Words. Winter 2014

SLA NSW

Words.

The Magazine of School Library Association of NSW

Number 2 Volume 1 Winter 2014

ce h Influen The Danis Hall n w o T n e Copenhag

Graham Legerton

Hamish C urry

t Student a c School ach Publi e B Sandy

Proudly printed in Australia

A Word from the President

The Future is bright for SLANSW

I

t’s been hard to sit still long e nough to pen this report!

We have been busy meeting the members these past few months and trying to get a clear statement of your message for the future.

I have both attended and presented at a number of country events this month.

The MANTLE conference north of Sydney, The North Network in Sandy Bay whilst Adobe connecting with The-Three-Rs workshop to the west, and then to Canberra touring with Syba Academy to meet and talk to our more distant members.

The new committee has affirmed their intention to make a new start in 2014.

The committee’s retreat planning weekend was a huge success, and you can read all about that in this edition of Words. The venue was perfect for quiet contemplation, collegiality and some seriously hard thinking!

2 Words.

Guided and encouraged by Hamish Curry, from NoTosh and the Design Thinking School, we worked in small groups, big groups, used a lot of sticky notes and butcher’s paper to arrive on Sunday afternoon with the overarching goal of the Association for 2014: “How might we empower Teacher Librarians to add value to learning?”

The next phase in this process is to work with the Teacher Librarian Networks in and around Queanbeyan, Newcastle and Byron Bay. Contact me on president@slansw.asn.au if you are interested in attending.

Most exciting of all is the decision to put the SLANSW Conference for 2014 on the table. “Gamification: Beyond the Hype”.

The date is booked 12 to 15 August 2014, and Peggy Sheehy and Marianne Malstrom are packing their bags for Oz!

The venue is at the UNSW CBD campus and MAC ICT, Sydney and there’s a lot ahead to organise.

As a part of our 50th Celebration we will honour our past presidents with a lifetime membership.

This ceremony will occur during a dinner on 13 August.

Places are limited to 80, so you will need to be quick to get tickets.

As always check the website for all registration details for all of the above events.

Thank you again for the supporting hands of your new committee and welcome to the new wave of members since last I wrote here.

Michelle Jensen President

From the Digital Desk

Thinking Minds and Thinking Design

S

o... Where have we been these past few months?

Everywhere!

From the kitchen of NoTosh’s Design Thinking School, Hamish Curry has cooked us up a storm of challenges about new activities, to rethink the way we design inquiry tasks, solve problems, find engaging problems and projects.

And the best part of all is that we did it too!

Hamish has led the SLANSW committee through a weekend of rethinking the vision and core business of the Association. In a planning weekend retreat, the Design Thinking process was put to the test. Read about our results here, on pages 6 to 9.

In this edition, we follow Hamish’s challenge by going to a range of experts, to explore how evolving consumer activities and management of libraries is being put to the test, as we try to open wider doors to a growing community, collaboration and sharing of ideas in our spaces.

From the Public library to Academic university libraries, the message seems to be the same: rethink our collection practice, rethink the spaces on offer.

We look at a few interesting solutions here. And in our school libraries, how might we also create spaces where our users can spread their wings and fly?

Maker spaces? Weeding the collection?

How should we reallocate space to meet, play, think and learn in education to best advantage?

Even the Copenhagen Library has a great idea to share.

So how do we create more space, more ambience, increase engagement and build the community without compro­mising on the things we already do well: resourcing and providing authentic and relevant information?

SLANSW is helping your decisions by offering four workshops with Kevin Hennah.

North, South, East and West ... suggest your school as the venue. And it’s free!

Yes ... Our competition this edition is for you to volunteer your school to host a Cultural Weeding event with Kevin.

A great incentive to assess your school library and scoop up some tips to improve the spaces in your library. Find out how on page 23.

SLANSW has launched the 2014 conference. Gamification: beyond the Hype. It’s in August and the dynamic program just keeps on growing.

Come and meet Peggy Sheehy and Marianne Malmstrom in person, and watch for the program on the website. The awards dinner and SLANSW 50th celebration falls across the days of the conference for all to celebrate.

The regions have also been very active. Michelle Jensen has attended several great events held by the out of Sydney groups, and we report on them here.

With a growing strength in the SLANSW website, we are proud to be able to gather all the groups together in one central place, and report on the activities in our Magazine.

Check the website and read about the events you recently missed in “Snooping around the State”.

Our feature school, Sandy Beach Public School share their libraries, students and activities.

Thank you to Audrey and Edwina for their generous hospitality!

Enjoy!

Debbie Hunter Media Co-ordinator

Words. 3

Words.

Editor’s Note

is the quarter yearly Magazine of School Library Association of NSW

SLA NSW

Do you like Success?

ISSN 2203-160X

President Michelle Jensen Vice President Anne Plowman Secretary Sunny South Treasurer Crystal Choi Past President Bill Sommerville Metropolitan Committe Members Adam Carron Mary Nikolapoulos Regional Committee Member Joanna Deegan Blue Mountains Media Co-ordinator & Web Manager Debbie Hunter Editor Paul Hunter

This publication has been prepared for the members of the School Library Association of NSW (Inc). The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of SLANSW (Inc.). While reasonable checks have been made to ensure the accuracy of statements and advice, no responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person acting on or refraining from action as a result of material in this publication is accepted by the authors or SLANSW (Inc.).

Copyright of articles is held by SLANSW (Inc.) and by each author herein.

4 Words.

Words.

I

certainly do.

And you, the writers, readers and members of SLANSW are part of it.

We had a test run of our Words. Magazine in November 2013 to test the water of this publication. The response was positive; so we advanced to Number 1 in March 2014.

It proved to be so popular that we had to reprint 500 copies.

Our membership had increased from 340 to almost 400 since the test run in November and our advertisers needed more copies.

At the time of writing our membership has increased to 420.

The contents of this edition has grown from 16 pages to 40 pages.

It shows that a vibrant President with a vision combined with a dedicated Committee and a professional Media Team can make a positive change to any Association, well, at least it did to ours.

Thank you Michelle, without you this never would have happened. nd we also went international! Dorthe Hammerich Rasmussen from the Copenhagen Main Library sent us an article about how they re-branded their library to appeal to their youngest users.

A I

Read all about it on pages 18 and 19.

was once again the lucky man to go to a rural school to interview staff and students, and take photos of them.

It was very rewarding.

The kids were cautious in the beginning “What’s that man doing in our domain?” until they found out I was just an old bloke taking photos of them to be put in a Magazine. They loved it. And good photos show it on pages 34 to 37 and on the front cover. f you are a Teacher Librarian or Teacher with a Library in rural NSW (or Denmark) and would like us to visit you to be the next feature school, send me an email hunter.paul@me.com Debbie, the Co-ordinator will do the talking and I take the photos with my brand new Canon EOS 600 D and the trusty old Lumix.

Paul Hunter

I

I

nvitation to A Gala Dinner

SLANSW is turning 50 and it is time we celebrate and honour the people who have made this association a strong advocate for Teacher Librarians across New South Wales.

Because this is such a wonderful milestone we are holding this gala dinner as part of our 2014 Conference “Gamification: Beyond the Hype” which will no doubt be a wonderful event in itself.

We warmly invite past presidents, the many supporters of the association over the years, conference attendees, our current committee members and those of you who may be new to the association to join us at this amazing venue.

This is a fabulous opportunity to meet your colleagues – past and present and enjoy great food all with Sydney Harbour as our backdrop.

Our venue for the evening, Bangarra Dance Theatre is located at the end of Pier 4, 15 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay. It has an amazing water view looking out towards Luna Park.

As we dine, the Tall Ships pass by and the ferris wheel and other rides offer a twinkling outlook – it really is a magical setting!

We have engaged Gastronomy to cater for the evening and the 3 course menu with matching wines is something very special.

When you sign up to attend, make sure you let us know your dietary requirements so you can be fully catered for. We will spend time during the evening honouring the people who have worked tirelessly over the years as presidents as well as announce the winners of the Teacher Librarian of the Year and our other annual awards.

What a wonderful way to honour past achievements and also look forward to an exciting future.

It all happens on 13 August and the cost of the evening is $150 per person.

Make sure you tick the box for the dinner on our conference application form, or email president@slansw.asn.au to secure your dinner reservation.

