Online Benchmarking with St. Scholastica's College

Team BA Library had an online round table discuion with librarians of St. Scholastica's College earlier today, March 30, 2022.

We had a sharing of best practices for our students and the learning community before COVID, during the lockdown and measures taken towards hybrid learning. As a result of this professional exchange, the two libraries have identified different ways of working from home and on-site arrangement. The common denominator is each library's purpose to continue providing access to learners despite the limtations in physical and social spaces.

Many thanks to Ms. Anne Camille Murakami, librarian of the Grade School department, for taking the initiative to make this professional development possible.

The Lighthouse Diary Entry #25: On Shifts and Pivots

One of the many things this pandemic robbed me of doing is the joy and the experience of leisurely visits to parks, museums and libraries. Going out to walk among the trees, plants and works of art is a source of relaxation, a time to be and an opportunity to step back from work and worries. It is a dredging ritual for the brain and the soul delights in this form of nourishment. An hour or two in a museum or library, an unhurried walk in the park and a snack and coffee afterwards with family or a friend are life’s simple pleasures.

This has turned into a dream that I can only long for while locked in since March 2020. It is great effort to look at dollops of horse poop and to believe that a pony is in the other room.

COVID-19 is real and we all have to deal with the cards.

Thankfully, local museums and libraries have been very creative at bringing their services closer to people through the internet, the media and technology.

The Ayala Museum’s YouTube Channels boasts of well-made videos on Philippine Culture and the Arts. Go visit and watch the videos! These videos are not very long. In 5 minutes, I get to enjoy a talk or presentation on the journey of the global Filipino from past to present. The production team made use of their in-house contents namely, their existing dioramas, ceramic exhibits, books and photographs. Amazing what a well written script, tech wizardry and a platform to share these videos can do! It is a gift that can be slowly opened especially made for the viewer suffering from Cabin fever.

Its sister library, the Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL) also has a YouTube Channel. The highlight for me is FHL’s Muni-Muni podcasts because it zeroes in on Original Pilipino Music. There are more videos to peruse in the channel and just like Ayala Museum, it follows the same principle of re-creating content into new formats of media. The people behind these projects know what to do with information, knowledge and the technology they tinker with.

At the CCP in 2018

Another cultural agency that has taken a brave leap to use technology and create content online is the Cultural Center of the Philippines. They have digitized the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Philippine Art at a very affordable subscription rate. Two ebooks have been launched for free and numerous theatre productions, podcasts of audio drama and online concerts are ongoing on their Facebook Page. If you miss any of these performances, head on to their YouTube Channel. Should you wish to get updates on events, follow them on Twitter or Instagram.

What can we learn from this - apart from being a consumers who miss face to face engagement with people and the arts? We need to understand media and technology to work for us during these trying times and find ways to manage content, art and the creative industries in new and innovative means. We will make terrible mistakes. Yet, we will learn amazing things too, thus we will survive.

As a teacher, I now ask myself how I can model this pivoting to new learning environments. Is the curriculum flexible enough to allow me to integrate topics and skills to and create a learning object from the contents I have at my disposal? What technology am I confident at tinkering with and mastering at a short span of time? Who can help me whip up instructional materials for my online lessons?

As a school librarian, I recognize the unending work to collect, curate and organize content to support teaching and learning. With the appropriate technology and the support of school leadership, I am confident that we can make strides, though slow but meaningful. Somehow, work from home becomes a little bit bearable.

Research and Information Literacy eModules

During the Foundation Days in the Academy, I was tasked to provide and give a session to introduce the library to new students and to touch base with returning students. In the past, an assessment is always in the roster of activities. Either I make use of a question and answer survey type of tool or facilitate a skills session on Information Literacy, it is my goal to know and understand the skills level of students. 

This year, I adopted TRAILS as assessment tool. Here is a glimpse of the introduction to the report I am writing for submission to the Academic Team. 

Research plays an important role in the completion of the DP Core namely, the Extended Essay (EE), the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Essay and the Creativity Action and Service (CAS). It is in Year 1 of the DP where Internal Assessments (IA) in the subject areas are introduced to students and culminates in Year 2 into a full well written piece of investigation or paper of inquiry. This means, a great amount of creative and critical thinking is expected of the DP student. The Beacon Academy (BA) Library, being an academic department that supports research and the development of creative and critical thinking skills of Griffins, conducted an assessment to gauge DP students’ research skills.  

Using TRAILS, Tools for Real Time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills by the Kent State University(KSU), the BA Library adapted and adopted TRAILS into its context to identify and determine strong areas and areas for improvement of DP students’ research and information literacy skills. TRAILS have six areas or skills for assessment which are: (1) narrowing and broadening topics of research,  (2) selecting and locating appropriate sources of information, (3) evaluating sources, (4) identifying and following research steps, methods and processes, and (5) documentation, referencing and citing of sources.   

The results of this assessment can provide the Teacher Librarian valuable information in crafting Reference and Research services that meet the needs of the DP students and create Information Literacy modules as well as a research skills instruction program that builds and enhances skills for development. It may validate observations and insights on the teaching and learning processes of research in the Academy which may lead to revisions and changes in the way this is delivered in formal and non-formal means of instruction. It is recommended that teachers and the Teacher Librarian work together in the implementation of the programs as guided by criteria and standards set by the IB and the Department of Education.

What follows next are specific results of the assessment. In actual practice, two students have reserved library consultations with me this week to walk them through the results of their TRAILS. I am excited to work with them because students always bring new insights and learning experiences. I learn from them and they make my practice of school librarianship authentic.

The BA Library Online: Goals and Directions for AY 2020-2021

The Beacon Academy Library Online

Academic Year 2020-2021

As the Academy move into online learning this academic year, the BA Library continues its commitment to provide access to relevant learning resources, conduct virtual readers’ services and implement programs that support inquiry and research. There are four ways in which the library personnel actualize these goals.

Learners and members of the BA Community can:

·      Connect @theBALib - access the Library OPAC, peruse the BA Library Gsite that has directories of online resources carefully curated by its staff and, schedule consultations and inquiry sessions with the Teacher Librarian;

·      Bridge information gaps @theBALib- access IB recommended databases and online subscriptions namely EBSCOHost, The Day and World Book Online. Usernames and passwords are shared and given to students, faculty and staff, parents and alumni;

·      Collaborate @theBALibrary – share and contribute to the Learning Playlist, avail of the virtual reference and advisory services on Academic Honesty, Creative Commons and strengthen professional partnerships with local and global learners;

·      Feed your curiosity @theBALibrary – spend some time at the The Pioneer, a virtual space where Grififns can jam and jazz up ideas, inquiries and questions and nurture one’s sense of wonder!

Get in touch @theBALibrary through these email addresses - teacherlibrarian@beaconacademy.ph / library@beaconacademy.ph

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