Category Archives: Activities

ICT webinar

For the month of March Australia librarians have two hot topics that address the ICT general capabilities and curriculum inquiry skills.

12 March – Badge Your Way to ICT Competency
26 March – Mapping curriculum inquiry skills to a pedagogical framework

The ICT general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum outline key skills and competencies students require to become digital citizens. These capabilities have been designed to ensure students can confidently, competently and safely navigate an ever-increasing digital landscape for both educational and social needs. Iona Presentation College has developed an ICT Passport that maps and strategically teaches these skills within the curriculum. This system is being trialled in 2014 using a digital badging system. Badge systems are increasingly bei ng used as a monitoring and assessment tool to demonstrate competency across a range of skills. This webinar will describe how the passport system will be implemented and will show examples of products that can be used to create the badges.

When: Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Time: 8.00 to 9.00 pm Australian Daylight Saving Time
Register today at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to secure your place at this webinar.

As a result of this webinar participants will:

  • have access to a Year 6-10 ICT Scope and Sequence as it relates to the ICT general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum;
  • examine how these ICT competencies translate into practical classroom skills;
  • examine a Year 7 ICT Passport that can then be used as a model for other year level passports;
  • examine a range of online badge tools; and
  • learn how to create online digital badges for use in their classroom using class badges.
  • Register now at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to develop your understanding of how a badging system could be used in your school.

Mapping curriculum inquiry skills to a pedagogical framework with Karen Bonanno, Founder & Managing Director, Eduwebinar Pty Ltd on Wednesday, 26 March 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm ADST

Inquiry skills are strongly evident across the Australian Curriculum. In late 2012, Karen Bonanno was given permission by the authors of Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School, Carol Kuhlthau, Leslie Maniotes and Ann Caspari, to develop an open collaborative project with Australian teacher librarians to develop a scope and sequence tying the five kinds of learning to the inquiry skills and capabilities in the Australian Curriculum.

This webinar will build on the preliminary work that has already been undertaken over the last 10 months for the 4 core subjects (English, History, Maths, Science) and add in the recent curriculum additions of Economics & Business, Civics & Citizenship, The Arts, Technologies, Health & Physical Education.

The focus for the webinar will be on:

  • creating a skills scope and sequence within an inquiry learning framework,
  • identifying core essential inquiry skills across the curriculum that support sequential skill development,and
  • web tools & apps to help develop the skills with the students.Register at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to secure your place at either of these webinars.

Library of Congress summer program

The Library of Congress is pleased to announce details about its summer programs for K-12 educators.

Institutes

The application for the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute is now available. The five-day institute provides educators with tools and resources to effectively integrate primary sources into K-12 classrooms.

Teachers and school librarians of all grade levels and curriculum areas are encouraged to apply.

Interested? Check your calendar–Institute dates are listed below.

  • June 9-13        Institute session #1
  • July 7-11         Institute session #2
  • July 21-25       Institute session #3

Additional information, educator testimonials, and the application for the Institutes can be found here!

Section Begins Revision of the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines

The revision of the 2002 IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines began with a workshop at the Singapore WLIC, held on August 20, 2013 at the National Library of Singapore. Dianne Oberg (Canada) and Randi Lundvall (Norway) began the workshop with a brief history of the development of the 1999 IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto and of the 2002 School Library Guidelines.  Then Barbara Schultz-Jones organized five working groups, based on the content of the Guidelines: Introduction; Resources; Staff; Programs; and Promotion. The groups each gave a brief report at the end of their discussions, which were recorded on a flipchart. Dianne Oberg, incoming Secretary of the School Libraries Standing Committee, has transcribed the flipchart notes, and soon the group reports will be available as well. 

Tentative Timeline for the Revision Process

The process for the revision will involve a series of reviews and writing sessions as well as consultations with members of the IFLA School Libraries Standing Committee and with members of IASL. The joint committee anticipates considering feedback on the Guidelines during October and November in order to have a first draft of the revised document by December 2013.  Further feedback and rewriting will continue throughout the first half of 2014. The plan is to have a final document ready for endorsement in August 2014 by the IFLA School Libraries Standing Committee and by IASL. Then the document will go for approval to the Governing Board of IFLA in December 2014, followed by approval by UNESCO.

IFLA members are invited to participate in the revision of the School Library Guidelines as members of the “expert panel” to provide on-going feedback and advice to the joint committee. Interested individuals should contact Dianne Oberg [email protected]. Dianne will provide you with the information and resources that you will need to participate as a member of our “expert panel” over the next year.

Dianne Oberg,
Secretary, School Libraries SC, IFLA
Chair, IASL-IFLA School Libraries Joint Committee
Director-Canada, IASL

Digital Learning Day

The Alliance for Excellent Education is planning a high-profile national Digital Learning Day celebration on February 5, 2014 in Washington, DC. The day-long series of activities is the hottest ticket in town; it’s jam-packed with high-profile dignitaries, policymakers, and educational leaders who are passionate about the potential for digital learning in the nation’s public schools. The day’s agenda includes an exciting “Digital Learning Fair” and “Making It Personal” kiosks that feature hands-on activities and lessons to demonstrate digital learning in action and real-life stories of students and teachers who have already realized this potential and are flourishing through the use of digital learning. The national event will also include perspectives from district-level experts who have already successfully navigated the digital learning shift, and they will be on hand to answer questions from educators across the country. Lots of resources and opportunities to participate are available at http://digitallearningday.org/events/national-event/

International School Library Month

October is International School Library Month.

Please visit the event site http://www.iasl-online.org/events/islm/ to download the poster, bookmarks and a host of other resources that have been prepared to help you celebrate this year’s event.

It’s still not too late to register for the Bookmark Exchange Project or to register for a Skype exchange. You can find details on how to do this on the ISLM website.

Don’t forget to share how you celebrated ISLM 2013. A description and photos can be sent to the secretariat at this address: [email protected]

Take a look at what people did in 2012 if you’d like some ideas. http://www.iasl-online.org/events/islm/2012a.htm

Help spread the word. If you know of colleagues or other schools that don’t celebrate ISLM, direct them to the IASL website and encourage them to participate. It’s free!