Sunny South Secretary

Debbie’s Minds...

Thinking Page

Hamish Curry has been involved in various education environments for over 17 years, from Australia to the UK and Japan, occupying a number of leading roles.

He was previously the Education Manager at the State Library of Victoria where he dabbled in all kinds of new learning experiences using library collections and technology. He is now a consultant with NoTosh http://notosh.com/, a learning and design thinking company working with schools and education bodies globally in bringing innovation into learning

A Recipe for Real Learning

I

magine being given the permission and support to design an amazing educational experience for students. A limit on budget didn’t matter. A limit on spaces didn’t matter. And curriculum didn’t matter either. Some of us would leap at the opportunity.

Some of us would probably freak out. Having an open mind as well as the capability to design an amazing educational experience is not an easy challenge. Past programs could cloud your planning. Potential suppliers would be selling you the product solutions. And the prevailing school culture could make or break the overall success.

While aspects of the above scenario sound like complete fiction, in reality elements of these are not.

Few schools would deny that they aspire to program and deliver amazing educational experiences.

Many schools spend huge chunks of their budget on spaces, furnishings, and great swathes of technology.

There are plenty of schools using learning spaces well beyond their school walls, some of them are in parks, some are in cultural centres, and some are in banks.

Schools are also devoting a lot of time and energy preparing and planning around the Australian Curriculum.

6 Words.

Yet one of the core first steps often assumed, sometimes ignored, and rarely explored is a commitment to design around the basic principle of what constitutes high quality teaching and learning.

An exploration of this principle often reveals that money is not the blocker, spaces are not the issue, and curriculum is not the saviour.

While perspectives on pedagogy, age, maturity, and ability are relevant, what becomes crucial is the need to have a process to tackle something that can be problematic and highly complex. A process that challenges, focuses, filters, and experiments with ideas, and excites everyone involved. One such process that I and many other educators are experiencing greater and greater value in is the application of Design Thinking. It provides the necessary creativity and constraints to focus programming and learning in ways that other approaches do not. It does not stipulate that blended learning is the answer. It does not discount the need for explicit instruction. What it does encourage is the strength of an open mindset, the need for empathy, and the opportunity to prototype ideas on the path to building better learning.

...Thinking Design

So in essence Design Thinking is a lot like a recipe. A recipe that lots of people can make, but has a multitude of utensils and tweaks, requiring practice, experience, and creativity to help it to really zing.

While it may seem that education has enough theories, models, methods, rubrics, frameworks, and standards, one of the lovely aspects of Design Thinking is that in its purest form it has nothing to do with education.

Its purpose is to foster an attentive, imaginative, and motivated drive in the designer and participator to find problems and pursue multiple solutions.

While Design Thinking has evolved over the past 50 years it has only just begun to seed its way into education in the last few years.

In one way it’s a bit like the recipe for bread.

Its composition is basically the same, but the iterations and combinations of bread have come a long way. Let’s explore some of the ingredients of Design Thinking for the purposes of creating better learning outcomes, providing some examples of where it is making a difference in education.

Welcome to the Design Thinking ‘kitchen’. If it’s your first time here, then you’ll need to explore this kitchen, because it’s not the same one you just stepped out of. Look in the drawers, touch the surfaces, smell the pantry and the fridge.

Immerse yourself in the space. Be an observer. See how the processes would flow in full flight.

As you can imagine,

the first phase of Design Thinking opens us up to the experience of Immersion. In a traditional education environment, the teacher would have prepared everything we need, told us what we were doing, and known exactly what 25 copies of the same ‘recipe’ must look like. This is our first mistake in the world of ‘cookie-cutter’ education; otherwise often referred to as the industrial era of learning. This approach is still very much alive in schooling, and is a challenge that keeps me pursuing methods to disrupt it and remove the veil of assumption.

A characteristic that typifies Immersion is the need to think divergently and generate curiosity, to lift the veil on what we believe to be the natural order of real things. This goes for teachers and students regardless of their age, and also explains why Primary school children tend to have the highest levels of wonder and curiosity and an inclination to ask lots of questions.

A Primary school teacher in Brisbane had a number of unmarked cardboard boxes delivered to her classroom and students opened them and began to explore their contents. She asked the students to place them in a designated area of the room and tag them with descriptive words and images. Little did the students know this was a lovely experiment in Immersion to help the students discover stories about themselves, their communities, and the world around them. As their investigation continued, the ‘project nest’ grew and evolved. A key part of making this possible is the need to de-clutter the learning space in order to get messy. Too many classrooms are cluttered with just the finished work, 25 colourful carbon copies, rather than helping everyone to see and experience the beginning of learning as a complex, jumbled, and sometimes confused affair; made all the better as connections, patterns, and ideas emerge.

Sydney teachers analysing their thinking

Words. 7

Kid Debbie’s in thePage Candy Store

In Bloom’s Taxonomy, Synthesis sits almost at the top. In Design Thinking it comes as the result of having immersed ourselves in the spaces, problems, and pieces. The transition to Synthesis is often one of the most challenging parts of the process, because it requires the learner to connect their learning to a key purpose. An effective tool that aids in achieving this focus is the use of hexagonal shapes labeled with the key concepts and issues. This helps learners to see a pattern and literally find a ‘line of enquiry’, and is then phrased as a question.

This question is structured with the words ‘How might we …’ Earlier this year I worked with the School Library Association of NSW in using Design Thinking to drill down to a core purpose, encapsulated in their question: “How might we empower Teacher Librarians to add value to learning?”. The depth and opportunity posed from these kinds of questions should be quite obvious, and naturally evoke a response. It is often at the Synthesis phase that the wordsmiths shine; in later phases other skills become more important.

Melbourne teachers using hexagons

Do you know what’s it’s like to be a ‘kid in a candy store’? To be flooded with the energy of a host of ideas from a purposeful question. Unsurprisingly children attack the opportunity for Ideation with great imagination and insight; adults hold back thinking their ideas are going to sound dumb. It’s just another of the traits traditional education has scarred us with; don’t say anything unless it’s the answer the teacher is looking for. Ideation puts learners under the constraint of time and quantity to rapidly generate as many options as possible. Rather than limit our thinking with the response we usually get, which is something like ‘yes, but we don’t have enough time/money/staff/ space …’ Ideation encourages us to respond with ‘yes, and we could do this … yes, and we could also do …’ This simple tweak adds mutual respect back into the learning experience.

8

Words.

Brisbane teachers planning using DT

A Primary school teacher in Melbourne was affronted by her students after lunch one day with complaints about how bad the school yard experience was. Boredom, bullying, hunger, broken friendships were just some of the issues students raised. Instead of playing down a complex problem or reading the students the school policy on each of these things, she decided to use Design Thinking to address them. What followed was some of the most amazing interactions this teacher had ever had with a class of students. When it came to Ideation, students were bursting with ideas from dancing, to making cupcakes, drawing, science club, rainbow club, and helping people club. The whole afternoon of planned curriculum went out the window, and instead students became empowered and passionate in improving the culture of their school. These were ideas that these students could then filter, assess, and rank in order to approach their Principal with.

Brisbane students using hexagonal thinking

Show you where to look, but...

We’ve all had some pretty awesome ideas before. Some of them probably impacted on our teaching and possibly on the school community itself. How many of those ideas were then hit with the punchline ‘let’s just trial this as a small pilot and see how it goes’?

The problem is that even when we’re handed an idea that has legs, we still can be so risk-averse as to suffocate it for fear it might actually cause things to change.

This happens everywhere in life.

It is why having a prototype helps, why even having a version drawn in triptych form helps; it pitches the narrative.

The Prototyping phase of Design Thinking takes a popular, strong, or crazy idea or a combination of them and gives it structure. Prototyping is probably one of the great enemies of education, because by its nature it expects there cannot be only one. Prototyping also disrupts assumptions of learning because it has an understanding of the ‘safe fail’ built into it. A ‘safe fail’ gives us the support and awareness to improve quickly, helping the learner to see each moment of ‘failing’ as one step closer to success.

Designing, delivering, and supporting games in libraries has been a passion of mine for a number of years.

While I didn’t get the combination and community engagement right early on, it provided a benchmark and insight to see better ways of connecting and configuring it next time.

