Sophisticated databases give students
"a leg up"
January 2012
Scott Pike, an English literature teacher at South Delta Secondary School, wanted his students to understand the themes in Willa Cather's short story Paul's Case. To prepare, he went to see teacher-librarian Sharon Doyle. "She has a wealth of information and resources," he said.
Paul's Case, written in 1905, is about a young social misfit who's unable to accept the drab reality of his daily life.
Doyle went to the school library web page and quickly called up Academic Search Premier to see what resources were available. Much of the information that the students needed was in the school's databases provided through the district's membership in ERAC.
Gone are the days of doing a simple compare and contrast between a couple of short stories. Pike told Doyle that he wanted his Grade 12 students to be able to examine the story from several perspectives: historical, feminist, formalist, Marxist, psychoanalytical and biographical. They would be required to choose two of those viewpoints and write a two-page analysis using several sources and proper citations.
With the resources now available to young students, Pike recalled the difficulty he had in university. "I wasn't a very good student," he said. The Internet "wasn't nearly as straight forward and easy to use and you couldn't do research from home. Now it's much more accessible and powerful. Students are being given a leg up."
The quality and reliability of the information makes it easier to fulfill the requirements of the IRP that calls for synthesis and analysis combining information from multiple sources. "It makes the whole endeavour more robust and meaningful."
But the depth and sophistication of the research exercise comes as a surprise to students. "It is a lot of work," Pike said. "I think some of them were quite shell-shocked."
He is pleased to be able to introduce his students to university level resources. "The majority of kids don't realize that most of the websites (available through Google) are powered by commerce. That's what dot-com means. We need venues that limit the searches in an academic way and get past that garbage. They can waste lots of time searching Google. [With these databases] they can have something that's instantaneous, reliable and credible."
Doyle points out to students how distracting Google can be. She gives the example of looking for information on Voltaire. If you Google "Voltaire," the first site on the list is Wikipedia. Next is Voltaire.net, a gothic-styled musician's site filled with striking images and youtube videos. Left to their own devices, students are likely to go to the flashy site. "I tell them, 'Before you know it, 45 minutes have gone by and now you're into the vortex.'"
As a teacher-librarian, Doyle said she sees her job as getting students past the distractions so they can make the most of their time. "It's just good teaching."
In addition to direct links to online resources, the school library's web page features information, embedded videos and links to student and teacher resources.
The online resources page is modeled on university and public library web sites. Students and teachers can easily access Oxford Reference Online, Student Resources in Context, Biography in Context, Academic Search Premier and many other databases and resources available with an ERAC membership. She said she likes World Book Advanced because it provides links to primary documents. Canadian Points of View opens the door to many periodicals (North American mostly) and provides guidelines on how to write a thesis statement, judge facts vs. opinions and evaluate websites.
Doyle also uses Tech Tuesday and Collaborative Wednesday sessions to demonstrate to teachers how to use resources like Google Docs and Animoto (a video creation website).
When a class, like Pike's English Lit, is scheduled to come to the library to do research, Doyle prepares a number of Twitter tweets with recommended links and search words. She makes sure messages for the incoming students are at the top of the feed. Doyle also shows the students how to do advanced searches and use limiter words.
"Simply telling students 'It's on the web' is like telling them it's in a book. We have to teach them how to read and how to use materials that are developmentally appropriate. I know the curriculum and I can show them how to use the resources."
Mark Robinson, vice-principal at Delview Secondary School with a population of 700 students in grades 8 to 12, said about 50 per cent of students are connected to the Internet at some time during the school day. Like schools throughout the province, he said, "some teachers embrace the technology, some don't want to see it and others are in between."
He knows more about ERAC resources and services than many administrators in the province. He was a computer co-ordinator before he became an administrator. He continues to provide support for classroom technology in his duties related to the school budget.
"Teacher-librarians and computer co-ordinators know about ERAC," he said, "but it's also important for administrators to know where the money is going and what ERAC is. I like the access to the software and media devices. We couldn't afford it if we didn't do it through ERAC. In an environment of doing more with less, it gives us access to databases, software and movies that are in the outside world. Personally, I think it's a good thing and fits with 21st Century learning. ERAC has grown and gotten better."
"So who is ERAC and what value do we bring to you? Go to our website and register now to get access to the collection and find out why it's great to be an ERAC member.
