Victorian bushfires – you can help

Many of our colleagues and school communities have been affected by the disastrous bushfires that have swept large areas of our state of Victoria in the last few days. It has been declared Australia’s worst natural disaster and at least three schools have been burnt down. Many people have lost their lives, some of them children. Our thoughts are with you all.

What can we do to help? Australian and international readers are able to assist by making donations to the Red Cross (secure site).  Australian readers can also consider shopping at Coles supermarkets  this Friday 13th February as all profits from its 750 stores will be donated to the Victorian Government’s Bushfire Appeal in partnership with the Red Cross. Victorians who are willing to help in other ways can read the ‘Offer help’  page from the ABC.

On behalf of the School Library Association of Victoria, a heartfelt thank you to all of the volunteers who have been so brave and worked so hard to fight the fires and to assist the people affected by them; among them are the CFA, SES, Red Cross,Salvation Army and the pilots of the planes and helicopters that have carried out vital water bombing and the people who are assisting those left homeless and bereaved.

The School Library Association of Victoria is a  collegial and sharing network and we hope that this strength of community will enable us to provide support wherever we can.

If you and/or your school do manage to help in some way, please add a comment to let us know. Thank you. 

Happy holidays

Well we’ve all made it through a long term 4! Well done to everyone on another year of hard work and making a positive difference to the lives of our students (and teachers). On behalf of SLAV, wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

There will be one post a week for the 5 week break for Victorian schools, then back to regular posts once school goes back on 28th January. All the best for a relaxing and restful break.

Stephen Heppell @SLV

For the final post about Professor Stephen Heppell’s inspiring talk at the State Library of Victoria on 10th November, Stephen mentioned some innovative things some schools are doing in the UK.

A primary school in East Kilbride (Glasgow) let their students use the ‘Big Brain Academy’ game on Nintendo DS handheld consoles for twenty minutes each morning. Performance in all areas of schooling has lifted since the introduction of the game. The culture of the school has changed, being ‘brainy’ is now cool.

Numerous secondary schools in the UK are closing their staffrooms and reopening them as cafes shared with students. The basic philosophy is that everyone at school is a learner (including teachers) and should share ideas and spaces.

Leasowes School has trialled a month long timetable of each subject and exam results have improved.

Just a few examples of how Stephen explains that schools need to ‘run, not follow’.

21st Century learning

Continuing on with Professor Stephen Heppell’s talk on 21st Century learning at the State Library of Victoria on Monday 10th November, Stephen outlined the 21st Century as ‘people centric’ where ‘helping people help each other’ is leading to the mass social construction of knowledge. People adding entries and editing Wikipedia, creating content in LibraryThing, YouTube, Flickr and the like (my examples) means that we (and our students) ‘are in a world we haven’t met before’. Stephen says ‘it’s time for schools to run, not follow’.

A recent UK survey by Ipsos asked students how they were currently learning in school. The responses were something like:

  1. Copying from books or the whiteboard (approximately 50% of respondents).
  2. Taking notes from a long teacher talk (approximately 30% of respondents).
  3. Copying from the Internet (approximately 20% of respondents).

When asked how they would like to learn, the responses were:

  1. Learning in groups.
  2. Learn by doing practical things.
  3. Learning with friends.
  4. Learn by using a computer.

When asked what they would like their teachers to be able to do, they responded:

  1. Edit a Wikipedia entry.
  2. Upload a video to YouTube and make a comment.
  3. Subscribe to a podcast.
  4. Manage groups in Flickr (and be able to spell Flickr).
  5. Select a safe online payment site.
  6. Turn mobile phone predictive text on/off.

Certainly food for thought, not only for teachers but also for school administrators. For a recording of Stephen’s session with Victoria’s Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Knowledge Bank, click here.

To read more about what Stephen has been involved in, his thoughts and projects, please follow these links:

Teachers TV

Internationally renowned educator Professor Stephen Heppell presented an enlightening lecture at the State Library of Victoria on the evening of Monday 10th November.  The topic of 21st Century learning and how we as educators address and change not only our practice, but mindset, is just one of the things that consumes Stephen.

One tool that Stephen discussed was Teachers TV (not to be confused with TeacherTube). UK in origin, it provides thousands of educational programmes on television and the Internet. Many of the programmes available are made by teachers for other teachers; they discuss new ideas that have worked well in their classroom. Teachers TV provides a subject guide to programmes, recommended videos and more. You can keep up-to-date with RSS feeds and if you register, you can download programmes to view later on, comment on programmes and access sneak previews.

Thousands of education programmes on TV and online

Thousands of education programmes on TV and online

Teachers TV is highly recommended as a free, reliable and credible source of educational videos freely available through the Internet. Teachers TV also provides links to educational websites that may be of interest.

More on Stephen Heppell soon.

International School Library Month

Rick Mulholland, the International School Library Month Coordinator (IASL) has asked all school library staff to submit any events and activities to celebrate ISLM. Please see the ISLM Projects page.

ISLM
ISLM

Here is a message from him:

Here’s a snip from the page about how to submit your information:

Send in your submissions for “What people are doing for ISLM 2008” by email to the IASL Web Manager, Karen Bonanno.

  • Email subject line is ISLM activities.
  • Include in your email message the following information:
    Country, Name, Title of your position, School or organisation, Brief outline of the ISLM activity, and a Web link, if appropriate.
  • If sending images to accompany your report on ISLM activities please send them as .jpg or .gif. Keep them as small as possible, example 240 x 180 dimensions, as large files will slow down the display of the web page.
  • Please note: Submissions received after 31 October 2008 may not be included on the ISLM “What people are doing for ISLM 2008” web pages.

