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Standard 2.1 Knowledge of learners and learning
Candidates design library media instruction that assesses learner interests, needs, instructional methodologies, and information processes to assure that each is integral to information skills instruction. Candidates support the learning of all students and other members of the learning community, including those with diverse learning styles, abilities and needs. Information skills instruction is based on student interests and learning needs and is linked to student achievement.
Artifacts:
- Practicum Elementary: Book Search
A number of artifacts within the program fit this standard well; the first would be from ISTC 667. For the key assignment, I created a lesson using the steps of an instructional systems design (ISD). The steps within an ISD involve analysis of data, which meets part of Standard 2.1 as I determined student interest and needs with the analysis. To better instruct students of all learning styles I suggested obtaining the student’s learning styles inventory or conducting one of the students had not completed one. The needs addressed for this particular artifact, were information skills, those being citation, plagiarism, and source credibility. I had found through discussions with one of the science teachers at Hereford Middle School, that many of the 8th grade students did not understand these key skills. I worked with the science teacher so this instructional would be usable in all of the 8th grade science classrooms for gifted and talented students. I created it for G/T students because at the time those students needed the instruction the most, however I feel the instruction can be used for any student at any secondary level.
In ISTC 651, I created a Pathfinder for 8th grade G/T science students completing a project on a specific element. A Pathfinder is an assignment students complete by following the “path” laid out to them. The path contains instructions for completing the assignment and a list of resources, which do not need to be entirely non-print. For this Pathfinder I found a number of print and non-print resources to help students find information on their element. These resources ranged from encyclopedias to online videos. To help students broaden or narrow their research I also included a list of key words and call numbers, or “Dewey numbers” as I state on the Pathfinder. The Dewey numbers are call numbers for resources that would be located in that general area of the Dewey numbers. For this lesson however, those Dewey numbers would have contained information that could already be found within the books pulled. I feel this Pathfinder meets a number of areas in Standard 2.1. The Pathfinder was used immediately after its creation for a science teacher at Hereford Middle School and has been used in her class and other 8th grade science classes since then. There was one part of the assignment I added for the science teacher and that was a link to BibMe a helpful citation resource, as students were also required to cite all of their sources. However, after completion of my secondary placement, I will ask the teacher if I can change the resource to NoodleBib, which saves citations on the web and does not require an email as BibMe requires.
The presentation was a challenging and rewarding project for my ISTC 702 class. For this artifact, I was to create a presentation that supports a technology or technology-related recommendation. I wanted to find a technology for this project that would help students with diverse learning styles and assist in an area that needs improvement in most schools. This led me to reading tools, specifically those tools that provided text-to-speech for students who struggle with reading. I found a tool with this function and so much more. Natural Reader 9.0 has text-to-speech, allows the words to be highlighted as they are read, has multiple voices which students can change the speed of for slower or faster readers, and students are able to add background music and export the reading of the book with the music so they may create their own audio book. There are far more features such as the ones which help students when writing, like a toolbar that integrates into a word processor providing text prediction for struggling spellers and reading of the text as it is typed. Text documents can also be turned into audio files, so if students need take homework read to them outside the classroom a teacher can turn document into an audio file for the student. The presentation required me to gain support from the school for this technology and use certain information to help in that endeavor. I chose Hereford Middle as the school and brought up information on the school including an aspect of the school improvement plan regarding technology. I discussed a number of things including the training of the teachers and brought up the Concerns Based Adoption Model, how it will differentiate instruction, and national standards the software will meet. I included how to determine the impact of the software on students, the cost of the software, and where funding will come from to pay for the software. I feel this tool and artifact are excellent examples of meeting student’s interests and needs including those students with diverse learning styles.
Within my practicum, I completed a lesson, which I feel meets parts of Standard 2.1. In my Elementary placement, I conducted a lesson with the 3rd grade technology class, which was a precursor to the actual technology classes. The lesson was as much of an assessment as it was a lesson, as it assessed the student’s knowledge of the layout of the fiction section, which they learned in 2nd grade. The lesson allowed for diverse learning styles as they determined the call numbers according to the author’s name, then located the book, brining it back to their seat to discuss with the rest of the class. This helped prepare the students for the author search, which would take place in the computer lab the next class.
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