Blog Post #3 Digital Curation Tools

Through this week's readings, my eyes were opened to the importance of planning learning experiences that require higher order thinking. In Jennifer Gonzalez's article, To Boost Higher-Order Thinking, Try Curation, she highlights that "curation has a ton of potential as an academic task." She states that "In an age where information is ubiquitous and impossible to consume all at once, we rely on the curation of others to help us process it all." Through this article, I learned that curation projects have the potential to put students at work at three different levels on Bloom's Taxonomy- understand, analyze, and evaluate. Gonzalez's article emphasizes that critical thinking is one of the 4 C's listed as an essential skill for students in the modern age and well-designed curation projects require lots of critical thinking.

Squishy Circuits

After this week's lecture and readings, I was led to examine a piece of technology hardware for its potential pedagogical functions. Squishy Circuits were something that I was not familiar with, but they instantly grabbed my attention as something that primary and elementary school students would be interested in. 

 

Image Description: A black square box with an on and off switch connected by one black wire and one red wire to two separate rolls of red conductive dough. The red wire (+) from the battery is connected to roll one and the black wire (-) is connected to roll two. 

What are Squishy Circuits?

Squishy Circuits use conductive and insulating play dough to teach the basics of electrical circuits, a perfect blend of play and learning! Our play dough kits, projects, and recipes teach problem solving and engineering concepts and inspire creativity and independent thinking (squishycircuits, 2024). 

Check out the Squishy Circuit Website to learn more about bringing play dough creating to life, as they light up, beep, spin, and more! 

Here you can find the Dough Recipes for how to make play dough insulating and conductive. 

This YouTube video teaches viewers how to create more conductive dough for creations.

Below is a TedTalk YouTube video that highlights Squishy Circuits and their founder, AnnMarie Thomas. Thomas explains how she came up with the idea and encourages viewers to grab some Play-doh, salt, and sugar and start playing!

Technology Enabled Learning Model 

A technology-enabled learning model that coincides with Squishy Circuits is the R.A.T. Model. As learned through Module 5, R.A.T is an assessment framework for understanding technology's role in teaching, learning and curricular practices. The primary purpose of R.A.T was to introduce it as a self-assessment for preservice and inservice teachers to increase critical technological decision-making (Hughes, 2018 ).

The idea of Squishy Circuits relates to that of technology serving as a different means to the same instructional practices. Squishy Circuits increase efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of the same instructional practices. Squishy Circuits were created with the intent to invent new instruction and learning. 

Keeping the R.A.T. Model in mind, educators are able to use Squishy Circuits as a means of replacing, amplifying, and transforming their lessons. The use of circuit building activities with play dough are intended for children and eliminate the need for soldering or breadboards. Squishy Circuits make it possible to introduce simple circuit concepts, as well as quickly incorporate movement and light into sculptures to young children. 

How can Squishy Circuits be used in K-12 Settings?

"Exciting learning experiences can occur when children are engaged with materials, not just through simple interaction, but through designing, creating, and inventing" (Johnson & Thomas, 2010).

Squishy Circuits were created as a result of the founder acknowledging that children learn better when they're having fun! Squishy Circuits are able to teach science, technology, and engineering through play. While the target age to introduce electrical circuits by using Squishy Circuits is grades 3-5, younger children can learn with the assistance of their teacher or older buddies. Older students are also able to use Squishy Circuits for coding and physical properties like resistance. Squishy Circuits are aligned to NGSS Standards. 

This Educator's Guide highlights learning objectives and standards for educators. 

Sample Lesson

Helpful Links to Squishy Circuit Resources

By visiting Squishy Circuit Projects you will be able to gain ideas for Squishy Circuit projects. 

Click here to find out how to use the Components of Squishy Circuits

Check out Squishy Circuits: A Tangible Medium for Electronics Education to learn more about the design of a circuit building activity for children.

