digital education leadership

ISTE 3: Teaching Research Using the Big6 Model

Posted on by Becky Putzier

This week I am looking at the third ISTE Student Standard: Research and Information Fluency through the Digital Education Leadership program at Seattle Pacific University and am attempting to answer the following question: “What are ways in which students can apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information?”

Coincidentally, our middle school science teacher approached me recently, asking if I could guide her students through the research process as they prepare their science fair projects. While I have taught several stand-alone lessons on conducting research, I have never taught those skills as a thoughtful, comprehensive unit. I took to the Web to discover how other educators teach various information literacy skills and through my research, I have discovered that I am not alone; it is not uncommon for librarians to lack confidence in their implementation of research skills in their program. Dr. Michael B. Eisenberg, founder of the Big6™Skills and Janet Murray, well-published and respected school librarian, have indicated that a surprisingly few number of schools have a comprehensive information literacy program. They found that many programs are “irregular, partial, and arbitrary” (Eisenberg, 2011, pg. 10). Sadly, as our classrooms (and world) move towards an inquiry-based model, … Read More

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ISTE 2: Connecting With Authors Via Skype

Posted on by Becky Putzier

This week I am looking at the second ISTE Student Standard: Communication and Collaboration through the Digital Education Leadership program at Seattle Pacific University and am attempting to answer the following question: “How can students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others?” When examining the first ISTE Student Standard: Creativity and Innovation, I had first toyed with the idea of using Skype with my students to address that standard but found that I was not able to adequately teach and assess the skills I was looking for in the scope of my library curriculum and therefore revised my focus (read more about that process in my last post).

While I did not incorporate the use of Skype into that standard, it was a tool that I was interested in exploring further and found that it conformed nicely with the communication and collaboration standard. In an effort to enhance the library program and provide my students with opportunities to deepen their interest in reading for pleasure (my never-ending quest as a librarian), I attempted to answer the following question:

How can students … Read More

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