Without the trust and support of key people I worked with, I would have given up, and potentially thousands of people would not have experienced how a library could host, support, and embrace games as a significant and powerful medium.

Unaware of Design Thinking at that stage, it has since become apparent to me that it emerges in all sorts of contexts.

At another scale, a group of Primary school students designed a prototype for a flood evacuation kit for their local community, and through pitches to their class, then older peers in Year 5 and 6, and finally to staff and parents, their prototype evolved and told a powerful journey of learning and an understanding of what makes something useful.

SLANSW members pitching a prototype

Which brings us to the final phase of the Design Thinking recipe: feedback. This is not feedback as we know it though. As in the last example above, this is better described as ‘feedforward’.

Providing critique that is specific, helpful, and focused on the content rather than the person, Design Thinking establishes the language that ‘it would be even better if …’ to help maintain the motivation to improve.

Rather than traditional education feedback that often takes 3-6 months to emerge, by involving more people and actively recording the feedback in various ways, the insights in knowing just how effective the learning has been is followed up much more efficiently. Summative assessment might be the way schools handle quantity, but formative assessments are better at building on quality.

There’s a famous quote, apparently by Alex Trenfor, which states that ‘the best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.’

From experience I can now validate that message on two counts.

The first is that this qualifies school-librarians as ‘the best teachers’, because they are less focused on trying to squeeze out a subject-based curriculum outcome and more concerned in fostering the urge to explore through reading and literacy in all forms.

The second is that Design Thinking provides an extremely powerful methodology for educators to set students up in an environment where curiosity and creativity are valued and rewarded.

That too is much like the experience of being absorbed in an innovative library; an amazing educational experience that must always be within everyone’s reach.

Hamish Curry

Words. 9

10 Words.

Creating Affinity

Design for the Thinking Minds Graham Legerton

How physical spaces need to reflect the advances in creative thinking agendas in school libraries

G

raham Legerton, Group Director of Design and Education + Communities – ThomsonAdsett, Australia, led an architectural design team whose brief was to design the redevelopment of the Griffith University Gold Coast Campus Library Extension (G11). This project was a critical component of the University’s Capital Management Plan and the end result has produced a regionally award winning design that has also been long listed for the 2014 World Architecture News Education awards.

Graham will be delivering a Keynote Address at the inaugural International Library Symposium to be held on the Gold Coast 28 to 30 September 2014. The Symposium theme is ‘Embracing New Landscapes’ and in his address, Graham will reflect upon the design process of this

project and his team’s desire to promote spaces and learning landscapes that encourage creative thought, collaborative learning and academic exploration. A clear premise for this undertaking was the need for an innovative and collective approach to transforming an existing library into a futuristic and student-centric interactive learning environment.

Graham notes, ‘the design of any modern learning space needs to be responsive to the people and community who use it and the environment in which it is found.

In shaping and designing this learning environment, the team considered the soul of the library, place and organisation’. G11 provides multiple meeting points for students and staff as they explore, collaborate and respond to the academic demands placed upon them. The physical spaces contrast between rooms for a

defined purpose to open, agile and less defined multi-purpose spaces. raham has commented that reflections of the Griffith Library (G11) design process and project have informed his team’s subsequent architectural works. ‘We are fascinated by the ways in which a design can generate affinity and how this is becoming increasingly measurable, shared and transparent. In times of accelerated change, it is essential that return briefing constructively challenges convention. To increase the likelihood of influencing creative thinking, space and place needs to be memorable, enticing and the users need to genuinely want and choose to be there. We have also experienced emotional responses to our works as we continually strive to reach beyond building towards creating spaces of delight, engagement and meaning.’

G

Words. 11

Debbie’s Page Creating the Future...

this wonderful learning space, impart user feedback and share the journey of library design and creative thinking agendas.

T

he G11 project has embraced quintessentially Australian values of openness and permeability to create physical environments that engender collaboration and heighten opportunities for creativity. View, comfort, outdoor space, an essential choice of individual and groups settings of variable scales and the encouragement of serendipitous encounters were all intentional drivers of the design.

G11 is intentionally ‘easy’ in terms of accessibility, agility and convenience. In some instances, space is conventional and in others contrastingly experimental.

Working collaboratively, Graham and his team have created spaces not found elsewhere on

campus including the Sky Lounge and Aviary Garden. The fringes of spaces also provide multiple opportunities for contemplation, socialisation, reflection, concentration, clarity of mind and creativity whilst retaining an essential connection with a wider and diverse research collective.

In his Keynote Address at the International Library Symposium, Graham Legerton will provide delegates with a fascinating insight into the design process of

The inaugural International Library Symposium is a collaborative event presented

by The Southport School and the Queensland School Library Association and invites all library and literary aficionados to visit the Gold Coast in September 2014 for 2 ½ days of impressive learning and networking experiences that promise to be both professionally and personally rewarding.

12 Words.

From Digital Desk ...inthe Library Design

The program consists of a series of Keynote Addresses and includes a wonderful range of social events.

Educational Brain Research Specialist Angela Foulds-Cook, Senior Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi AM QC and award winning Australian authors: Isobelle Carmody, Associate Professor Gary Crew, Trent Dalton, Matthew Condon.

R

egistration for the   International Library Symposium is now open.

Further details are available at www. thesouthportschool.com/ils Graham Legerton

Graham Legerton will be joined by an impressive range of internationally renowned speakers at the Symposium.

Featured speakers also include: international author, academic and social commentator Professor Germaine Greer, Australian Book Review editor Peter Rose, library academic Dr Barbara Combes, media academic Professor Jeff Brand, United world College TL Katie Day, Positive Psychologist Jon Chan,

Words. 13

Making Sense...

Kay Oddone is an educator with over 16 years experience across a range of settings. She is currently the librarian for ResourceLink, Brisbane Catholic Education’s information and resourcing centre, which services all office staff and staff of the 137 schools within the Brisbane Archdiocese.

Kay has held the roles of Education Officer: Digital Learning, Assistant Principal, Teacher Librarian and Classroom Teacher.

She has presented at a number of national and international conferences, and her interests include contemporary libraries and resourcing, content curation, social media and copyright, Creative Commons and open source initiatives.

Follow Kay on Twitter at @KayC28

New Ways to engage with Hands-on Learning

H

ands-on learning is nothing new. One hundred years ago, John Dewey advocated that students learnt best when they were actively engaged in interdisciplinary projects; a belief that has been borne out in the works of Piaget and Seymour Papert, and which is currently one of the central components of the Design Thinking Movement.

What is new, however, is the potential today for students to create, innovate and experiment with tools and technologies that provide almost limitless possibilities. Using cutting edge yet affordable gadgets and equipment, the options are endless. Students might use conductive paint to create a circuit on a gift card that lights up or plays music; they may choose to experiment with Makey Makey’s to construct their own game controllers using apples and bananas or they may use an Arduino micro-controller to control a robot or illuminate an LED sign. Gary Stager says: “What was considered science fiction a few years ago is now a Mother’s Day gift and the stuff of childhood. We enhance creativity and enrich childhood when we add colours to the crayon box and offer a larger canvas on which to pain our future.” (2014).

14 Words.

Getting started with Maker Spaces I was inspired to begin my Maker journey after participating in a one day workshop with Gary Stager, and his colleague Sylvia Libow Martinez, who have written the seminal text Invent to Learn.

Stager and Martinez provide not only theory and sound arguments for why kids learn better through making – they also provide strategies, advice and resources for teachers who want to bring making into their classrooms.

Another key source of information about the Maker Movement is Maker Media, which is a global platform connecting makers, and the publisher of Make Magazine. Their education publication, the Maker Space

From the Digital Desk ...of Maker Spaces

Playbook is a free PDF download which provides an indepth guide for how schools can develop their own Maker Spaces.

It also gives information on tools and materials required, the roles teachers, students and mentors play, snapshots of schoolbased Maker Spaces in action, templates for project and safety plans and more.

The Maker Space Playbook defines makers as productive, creative individuals, who seek out opportunities to learn to do new things, and who delight in sharing their creations with others.

It suggests makers are open, inclusive, encouraging and generous in spirit.

These characteristics are what every educator would hope to instil in their students; and the collaboration, engagement and excitement in learning that Maker Spaces offer means that introducing them into the school context a no-brainer.

