LIBE 467: Let's Take a Good Look at the ERAC BC Digital Classroom

Digital Resources: Evaluation and Improvement Plan

Resource: ERAC BC Digital Classroom, grades 9-12. Includes WorldBook Online Reference Centre, KnowBC, EBSCO Secondary Mini-suite, Gale in Context Series, and myBlueprint.

Analysis:

Riedling (2013) recommends analyzing indexes and databases for Accuracy, Authority, Format, and Scope (pp 90-91).

Accuracy and Authority: The ERAC BC Digital Classroom is a trusted resource and the available databases are from trusted authorities and are considered to be highly accurate.

Format (including accessibility): Most of these resources are easily searchable, but require some added training to perform more complicated search functions.

Some of these resources can be used in accessible ways. For example, EBSCO products support text-to-speech technology, provide transcripts for videos, and a few other tools to improve accessibility. The Gale In Context Series also offers text-to-speech and translation into over 20 common languages (including French). Otherwise, I was unable to find information on accessibility options.

World Book Suite is intellectually appropriate for junior high school grades. In Achieving Information Literacy, Asselin et al. recommend adequate cultural accessibility as well and these resources not varied in their cultural accessibility (pp 32-33). Many are only available in English, have very little focus on culturally-responsive works, of note is the lack of resources relevant to indigenous cultures.

Scope: According to Achieving Information Literacy (pp 29-33), a high should have the following digital resources at the "acceptable" level:

• At least one periodical index
• Access to full-text news database
• 10-15 reference databases

Of these three, one is notably completely absent in the ERAC BC Digital Classroom: access to a full-text news database.

A French Immersion School should have adequate French Language Resources. World Book Online Reference Centre has the French Language L’Encyclopedie Decouverte, and the Gale Resources can be automatically translated into French, but other resources are not available in the French language.

It is currently unclear whether these resources are adequate to support teachers in their planned programs.

Cost: Purchased by the district and available at all schools (negotiated at approximately 1$/student).

Use: Students use google for research rather than the available databases. Teachers have been informally surveyed and the majority are not familiar with the available digital resources and their use. Because the teachers are unfamiliar with the resources, they don't encourage students to use them, and they don't see the students use these resources independently.

Problems to Solve:

The ERAC BC Digital Bundle is a trusted resource that includes a wide range of information. However, the following issues need to be solved:

• Lack of a news database
• Lack of culturally responsive works (of note is the lack of indigenous material)
• Few French language resources for a French Immersion School
• Lack of accessibility tools in some resources
• Teachers and students are unfamiliar with the resources and are reluctant to use them
• Unknown if resources are adequate to support teachers as they work through the curriculum.

Plan for Solution:

Step 1 (December-January): The first step is to find out where the gaps are in curriculum coverage, and that will depend on feedback from the teachers. This will require providing the teachers with assistance in how to navigate the current resources (via a workshop or lunch-and-learn), then giving them a survey to find out what they feel is missing. To encourage feedback, the survey will be very short and will have a set deadline - this is basically to find out where the gaps are in coverage and if they have any specific suggestions of resources to fill their needs. 

The challenge in this step is encouraging over-worked teachers to take a look at the available resources. This could be helped along by providing them descriptions of the overall scope of each available resource so that they know which are most likely to be relevant, and also by keeping any workshops/lunch and learns short. During this time, quick personal visits can also be made to teachers or departments that are not giving feedback to find out what they need most.

Step 2 (February-March): Determine if any funds are available and apply for grants/appeal for donations. The rest of these recommendations are assuming no funds are available and recommendations are based on free information and the main resource being consumed is the time and energy of the teacher-librarian.

Step 3 (February-April): Research available resources that might fill gaps. This includes those noted by teachers as well as a news database, French language resources, resources to expand cultural accessibility, and tools to improve the accessibility of any resources for which these tools are not built in. These resources will need to be evaluated as suggested by Riedling, with respect to Authority, Accuracy, Scope and Format. Where necessary, obtain pricing quotes from vendors. This can be done at the same time as Step 2, and then ongoing.

Step 4 (May-June): Add a page or link on the library website with additional resources available online from trusted authorities. This list will include free and paid online resources, balanced as well as possible within the budget and to fill the noted gaps (such as an online newspaper index like Canadian Newspaper Archives). Some examples of similar library pages are that of the Prince of Wales School Library, the Vancouver Public Library, and New Westminster Secondary School.

Step 5 (September-October, and ongoing): Send out an email explaining the changes. Provide a workshop for teachers to familiarize themselves with changes and give them an idea of the best uses for certain resources. Provide examples for how to encourage students to engage with materials (new and pre-existing) - this could be how to incorporate their use into existing projects to improve the efficacy of student research, or possibilities of collaborative efforts with teachers. It may be a challenge making sure teachers attend. This could be done on a Pro-D day when teachers will be available, or offered as a lunch-and-learn talk. Since it will be impossible to reach all teachers, other options could be pursued as well. The library could have featured resources (perhaps a monthly feature that coincides with events at the school) to reach everyone. This could include a display in the library, a dedicated computer for exploring the resource that month, an email blast explaining the resource and what it is good for, and recommended connections with the curriculum.

A similar workshop should be provided for EAs and teachers to show them accessibility options with both the new and pre-existing resources.

Step 6 (November and ongoing): Organize and circulate information for orientation of databases for students. This could include both standard and customizable collaborative workshops with groups of students.  A general "how to use these resources for research" workshop could easily be focused on material relevant to a given class. This would me designed to familiarize students with online resources and help them learn their use and to compare (in terms of format, ease of use, coverage of relevant topics) with internet searches. 

Step 7 (November and ongoing): Provide readily available quick notes and/or posters on walls with information on what databases do and are good for. These posters should have information on how to login, as that seems to be a stumbling block for many students.

Step 8 (ongoing): Once the students know how to use the resources, we need to reinforce their use by supporting them with their use throughout their work. This will require ongoing collaboration with teachers, building up their knowledge and familiarity with resources and increasing their range of possible activities into which these resources can be incorporated. 

Annually re-check the sources for availability, updates, accuracy. Annually survey teachers to see if their needs have changed.

Works Cited:

Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds), (2006). Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada. Ottaway, On: Canadian School Library Association & The Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada.

EBSCO (2019). Accessibility. Retrieved from https://www.ebsco.com/technology/accessibility

ERAC (2019). BC Digital Classroom 2018-2019. Retrieved from https://bcerac.ca/agreements/bc-digital-classroom-new/#core_collection

Gale (n.d.). Interface Language Selector. Retrieved from https://support.gale.com/doc/infotrac-language

New Westminster Secondary School (2019). Free Databases. Retrieved from http://www.nwsslibrary.ca/free-databases/

Newspaper Archive (n.d.). Canadian Newspaper Archives (1753-2018). Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/ca/

Prince of Wales Secondary (2019). Prince of Wales Secondary Learning Commons. Retrieved from http://pw2.vsb.bc.ca/library/

Riedling, Ann Marlow, Shake, Loretta, and Houston, Cynthia (2013). Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips (Third Edition). Linworth.

Vancouver Public Library (2019). Digital Library. Retrieved from https://www.vpl.ca/digitallibrary