References

Gonzalez, J. (2017, April 15). To boost higher-order thinking, try curations. 2024 Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/curation/ 

Hughes, J. (2018). Replacement, amplification, and transformation: The R.A.T. model. Tech Edges. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180830171822/http://techedges.org/r-a-t-model/ 

Johnson, S. & Thomas, AM.P. (2010, April 10). Squishy circuits: A tangible medium for electronics education. Publication History. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1753846.1754109 

Play dough circuit kits. Squishy Circuits (2024). https://squishycircuits.com/

Thomas, A.M. (2011, April 4). AnnMarie Thomas: Hands on science with squishy circuits. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M3Dow20KlM

Blog Post #2

 Welcome to Blog Post #2 where I will be discussing how information literacy, technology and digital/media intersect, as well as my information diet and the information diet I will hope to have as a school librarian.

The Module 3 lecture, by Mx. Dreeszen Bowman, challenged me to think about misinformation, what information is, and my information diet. I was reminded that my job as a school librarian is to help others distinguish between information that is reliable and is not. While I have heard the terms misinformation and disinformation, this week I learned the differences between the two. Misinformation is incorrect/misleading information that is presented as fact, although the person giving the information may not mean to be misleading. On the other hand, disinformation is incorrect information given with the intention to deceive. I was reminded of the importance of using tools like triangulation to find news in variety of sources. 

How do we determine what is real or fake news?

This week, I also had the opportunity to explore several readings and additional resources. In Joyce Valenza's article, Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a "post-truth" world, in reference to news literacy, she states "We need to teach important lessons of everyday civics for new consumption and production landscapes. These lessons involve sustained critical thinking, a practice to engage in regularly as we read and view and inquire with learners of all ages across disciplines." Valenza also touches on fake news and the variety of flavors that it comes in. It is noted that most news is not fake or true. Although journalists may fact check, they are not completely bias-free. This article highlights "Some Rules of Thumb" for considering news, which include interrogating urls, suspect the sensational, go back to the source, go back to the story again, think outside the reliability box, triangulate, identify the type of reading or writing, check your search attitude and biases, use a little energy, stop before you forward, and be suspicious of pictures. 

I really enjoyed the resources for building a news literacy toolkit. Below are the links to a few that you may want to check out!

Factcheck.org  - reducing the level of deception and confusion regarding U.S. politics

Snopes - dispelling urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation

Does This Website Smell Funny to You? - a protocol for helping middle school students evaluate websites by the Journal of AASL

The Liturgists Podcast regarding Fake News and Media Literacy opened my eyes to the ways humans perceive news and media literacy. There is discrepancy over what fake news means. Some important points were raised, such as thinking about where the news is coming from- is there an author listed? (people should be listed by name), is there a date of publication?, are specific sources cited? Around the 36 minute mark of the podcast, they discuss conspiracy and fake news, with a quote from a book they read that states, "its the awareness of our ignorance that gives science its reliability." Science is always questioning itself. If better evidence comes along, it's always replacing it. Science is the best we have at determining what is true. I think this is definitely something to ponder. 

Towards the end of the podcast, Clay Johnson speaks to information diets and how they compare to food diets. He refers to the concepts of an upstairs and downstairs brain. Clay Johnson: A Software Toolkit for Your Information Diet highlights the best way to have a healthy information diet. He notes that having a healthy information diet will help you live longer. I think that I can benefit from one piece of software that he mentions using- rescuetime.com, which measures your intake, like a food journal for your computer that helps you take control of your time. I will be able to see how many hours I have spent scrolling Instagram or Facebook or other outlets. Overall, my information diet is healthy. I do not get completely absorbed by ads or media that are introduced to me. I think as a future school librarian I will have to really work to fact check and make sure that I am using techniques like triangulation to find a variety of sources. I look forward to helping my future students critically think to distinguish between real and fake news and information.

I learned a great deal of information this week and hope that you all did too!

References

Bowman, J.D. (2022, May 13). Module 3 intro [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HWmTrsakfw  

Gungor, M. (Host). (2017, March 7). Fake News & Media Literacy. [Audio podcast episode]. In The Liturgists Podcast. Spotify. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-liturgists-podcast/episodes/Fake-News--Media-Literacy-eutfrm 

Johnson, C. (2012, May 26). Clay Johnson: A Software Toolkit for Your Information Diet. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Ea3gtbEyI 

Valenza, J. (2016, November 26). Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a "post-truth" world. School Library Journal. https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2016/11/26/truth-truthiness-triangulation-and-the-librarian-way-a-news-literacy-toolkit-for-a-post-truth-world/  

Blog Post #1

 Hello! Welcome to Blog Post #1, where I will be discussing AASL and ISTE Standards, along with a couple of articles from Knowledge Quest, Volume 47 Issue 5. 