The library, as the place within the school which is open to everyone, which is a participatory learning space, and which is the centre of exploration and transformation, is the most natural place in the school for a Maker Space.

As Joyce Valenza states: ‘A library is not just a place to ‘get stuff’ – it is a place to create, to invent, to share, to explore, it is more kitchen than grocery store.’

(2011)

lamps when the television is turned on. It is a terrific introduction for students into electronics and programming.

Tips and Tools In my role as Librarian at ResourceLink, which is Brisbane Catholic Education’s information and resourcing centre, I have been able to create a series of Maker Space kits, which may be borrowed by schools within the Brisbane Archdiocese.

These kits enable schools to run a MakerFaire experience for their students, and provide an opportunity for teachers and students alike to experiment and play with a range of exciting technologies, which they may then choose to purchase for their own Maker Space.

If you are looking to create a Maker Space, you can use almost anything; provide paper and origami instructions, wool and knitting needles, cardboard and masking tape; the possibilities are only limited by your imagination and the desires of the students. However if you wish to introduce some technology or basic electronics into the mix, the following items are relatively inexpensive, and provide a completely new learning experience for students from primary school age and up.

Arduino an opensource electronics platform, consisting of a microcontroller plate which can interact with its environment, using free Arduino software. Using Arduino, students can write simple programs to create projects using motors, gearboxes, speakers, LEDs, and more. The projects can be as simple as making led lights flash in a pattern, or as complex as creating a switch which dims the

Makey Makey allows students to turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with computers.

Simply connect any type of everyday item (such as fruit, plants, coins, play dough etc) to the Makey Makey board using the supplied wires and alligator clips, and then plug the board into the computer, and you are able to interact with the computer by way of the attached objects. A human body can become a drum machine, a set of stairs can play piano keys – the possibilities with this tool are endless!

Squishy Circuits by combining conductive and non-conductive playdough with a battery pack, LEDs, small motors and buzzers, students are able to create innovative simple circuits of any shape. A fascinating way to learn about circuitry and basic electronics.

Words. 15

Interactive Learning

Interactive Cardcraft students are able to make light up greeting cards by using conductive paint and copper tape along with LED lights and small batteries to create simple circuits on the cards. These simple items allow students to apply their understanding of circuits and switches to a real life invention.

Interactive Wearables Using ideas from this wonderful soft circuits booklet, http://alumni. media.mit.edu/~emme/ guide.pdf students can create brooches and arm-bands that light up by sewing circuits using conductive thread, copper tape, batteries and led lights. The next step is to incorporate a Lilypad, which is a washable microcontroller to the item, which allows the way the lights or other outputs to be programmed; imagine clothing that lights up when you walk!

If you are interested in creating a Maker Space in your library or school, my only advice is go for it! The learning, the enjoyment and engagement is well worth the organisation, and the equipment is really not as costly as you would imagine. Start small, and build up. You may be surprised at what your school already owns, once you start investigating!

16 Words.

Great resources to get you started This curated list contains links to many essential websites and sources for where you can

purchase materials and equipment. http://www.pinterest.com/ kayo287/makerspaces-in-thelibrary/

Reference List Hlubinka, M., Dougherty, D., Thomas, P., Chang, S., Hoefer, S., Alexander, I., & McGuire, D. (2013). Makerspace Playbook [PDF]. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from http://makerspace. com/wp-content/ uploads/2013/02/ MakerspacePlaybookFeb2013.pdf Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. S. (2013).

Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom. Constructing Modern Knowledge Press.

Stager, G. (Winter 2014). What’s the Maker Movement and Why Should I Care?

ScholasticAdministrator. com Retrieved April 23, 2014, from http://www. scholastic.com/browse/ article.jsp?id=3758336 QUT Master of Education students.

(2014). Makerspaces Australia. Makerspaces Australia. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http:// makerspacesaustralia.weebly.com/ Valenza, Joyce. (2011).

TEDxPhiladelphiaED - - See Sally Research. Philadelphia. Retrieved May 12, 2014, from https:// youtube.googleapis.com/v/ VmLwl7ybDFw?hl=en_US Kay Oddone

International Library Symposium

ILS

Embracing New Landscapes 28th to 30th September 2014 The Southport School Gold Coast, Australia

The 2014 Symposium will bring together librarians, teachers, academics and authors from around the world and includes an extraordinary line up of presenters!

QC, author and award winning photographer

Author, academic and social commentator

Professor Germaine Greer Architect and Education Design Specialist

Author and Editor of Australian Book Review

Mark Tedeschi AM QC

Peter Rose

Head of Libraries UWCSEA Singapore

Graham Legerton

Katie Day

Award winning Australian author

Library academic and online learning specialist

Isobelle Carmody

Dr Barbara Combes

Walkley Award Winner, author and screenwriter

Trent Dalton

Performance and Positive Psychologist

Prize Winning Australian Author and Journalist

Jon Chan

Matthew Condon

Academic and award winning Australian author

Academic and emerging interactive media expert

Professor Jeffery Brand

Dr Gary Crew

Education Brain Research Specialist

Angela Foulds-Cook

‘Embracing New Landscapes’ will encourage presenters and delegates alike to explore and contest the landscapes of their professional lives. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to hear, meet and network with some of the most influential thinkers, creators and commentators from Australia and further afield.

Registration and further details: www.TheSouthportSchool.com/ils

The Danish Influence

Dorthe Hammerich Rasmussen is 37, loves books and storytelling, and for the last couple of years has been fortunate enough to work with different developmental projects at the Copenhagen Main Library, especially with regards to reading campaigns – both for adults and for school children.

Dorthe has a Masters degree in Communications & Media from Aarhus University, and has been working in this field since 2004.

Creating a new Visual Identity

A

t the beginning of 2013 the staff of the children’s department at Copenhagen Central Library decided to brand themselves in a new way. We wanted a visual identity that appealed to our youngest users, including the school children. We wanted it to be recognizable, fun, colorful, and – not least – cool. So we decided to involve our target group directly.

We engaged with the young and very talented designers, Hvass & Hannibal, and they held focus groups with children from a local school. The designers developed a visual identity based on a modular system of basic shapes that can be mixed and matched to create various patterns and figures.

We made cut outs of the design elements and made them available in the children’s department. We then invited children to make their own logos and figures. Thus the children became co-creators of the final design.

The visual identity has not yet been fully implemented and tested, however, thus far the librarians as well as the visiting children and their families respond very positively to the new and sparkling look of the children’s department as it is expressed in posters, newsletters, badges, postcards, and event programmes.

18 Words.

Some of the children’s own designs – stickers on a window in the library

Københavns From the Hovedbibliotek Digital Desk

Copenhagen Central Library

Postcard displaying the visual identity

Some of the basic shapes which constitute the visual identity

Our new logo embedded in a circle of the basic shapes © HVA S S &HA NN IB A L

An open workshop at the library – children designing their own postcards (left) and making their own badges (right) Dorthe Hammerich Rasmussen Communications Assistant & Project Manager THE CITY OF COPENHAGEN Copenhagen Libraries

Words. 19

The LRS at UTS Library

The problem of space and connectedness of purpose is not alone in the school library.

Here is one solution to a problem of space ... exciting technology, a rethink of the way we shelve our resources, and a great outcome overall.

Watch the video to see how it works.

Mal Booth, University Librarian at UTS.

A

s we plan our future library, our current and   future clients are at the center of our thoughts.   Our vision is to deliver a world-leading university library connecting people, knowledge and culture at the heart of the UTS campus. Our aim is to build an inspiring, dynamic and scholarly environment which serves the diverse needs of UTS students, academics and researchers.

What is an LRS? The Library Retrieval System (LRS) is an automated storage and retrieval facility where our low-use collection items will be sorted by size and stored in metal bins on metal shelf units. These bins and shelf units are housed in storage racks and will be retrieved automatically by means of a robotic crane. The new LRS will be operational from July 2014 when the books will begin being loaded.

This will free space in the Library building for people to study, learn, research and be inspired. Use of such a system is more common in the US, but Macquarie University Library also has one in Australia.

Why did the university decide to install an LRS? Where did the demand come from?

As a University located in the heart of the city, space is at a premium and our students are asking for more individual spaces to study as well as areas designed specifically for group collaboration. Client feedback also tells us that they want areas and facilities that enhance the library experience, such as events, artwork and inspirational spaces.

