The School Library Media Specialist: Course Materials: Requirements

This page provides a review of the basic requirements for the course. Go to the Course Guide for specific assignments and the Course Calendar for specific due dates.

Course Updates

Your instructor will be sending out periodic class updates to review important course information and assignments. Please read these carefully. If you have questions, please reply to these updates for clarifications or questions. If you think you've missed one of these communications, check the Course Email Archives.

Oncourse Overview

Since this is an online course, much of the sharing and discussion will happen using the OncourseCL online learning environment. However since you'll be experiencing many different technologies in this course, be sure to read the activity guidelines carefully to determine where projects should be shared.

Use the following documents if you have questions about Oncourse CL:

Oncourse contains a menubar on the left side of the screen for easy navigation. Use the following instructions to help you use the resources for this course:

The SYLLABUS links to all of the course materials.
The ROSTER shows the class list. You may wish to include a personal profile and photo so we can learn a little more about you.
The GRADEBOOK is a place where you can track your progress. If you lose a point, I'll provide a comment indicating the problem.
The MESSAGE CENTER contains a place to send and receive mail messages. You might want to check the settings. You can have these messages sent to your personal email if you wish.
The MESSAGE CENTER is also the area where we'll be holding our discussions. You'll notice forums. You may wish to change the VIEW option from ALL to THREADED so you can see the topics and subtopics within each discussion more easily.
The DISCUSSION area will be used for posting general information and class introductions. We'll also use this area for our postings and discussions. This is where you'll share your projects with peers in your interest area. You can choose whether you'd like to share with the Pre-K to Middle School group or the Middle School to Adult group. I've created separate areas so the discussion areas doesn't get so full.
The CHAT area can be used by anyone who would like to share in "real time" with anyone in the class. There are no required course chats.

Below you'll find your first assignment. This will get you starting making Oncourse postings. Required course assignments can be found in yellow boxes.

Getting Started

This class is intended to be a practical approach to the skills needed by today's information technologists, media specialists, librarians, and educators. Whether you're interested in the role of the school media specialist, public librarian, or another type of information technologist, this course is designed to be flexible enough to address the varied needs of students.

Keep in mind that this class contains students with a wide variety of educational, work, life, and technology experience. Try not to compare yourself to other students. Instead, focus on your own strengths and weaknesses. Be sure to email your instructor if you have questions or concerns about the specific projects and how they can better fit your professional needs.

Introduce Yourself

Let's get to know each other. These introductions will help you get to know all of your classmates.

Your first assignment involves posting some information about yourself and getting to know your classmates. Some people like to share photographs, personal websites, favorite movies or books, family information, or other tidbits that will help the class get to know you. This is important because you'll be involved in lots of online discussions. This is all done in Oncourse so "outsiders" won't be able to see the information.

Enter the Oncourse materials, choose the class page. Click on the Introduce Yourself discussion. Post a new message.

Introduce yourself to the class. Put your name in the subject of the message. Include your name, a little personal and professional information about yourself, as well as the reason you chose this course and how you feel about online courses in general. This will be a good chance to share a little about your interests and expertise with libraries, management, leadership, and collaboration. Tell us what drew you to the library media professional. Also, tell us what makes you laugh and how you like to spend your spare time (like you have spare time). If you know how to use HTML, you may wish to insert a photo or favorite website. If you need help, check the "Help" discussion for the directions.

When you're done entering the information, click SEND to post your message.

During the first week of class, read the messages posted by classmates. If you want to share something you have in common or ask a question, enter information below the message in the area that says REPLY TO MESSAGE. You should post at least one response or observation. This area is also a place to go if you have questions. Find someone you think shares your interests, email them and introduce yourself personally. This contact may be helpful later in the semester as you have questions about the course.

Virtual Community

The biggest drawback to an online class is the lack of face-to-face communication with your instructor and your peers. I'll be sending out weekly course updates that will hopefully help you feel connected to me. I'll be reading your assignments which will help me feel connected to you. We can email personally whenever you have something you'd like to share or discuss. I LIVE on email... in the motorhome our living room, dining room, bathroom, and bedroom are all within 38 feet, so I'm always available. When I'm "on-the-road" I'll usually provide information in the weekly update. In this case, it should still take less than 24 hours for a reply.

Personal Web Space

You will be sharing many projects during the semester. Sometimes I'll indicate where they should be stored. At other times, you'll have a choice. The course materials also provide links to free storage space for resources such as videos. Rather than relying on university space, it's a good idea to start thinking about long-term storage of assignments that you might eventually wish to place in your professional portfolio.

You may wish to share your projects and get feedback from classmates before submitting to your instructor. Classmates can help identify typos and missing elements that can impact your grade. By reading the projects of others you can often find ideas that might enhance your own project. Remember this is not a competition, all projects are graded with the same checklist.

Use the following resources to explore sources of web space.

