Module 9: Summarizing and Discussing Phase 2 Topics and Interests

 Inquiry Blogging Phase 

My key takeaways so far : 

Module 5 

Love of reading! 

I loved this module and my key takeaway from this module was that inspiring reading is important in a classroom! Fostering a culture of reading can be done through ways such as scavenger hunts at the library, reminding parents via newsletters and buddy reading! 

Module 6 

ICT Skills and Pedagogy! My takeaways here was to keep practicing the skills that are the most unfamiliar. For example if making videos on tiktok was unfamiliar to me.. I would block out time in the morning or evening to practice making 15 second videos on tiktok. I also think making learning plans can help organize specific ICT skills that I would want to work on that week. There are great Reddit communities to talk about new skills and current events via social media or technology! It’s also important for TL’s to provide feedback and assessments from peers and for peers. It creates an opportunity for librarians to be digital age mentors, cultivating digital skills and online learning (Miller & Base, 2019)."

Module 7 

By teaching others, you will get better at those skills! When you are helping others make sure to set goals and limits : Make sure to decide how much time you are able to spend with the others on their decided goal and how frequent the event will be held. Watch your language. It's important not to use Jargon in the context of technology, and if you are teaching about those languages make sure to explain further (cursor is the mouse to click the text box..etc). Try not to do it for them as it will make more sense with more practice but try to not do it for them, this way they will learn. Also it would allow them to do some exploring themselves. Follow up with your students, Ask how they are doing a couple days after the event, if they have any more questions or direct them to relevant resources (Hensley, 2021). 

Last but not least… Module 8 

Libraries.

In conclusion, mobile devices and libraries are essential for both developing and developed nations, offering opportunities for education, information access, and communication. While there are potential drawbacks to globalization of information, accessibility problems for third world countries, it is crucial to continue research and assess its overall impact on libraries and society. Ultimately, individuals should have the freedom to choose what information they want to access and learn. 

Reflections

New avenues for my personal and professional development 

I would like to further practice my ICT skills by providing zoom sessions to my family members about what I’ve learned so far and to teach them basic skills! I’ll conduct informal sessions or workshops to my fellow community neighbours and this way I can personally, also build my teaching skills. I’ll also use the skills I learned in the last couple weeks for my future professional development such as applying to Law School. I realized that in my next stage of life, there will be lots of essay writing, open-ended prompts and global topics. The unit on Libraries really opened my eyes to understanding the crucial details of how information is spread in terms of mobile devices, libraries and most importantly, it’s a privilege to have the world literally at our fingertips in a developed country. There are also developing countries that are looking to provide information more readily to its citizens such as statewide programs (Hamilton, 2013). The knowledge from weekly blog research really helped me digest more real world news and allowed me to carefully craft my blog in a more personalized way. 

Moving forward I will take it with me & resonated with me…. 

All the modules provided extensive new knowledge and tips which will be a guiding force in my personal development. These modules reminded me to stay up to date with technology, current events and to further my knowledge outside our community. Also fostering a culture of reading made me realize all the books I wanted to read and haven’t because of school and I realized that if I wanted to foster a culture of reading, I too need to read more! After the winter term is over, I shall read at a cafe shop more often. I’m thinking of reading the book the ballad of songbirds and snakes! 

What was it like to have open-ended inquiries? 

Having open-ended inquiring was really rewarding because I was able to research and fill in using my own creative mindset and I crafted personalized blogs from the prompts. I think at first, I was trying really hard to research “correct answers” but ultimately I realized that what I felt answered the inquiries and helped my classmates further their knowledge was better than trying to find a generic “correct”answer. I also really appreciated reading other classmates' blogs to further my own knowledge and to fill the gaps I had when initially working on the project myself. 

What was it like to blog about your learning knowing your classmates would be reading your work? What was it like to read your classmates' work? 

I think blogging about my learning while knowing my classmates would be reading my work was a little nerve wracking because I know that most of my classmates are more capable, are teachers or graduate students with far more knowledge than I had on Teacher-Librarianship topics. I felt intimidated because I was really out of my element in my opinion. I was really scared at first because I didn’t know how the comments on my blog was going to be. Thankfully, everyone is so kind with constructive criticism and was super nice about what they liked and about my blog. I also appreciate that we are all learning together and it’s all fun! 

I want to also give everyone in the class a shout out plus Professor McNee and specifically LIBE 477 ‘s Hawks Annette, Brandi, Kelsey, Kristi, and Haymen for their lovely blog posts and comments on my blogs! These people had really great blogs and sparked my curiosity in a wide range of topics from reading to ICT skills. We all took prompts and made it our own! For example when I thought about ICT skills instead of just explaining I added what I felt like made my Tiktoks successful..etc. It’s such a great class and I can’t wait to continue to learn with everyone for the last part of the year. 

References : 

Summer fun for kids: Activities that foster a love of reading (2015). . PR Newswire Association LLC.

Pimmer, C., Linxen, S., & Gröhbiel, U. (2012). Facebook as a learning tool? A case study on the appropriation of social network sites from mobile phones in developing countries. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(5), 726-738. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01351.x

Hamilton, S. (2013, March 12). Stamping out poverty as well as books? how libraries can support development. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/mar/12/libraries-power-global-development 

Boothby, D., Dufour, A., & Tang, J. (2010). Technology adoption, training and productivity performance. Research Policy, 39(5), 650-661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2010.02.011

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019).  Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age.Links to an external site. International Society for Technology in Education.

Panel®, F. (2022, November 9). Council post: 13 practical ways to help employees adapt to New Technology. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2021/02/22/13-practical-ways-to-help-employees-adapt-to-new-technology/?sh=5110caf66ab0 

Hensley, D. (2021, March 4). Tips for helping someone learn to use technology. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. https://www.carnegielibrary.org/tips-for-helping-someone-learn-to-use-technology/