Currently our city library cannot hold any more print items. In addition, we need to consolidate that library with our Kuring-Gai Library at the end of 2015. The Kuring-Gai Library currently holds about one third of our collection. To accommodate these needs we have opted to locate our least used items in the LRS. Additionally, the LRS is a far more environmentally efficient financially viable option than building a larger library.

20 Words.

To store the same number of books as the LRS, it would need to be 4 to 5 times larger than our current library and cost four times more than the LRS itself.

How will the technology benefit the university and student body?

The LRS has many benefits for collection preservation, client service and sustainability. Items in the LRS will be stored in stable temperature and humidity conditions that are ideally suited for preserving paper materials.

The items will therefore be stored in conditions which would not be achievable if the items remained on the open shelving, particularly as they aged.

It should also prove to be much faster to find and retrieve items stored in the LRS than on open shelves.

With our large collection we know from client feedback that it can be difficult to find items in the current library buildings where shelves are often very full.

In the LRS items will be securely stored and able to be delivered in a matter of minutes, usually much faster than locating the item on an open shelf yourself within a large collection.

For the newer, high-use items which will still be held on open shelves, the reduced number of items should make it easier to browse and locate items in the collection.

The LRS is also able to store well over four times as many print items in a given space than conventional open shelving, so there are obvious sustainability benefits.

How will the technology improve the system? How will librarians benefit?

The biggest advantage of this technology (beyond the environmental efficiencies outlined above) is that it frees up space in our Library that would have been used to shelve little-used books. That space can now be devoted to people, giving them more space for a

Making Decisions about Libraries

variety of different needs such as the use of creative technologies and multi-media, the provision of larger desks and more seating, more space for silent reading rooms and more group study areas.

We know some of our clients like to browse the open shelves and tell us the opportunity for serendipitous discovery is an important way to find interesting resources. We are therefore enhancing our discovery systems to make it easy to locate items in our collection and identify resources which might be useful.

We will continue to enhance our discovery systems so it is easy to get a specific item when they want it, but also to browse and stumble upon interesting or useful resources when they aren’t quite sure what they need.

One aisle of six at UTS. Provided by Dematic

UTS Library’s IT department have been working hard to develop new systems that will help our clients when browsing our print collection. So far we have the ‘Collection Ribbon’ and ‘Shelf View’, both are ways to browse online and filter search results to find hidden gems in our collection.

The ‘Collection Ribbon’ sits across the top of the Catalogue on the Library website. Each colour represents number ranges on the Dewey Decimal system.

This holds more than just aesthetic appeal, it has a level of functionality that will allow clients to do a search and then narrow and refine those results by subject area. The initial search allows clients to see all the items in our collection that relate to the search, opening up possibilities that they may not have otherwise been aware of.

The new ‘Shelf View’ function in the Library’s Catalogue provides the opportunity to broaden your initial search. Shelf View presents the cover images of books held by the Library enabling discovery of books by scanning virtual shelves.

One example of the efficiencies the LRS will afford to staff is stocktaking, a necessary process which has previously taken three years to complete, can now be accomplished in just one. This allows staff more time to engage in face-to-face interactions with our clients.

What are the next steps in the process of moving towards an LRS? All system testing has been completed and all bins are now loaded into the system ready for loading. We now await the scheduled date for access to load the system with our print items (in July). Currently the LRS is located within a building site in which two other projects are being finalised: the extension of the Science faculty building which is adjacent to the LRS in Thomas Street and the new Alumni Green which sits on top of the LRS itself.

We are planning that the facility will be fully operational in late July.

Finishing touches are now being put on staff work area fittings and furnishings.

Around 350,000 items will be loaded into the LRS from July to August, and will be available for loan immediately. We will then do another major load towards the end of 2015 when we consolidate the city library (Blake) with that of Kuring-Gai after that campus is closed.

For more information: http://www.smh.com.au/national/librariesgo-hightech-20140410-36ez7.html http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/future-library/lrs-and-rfid Some common questions and answers on our website about the LRS. http://youtu.be/dhYIOE7gERA A short (award winning) video on the LRS that we made ourselves.

With our own cameras, fingers, mice, software and keyboards Mal Booth

Words. 21

Cultural Weeding

Kevin has worked with hundreds of libraries internationally over 12 busy years. Cultural Weeding will fuse the best initiatives he has found with his ideas on what needs to change in order for libraries to remain relevant.

Library culture, image, promotion and resources are all put under the spotlight, as Kevin poses his thoughtprovoking ideas on why we need to weed more than just print!

C

ultural Weeding is my term for questioning whether everything libraries hold on to, both physically and culturally is still relevant – and the name of my latest workshop in which I explore the role of a contemporary library.

Many libraries I visit have failed to develop a visual merchandising strategy to help print compete with new technologies. This makes them very vulnerable – particularly schools. Even in the design process, much effort is invested in architecture and décor, (which I see as very important) however this is often an exciting veneer around an outdated visual merchandising strategy (I’m referring to the collection).

I have met with countless Principals who believe the Non Fiction collection is loosing relevance. These schools have kept abreast of exciting developments in technology over the past 15 -20 years.

22 Words.

During this time, the faded, poorly weeded Non Fiction collection has remained on tall, 1970s shelving arranged in narrow aisles at the back of the room.

Rarely is a book displayed face-out and little or no innovative signage solutions have been developed to help books compete with online resources. There’s really nothing more they could have done to make the collection look less appealing!

This is not to say that I believe libraries are all about print. In fact, I’m very excited to showcase developments in technology. I’m simply saying that we cannot make an informed judgement about the relevance of books until we create a level playing ground between print and online resources.

I’ll be placing collection, promotion, resources and systems all under the spotlight while showcasing some the best initiatives I have found in close to 1000 libraries over 12 busy years, nationally and internationally.

I’ll also be backing my ideas up with stats from libraries that have successfully implemented my ideas, whilst exploring: The role of a contemporary school library.

Strategies to help print compete with new technologies.

Ideas to build on Dewey.

Innovations in signage, display and marketing.

Creating independent and collaborative workspaces.

Smart library design & renovation initiatives.

Image overhauls at all budget levels.

As always, there will be hundreds of inspirational photographs to show. Plus in September, I’m speaking at The European Council of International Schools conference in Belgium, so hope to bring back even more exciting ideas to share with NSW schools.

I look forward to meeting everyone in what I hope you agree will be an information rich and fun learning experience. www.kevinhennah.com.au Cultural Weeding Testimonials: “Kevin Hennah’s workshop at Catholic Education Wollongong helped bring libraries into the 21st century” Beth Carlon. Deputy Principal. St Joseph’s Primary School. Bulli, NSW “A brilliant session that has given me much to think about. Finally someone has come along and equipped us with the marketing skills we have been searching for. Kevin is a brilliant presenter whose knowledge and passion shines throughout his presentation” Carol Rose. Riverina Institute of TAFE. NSW “The best PD that I have ever attended. Very informative, practical and inspiring” Kerri Power. Yugumbir State School. QLD Kevin Hennah

presenting:

KEVIN HENNAH AT YOUR SCHOOL! We are excited to announce a group of workshops brought to you by SLANSW but hosted at your school by you!

These full day workshops will take place between the 11th November – 14th of November 2014. For registration and more details:

http://slansw.asn.au

MORE INFO:

the North, South, East and in d ate loc s ian rar Lib r he ls from Teac st of We are looking for proposa nts at each venue with a co ipa rtic pa g yin pa 40 e uir t will req venue has to West of Sydney. Each even of by SLANSW; all that the re ca en tak be ll wi ing ter the visuals as Kevin’s work $100 per participant. All ca ise tim op to e ac sp rk da a jector and provide is a good quality pro is all about the VISUAL.

your school, at ts en ev e es th of e on If you are keen to host ing from you. For more information we are interested in hear nd in a proposal. One A4 page is all please email me or just se answ.asn.au sl t@ en id es pr y: ar ss ce that is ne Sydney please events and you are not in se the of e on ng sti ho in ion to d If you are intereste organise an event in addit n ca I d an e nu ve d an te d da contact me with a propose these four workshops.

SLANSW Retreat Weekend

Road Trips

An Association must have a strong vision and sense of purpose to be successful.

