Supporting and Enriching Curriculum with the ORC

1. Supporting and Enriching Curriculum with the ORC Webber Academy Staff Meeting January 28, 2014 Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator

2. Agenda • Why go beyond Wikipedia? • Changes to Google • What is the ORC • Why students should access the ORC • Why teachers should access the ORC • PowerKnowledge Suite • World History In Context • TeachingBooks.net (If time permits) • ORC Support Site • ORC Listserv

3. Why go beyond Wikipedia?

4. Changes to Google TED Talk by Eli Pariser Beware online "filter bubbles“ http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

5. What is the ORC? • A $1.7 million collection of curricular-aligned, authoritative digital resources licensed on behalf of all Alberta: • K-12 students and their parents • School staff • Pre-service teachers • Public Library Staff * • Funded by a yearly Grant-In-Aid from Alberta Education to The Alberta Library (TAL) • Return on Investment (ROI) calculation of 3:1 for Alberta Schools *for the purposes of supporting K-12 patrons

6. Why students should access the ORC ORC Resources: • Provide authoritative, age appropriate, engaging, curricular-aligned content • Allow students to become familiar and comfortable with the kinds of resources that are required in university • Are time savers once you are familiar with using them • Include embedded supports for diverse learners like listen, text translation, citation tools, vetted websites research advisory and study & style guides • Provide anytime, from anywhere access

7. Why teachers should access the ORC ORC Resources Provide: • Access to ready-to-use or customizable lesson plans, teaching materials and curricular correlations • Support for foreign language students • Access to journals like Walrus, National Geographic, National Geographic Kids, Men’s Health, and Maclean’s just to name a few (Sign up for an RSS feed) • Consistent update schedule • Ability to create permalinks that can be posted on a website or in an email blast • TeachingBooks.net ELA Authorized list for Grade 6

8. Accessing the ORC LearnAlberta.ca • In school automatic authentication • Remote access requires a district username/password • Webber Username: LA70Password: 7754 • Share your district username/password using low tech methods • Email jdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca for your district’s remote username/password

9. PowerKnowledge Suite • Content divided into 3 databases: Earth and Space, Life Science and Physical Science • Includes a customizable listen feature • Short, segmented articles with introductory videos to build background knowledge • Embedded science experiments and educational games • Aligns with 95% of the grade 3-6 science curriculum and 87% of grade 1-6 science curriculum

10. PowerKnowledge: Earth Space Curriculum areas covered: • Grade 1 Seasonal Changes • Grade 2 Exploring Liquids • Grade 3 Rocks and Minerals • Grade 4 Light and Shadows, Waste and Our World and Alberta: A sense of the land • Grade 5 Weather Watch, Wetland Ecosystems, Physical Geography of Canada • Grade 6 Sky Science • Social Studies mapping skills

11. PowerKnowledge: Life Science Curriculum areas covered: • Grade 1 Needs of Animals and Plants • Grade 2 Small Flying and Crawling Animals • Grade 3 Animal Life Cycles, Hearing and Sound • Grade 4 Plant Growth and Changes, Waste and Our World and Alberta: A sense of the land • Grade 5 Wetland Ecosystems • Grade 6 Trees and Forests

12. PowerKnowledge:Physical Science Curriculum areas covered: • Grade 1 Needs of Animals and Plants • Grade 2 Hot and Cold Temperatures and Magnetism • Grade 4 Wheels and Levers • Grade 5 Electricity and Magnetism, and Classroom Chemistry • Grade 6 Trees and Forests

13. World History In Context • Ability to perform Boolean searching (advanced search) • Ability to set content level – basic, intermediate, or advanced (advanced search) • Customizable Listen feature • Downloadable articles to MP3 • Text translation to 13 languages • Featured videos, news and topics on homepage (clickable navigation) • Access thousands of newspaper articles, magazines, reference materials, videos, images and websites

14. TeachingBooks.net • Bring an author into your classroom any time you need • Search for Meet-the-Author Movies or Book Readings, Author Audio Name Pronunciation, book guides and lesson plans • Access Alberta specific booklists: • Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers Choice Award (YRCA) • ELA Authorized Novel and Nonfiction Reading Lists grades 4-12 • Meet-the-author book readings in French • Canadian Book Award Winners/Canadian Book and Author Resources • Personalized Book Lists upon request

15. ORC Support Site www.onlinereferencecentre.ca • Resource training materials - podcasts, videos, archived webinars, and guides • Information about upcoming free ORC PD opportunities • Information about province-wide resource trials and surveys • Online booking system for ORC sessions • Calendar of ORC Events • Links to Twitter and Facebook accounts

16. ORC Listserv • Weekly email updates organized by E/J/S: • New resources and features • Province-wide trials • Surveys • Free PD opportunities • No emails during school breaks • Membership has its benefits – joining incentive • Email ORC@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca or visit the ORC Support Site to join today Join Now

17. Contact For more information about the ORC or to schedule a school presentation Call 780-414-0805 ext.229 OR Email: jdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca

18. Links to Check out ORC Support Site http://www.onlinereferencecentre.ca/ ORC ListServ https://lists.talonline.ca/listinfo/orc ORC Facebook http://www.facebook.com/OnlineReferenceCentre