1. Personal Space. Use your own personal or work web space.

2. Oncourse CL. Provides space to store assignments. Use the following readings to learn more about this space:

My Workspace is accessed within OncourseCL (https://oncourse.iu.edu/). Directions:

Go to the My Workspace option in the red banner across the top of the new OncourseCL
To Upload files:
Click Upload-Download Multiple Resources and follow the directions for Mac or Windows.
You can upload any kind of document including web pages, Word documents, PowerPoint documents, graphics, video, audio, etc.
Once you've uploaded files return to My Workspace, you should see the new items on the list.
Click the REVISE link next to the file you uploaded.
You'll see choices.
Under ACCESS, choose DISPLAY TO NON-MEMBERS (PUBLICLY VIEWABLE).
Near the bottom of the page you'll see the web address such as https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/ljohnso/newljohnso.jpg
Your address will be your user name instead of ljohnso
If you uploaded folders, your address will include the name of that folder after your username such as https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/ljohnso/project/index.htm
Remember NOT to use spaces in folder or file names.
You can use this URL to tell others about this document, file, movie, sound, graphic, or whatever kind of file you uploaded. You can also use this as a link on a webpage or blog.

3. IUPUI Space. Go to Set Up Your Steel Account to learn about setting up your own university web space. If you place your project here, it will have a URL such as http://mypage.iu.edu/~ljohnso/filename

4. Free Web Space. Go to Web Site Hosting to find out about free services (like Googlepages and Geocities) you could use to create your own personal site. If you need ideas of locations for free space, contact your instructor.

Assignments

This course contains requirements in the following four areas. A schedule of the due dates is listed in the course calendar.

Theoretical Foundations Examinations (20% of grade)
Professional Toolkit (30% of grade)
Decision Point Discussions (30% of grade)
Reality Check (20% of grade)

Readings and Resources

You will spend much of your of your course time exploring the materials provided in the Resources sections of the website. Unlike a book that contains a clear beginning, middle and end, the course materials are much more flexible.

All of the course materials are in an area called The School Library Media Specialist. I suggest you move systematically through the materials using the site map on the main page. You could easily spend endless hours of content exploration. Below are some guidelines that will direct your attention. Please read the guidelines carefully.

Each informational page is divided into as many as five sections:

Basic Information. Provides course content and links.
Words of Wisdom. Highlights the work of a practitioner or notable person
Check Your Understanding. Reviews content and provides an activity to check your learning
Make It Real. Makes a connection to a practical application of the content.
Read More About It. Provides additional resources to learn more about the topic.

Read. In many instances, the materials will direct you to READ. This means that you should literally read the article itself. These are recommended readings that will help you understand the course content. You aren't required to read the links associated with the article, but you should read the article itself. The details are probably not as important as the overall issues presented. In many cases, reflective questions or activities have been provided to guide your reading. Then, ask yourself: Why were we asked to read this article? What are the key ideas that I should add to my "professional bag of tricks"?

essential reading - eye icon Essential Readings. An eye graphic in front of the word READ means that this is an essential, required article. At times, you may become overwhelmed by all of the course readings. If you get behind, focus on the "eye - essential" readings and skim the other READ articles.

Notable Person Notable People. A notable people graphic in front of the word READ means that this is a name your should know. Be sure you know the key ideas, topics, and literature related to this person.

Practitioner. A practitioner graphic indicates practical ideas and insights from a person currently "in the trenches."

Information Power. An Information Power graphic indicates that a reference is being made to Information Power. You should know this book from cover to cover by the end of the course.

Skim. Sometimes you'll be directed to skim an article. In this case, the details of the article aren't important. Instead concentrate on identifying the main ideas. In many cases, these are alternative sources or other views on issues already presented in other articles.

Explore In many instances, websites are provided on a single topic. Many of these websites contain multiple pages and links. Rather than examining all the items in-depth, spend a few minutes with each resource and determine it's personal and professional value.

You'll find colored boxes throughout the readings:

Information Power Boxes. These boxes contain key ideas and references to Information Power. These are essential readings because they provide insights into a key concept or topic.
Experience Boxes. I have lots of experiences to share. You might call them observations or rantings, but I call them reflections on life. These are noted in salmon colored boxes. There's usually a story followed by a question to promote your own personal reflection.
Activity Boxes. Most pages on the course site contain yellow activity boxes. These are intended to help you analyze and apply the content provided on the page. Many times you'll be asked to read an article or explore a link. Then, do some brainstorming, writing, or thinking. It is suggested that you spend a few minutes with each activity; however, you will NOT turn in these activities for a grade. Think of them as reflective questions or activities in a textbook. They may give you ideas for discussions or projects. These "yellow box" activities often overlap with course assignments that are required.

On-site versus Off-site. As you explore the Information Inquiry site, you'll notice that some readings refer to on-site versus off-site materials. On-site materials are those housed on both the eduscapes website and the Steel server. The off-site materials are linked to the work of others. If you can't get to an off-site article that says READ, notify me so I can update or remove the link.

In most cases, off-site links are not marked. For example, you might be reading a sentence and notice a hot link. This hot link is probably an off-site article that expands on the idea presented in the sentence. You may or may not use the link depending on your interests. Lists of off-site links with supplemental materials are also not indicated as on or off-site If you're not sure, just look at the URL and you can see whether it's an IU or eduscapes address or not.

After reading all of the requirements, proceed/return to Course Guide.

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