An Association must have a clear understanding of the core mission of the group it represents.

So became the SLANSW retreat at Palm Beach in April.

A time to regroup, plan and find the essential ingredient for a successful 2014 committee.

“In order to get recognition, you’re going to need to do things to get you noticed ... so start experimenting”

Online Community

“Create curiosity around our collections” … find out how.

Words. 25

How might we...?

Connect wit Experts h

“We have a mixture of brand new members and older members. We need to work through ways to cater for the changing needs of our membership and improve member numbers by offering what NSW TLs need from the organisation”

To arrive at our focus question:

“How might we empower Teacher Librarians to add value to learning?”

Consensus of the group that this was the definitive statement.

Australian Curriculum

26 Words.

Think Tank Road Show for TLs

Coming to a Town near You

C

ome and be part of it all!

How might we change the opportunities for l earning through school libraries?

How might we empower Teacher Librarians to add value to learning?

These will be some of the key questions addressed in a series of special free events offered by the SLANSW and design thinking organisation NoTosh.

A roadshow exploring the big challenges facing library learning, and sharing the ways in which library spaces and TLs working in libraries have the capacity to experiment and enrich the educational experiences in schools.

This one day program seeks to bring Teacher Librarians from different areas together to pose, ideate, and design options for how the SLANSW

can both support its members and introduce attendees to the approaches of design thinking that empower all educators to develop meaningful learning resources and experiences.

The details With SLANSW covering the costs for these events, they are being offered for free to our members.

If you are interested in participating in one of these exciting events, choose your venue, and email Michelle Jensen president@slansw.asn.au Include your name, organisation, BOSTES number and email.

Soo ... It’s an all day session 9 am - 3 pm.

It’s free, just bring your own food.

Queanbeyan High School: 2 July Newcastle, Shortland Public School: 3 July Byron Bay High School: 4 July

Words. 27

Gamification: Beyond the Hype

Program Check the SLANSW website for updates

Tuesday 12th August

9-­10am Workshop 10-­10:30am Morning Tea 10:30am – 12:30pm Workshop 12:30 -­1:30pm Lunch & Network 1:30pm -­3pm Workshop

Wednesday 13th August 8:30 am 9am 9:20am 11am 11:20am 1pm 1:40pm 2: 20pm 2:50pm 3:00pm 3:30pm 4:00pm 4:30pm 5pm

Thursday 14th August

MAC ICT

30 Lenovo Desktop

Peggy Sheehy and Marianne Malmstrom Games Mash-­‐up Lessons Learned and Best Practice

9am-­3pm 15 Raspberry Pi’s and Monitors 30 Participants

Adam Stone and Michelle Jensen “Maker Spaces in Education” Open Source Computing

UNSW CBD Arrive tea/ coffee registration Michelle Jensen Keynote: Peggy Sheehy

9am-­ 5pm

WHY ARE WE HERE? ARE YOU GAME? Game Plan Network Follow the learning!

Network Lived Curriculum!

Food Tech Game

Gamification at Knox Ethics Sim On A Stick Minecraft in Primary School Gamification at Merrylands High School Mediated by Dr. Bron Stuckey

Morning Tea Marianne Malmstrom Lunch Dr. Bron Stuckey Simon Harper Break Michael Beilharz Kate Booth Alice Leung Panel CLOSE

MAC ICT Workshop

30 Lenovo Desktops

9-­10am Workshop 10-­10:30am Morning Tea 10:30am – 12:30pm Workshop 12:30 -­1:30pm Lunch & Network 1:30pm -­3pm Workshop

Friday 15th August EDU CAMP DAY Unconference

Benjamin Wells and Kate Booth Sim-­‐on-­‐a-­‐stick Avatar Building Server creation (on hard drive)

9am -­PLAN 10am Morning Tea 12pm Lunch Network 3pm Close

Peggy Sheehy, Marianne Malmstrom and Michael Beilharz

28 Words.

MAC ICT Workshop

30 Lenovo desktops

Maker Space Laptops 30 Lenovo desktops 15 iPads 30 (30 Participants)

Peggy Sheehy and Marianne Malmstrom Games Mash-­‐up Lessons Learned and Best Practice

Maker Area 15 Lenovo desktops 30 Lenovo Laptops 30 iPads Space to be determined

From the Digital Desk

presents

gamification BEYOND THE HYPE

A CONFERENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE August 12 -15 2014

THE SPEAKERS PLUS MORE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED

PEGGY SHEEHY

MARIANNE MALMSTROM AKA: KNOWCLUE

For registration and more details

http://slansw.asn.au

There will be the possibility of a second conference on 11 August if demand requires. UNSW CBD Campus and MAC ICT

Words. 29

A Writer’s Experience...

Concertina Storytelling

Andrew Taylor was born in New Zealand, grew up in England and now lives in Australia. He’s the writer of the Superhumans series and The Adjusters – his work has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award and the Northern Ireland Book Award.

A former teacher who has lived around the world, Andrew uses the places he’s visited and the many computer games he’s played as inspiration for his writing.

W

hen I was 10 we played a game in English class: someone would write a few lines of a story on a piece of paper and then fold it, leaving only the last sentence visible. The plot was continued by another student, folded again, passed to someone else, and so on until the page was filled.

The final unfolding revealed a highly creative but rather incoherent (and sometimes hilarious) group story. Our teacher called it concertina storytelling.

When I agreed to participate in Fiction Express earlier this year, I found myself thinking back to that game – and hoping that when my story, Clock, a time-travel adventure for 10-12 year olds, unfolded it would hold together better than some of those childhood efforts!

For an author living in Australia, Fiction Express poses some unique challenges. Students vote online each week for a month, choosing how the story will progress in the next chapter. In March, there was an

30 Words.

eleven hour time difference with the UK (where the Fiction Express editors are based). This meant that the final voting notification was emailed through at 2am on Wednesday every week. After that, there was about 36 hours to produce a first draft of the chapter, with subsequent edits squeezed into the next day and a half. Pressure.

Yet there was something undeniably exciting about having such a tight timeline to complete a chapter.

Anyone who’s tried writing fiction will know that having too much time on your hands (to research, plan and generally prevaricate) can be counter-productive!

Another thrilling aspect to the process was the opportunity it provided for instant feedback from an audience. Generally a writer focus is on plot and character development, trying to create the most interesting story possible in the hope it will connect with readers.

Here was the chance to find out exactly what the kids reading Clock desired from the story. Would they want the hero to team up with the “good guys” to use his powers to put things right?

Or would they consider it more fun to have him take the side of the “bad guys” and use his abilities in a selfinterested way?

Before the month began, I was certain that the students would choose to send my hero, Harry,

...of Writing for Online Access

down the more complex, morally questionable path I had sketched out. Instead they consistently voted (by large margins) to have him “do the right thing.” Options

where he chose completely selfish (or even self-interested) actions were by far the least popular. Perhaps this shouldn’t have been such a surprise. A writer plays around with the archetypes to be found in this type of action-adventure story at his or her peril. My young audience already seemed to have a firm

grasp on this maxim. And while we often seek more complexity and shading in our protagonists, there’s still nothing as satisfying as following a hero who is invested

boards gave teachers a whole new set of classroom tools.

A decade later, it’s exciting to think that something I wrote can be made so accessible to students through the use of this technology.

Yet I also know that any teaching tool, no matter how “interactive”, is only as good as the way it is handled in class.

A teacher is needed to discuss the options to get the best out of the experience – we all know how exciting it is when a piece of writing connects with a group, the teacher-led questions and discussion

in doing the right thing and has goals that extend beyond his or her own interests.

In the late 90s/early 2000s, when I was working as a primary teacher, the development of the internet and interactive white-

Words. 31

Feedback

Perhaps the appeal of Fiction Express for teachers and students isn’t that different to concertina writing, which I remember so fondly from school. It’s the chance to have a say in how a story progresses. To produce something unexpected that isn’t just the product of one person.

And for writers, normally so insular in our work, it’s the opportunity to connect directly with an audience and defer some of the terrible responsibility of deciding what comes next.

Andrew Taylor

that can generate. It was clear from the responses of particular groups on the Fiction Express blog that many classes had talked around the moral issues contained within the story and the implications of the voting choices.

