Sandbox School Library Web Site Design Unit 4

The Sandbox This unit consists of group work that provides you (the candidate) with the opportunity to “play” in the sandbox with school library web site design and to take a look at what your fellow classmates are building.

Rationale: At the graduate level, some students do not like to participate in group work: Lack of time to collaborate with others Desire for control over the process and product Wanting to work on one’s own time table

American Association for School Librarians “Candidates are effective teachers who demonstrate knowledge of learners and learning and who model and promote collaborative planning, instruction in multiple literacies, and inquiry-based learning, enabling members of the learning community to become effective users and creators of ideas and information” (ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Librarians (2010), p.1).

AASL cont. (1) “Collaboration has long been the mantra of school librarian education and continues to be a challenge for candidates” (Ibid, p. 4).

AASL cont. (2) “School librarian candidates must embrace twenty-first century standards and tools. As the Internet continues to evolve to a more dynamic, social environment, the school librarian must use social networking tools not only to discuss issues and form partnerships with administrators and classroom teachers (Lamb & Johnson, 2008) but also to impact teaching and learning (Naslund & Giustini, 2008)” (Ibid, p. 4).

AASL Link http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aasleducation/schoollibrary/2010_standards_with_rubrics_and_statements_1-31-11.pdf

Unit 4 Objectives Think critically and gain knowledge about the content that is needed for school library web sites. (Standard 1)

Objectives cont. (1) Analyze and organize information, and collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems. (Standard 2)

Objectives cont. (2) Use technology ethically and responsibly. (Standard 3)

Purpose

Distribution of Points for Your Grade: The Group’s Plan for Web Site Design is worth 10 points. The sandbox school library web site is worth 55 points. The evaluation of assigned classmates’ (peers’) Web sites is a total of 65 points. Total: 130 points

Elements of Your Group’s Web Site: Accessible to people with disabilities according to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Meet PK-12 student needs Student resource page(s) Curriculum-related page(s) A page for parent resources Links to the online library catalog and other community library catalogs Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (2009, p. 34 (found in the Problem Scenario)) requirements must be incorporated. Other educational interests may also be incorporated.

Other help: Weebly.com, Google Sites, Webs.com, or some other web site host that allows for content to be added to multiple pages for web site development. You will not use an existing school library web site.

More help: Examples of my sites: http://hweimar.wikispaces.com http://www.schoollibrarians4u.weebly.com

Important! Web sites should be visually appealing. Many reports that I have skimmed (notice the word selection) lately say that the average Internet reader actually reads only 20%; i.e., twenty percent, of the content that is printed on each web page.

Digital Photo v. Clip Art Digital photograph Clip art

Remember Web Site Evaluation? Contact info; i.e., email contact Copyright date that was current Who managed the site or who was responsible for the information on the site? Title for the site Subtitles or subheadings on each additional web pages Ease of navigation between each page of the site Uniformity of the site

Other Items to Consider Book reviews School lunch menus and sports news/highlights Area public libraries and their news Intellectual freedom statement Virtual library tours State standards ISTE standards Comments section Tutoring schedule Parents section Collaborative lessons/plans

Your Problem: Your district has decided that the school librarians should come together to design a one-stop shopping school library web site for the community that extends the school library program outside the physical confines of the school buildings’ walls and beyond the hours of the school day.

More information… The website should be accessible to people with disabilities according to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. You have previously selected your group. This group has the responsibility to carry out the design and development of the school library web site.

Meeting Needs PK-12 student needs Parent needs through resources Student resources may be distributed among several pages according to: levels (such as, elementary and secondary levels) curriculum-related pages, which may include homework help and reference sites Online library catalog(s) Other educational interests may also be incorporated into the web site, such as: virtual field trips web quests and pathfinders reading promotional activities statements on policies and procedures etc.

Web Sites Should… “…house such materials as scaffolding tools, graphic organizers, downloadable interventions, links to citation sites, reading lists to support projects, and writing guidelines for research papers and reports” (p. 34)

References American Association of School Librarians. (2009). Empowering learners: Guidelines for school library media programs. Chicago: AASL. Harris, C. (2011, February). Are you accessible? School Library Journal, 57(2), 13. Jurkowski, O. (2005). Schools of thought: What to include on your school library Web site. Children & Libraries, 3(1), 24-28. Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (2008). School library media specialist 2.0: A dynamic collaborator, teacher, and technologist. Teacher Librarian, 36(2), 74-78. Logan, D. K., & Beuselinck, C. L. (2002). K-12 Web pages: Planning & publishing excellent school Web sites. Worthington, OH: Linworth.