Merry Christmas!

Advent has been full of music making and end of term so that's why no posts!
It's time to say Happy Christmas to all those who read my site! Watch out for 2012 there will be some news!
The pic below is of an old building in the centre of St. Albans : it was all snowy that year : reckon it will be quite warm and no snow this year!

Framing transliterate learning through inquiry and participatory culture

This inspiring presentation by Buffy Hamilton, whom I much admire, at AASL 2011 asks how we are helping students create conversations about multiple ways of reading and writing today’s world?
It includes a number of definitions of transliteracy from various experts and proponents of the term. Having just done a good deal of research around this area myself I can recommend this presentation as a good indication of where librarians should be positiooining themselves to help our students in schools and beyond. Regret no time now to view say more : I shall return to this. I do admire such a great presentation but 148 slides may put you off...It wears me out to imagine how long this lot took to prepare! Some great images and captions though!

Framing Transliterate Learning Through Inquiry and Participatory Culture

View more presentations from Buffy Hamilton

Libraries to go : mobile tech in libraries

Ellyssa Kroski has done it again! A great summary of how libraries are engaging with mobiles.Last year at the Online conference in London I was able to see her present and this latest update is really worth looking at.

Mobile Tech in Libraries

View more presentations from Ellyssa Kroski

Truth, lies and the internet

This Demos report here looks at the ability of young people in Britain to critically evaluate online information. We librarians may have a view on this already (!) This report reviews current literacture and the views of 500 teachers.
The report calls for scepticism online to ba the heart of learning. Censorship of the web is neither needed nor desirable. This will be a useful report to be able to use and cite.
Great stuff!

Web 2.0 tools in education : a quick guide

Came across this guide by Mohamed Amin Embi from Centre of Academic Advancement, University Kebangsaan Malaysia. It is a remarkable guide available for us all to consult on the web using FlipSnack. The experience is therefore like reading an orginal book and flipping over the pages. Coverage includes blogs, Diigo, Evernote, Facebook, Flickr, Glogster, Jing, Prezi, Sype, Slideshare, Twitter, YouTube and Wordle.
Each is explained with visual diagrams. Great and useful resource.

Research Supervisors and Information Literacy

Just in case you haven't come across the recent RIN report "The role of research supervisors in information literacy" - here is the link. It looks at the role of PhD supervisors in ensuring research students have the appropriate level of IL ability to manage their work and later career. Two online surveys were done (one for supervisors and one for research students)plus 5 case studies. A complex and variable picture emerges (doesnt surprise me..) Supervisors are an influence, even if they dont real;ly recognise the IL concept.A minority do not engage their students in IL. There is emphasis on academic writing and importance of critical thinking which I finbd encouraging. Supervisors are not always aware of the training and help available (surprise surprise). Many admit to being out of date or not fully up to date.
We have an opening here and the recommendations will help this. See here