eLibrary Elementary

1. eLibrary Elementary # 43 Rethinking How We Do Research Liz Golden & Johanna Lawler Teacher - Librarians Greater Essex County District School Board with Tasha Maddison Trainer with Micromedia Proquest

2. Just as success in the Industrial Age depended on a school system that taught us how to read and write, add and subtract; our success in the Information Age depends on a school system that teaches us how to manage information, utilize technologies, innovate, and above all - THINK.” Matthew Barrett, Former Chair of the Bank of Montreal, Globe and Mail, 30 November 1996.

3. Students will be better prepared to progress in the world of work if they can: • Read and understand information presented in a variety of forms • Share information using a range of information and communication technologies • Locate, gather, and organize information using appropriate technology and information systems • Access, analyze, and apply knowledge and skills from various disciplines • Plan, design, or carry out a project from start to finish with well-defined objectives and outcomes Conference Board of Canada, Employability Skills 2000 http://www.conferenceboard.ca/nbec

4. Consider the following… • “…over 80 percent of engagement with language [falls] outside of narrative…” • “…over 90 percent of [my son’s] world was [engagement with] non-fiction.” Stead, T. (2002). Is that a fact? Teaching nonfiction writing K-3. Portland: Stenhouse. 10

5. Information Literacy and School Library Programs • The school library program can help build and transform students’ knowledge to support a lifetime of learning in an information - and knowledge - based society. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1 - 8. Language. (2006). Toronto: Ministry of Education, 30

6. Information is found in……. • Books • Encyclopedias • Magazines • Newspapers • Databases • Internet

7. Consider the following…. • Each of these sources can be used to find information but how do we teach students which ones to use or how many of them to use in a project?

8. When information is located… If students are working on a report or a project, we have to teach them how to evaluate the information. They need to decide if the information they have found is • Reliable / Valid • Factual • An Opinion • Useful • Complete • Up-to-Date • Audience (Entertainment Purposes)

9. Consider…. The three major criteria students need to understand fully in order to effectively evaluate information are: • Trustworthiness of the source(s) • Completeness of the information • How current the information is

10. The perception that the internet provides easy access to the vast array of information is a powerful reason for students to use it for research. • However…. Anyone can create a webpage on any subject they wish and post it on the web. • There is a lot of useless, irrelevant and incorrect information on the web. • Many students accept the information on the internet without questioning its merit.

11. Key Questions…. Key questions that students face as they search for information on the internet are: • Is the information relevant to my needs? • How do I know if the source is credible? • Is the information up-to-date?

12. Databases have many advantages over the “free” internet… • Organized and authoritative information • No pop-up commercial advertising • Designed for educational research • Safe searching • Special features support a variety of learning styles, languages, and cultural diversity

13. E-Library • It is our belief that before a student can safely use the internet as a research/learning tool, we need to teach them critical literacy skills using a controlled database like E-Library….

14. Why Use E-Library? • Dependable • Organized • Authoritative Information • No Pop-Up Advertising • Safe Searching • Designed for Education and Student Research • Regularly Updated • Offers articles, book excerpts, maps, graphs, audio and visual clips, and transcripts • Wise Use of Student Time • Links to Websites Chosen by the Teacher

15. Why Students & Teachers Choose eLibrary Elementary • Students need to retrieve a manageable amount of quality content when doing research • Students need a tool to do research that will quickly bring back safe, selected, reading level and age-appropriate resources • Students need an integrated resource with varied content, media types and search methods – saving training and research time • Teachers require multiple types of resources to be referenced in student work • Teachers can create “electronic BookCarts” – lesson modules and pages with links to content for reading lists • Parents need the assurance their students are doing research in “safe” resources, unlike Google • Remote access enables parents to participate in the study process

16. Why eLibrary Elementary? • Easy-to-use searching for beginning to advanced researchers • Seven different media types, plus “Editor-selected” web sites • Newspapers • Magazines • Books • Pictures • Maps • Audio/video clips • TV and radio transcripts

17. Critical Literacy….. What is critical literacy? • The ability to question and challenge the attitudes, values, and beliefs that lie beneath the surface of written, visual, spoken, and multimedia texts. • A prerequisite skill that we must teach our students before they use the internet as a research tool.

18. Question, Question, Question Here are some critical questions that students should be asking whenever they are faced with information found on the internet or in a controlled database. • Does the webpage clearly state who the author is? • Does the author indicate where the information is from? • Is the information up-to-date and topical? • What company or who is sponsoring the webpage (ads present)? • Is there some indication as to the date of last update? • Could this information be confirmed by another source? • Is the spelling and grammar correct on the webpage? • Who is the intended audience for the webpage?