Even more interesting were some of the self-generated posts from students, where it was possible to hear the (sometimes very candid) critical voices of the kids really coming through.

Some recent feedback “Fiction Express has been an awesome experience for my year 3 to 6 students,” Loretta Robinson, Bourke Walgett School of Distance Education, NSW. “Being able to go online and read a chapter and have a say in how the story line develops has been exciting for the students and makes them want to read. One parent has told me that her son who is a reluctant reader has raced to the computer to read ‘Clock’.

She has been so happy to see her boy reading.

Many students have expressed their pleasure and excitement in reading the books. All are looking forward to the next one.

They’ll pick up an iPad before they pick up a book. Any way I can get them to read is important.”

Kathy Tanham, Holy Rosary Primary School Double View – Western Australia “The students were so motivated ... dead keen to read the next e-book.”

Emanuela Fragapane, Literacy Support Teacher Sacred Heart School Thornlie – Western Australia “I’ve subscribed to Fiction Express and think it’s great. The teacher activities are super. I also like being able to offer our students another option for reading – at home, in class, or at the library.”

Fran Mes, Director of Learning, Viscount School, Mangere – New Zealand “It’s like reading a new book that’s not found in our school library. I like that idea!” Steven 12 years old and “It’s a smart idea. You can read the stories on the internet any time ... at home or school.”

Maima, 13 years old, Student, Viscount School, Mangere – New Zealand

About Fiction Express for Schools

About the Education Resources Awards

A genuinely new and original platform for publishing fiction, as it allows readers to determine the course of the plot, in real time, while the stories are being written. This innovative e-book series covers a broad range of subject areas, including historical stories set in Victorian/Viking days and WW1, as well as engaging students in social issues such as anti-bullying. Teachers receive comprehensive resources to accompany the books and to support them in their important role of inspiring young minds. For more information, or to enjoy a free 3 week trial please contact EdutainMe, Australian distributor, at info@edutainme.com.au or call 1300 657 665 or visit www.edutainme.com.au or www.fictionexpress.co.uk

In March, Fiction Express For Schools was awarded a prestigious Education Resources Award in the ‘Innovation’ category for their interactive e-books.

The awards play a key role in identifying and rewarding effective resources and services for use in education.

The winning organisations were announced at the Education Resources Awards in the UK in front of a crowd of more than 300 educators and industry leaders.

The judges said of Fiction Express, “The books are a lovely resource allowing pupils to get really involved in creating and developing storylines by popular demand.

It is a great storytelling and literacy resource.”

32 Words.

Report on MANTLE Conference 9 May

Jenny Luca Keynote:

on a new criteria, not an ATAR sco re. Your online soc ial graph will determine if you get MANTLE a job.

What does Innovative pedagogy http://mantleconference. look like? weebly.com (David Price blogpost) is a slick progressive http://engagedlearning.co.uk/?p= 2212 Teacher Librarian “Technological Pedagogical Content Knowconference located in the ledge (TPACK) is a framework that identifies the centre of Newcastle. knowledge teachers need to teac h effectively Walking up the steps of with technology. The TPACK framework the Newcastle City Hall I noticed extends a buzz.

Shulman’s idea of Pedagogical Con tent I was welcomed with friendly smiles by the Knowledge.”

MANTLE TEAM. It was apparent to me that this http://www.tpack.or g is a group of passionate Teacher Librarians who http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_S hulman are committed to our field. The con ference was Be a cha nge lead er (CHANGE LEADER). opened using the traditional lang uage of the http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ nation by War wick Beard who urge d us to d/0470582138?pc_redir=1399369 continue to foster a love of reading 410&robot_ with our redi r=1 students.

When using the Internet and Web Jenny Luca was a truly inspirationa 2.0 tools, be l keynote aware that you are teaching your speaker urging TLs to consider “Jus stud ents to be t what are we critical about what information they preparing our Students for?” are providing when signing up for various accoun ts.

Amazingly, to explain this she refe renced the https://session.wikispaces.com/1/ auth/auth?aut experience of Macklemore and Rya n Lewis hToken=e025a2a1396b73a9299a c7119cfd501e “The Heist” http://macklemore.com / Teach them about DATA MINING post/63746955005/the-heist-1-y . ear-anniversar ya-look-back-on-the-year (“Data Mining is a powerful new tech nology with great potential to help companies Teacher Librarians need to shift focu focu s on the s to align most important information in the with the paradigm shift that has occ data they have urred. collected about ...” YOU!) To explain this she referenced the online sharwww.eco.utexas.edu/~norman/BUS ing that takes place by gamers. (Ga .FOR/course. mification: mat /Alex/ Beyond the Hype will explain this in more detail).

Truly a community of practice.

We need to take responsibility for teaching students how to use Social MEDIA! She urged us not to sit back and Run a session watch the for parents! demise of Teacher Librarians. Be change enablers. Asking us if our libraries Free download of It’s Complicated are usable: : the social Usable Library http://usablelibrary lives of networked teens by Danah .org Boyd http://www.danah.org/itscomplicat Teacher Librarians need to be PRO ed/ ACTIVE. “In explaining the networked real Be the one embracing new ideas m of teens, and new ways Boyd has the insights of a sociolo of thinking. gist, the eye of a reporter, and the savvy of a tech nologist. For Direct students to MOOC massive online parents puzzled about what their kids are doing open course as they are free. Whe n you sign up online, this is an indispensable boo k.” for these courses you get the reso urce for free.

– Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Asp en Institute, Many reputable Universities are offe ring courses author of Steve Jobs. in these subjects also enabling stud ents to get Teach your students about Creativ advice from some lectures around e Commons the world. and use the http://search.creativec ommons.org Online social media is changing our employment landscape.

Michelle Jensen Many companies are looking for emp MAN TLE is an endorsed provider loyees with strong social media profiles. Hiring of NSW Institute of Teachers people based profe ssional development.

Words. 33

34 Words.

The Library Monkey (left) at Sandy Beach Public School

Sandy Beach Public School

Double Trouble Audrey Nay and Edwina Reynolds

E

stablished in 1985, Sandy Beach Public School, the first marine primary school in NSW, is located in a beautiful bushland setting.

Currently we have 330 students in fourteen classes, one a multi-categorical class.

Our teacher librarians, Edwina Reynolds and myself, Audrey Nay, provide one hour of release from face to face each week, for each class over four days.

That’s right – two teacher librarians working together in the one school – Double trouble! Although we like to believe we double value added!

SBPS students are doubly blessed because Sandy Beach Public School students not only have a new innovative (BER) wireless [Library Learning iCentre] (LLiC) but also SBPS P&C generously funded an extra room – (once a computer lab) now our wireless [Learning Technology iCentre] (LTiC), to comfortably house enough computers to provide 1:1 for all students.

This allows the teacher librarians double the space to work with the students to provide: information, inquiry, innovation, immersion & nstructional intervention!

Both of SBPS iCentre’s teacher librarians work together to support connectivity and collaboration, critical engagement and creativity, construction and consolidation for our school learning community through the provision of a wide range of quality digital and non-digital resources. [Lyn Hay The What, Who, Why and How of Building an iCentre: Part 1] Our Junior, Quick read (early chapter books), General and Senior fiction sections are very well stocked with many student selected books, Australian Curriculum concept books, wordless books, Indigenous & Asian texts and a wide range of labelled PRC books. Our non-fiction section is also well stocked and very popular with many of our students.

Our Special collection section makes multimodal books available to students for use, in both class and to take home to enjoy. So far we have over 1400 websites and over 2100 e-resources catalogued and available through [My Library] from anywhere – home or school plus [our e-library branch] which sadly needs much revamping.

Together the LLiC and the LTiC have plenty of addition learning technologies available for staff and students to use, including flip cameras, netbooks, visualiser cameras, microphones, talking points, tripods, iPads, digital cameras and headphones.

Words. 35

Kids who read succeed

Students regularly use the LLiC as a Makerspace most mornings and especially during second lunch to create a variety of digital or non-digital items, design and fold paper planes, play board games, construct towers, complete puzzles, play offices with a range of (outdated) keyboards and phones, use netbooks, read, listen to music, draw, play schools, create little plays including puppetry …

Thank goodness we have some wonderful student leaders who support the library by kindly helping out during these very busy sessions.

