations (pp.17-34). Lancaster, Pa.: Technomic.

Utilising the principles of quality management.

It was great today in the ELT, no really. My reading from yesterday fitted in perfectly and I was able to see how the readings on management and leadership gelled with the real world.
I’ve never really been a fan of readings about educational leadership, I was always more of a curriculum girl myself. Yes I see myself as a leader but in a limited sort of way and don’t always feel confident in my own abilities. I’d never dream of stepping up to a VP or a Principal level, I couldn’t do it. I’m better at leading from within, from talking to colleagues and hopefully encouraging, listening, hearing and empowering.
Now these readings, although not the most riveting of reads, are making sense of leadership and makes me want to learn more. I’d like our school to be a happy place where everyone works together to improve the children’s learning. Everyone means me, so what am I going to do over the next few weeks to make a difference, to make the school a happier and more trustworthy place? How am I going to step up?

1. Could I work on what our mission statement looks like with the children and the teachers that work with me in the LC? Would this help qualify things for me, the teachers and the children? Well it would but it is something that needs to be tackled by the whole school, so maybe not the one for me.

2. I could share the research cycle I have been using and see if anyone is willing to trial it with their class and give me feedback so that we can move to a more cohesive approach next year. This would help develop a team approach and a shared view.

3. I should talk to the children about what is good about the LC and what they need from the LC. What works? What do they enjoy? Which lessons have been most successful? How can we improve their learning further? This then needs to be shared with their teachers. This determines that the children and their learning at at the heart of the program ensuring a more learner centred experience for the child.

4. Find out why some systems are not working, for instance the English records. Why are they often not filled in? If I find this out then perhaps it can be made more meaningful for all involved. Why do some people see them as irrelevant? Is it because the assessments are not done or is it because they see no value in writing it down? What about collecting time-tabling comments for next year in order to improve the LC time-tabling. This might give me a way to move to the more flexible approach as seen on Friday.

5, Positives should be celebrated. A celebration board in the LC or just outside? It wouldn’t be difficult and the children and staff could be encouraged to add to the board. Anyone who helps our learning community could have their face added and a little note could be written. ie; The student council for putting in loads of hard work this term, the football team for training so hard. Mrs. A. for being so imaginative and trying something new. Mrs. G. for offering to take me to X to source materials for my book week costume. It is endless.

So that’s only the first 5 principles and already I have a wealth of things I could try to do to make our school a better, happier more trust worthy environment. Most importantly whatever I do I need to be enthusiastic, motivated and demonstrate that I care for our school and the community. I need to STEP UP because unless I do then there will never be a whole school approach as someone will always be missing.

Quality management

So what is it?
Quality management is a way of organising people so that they approach tasks with enthusiasm and take part in improving the work that gets done. Once again collaboration is ranked highly and seen as vital if this type of management is going to succeed. Everything that is done links to the vision and mission of the organisation and the people employed are seen to be the ones who give the organisation its edge above everything else. Innovation and a futures perspective are important whilst the greater good and self-interest should be served simultaneously. Teams as well as individuals are recognised and everyone is given the capacity to manage their relationships and processes within the oragnisation. Managers are LEADERS and motivate others to make positive meaningful contributions because they believe what they are doing is important to society or the enterprise. Everyone feels like a winner.

This obviously transfers to the education system.
Quality in education is what makes learning so good. It makes it fun, enjoyable and ensures learning happens. Exams and competition may place pressure upon the individual to learn but this does not build a life long independent learner, it is the experience that counts. Quality at one age is different to that at another, therefore students need to be constantly and appropriately engaged if they are going to fall in love with learning. Quality is not about the fixtures and fittings, however nice or desirable they may be, but about the teaching and learning process and how it is carried forward. I therefore disagree with Stephen Heppell when he says a turned off device is a turned off child. Learning should be driving not the tools. I don’t discount that the tools are very motivating and that in itself is reason enough to have them, but however great the tools, if the teaching is poor and the learner disinterested then no learning other than damaging learning will occur.

Focus should be placed upon the learning and teaching process and not upon exams and the end product. Tests provide a brief pressure to learn but do not ensure independent life long learning. This had implications for assessment and the children’s/students role within it. How much should be negotiated or co-constructed? Do we need exams? What would we use instead?

The collaborative process is vital for learning. All students should be seen as teachers and learners. By taking part in collaborative experiences social skills are developed, knowledge is shared and the idea that team work is essential to success is developed.