Leading the reinvention of learning

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Cam Hocking

The SLAV Global eLiteracy conference was held last Friday, 27th of July. The conference explored the changing face of learning in a digital age.

The event was significant as it saw the announcement by Judy O’Connell of oztlnet.com, a new site for the Australian Teacher Librarian Network. You can become involved with OZTL through Facebook, Twitter or the Diigo group.

The day involved a number of interesting presentations, but the highlight was the round table session. Delegates spent time in small groups learning from peer leaders about a range of technologies. There was a wonderful atmosphere of collegial support, exploration and sharing.

You can find notes from the event as they are added here and also see a summary, including highlights from a very active Twitter stream, at this Storify of the day.

Congratulations to all of the organisers for a very successful day of professional learning.

i.Read

Posted on December 10, 2010 by slav

Susan Mapleson, a Teacher Librarian at Christian College (Senior Campus) Geelong has developed a very funky blog for lovers of literature. The i.Read blog is cleverly titled and has been developing nicely throughout the year.

Susan explains how the blog came about:

I completed the SLAV PLN program earlier in the year and while this is not the blog I started during the PLN program is it the more meaningful and relevant blog I started along with Deb Canaway (the other Teacher Librarian here at the senior campus) during the year and includes many of the tools I learnt doing the program.

We started our blog for the students and teachers at Christian College Senior school and while we have not been overwhelmed with responses, certainly we have had many people access our blog.

It was aimed mainly at our Year 10 English classes who come to the Library usually at the beginning and end of the term to borrow books. It was another way to interact with the students, promote the Library and recommend books to students as we only review books we have in the Library. Year 10 students had to write a book review as part of their English curriculum and also submit a brief version onto the blog. The positive of this task was that the students got a real buzz out of seeing their reviews online and for many it was the first time they had read and or contributed to a blog.

In the future we would like to have our staff also contribute to the blog and find more ways to encourage students to leave comments.

Congratulations Sue and Deb for creating a vibrant and attractive blog. Now that the blog has a good body of work, it will be easier to promote it in the new year.

Bialik College Futures Forum

Posted on November 1, 2010 by slav

David Feighan, the Director, Libraries and Learning Resources at Bialik College has kindly shared the following information:

I can confirm that the podcasts of the Bialik Learning Futures Forum, which we promised to share with the wider school library community, are now available.

The Learning Futures / Learning Spaces Forum focused on the changes to the physical and online learning spaces in Australian schools. The forum considered:

How the new school libraries being built in Australia work within current and emerging education pedagogues.

How the physical library and online library and learning spaces work together to best meet the needs of schools.

The rise of learning / information commons in universities and schools, and

The rise of social media platforms in education settings.

Speakers include:

A. Professor Leon Sterling, Chair of Software Innovation and Engineering, Swinburne University

B. Jon Peacock, General Manager, Learning Environments at University of Melbourne

C. Dr Scott Bulfin, Lecturer, Monash University Faculty of Education

D. Jenny Luca, Head of Information Services, Toorak College

E. Mary Manning, Executive Officer, School Library Association of Victoria

F. David Feighan, Director, Libraries and Learning Resources, Bialik College

If you are involved in planning a new library or wanting to revamp your resources and services, this forum is a must listen source! Thanks David and Bialik for sharing this wonderful information and to the speakers for their knowledge and ideas.

Feature blog – Bev Novak’s NovaNews

Posted on October 25, 2010 by slav

Former Head of Library at The King David School, Bev Novak has been developing an interesting blog. Bev uses her blog as a forum for writing about, processing and sharing her learning with other educators. Bev generously shares her learning journey on her blog and here, for readers of Bright Ideas. I recently read that a tweet that said that “all teachers should blog”. Bev’s blog shows what can be achieved in a short amount of time and if you have not yet started your own blog, Bev’s newly found enthusiasm for blogging may well set you on your way!

Just on six months ago, I had absolutely no idea what a blog was, had never read one and certainly had no idea how to create one. Life changed dramatically though when I decided to enrol in the VicPLN program being run by SLAV in conjunction with SLV. That first evening of peeking at the program content is forever seared into my memory. The list of tasks to be completed was daunting to say the least! But my heart froze when I realized that the very first task involved creating a blog. “A what?!” I thought!! A blog, I calmly said to myself. Skimming down the tasks posed for that first week, I realized I had no choice. Every task listed for the week involved writing a response on my blog. “Ugh!!! What have I gotten myself into?!” was the next thought that passed through my mind.

