ETL523 Assignment 1 reflection

This has been an interesting assignment on a number of levels. Having to create a digital artifact was a great way to encourage me to explore new tools and ways of creating and 'selling' information and ideas. I can now see how this could be a useful tool in the classroom.

The group aspect has also been interesting too. I can also appreciate the value of collaborating and would like to add some of the group members to my professional learning network. I have made more connections and had more useful interactions about an assignment through this process than in any other assignment so far. The group work certainly does promote discussion and bring a level of collegiality to things. On the downside the variations of pace of work were hard to manage - I often read very widely and take some time to bring all the strands together - which is usually only a week or so out from the due date - but this assignment forced me to move faster and i don't think that I had fully internalised all the information when we were being pushed to make decisions. As a result i'm not entirely sure that our approach is what I would be recommending now. How the wiki is marked is also interesting as the number of edits doesn't necessarily reflect the amount of thought or work that has been put in - there has definitely been discrepancies in that area.

well ... here's my digital artifact. I arrived at the idea that you need to follow 3 steps to teach digital citizenship in a class digital learning environment. I haven't gone into depth about how the choice of the digital learning environment can  empower good digital citizenship practice by virtue of its design and way its used - rather this is a how to for those who may not know where to start.

collaboration mentoring and fusion.

I've been swamped by the amount of reading in this unit. I don't think any other unit has required so much reading - and sometimes i find it a little disjointed and sometimes some readings are not suffieciently different to have been worth the pain. Yes, i'm grumbling but i'm well behind and the end does not seem to get any closer with these readings. (Fancy just 1 of several being 130 pages long!).

Anyway one of the things i have enjoyed reading about it the different mentoring and collaboration ideas. I think that Leiberman and Pointer-Mace (2010) are right when they suggest that as learning is social is it crusial that professional development reflects collegiality and co-collaboration.

Velzen's 3 step plan where modelling is "practical theorising" is great. I like the idea of the mentor teaching then co-teaching then the 'pre-teacher' teaching. I was also really struck by the Fusion model (Semadeni, 2009). I have been advocating at my childrens' school for more collaboration to improve teacher quality. As with many schools there are power bases and entrenched ideas and prejudices from old/new teachers.  I think this model, where it is based on observation not feedback or critique would be great. I would love it if they put something like this in place, particularity to utilise and share some of the expertise of the teachers, who currenlty don't really have opportunities to share this expertise or learn from others.

Lieberman, A and Pointer-Mace, D (2010) Making Practice Public: Teacher Learning in the 21st Century. Journal of Teacher Education 2010, 61(77) DOI: 10.1177/0022487109347319

Semadeni, J. H. (2009). Professional development. Taking charge of professional development a practical model for your school (pp. 28-48). Alexandria, Va.: ASCD.

Velzen, C. v., Volman, M., Brekelmans, M., & White, S. (2011). Guided work-based learning: Sharing practical teaching knowledge with student teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(2), 229-239. Retrieved April 29, 2013, from http://www.citeulike.org/article/9948660

edition 16 - collaboration

Before getting to collaboration ....assignment 1.... although i did well, i wasn't entirely happy, and have been reading and digesting all the various forum discussions - and after looking carefully at my assignment again, i know now that i should have been more explicit about the TL role and strategies used to overcome the obstacle. Although i discussed strategies, they were more an academic reflection and probably should have been more practical and yes, fewer resources and reading and more focus on this area would have helped! Note to self for next assignment.

But to collaboration, ... the benefits for Ts and TLs, not to mention students are undeniable, but Todd (2008) pointed out a few things that i have thought for a while - namely that a lack of time is a major challenge, that collaborative teaching practice (CTP) is tested by the day-to-day pressures of school, and recognition of expertise is not enough to encourage collaboration and CTP has to be motivated by student outcomes not by a desire to increase the profile and perception of the library. It's also interesting that Todd concludes this CTP required meeting out of hours and a strong desire and commitment on the part of those involved - which i guess again leads back to the idea that flexible scheduling would be necessary to successfully create an ILSC or even to increase opportunities for collaboration.
CTP - hard - yes, beneficial - yes, practical - ?? depends on the school, willingness of those involved and the time and scheduling available, worthy - yes!

Todd, R. J. (2008).The dynamics of classroom teacher and teacher librarian instructional collaboration Scan, 27(2), 19-28