Look forward to hearing about your ISLM activities. Rick.

Working Together 2 Make a Difference Program

Jenny Luca, the Head of Information Services at Toorak College in Mt. Eliza is part of an inspiring project that aims to change lives for the better.  Jenny writes, ‘Angela and Laura Stockman from New York State and I are working together to make a difference. We have created a ning site to encourage people to join us to collaborate to raise funds for worthy causes in the lead up to the festive season. Here is a link to a blog post I wrote about it.

Working together 2 make a difference

Working together 2 make a difference

‘We would love to see Australian educators join the ning site and help their students to see the difference that can be made when we pool our efforts and set out to do something good for others. Angela sent out the message below to people in her network in the United States. It explains the project and its motivation very well so I thought I would replicate it here. I hope you will consider showing this to your staff and joining the effort.’

Angela Stockman writes, ‘Last year my daughter Laura began an online service project called Twenty Five Days to Make a Difference.  Her premise was to promote service work by doing small things to make a difference throughout the year in her community. Blogging about them was her way of encouraging others to join her. To date, nearly forty thousand people have visited her blog, and hundreds of individuals, schools, and teachers have supported her work and begun their own projects as well. We’ve learned that blogging inspires our eleven year old to give back to her own community while forming safe and rewarding relationships online. We’ve also learned that the web is a powerful place for kids to do authentic and meaningful work when they are monitored by responsible adults.

25 days to make a difference

25 days to make a difference

‘This year, Laura is joining forces with Victorian teacher librarian Jenny Luca to launch a global effort. Jenny is a member of an international PLP community led by Will Richardson  and Sheryl Nussbaum Beach.  Jenny approached Laura last year and asked her to Skype into her Melbourne classroom so that her students could collaborate with Laura. Our friendship has grown from here.

Working Together 2 Make a Difference is an online community administered by Jenny and myself. Teachers and students from all over the world are invited to join this space and share what they are doing to make a difference in their own communities. Doing so will enable teachers and kids to network with others around the globe, support each other’s service efforts, and witness what happens when everyone works together “to make a difference.” Those who join will have tremendous opportunity to teach their students about internet safety, powerful ways to use the web, how a ning works, and what it means to make a difference locally and globally.

‘Please consider inviting your teachers and students to join us, and invite anyone else who might be interested in doing so. Feel free to contact me for more information or with any questions that you might have! Thanks. Angela.’

WebQuests and Beyond! Award 2008

For all of you wonderful library people who have been inspiring staff and students with your Web 2.0 blogs, wikis, podcasts and other tools, have you considered entering the WebQuests and Beyond! Award 2008?

WebQuests and Beyond! 2008 Awards information

WebQuests and Beyond! 2008 Awards information

In 2008, the School Library Association of Victoria and the Victorian Education Channel have expanded their WebQuest of the Year Award to incorporate Web 2.0 tools due to the enormous potential they can provide to teaching and learning.

School teams are invited to present a sequence of learning that utilises a range of online resources, allows students to work in teams and  allows opportunities for online communication or collaboration. All Victorian teachers are encouraged to participate, but please remember it must be a team submission.

Entries close Wednesday 15th October. Interactive whiteboards to be won! Entries with a ‘Studies of Asia’ focus are eligible for an extra prize provided by the Victorian Studies of Asia program. For an application form, click here and for more details, contact channel.manager@edumail.vic.gov.au  Good luck!

International School Library Month October 2008: Literacy and Learning at Your School Library

International School Library Month

International School Library Month occurs in October.  The theme for 2008 is ‘Literacy and Learning at your School Library’.  Check out more details here.  

What does it involve? The ISLM Bookmark Project involved matched schools making homemade bookmarks  that reflects the International School Library Month theme. Your bookmarks will be sent on to your matched school and you will receive bookmarks from that school in return.

What do you have to do?  If you would like to become involved in this project, you will need to send the following information to the ISLD coordinator, Amanda Curtis.

  • your school’s name
  • your school’s location (city, state/province/country)
  • the grade/age level of the students to be involved
  • the number of students involved (this is very important to ensure you are matched to a school of similar size)
  • the contact information (name and email address – include a contact email where you can be reached during any school holidays)

Every few weeks until early September, a new list of schools will be sent to the participating schools to choose a match. Matching takes place on a regular basis and it is vital that you provide contact information during your respective school holidays. All contact regarding this project should be directed to Amanda Curtis.

You can also obtain a poster to promote ISLM, thanks to the International Association of School Librarianship. ISLM 2008 Tabloid

Why use Bright ideas?

As most of you probably know, the School Library Association of Victoria recently offered members a professional development opportunity to complete the ’23 things’ of Web 2.0. The program was a roaring success and SLAV would like to use this blog for library staff to share and support each other in the use of Web 2.0 in schools.

The use of new media has fostered a shift from the dominance of independent study to more collaborative and interactive learning, and Web 2.0 applications are collaborative in nature.

This is reflected in the expectations of VELS where we are looking at students using ICT as a major element of their learning environment, working with others in a collaborative way, creating new knowledge and sharing it with others and with a real audience.

An engaging medium – our students are using it – it’s the information and communication environment in which they operate – and we need to be more than just familiar with this environment.

As Dr Ross Todd says, ‘It’s not about libraries: it’s about learning.’