Deciding that the best advice I could follow was that which I always give to nervous looking kids about to sit a test or exam, I took three deep breaths and began following the instructions set down. It was, I recollect, a very long Saturday night!

But I did it! That feeling of seeing my words floating out into cyberspace really was fantastic. An incredible sense of achievement and success, unlike any I had experienced in a long time, flooded through me! While I admit that the early stages of creating the blog were akin to writing on a wall in Chinese without knowing if the paper was upside down or inside out, a certain familiarity soon set in. The ‘dashboard’ and I soon became friends. Because I was working in the warm comfy environs of the VicPLN, I often experienced the warm fuzzy feelings of others lending a hand, helping me figure out the seemingly impossible. And of course, the warm guidance and encouragement of our wonderful mentor – Judith Way – was there, every step of the way.

It has only been at the completion of the VicPLN that I started to look back and consider the process I had worked through. It was indeed a journey, a journey that had a recognizable path in which my blog moved from being a spot to record what I had read, played with and discovered over the previous week, to that of a personal storage spot for links and information I had gathered. Along the way, as I recognized I had an audience, I accepted that I could also use my blog as a place to showcase my own achievements using a range of presentation tools to which I had been exposed through the program. The final stage of my journey has been understanding that blogging is a dynamic process, one in which readers can comment on the content of a blog or indeed on the comments posted by others, a process which, by its very nature, enables the interaction of people with similar interests to connect and share with each other. In turn, for me, this has been a fantastic way to expland my Personal Learning Network.

Today, I am totally hooked on blogging. Reading the blogs of others which incorporate thoughts, ideas and knowledge, has become an addictive occupation for me. So too has the writing my own blog. Feedback received in the form of comments on my blog or email or Twitter exchanges received over the week, feed my enthusiasm. Sharing insights gleaned from various readings, experiences and knowledge acquired from a vast range of sources is currently the thrust of my blog. Where it may head in the future however, I do not yet know. But to know that I contribute to the growth of others in the same way that others contribute to my growth leaves me with a warm afterglow. To those of you out there who’ve not yet discovered the blogosphere, I encourage you to spend the time exploring. Come join the amazing journey. While you have much to contribute you also have a great deal to learn. And, after all, aren’t we all lifelong learners?

Thanks Bev for your unbridled enthusiasm for blogging and learning and for spreading the word via Bright Ideas!

National Year of Reading 2012 launch

Posted on October 19, 2010 by slav

To celebrate International School Libraries Day on Monday 25 October, the School Library Association of Victoria invites you to join in an Elluminate session at 11.00am (AEDST – check your time zone here) where we will launch the 2012 National Year of Reading. Sue McKerracher will present details of the NYOR and the promotional material that is available for you to use in gaining support and interest at your school.

Click on the NYOR logo to join in the Elluminate session. Celebrate reading and school libraries!

This session was recorded and can be accessed here.

SLAV awards – applications closing 17 September

Posted on September 15, 2010 by slav

A reminder that applications for the 2010 School Library Association of Victoria awards close on Friday 17 September.

The John Ward Award, The SLAV Research Fellowship, The SLAV Innovator’s Grant and the SLAV School Leaders Award are presented each year. This is a fantastic opportunity to recognise the contributions of a colleague.

The John Ward Award

John Ward was a founding member of SLAV in the early 1960s, a founding member of Australian School Library Association in 1968 and a founding member of the International Association of School Librarianship. He held the positions of Secretary and President of SLAV for many years and was the Secretary of ASLA during the 1970s, a period of rapid library expansion. In recognition of John’s contribution to our profession, the SLAV Council established the John Ward Award in 1998, with a professional development grant of $2000 to be awarded annually.

The recipient/s must demonstrate an outstanding contribution to learning and teaching at their school and raise the profile of the profession through their role as teacher-librarian.

The SLAV Research Fellowship

In recent years education authorities have based curriculum reform on the results of research projects that have been carried out here and overseas. Academics and practitioners alike have emphasised the need to carry out action research projects and document the impact that our school library programs have on student learning outcomes.