It would not be possible without their help, as often we have around 60-70 students but if it is wet we can have over 120 students busily engaged, yet co-operative in the space.

Over the years SBPS staff have built a very strong reading culture with students using the “Kids who read, succeed program” and all

students are encouraged to try different “tastes” or genres as they participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC), with years 3-6 also engaging in the authentic learning task by regularly entering their record online.

Mrs Reynolds works with the students encouraging them to

36 Words.

locate books that they will enjoy reading, using a range of strategies including web enquiry, and Mrs Nay instructs and supports the students as they undertake the authentic task of recording and reviewing books they have read, online.

I allow time for keen readers to explore My Library and the PRC site to read more book reviews, which provide great examples, and to discover other books they would love to explore reading.

SBPS has paid for a subscription to Reading Eggs this year for

have computers available in the class area. I created a [Kindy blog] to document and share their learning with their families.

I log the Kinder students into Reading Eggs, and then from the website the students are managing to navigate their way through the selected range of lessons and activities, including reading multimodal books for their session which is linked to reinforce their class learning each week.

Throughout the year Mrs Reynolds and Mrs Nay offer teachers the support of working collaboratively

the first time and I am charged with the responsibility of ensuring staff understand how to maximise the value and that students have the opportunity, skills and understanding to navigate and use the many sections available including multimodal reading, spelling, comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, story writing and much more.

For the first few times our Kinder students used our computers they really struggled to use the mouse, because being the children of parents with smartphones & tablets, many have never used a mouse before.

By term 2 they were far more skilled even though they do not

with them and their students in a wide range of ways and activities.

Currently our Year 4 students are working on a co-operative study on our Solar System.

Students are being guided through the process so they have clearly defined and understood the task, revising locating keywords and are learning how to use a new software program – OneNote to organise their notes.

Fortunately every computer now has headphones so students can concentrate on watching and listening to many of the fantastic multimedia resources available to immerse themselves into building more background knowledge.

Marine Primary School

During the year Mrs Reynolds and I will both provide lessons, activities and resources to support all classes K-6 in achieving their outcomes associated with various PDHPE units including nutrition.

While the students have the opportunity to search and discover, read & view the resources from the LLiC they also have the chance to explore the valuable e-resources available, create new learning and construct work samples using various new and familiar webtools during their classes in the LTiC. Our marine studies program

The students have the opportunity to develop their scientific skills through interactive curriculum-based activities and develop a greater understanding of key environmental, cultural & commercial issues through the ‘hands-on’ learning, school based lessons, research tasks and local excursions offered.

There are many suitable venues that our SBPS students have the opportunity to visit and explore over their years at school – the unique undersea world of Solitary Islands through a guided tour of

allows SBPS students to engage with real scientists through the primary school activity program run by the National Marine Science Centre (NMSC) of our local Southern Cross university.

the [NMSC aquarium]; a visit to: [the Fishermen’s Co-operative], a mangrove ecosystem, [Dolphin Marine Magic], [NSW Fisheries], [Coffs Harbour Jetty & Marina], their [local Sandy Beach],

[Arrawarra’s Indigenous fish traps] & [Muttonbird Island].

They will explore and use some of the resources pinned at [Marine Curriculum @ SBPS].

The [Australian Fisheries Management Authority] have also provided a wide range of quality resources to further support student’s classroom learning.

In the past, as the only teacher librarian in the library as is usually the case, Mrs Reynolds and I have often felt isolated and would have loved to have had someone to share our thoughts, concerns & ideas for the use of and management of the library.

We are both delighted now to have each other to sound out, evaluate and implement our ideas for improvements and innovations to add more value to improving student instruction and outcomes.

Together, we are smarter and stronger!

Together, we co-operate and consolidate!

Together, we inspire and innovate!

Audrey Nay

Words. 37

Debbie’s Page The End Paper

The-Three-Rs Network PL Day On Friday 30 May, around 35 Teacher-Librarians from Southern NSW and the ACT attended the inaugural The-Three-Rs Network Professional Learning Day at Queanbeyan High School.

In the morning session Primary and Secondary TLs had the opportunity to ‘share successes’ and discuss some of the positive ways we are continuing to promote the uniqueness and value of our roles and profession within our schools.

We were also able to connect with SLANSW President Michelle Jensen, and the North Coast Teacher Librarian Conference, via Adobe Connect, providing some rich discussion about plans for future professional development opportunities.

In the middle session attendees experienced the NSW State Library’s ‘Reaching Out’ program, which provides a thorough overview of the digital resources available through the State Library website, and in particular the Learning Services page.

38 Words.

Words.

Holding my great-great-greatgrandmother Mary Reiby’s letter We were also lucky enough to see some of the SLNSW ‘treasures’ brought along by the presenters, including Captain Cook’s shoe buckle, and a letter composed by Mary Reiby during her transportation to the Australian colony.

The afternoon session featured an overview of Scootle resources, and some examples of creating Learning Paths for students.

It is intended that our next PL Day will include a follow-up session on Scootle, examining the process of creating Learning Paths in more detail.

The-Three-Rs Network is a collective that is open to any TL who would like to join, with a focus on supporting TLs in ‘Rural, Regional and Remote’ areas.

We aim to keep costs low, with no membership fees, but rather a desire to maintain a strong digital presence and collaborative practice.

We are always seeking ways to reach out to TLs, and are currently planning an online ‘TeachMeet’ for Term 3 this year.

If you would like to be involved, or join our The-Three-Rs email list and wiki, please email me. cheryl.thomson3@det.nsw.edu.au Cheryl Thomson

Snooping Around the State

We have a Winner!

In our last issue of Words. we asked the Question “What is the dog’s name in the book ‘Deadly D & Justice Jones’?”

Here comes the winner: From: Karen Keighery Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2014 3:53 PM To: Jensen, Michelle Subject: fluffy.

Hi Michelle, Just reading Words and your article, I’m taking a punt that the dog’s called Fluffy. The cat’s called ‘Mongrel’, definitely! I would love to win the jersey and the book!

Cheers, Karen From: Jensen, Michelle Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2014 4:35 PM To: Karen Keighery Subject: RE: fluffy.

Hi Karen, It’s yours (YOU WIN!) Michelle Jensen From: Karen Keighery Sent: Wednesday, 9 April 2014 10:31 AM To: Jensen, Michelle Subject: RE: fluffy Hi Michelle, Attached is a photo of me receiving the fabulous prize. It certainly was an exciting moment for me as I’m one of those people who’d love to win a competition but never does.

Actually, the last thing I won was over ten years ago and was a ‘fake tan’!

I am sending the prize to St Mary’s Primary School, Bowraville where I think it will do the greatest good and some young person is sure to be as thrilled as I was to win it.

The school at Bowraville has only 42 students and 73% are aboriginal. Our school supports the school with some fundraising activities, etc.

Karen

ALIA LARK – Library Applied Research Kollektive Amongst the hubbub of the first week of Term 2, several school librarians and other information professionals found the time to come together to share their knowledge, understanding, hopes and anxieties around research in our profession.

The evening, held at St. Vincent’s College Learning Resource Centre, began with conversations about research methods in practice.

Dr Mary Anne Kennan spoke about data gathering through surveys in a large, international study with a qualitative follow-up. I spoke about the value of ethnographic methods and fine-grain data gathering in a school library context. Dr Suzana Sukovic shared her experiences of action research and how the process helps with gaining a new perspective on research data. Motivated and enthused, our collective

split into smaller groups to focus on our own research interests. We spent the next while refining our ideas into action plans.

After much discussion, it was decided that one of the most valuable things about our gettogethers is the opportunity to ask questions and get feedback on our ideas and to be made accountable for our progress. Moving forward, we have arranged a workshop to give an opportunity for feedback on research as well as time to “shut up and write”.

The next ALIA LARK workshop will be held during the school holidays on Monday 29 September at St. Vincent’s College, Potts Point. To keep up to date on LARK activities, subscribe to our mailing list by emailing lark.kollektive@gmail. com or check out the blog at http://lark-kollektive.blogspot. com.au Alycia Bailey

Image Left to right: Alycia Bailey, Suzana Sukovic, Carolyn Brown, Suzanne Ma, Michelle Jenson, Irma Birchall, Mary Coe, Mary-Anne Kennan

Words. 39