EB vs. Wikipedia

Over the past few weeks, you probably heard the news that Encyclopedia Britannica is ceasing publication of its print edition.  I found this infographic from Mashable comparing Encyclopedia Britannica with Wikipedia.  Now as a librarian, I tend to discount most information from Wikipedia as being a bit unreliable.  But after looking at this comparison, I must admit I had to pause and think. 

This paragraph is the most compelling:

The crowd-powered reference site (Wikipedia) is arguably the greatest knowledge experiment civilization has ever seen. And while its critics are the first to point out its unreliability, advocates would counter that a self-correcting collective is more reliable and scalable than a room full of scholars (who, on occasion, also make mistakes).

I never thought about the "self correcting" aspect of Wikipedia.  I always thought of it as being interesting but unreliable.  I do encourage my students to look at the external links with articles--those will lead a researcher to other sources of information.  And sometimes Wikipedia is the best source for "pop culture" or very current information--something Britannica or World Book can't always keep up with.

So here's the question......do you allow Wikipedia as a research source?  Is it acceptable as long as it is not the sole source? 

Once again, I'm finding myself changing my train of thought and trying to adapt to a "new world" in terms of technology.  Learning new things is supposed to grow brain cells and keep you young......I just feel old......

Library spaces

You know I try to use my blog for good positive sharing of educational information of interest to teachers and librarians.  But once in a while, I just need a place to vent my own personal concerns.  Today is one of those days. 

A little background.....I work in an old school.  The physical building isn't large enough for all the students who attend the school.  The gym, the cafeteria, the library--none of the common spaces are big enough.  I understand the need for us all to work together and be creative with the use of space.

But these days I'm beginning to feel a deep resentment at the way the library space is seen in the building--especially by our administrators.  I've lost two large storage areas all ready and yesterday I found out I stand to lose two more.  It wouldn't hurt so much except for the fact that I have asked and asked to rearrange our circ desk.  Doing so will mean we have to run some electrical and cable wiring.  And I keep getting turned down because it "costs too much." 

Moving the desk will open up the library and allow better traffic flow as well as allow me to rearrange our computers into a better teaching arrangement.  But no one above me understands that.  But they do seem to think it's okay to pre-empt library space and use it for another purpose, whether I'm in agreement or not.

I'm seen as "not being a team player" when I fuss about losing our storage areas, but no one thinks my ideas for improvement are valid.   My administrators think all I do is check out books and harass kids about missing ones so why should we bother rearranging things?  I don't know how else to show the importance of the library to this campus.  I send stats every six weeks on every possible number I can think of; I've shoved my way into our IB program to coordinate and improve our extended essays, and I've volunteered for every committee I can find.  I'm at a loss where to go next.

 My library coordinator suggests talking to students and video taping their responses.  That's one good idea I haven't followed up on yet.  I suppose when I'm not mad any more, I will be able to think better, but right now, I'm just hurt and angry.  My assistant always says we should just lock the doors one day and let the admins deal with the fallout.  Maybe she's right, but in my heart of hearts, I just can't do it.... to the kids or the teachers.

So to anyone out there in the great blogosphere.....help me out!  How can I show the importance of this library to my admins?  I welcome any and all suggestions.

Blabberize

In need of a new project idea?  Here's one you could use with an sort of project involving famous people or historical figures.  It's a site called Blabberize.  It's so cute! 

You insert a picture and then you can make a part of the picture move and "talk"--saying whatever you want it to say.

Students could use this site for book reports, using pictures of characters to "talk" about the plot.  Or use it for a biographical report. 
It's a fun site--check it out!

Survey Monkey

So I guess all I've been thinking about lately is our Extended Essay assignment for our IB students.  Hopefully you read my short article yesterday so you know what I'm talking about.  I took over the job as Extended Essay coordinator and after fumbling around this year, I've spent the past week revising the way I approach the assignment for students and for teachers. 

A lot of the revisions I've made were based my end of essay survey I conducted with this year's seniors.  I used Survey Monkey--a great site to help you gather information!  I've used them before and the information I can gather is invaluable.  The site has various levels and I'm just using the free part right now.  I don't need the bells and whistles the site offers but it's nice to know they are there!  I can write my own survey questions so I can tailor it to just the information I need. 

Here's my end of essay survey:

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Extended Essay

I was asked to write a short piece about our IB students and their Extended Essay assignment.  See what you think:

The Extended Essay as a component of the IB Curriculum

“You know this wasn’t so bad.  I think I learned more in this assignment than I have in some of my classes.” (student, Class of 2012)

“I didn’t think I could do this when you first told us about it.  I’m so proud of myself for completing it.” (student, Class of 2012)

“The Extended Essay was the perfect training for writing college papers.” (College freshman, Class of 2011)

The learning involved in researching and writing the extended essay is closely aligned with the development of many of the characteristics described in the IB learner profile. Students are, to a large extent, responsible for their own independent learning, through which they acquire and communicate in-depth knowledge and understanding. (from the IB Diploma Programme Extended Essay Guide) http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/documents/dp/drq/extended_essay/d_0_eeyyy_gui_0903_1_e.pdf

One of the most rigorous components of the IB curriculum is the Extended Essay.  It falls within the center of the Hexagon of Core Courses, just like TOK and CAS hours.  Students have the opportunity to research a topic of their choice from any of the core courses and then compose a 4000 word essay on the topic. The paper must pose a research question, and then through investigation and analysis, support an opinion.  The score on the essay is combined with the score from the TOK essay as part of the total IB results.

As the librarian of our school, I serve as the Extended Essay coordinator, directing and helping students with the assignment.  The paper is written outside of class time, much like a college paper.  However, unlike a college assignment, students have an individual teacher mentor assigned to help them with the details of researching and writing.   

Many of our IB students approach the assignment with some degree of hesitation.  This is probably the biggest and most involved assignment they face within the curriculum.  However, the paper is also one of the most rewarding aspects of the programme, as it gives the students the chance for independent, self-directed learning as well as a huge dose of self confidence when they finish and see their accomplishment.

One of the biggest issues with the papers concerns the level of research needed.  The assignment requires rigorous, academic research and for many students, this is the first time they can’t just “surf the Internet” to find information.  Teaching about peer-reviewed journals vs. magazines as well as using databases to find information becomes a necessity as the students begin the research and continues throughout the process along with learning to cite sources correctly.  The teacher supervisor has a big role here, helping the student find appropriate sources and using the correct citation format—whether it’s MLA, APA or Chicago Turabian.

Although initially overwhelming to most students, the essay can be one of the most powerful experiences of the IB curriculum.  Learning the researching and writing skills along with the time management needed to complete such a large independent assignment are as valuable as any content in the core curriculum classes and these skills benefit students far into the future.

SlideRocket

I made a powerpoint to train our IB teachers to help with our Extended Essay assignment. I can link a powerpoint to my LibGuide, but to embed it, I made the presentation available on SlideRocket. This is a great site and I've used it before when I need to embed a presentation rather than just link to it. You can create the powerpoint and then upload it to SlideRocket or you can create on the site. I guess this is one way I'm still old school because I find it much easier to upload after I've created the powerpoint. Take a look here and see what you think.

A cute infographic showing the most common grammatical mistakes! From Copyblogger....
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