Reading Review Assignment Part B

This week, I’m taking a closer look at the topic of digital SLLCs and employing the keywords I listed in my previous blog post to search for relevant sites/articles/resources. My keywords are posted here: Reading Review Assignment Part A (katthomson.blogspot.com)

 These four resources are going to be a useful jumping off point for further research into the world of virtual learning commons:

1)   Website: https://daringlibrary.edublogs.org/the-mhms-daring-school-library/

Author/creator: Teacher-librarian Gwyneth Jones, aka “The Daring Librarian” at Murray Hill Middle School in Maryland

Inspiration or relevance:

-clear layout, yet fun and colourful. Eye-catching for students.
-excellent accessibility and site navigation, which we know is important; “Students expect to be able to access materials from the classroom, during study halls, and at home at the touch of a button.” (Buerkett, p 24)

-easy to find what you’re looking for with a minimal number of “clicks”

-uses LibGuides (my school uses them too, and although they are subscription-based, I think they’re worth it for their excellent applications that truly encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, especially when creating research projects with students.)

-a ton of embedded content for a variety of appetites – database widgets, feeds from her favourite (and her students’ favorite) information sources, videos, and plenty of trendy yet educational links. It’s regularly updated and added to, so it feels fresh

-you can tell her virtual SLLC is truly about making connections with her learning community, as well as ensuring students, staff and parents are able to stream information, access useful digital resources, databases, and tools through a variety of mediums

Gwyneth describes her mission as, “to prepare future-ready lifelong readers, learners, makers, and creative thinkers” and she also shares her lessons and resources on her blog: The Daring Librarian, which complements the virtual SLLC.

 

2)   Website: Creating your Virtual Library (quickly) using Slides and Bitmojis as Hyperdocs http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2020/05/14/creating-your-virtual-library-quickly-using-slides-and-bitmojis/

Author/creator: Joyce Valenza, Associate Professor and School Librarianship Concentration Coordinator at Rutgers University

Inspiration or relevance:

-Discusses the importance of translating our practices as teacher librarians to a digital space. Valenza points out, “We need strategies for personalizing and enriching the remote learning experience. And it is clear that the library must be the center of that experience.”

-strong advocacy for endorsing the use of a virtual SLLC by students, teachers and parents.

- points out the benefits of being tech-savvy for the purpose of collaborative lessons, displaying online galleries of student work, constructing reading lists or promoting titles/authors/themes

-contains links to video tutorials and info about Google slide decks, bitmojis, and generally increasing or enhancing your social media and online presence as a TL

See a how-to build a bitmoji scene example here: https://youtu.be/jGKTvlUbXxY

3) Website: Build your own virtual library learning commons. Resources to support a three-part webinar series for the Learning Revolution’s daily online worldwide education conference. https://www.bythebrooks.ca/build-your-own-vllc/

Authors/creators: Anita Brooks Kirkland & Dr. David Loertscher

Inspiration or relevance:

-this site contains a wealth of information regarding online SLLCs (or VLLCS - Virtual Library Learning Commons, as they are referred to here)

-includes a ton of links to other articles and sites on related topics

-excellent resource-gathering!

-Google Slide decks of their free webinar series

-the ‘whys’ and the ‘hows’ of building your own VLLC

-outlines the characteristics of a VLLC and gets you thinking about the variety of possibilities within your own VLLC

-research-based and connected to Canadian curriculum and learning outcomes, as well as Canadian resources and literature 

(an example of Kirkland and Loertscher's webinar series' Google Slide)

4) Website: Creating Your own Infographics https://tlp-lpa.ca/learning-online/infographic

Author/creator: The Learning Portal: College Libraries Ontario

Inspiration or relevance:

-this how-to website is full of useful information about creating your own infographics (visual representations or charts of data/information that use images)

-clear instructions

-step-by step format

-lots of visuals, videos, and (surprise!) infographics about how to make an infographic 😉

-info on how to choose the right type of infographic for your project and how to apply basic design principles

-considerations such as formatting size, file format and even what tone you’d like to convey in your infographic

-this all relates to the construction of an online SLLC full of informative and eye-catching visuals for a variety of library-related topics. I’m looking forward to creating one using the detailed lessons from this site!

 

See an example lesson here:

https://youtu.be/7ZvDJoN6NOM

Overall, my keyword search lead to a large amount of sites, articles and resources on the topic of digital/virtual SLLCs, and a lot of useful information!

Works Cited:

Brooks Kirkland, A. & Loertscher, D. (2020). Build your own virtual library learning commons. Resources to support a three-part webinar series for the Learning Revolution’s daily online worldwide education conference. Accessed at: https://www.bythebrooks.ca/build-your-own-vllc/

Buerkett, R. (2014). Where to Start? Creating Virtual Library Spaces. Knowledge Quest, 42(4), E23–E27.

The MHMS Daring School Library Blog. (2022). Accessed at:  https://daringlibrary.edublogs.org/the-mhms-daring-school-library/

The Learning Portal: College Libraries Ontario. (2022). Creating Your Own Infographics. Accessed at: https://tlp-lpa.ca/learning-online/infographics

Valenza, J. (May 14, 2020). Creating your virtual library (quickly) using Slides and Bitmojis as Hyperdocs. Neverending Search, School Library Journal. Accessed at: http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2020/05/14/creating-your-virtual-library-quickly-using-slides-and-bitmojis/

Some Other Great References:

Brooks Kirkland, A. (2009). The school library learning commons: Are we “virtually” there? School Libraries in Canada 27(2). Accessed at: http://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SLiCv27n2.pdf

Brooks Kirkland, A. (2009). The virtual library as a learning hub. School Libraries in Canada 27(3). Accessed at: http://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SLiCv27n3.pdf

Canadian School Libraries (2020). Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. Accessed at: http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca

Future Ready Schools. (2020). Empowering leadership for school librarians through innovative professional practice. Retrieved from Future Ready Schools: https://futureready.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/FRS_Librarians_Framework_download-2020.pdf

Hayes, T. (2014, January 23). Library to Learning Commons: A recipe for success. Retrieved from EdCan Network: https://www.edcan.ca/articles/library-to-learning-commons/

Lankes, R. D. (April 30, 2020). The “New Normal” Agenda for Librarianship. Accessed at: https://davidlankes.org/the-new-normal-agenda-for-librarianship/

Loertscher, D., Koechlin, C. & Rosenfeld, E. (2012). The Virtual Learning Commons: Building a Participatory School Learning Community. Salt Lake City: Learning Commons Press.