The SLAV Research Fellowship supports research projects that involve school libraries in learning and teaching. The fellowship will take the form of a $1000 grant to provide practical support to a teacher-librarian implementing a local research project.

The SLAV Innovator’s Grant

Sponsored by Pledger Consulting Pty Ltd – Links Plus

In conjunction with Pledger Consulting, SLAV is particularly pleased to sponsor an award that goes to an innovative library or school team. Teams may self nominate or be nominated by SLAV branches. The grant will consist of a package of SLAV professional development and/or publications to the value of $800 plus $200 worth of Pledger Consulting products. SLAV would like to take this opportunity to thank Pledger Consulting for their generous sponsorship of this award. Over a period of many years Pledger Consulting Pty Ltd has provided directories of internet sites to learners, teacher-librarians and teachers in schools. All of their products are designed to guide research and save time for students, teachers and librarians.

The SLAV School Leader Award

Research has indicated that principal or school leader support of the library program is critical in encouraging teacher / teacher-librarian collaboration and in making the library program an integral part of the learning and teaching of the school. (Colorado Study, 1999)

The SLAV School Leader Award is made to a school leader who demonstrates outstanding support of the school library and the work of the school library team.

The award recipient will be recognised by the presentation of a certificate at the International School Libraries Day Dinner. School leaders can be nominated by a teacher-librarian or the school library team (SLAV membership required to nominate). School personnel who are members of the school leadership team within the school are eligible to be nominated.

SLAV Web Elements Engaged Project

Posted on September 3, 2010 by slav

For Victorian Schools only.

Are any of your students and teachers involved in using interesting and innovative online tools?

Have you been working with students and teachers on copyright, creative commons and Intellectual property?

Are you interested in helping your students to build online resources to share their discoveries with others? If you answer YES to any or all of the questions above then the SLAV Web Elements Engaged project might be for you. We need a number of schools to be involved in the development of online video/audio resources to help share knowledge, skills and links that make use of online technologies and help educate others about copyright and IP.

Being part of the project will provide schools with:

on-site professional development activities for teachers,
some additional equipment and software, and
the opportunity for your students to create online resources for other students.

Those involved in the project will also become part of an online community where project resources, ideas and learnings will be shared, discussed and reviewed.

The following are some of the areas we would like to cover as part of the project:

Basic Searching Skills
Searching skills explored
Creative Commons basics
Creative Commons – classroom application
IP for schools
Online Safety
Digital Publishing Tools
Digital Publishing Responsibilities
Google Tools
Google Forms
Google Docs and Collaboration
Google Sites
Animoto
Wall Wisher
Glogster
Copyright Free Images
Copyright Free Audio/Video
Mind Maps
ccMixter
Evernote
Edmodo
Prezi
Social Bookmarking
VoiceThread
Avatars
Please Note this is not a definitive list and if your school has been working on other areas we would love to hear and see what you have done. If you are interested in being involved please fill out the following online form.

If you are interested in being involved please fill out the following online Expression of Interest Form.

Expressions of Interest close: Monday 13th September 2010
To send any additional information including audio or video clips to show us what you have done, please contact the SLAV office on phone: 9349 5822 or email: slav@netspace.net.au for uploading instructions.

Timeline: Project will run from September 2010 until May 2011.

SLAV 50th anniversary gala dinner

Posted on August 30, 2010 by slav

The School Library Association of Victoria will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a Gala Dinner on Thursday, 9 September in the Ballroom at the Rendezvous Hotel. Damian Callinan will be the MC, so it will be a fun opportunity to catch up with colleagues old and new.

The Booking Form is at:
http://www.slav.schools.net.au/downloads/01home/Gala_Dinner_0910.pdf
Please pass this invitation on to your networks. SLAV’s 50th is definitely worth celebrating!

School Library Association of Victoria 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner

Posted on August 12, 2010 by slav

Members, former members and supporters are invited to the School Library Association of Victoria, 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner at:

The Ballroom, Rendezvous Hotel, 298 Flinders Street, Melbourne on Thursday 9 September 2010.

Drinks and canapés from 6.45pm.

Cost: $70.00 per guest

A wonderful opportunity to celebrate the history and achievements of your association and share memories and stories with colleagues from across the state.

Booking Form available at:
http://www.slav.schools.net.au/downloads/01home/Gala_Dinner_0910.pdf

2010 SLAV awards