TL Under Construction

I am in the process of unpacking the second assessment item for ETL501: the assignment has two parts –

1. Creating an Electronic Pathfinder and
2. a critical analysis of the process in which I was engaged in creating the pathfinder.

Our pathfinders must follow a specific sequence:

• Introduction – audience/purpose/information literacy skills
• keywords and definitions
• reference sources – print/digital
• printed resources
• online resources including search engines

So this is all pretty straight forward. It’s the second part that needs a bit more reflection. The critical analysis also has a required structure:

• curricular context of topic/learning needs of specified group
• critical analysis of search strategy employed/use of tools/sources/evaluation of tools
• critical analysis of pathfinder in relation to students’ IL skills
• reflection on learning within the process

I am always looking for opportunities to apply some of the  models, tools, processes recommended by the library gurus such as David Loertscher, Jamie McKenzie etc. I thought I’d employ a research model I’m adopting for the pathfinder to my own work in order to understand it’s use ‘from the inside out. I’ve used the Big Six in the past with groups of students and would like to find out more about Jamie McKenzie’s Research Cycle. It has an emphasis on questioning that appeals to my own teaching philosophy so I’ll incorporate it in the pathfinder and apply it as my own re/search strategy.

I also came across an interesting organizational tool that I’d like to experiment with for the second part of my assignment with modification. The IMPACT (Instructional Media Professional’s Academic Collaboration Tool) planning and implementation documentation tool was designed by INTEConsulting Inc. and comes as a software package that converts all your input data into charts and reports. It looks like it will produce the kinds of documentation that many principals like to see and would certainly strengthen any TLs profile. I haven’t sent for the package yet but will record information using a modified format to begin with.

It feels better knowing I have some kind of ‘bones’ to hang this assignment on. I hope it actually fits and that I”m not being over-ambitious. Don’t want to lose sight of the actual assignment in the lure of the chance to try some new ‘toys’.

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Flickr image: “Getting to the bottom of it” by Tom Poes