Final Post - LIBE 477 - Vision for the Future

 

Final Post - LIBE 477 - Vision for the Future
December 2020


My Artifact:

Go to this Sway


(Just in case that link does not work: https://sway.office.com/FXi1xcXbO7lrb9iG?ref=Link&loc=play )


Introduction and Explanation


I have created an artifact that outlines my Vision for my LLC and TL practice in the future touching on both 21st century learning and Teacher Librarianship. I have used the presentation platform of Microsoft Sway in order to show my ideas. What ended up shaping my artifact was the audience for whom it is intended.

My audience is two-fold. Firstly, I wanted it to be a fun information piece to my school community for who we are and what is happening in the LLC these days. Due to Covid-19 no one in our school community (except our students but not even all of them) are allowed in our LLC this year. It makes me very sad as we are a small, tight-knit and even in my short three years here I have built relationships with many of the parents.

A second group making up my audience is those who I may ask for funding. Due to Covid-19 our budget was cut severely and once we subtract our operational cost, we are not left with much at all with which to update our somewhat dated collection. For this audience I wanted to portray a thriving LLC program, key staff members, visuals of our space and the students within it, all in a succinct and engaging way.

 

Reflection on artifact process

Because I am used to academic writing, I kept having to check after every step and think “Does this wording fit my audience?”, “Does this formatting fit my purposes?”, “Is this sending the message I want it to?” Surprisingly, this was one of the more challenging parts!

Then came integrating sources. In an academic paper I would write “according to Dr. _____, …” but does that fit in an artifact that I intend to blast out to the public or donors? No. But on the other hand, if I am talking about someone else’s idea (Will Richardson) at length, their name needs to be included or else the public and donors will think I am the brilliant mind who thought of that (which, sadly, I wasn’t). I toyed with the idea of footnotes simply because they’re less invasive and they give credit where credit is due, but I opted in the end just to mention him by name and insert a little APA style citation. In addition, it felt weird not to cite all my sources within the artifact, so I looking at other Sways done by TLs in my district after which I decided that a separate work cited had a better feel for the purpose of the artifact.



Reflection of technology

As mentioned in my past blog post, this was my first-time using Microsoft Sway. One reason not yet mentioned for why I chose Sway is because my students each have free Office 365 accounts. I thought that if Sway turned out to be awesome and user-friendly, I could teach them how to use it as a presentation tool. I had limited background knowledge which gave me a great window into what it would be like as one of my students trying it out for the first time. Here are some thoughts.

Sway is a great platform for those who want to create a blog-like presentation quickly. The user has only a few options for formatting (example: setting the emphasis on each “card”) which means I did not get swept up in choosing the perfect font, the perfect colour-scheme, or formatting where everything should go like I would on a blog. The fact that there are only a few options is actually an advantage for using Sway with elementary school classes. However, for my purposes, I would’ve liked more autonomy. I wish I could have styled my Sway a little more specifically. Another example of that is, there is no “return” button within a Heading card that would allow me to set a sub-heading. So in my title, “Our Library Learning Commons: Looking Back and Looking Forward” I was not able to start a next line at the sub-heading, which would have given it a cleaner look.

One major flaw that I had to ask my colleagues who’ve used Sway about was the fact that there is no “align” or “justify” function like on MS Word. If I set the emphasis for an image to “moderate”, it shows up on one side or the other, not centered. This is an odd formatting piece. In addition, depending on what was just added or deleted, an image set as “moderate” could show up beside text one moment and then underneath text at the next update. This was very frustrating. After Googling and YouTubing, I see that Sway doesn’t allow users to have that power.

I think overall I was overthinking Sway. I like the autonomy over my formatting, and I should’ve realized sooner that relinquishing control is okay sometimes. C’est la vie.

I would recommend Sway for intermediate students and, from the perspective of their teacher, the fact that the functions are limited also means your background knowledge only needs to go so deep. Another reason Sway would be good for intermediate students is that it is hooked up to Creative Commons photos for integration. Fantastic! Students don’t need to worry about copyright infringement.


Reflection on course

As I dust off my hands and sign off on this course, I look back at the whirlwind that it has been. Part of me still honestly says “What a crazy fall to take a course! What was I thinking?” But looking back at the quality of deep learning that has taken place, it was worth the time and energy put in. I can’t help but wonder if that is what our students are feeling like right now too.


Work Cited for my Artifact:

Canadian Library Association. (2014). Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, 8-10. doi:http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/llsop.pdf

Harris, V. J. (2007, November). National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://library.ncte.org/journals/LA/issues/v85-2/6175

Hufton, A. (1991). The Role of the Elementary School Teacher-Librarian in British Columbia. Faculty of Graduate Studies, 15. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from file:///C:/Users/18290/Downloads/ubc_1994-0451.pdf

Richardson, W. (2012). Why school: How education must change when learning and information are everywhere. New York, NY: TED Conferences.

Bishop, R. S. (1990). Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors. Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3). doi:https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf

Vu, D. (Director). (2019, July 26). Creating a Thriving Culture of Reading [Video file]. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13GPtReZuY


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