Above you will find the six Shared Foundations that anchor the AASL Standards Integrated Framework. This infographic can be used to enlighten school librarians on ways to get started with the standards. 

AASL One Page (AASL, 2017)

Above, school librarians can find another quick one page guide to assist them in getting started with the National School Library Standards. 

Let's dive into the AASL Standards...

 The AASL Standards make vertical planning stronger for school librarians. They challenge us to think about how not only the students in our classes can be successful, but how these students can also be successful in moving forward. As an elementary school librarian, I must remember that the skills that I am teaching are foundational for these students as they progress through their education. These standards are not organized by grade level.

Let's dive into the ISTE Standards...

The ISTE are technology focused. As learned in the lecture this week, these standards amplify who we are as teachers. A key take-away from the lecture, was that these standards do not hide the aspects of teachers. We must plan for these standards. 

I appreciate that the AASL Standards are broken into learner and school librarian competencies. The ISTE standards are broken down into categories by students and educators and include: Students: Empowered Learner, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, and Global Collaborator. Educators: Facilitator, Analyst, Citizen, Designer, Facilitator and Collaborator. 

As a beginning school librarian, I can see that I will be able to use both of these standards. I will use the AASL standards to think about what I need to plan and my goals for teaching, and I will use the ISTE standards to help guide technology based instruction.

In the Knowledge Quest articles that I read, were some great ideas for building connections using school library standards. 

The article, What's in a Quote? Building Connections Using School Library Standards, by Kathryn Roots Lewis made me more aware of the ways that school librarians can be leaders to transform teaching and learning. She makes a powerful statement in saying, "National School Library Standards give school librarians the path to meaningful, learner-focused practice." This article also enlightened me on the terms enable learner voice, choice, and agency. Lewis refers to librarians as being learner-ready and encourages us to think about how the standards are aligned with all of the components of a learner's education. 

Another article in Knowledge Quest that spoke to me was An Appreciation of Digital Literacy Tools & Resources by Mary Lou Caron O'Connor. Upon reading that a first grader told Mrs. O'Connor that going to her library is like a restaurant- "You seat us, greet us, tell us what's on the menu, serve us, and even let us go up for seconds and dessert!" I knew that I wanted to read more to be like Mrs. O'Connor. I really like the metaphor of thinking of life as a menu. As O'Connor notes, "Trying new things is how you discover interests, genres, strengths, weaknesses, friends, talents- and these can grow into career choices." Menus help students make choices to guide their learning. Collaborating with teachers in different grade levels is important so that library standards and Common Core standards can be addressed. As a future elementary school librarian, I hope to incorporate many of O'Connor's teaching techniques, like using a collection of digital, traditional and maker space activities. A powerful remark that I would like to remember for the future, is "Student choice empowers our students to take charge of their learning."

Here's to helping students with the process of taking charge of their learning. 

Until next time,

Emily

 References

American Association of School Librarians. (2017, September 12). AASL Standards-Evolved and                 Familiar.YouTube. https://youtu.be/JFMCRxGPOgY?si=JsiyebsleO  dgo1H

American Association of School Librarians. (2017). A Guide For School Librarians-Reflect and Refresh-     Getting Started with the National Library Standards. https://standards.aasl.org/project/one-pagers/ 

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National School Library Standards crosswalk with     ISTE Standards for Students and Educators. https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf

International Society for Technology in Education. (2024). ISTE Standards: For students. ISTE.   https://iste.org/standards/students

Lewis, K.R. (May/June 2019). Making it matter: National School Library Standards for school                     administrators! Knowledge Quest 47(5). pp. 56-63.

O'Connor, M.L.C. (May/June 2019). Now serving: An appealing menu of digital literacy tools &            resources. Knowledge Quest 47(5). pp. 17-21.