Information and Knowledge

Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours. – John Locke

Standard 2: Information and Knowledge

Candidates model and promote ethical, equitable access to and use of physical, digital, and virtual collections of resources. Candidates demonstrate knowledge of a variety of information sources and services that support the needs of the diverse learning community. Candidates demonstrate the use of a variety of research strategies to generate knowledge to improve practice.

Website Evaluation Assignment

Enter the topic you have selected: Keyboarding
Enter the grade level of students you have selected: 3^rd Grade
Website Title: com
Website Link: https://www.typing.com
Copyright Date: 2017
Website Subject Area: keyboarding
Who is the website intended for? Both
What grade levels is this website suitable for? K-12
Provide a brief description of the website:

Typing.com is an online keyboarding website. It teaches the students the proper way to keyboard through step by step lessons. It also tests their speed and accuracy.

* What standards and objectives will the use of this website address?

TEKS – §126.7. b.6(e) Technology Applications, Grades 3-5

* Prerequisites (e.g. prior knowledge, reading ability, vocabulary level, etc.):

Student needs to be able to turn on computer, type in website URL, and remember student login information.

* Provide a thorough description of the website strengths:

It is very student friendly. Most of the instructions are in simple words and pictures. To increase speed and accuracy it has fun, high graphic games. It allows teachers to create accounts for their student and group them by classes. It is shows the student progression to the student and the teacher. It gives the teacher real time assessment while the students are typing and it allows teachers to print progress reports for each student.

* Provide a thorough description of the website limitations:

One of the limitations is it will allow the student to advance to the next level without completing the level before. With it being free it does have online ads which the students can easily access.

* Website Special Features:

It allows the student to personalize it by changing the website skin to whatever theme they want.

* Do you recommend this website for classroom use? Yes

Website Selection Rubric

Rating Area	High Quality	Medium Quality	Low Quality
Alignment with Standards, Outcomes, & Objectives	Standards/outcomes/ objectives addressed and use of Web resource should enhance student learning.	Standards/outcomes/ objectives partially addressed and use of Web resource may enhance student learning.	Standards/outcomes/ objectives not addressed and use of Web resource will likely not enhance student learning.
Accurate & Current Information	Information is correct and does not contain material that is out of date.	Information is correct, but does contain material that is out of date.	Information is not correct and does contain material that is out of date.
Website Author	The website was created by a creditable author with their credentials clearly stated on the website.	The website appears to created by a creditable author, but their credentials clearly stated on the website.	The website was not created by a creditable author.
Age-Appropriate Language	Language used is age appropriate and vocabulary is understandable.	Language used is nearly age appropriate and some vocabulary is above/below student age.	Language used is not age appropriate and vocabulary is clearly inappropriate for student age.
Interest Level & Engagement	Topic is presented so that students are likely to be interested and actively engaged in learning.	Topic is presented to interest students most of the time and engage most students in learning.	Topic presented so as not to interest students and not engage them in learning.
Technical Quality	The material represents the best available technology and media.	The material represents technology and media that are good quality, although there may be some problems using it.	The material represents technology and media that are not well prepared and are of very poor quality.
Ease of Use (User may be Student or Teacher)	Material follows easy-to-use patterns with nothing to confuse the user.	Material follows patterns that are easy to follow most of the time, with a few things to confuse the user.	Material follows no patterns and most of the time the user is very confused.
Bias Free	There is no evidence of objectionable bias or advertising. The website is not propaganda.	There is little evidence of bias or advertising and the website does not appear to be propaganda.	There is much evidence of bias or advertising and/or the website is propaganda.
User Guide & Directions	The user guide is an excellent resource for use in a lesson. Directions should help teachers and/or students use the material.	The user guide is good resource for use in a lesson. Directions may help teachers and/or students use the material.	The user guide is poor resource for use in a lesson. Directions do not help teachers and/or students use the material.
Clear Directions	Navigation is logical and pages are well organized.	Navigation is logical for main use, but can be confusing.	Navigation is not logical and pages are not well organized.
Stimulates Creativity	Use of Web resource gives students many opportunities to engage in new learning experiences.	Use of Web resource gives students some opportunities to engage in new learning experiences.	Use of Web resource gives students few opportunities to engage in new learning experiences.
Visual Design	The Web resource is designed with appropriate use of graphics and text to ensure student understanding.	The Web resource is designed with graphics and text that are of average quality.	The Web resource is designed with graphics and text that are of poor quality and distract students from understanding.
Quality of Links	The Web resource links facilitate navigating the material and finding additional information.	The Web resource links are not easy to navigate and make it difficult to find additional information.	The Web resource links make it very difficult to navigate the material and to find additional information.
Site Map	The Site Map is available and useful to help navigate and access information.	The Site Map is available and somewhat useful to help navigate and access information.	The Site Map is not available or not useful to help navigate and access information.

Featured Article and Critique

An Effective School Library Program…for Every Student

Church, A. (2017). An effective school library program…for every student. Knowledge Quest, 45(3), 4-5.

Summary: “An Effective School Library Program for every student” breaks down AASL’s “Definition for Effective School Library Program” position statement “An effective school library program has a certified school librarian at the helm, provides personalized learning environments, and offers equitable access to resources to ensure a well-rounded education for every student.” (AASL 20l6a). Church (2017) looks at 5 key words. Resources: well-rounded education, equitable access, certified school librarian, and every student. Librarians are responsible for creating collections of resources that provides diversity. However, the lack of books and media to choose from is slim. Well-rounded education: Librarians are foremost teachers and Southern Poverty Law Center (2016) stated that culturally responsive teaching requires teacher librarians to be provide resources that enrich student’s learning and cultural diversity. Equitable Access: many define equal and equitable to be the same thing, however, “equal” means “same as” and “equitable” means “fair.” School librarians try their best to make everything fair, but student home lives tends to effect what goes on. Certified School Librarians: though the importance and need for teacher librarians to better meet the needs of students, the amount of school districts hiring librarians has decreased. Many schools like Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas have gone to “Innovation Specialists” to run their school libraries (Collie 2016). Every student means just that “Every Student.” Regardless of the cultural background every student deserves a library program that helps prepare them for life ahead.

Critique: I feel that Church did a good job of breaking down the definition of the teacher librarian role, but I wonder sometimes how obtainable this definition is. Yes, schools have the ability to hire the best educated and experienced librarians but will they. When money is low and school has to give up things librarians are easy to do. For example, my district has one certified librarian two of the three schools have support staff. When it comes to equitable access verses equal access, can you really have a well – rounded education with only one or the other? Overall, I enjoyed the article. I feel it would be a great article to use for starting a discussion on “The realistic view of being a librarian.”

American Association of School Librarians. 2016a. “Definition for Effective School Library Program.” <www.ala.org/aasl/ essa/effective.

American Association of School Librarians. 2016b. “Instructional Role of the School Librarian.” <www.ala.org/aasl/essa/instructor.

Church, A. (2017). An effective school library program…for every student. Knowledge Quest, 45(3), 4-5.

Collie, Victoria L. 2016. “School District Hiring Innovation Specialists’ to Head Libraries.” <http://publiclibrariesonline. org/2016/08/school-district-hiring-innovation-specialiststo-head-libraries

Southern Poverty Law Center. 2016. “Teaching Tolerance: Being Culturally Responsive.” <www.tolerance.org/supplement/ being-culturally-responsive