DE Teaching Modules Assignment: A Few Thoughts

Since it’s been a little while since my last update, I thought I should take an opportunity to provide some information concerning our most recent DE assignment:  the creation of distance education teaching modules.  Given my strong interest in children’s literature, I decided to focus my project on early literacy resources for parents and young ones, which, right from the start, gave me a lot to think about.  What types of resources did I want to provide?   What types of resources are most accessible? How would my resources compare to other websites hosting similar types of information?  How could I build on what already exists online?   What types of platforms could be used to share my findings?  After giving some serious thought to these (among other) preliminary issues, and investigating currently existing resources in order to give me some ideas, I was able to develop a solid plan for my module.

In terms of a platform, I decided to choose two ways through which to communicate my information: the first, being a Pinterest account.  Although this route seemed a bit radical, I think that’s part of why I wanted to experiment with this tool.  Originally doted on for its ability to allow users to organize and keep track of the things they liked (recipes, books, places to travel, etc.), I feel that Pinterest has the potential to also incorporate resources that can be useful in a public library setting, similar to the gradual presence of public libraries on twitter, facebook and other popular web-based applications.  Although many people may feel that this is not the ideal way to target patrons (which I do not necessarily disagree with), I feel a tool like Pinterest may be useful in targeting a certain clientele – namely, the new parent who is also interested in online trends, or organizational tools (2 options which both fuel the Pinterest movement).   Furthermore, I wanted to attempt to do something new and original.  Something I haven’t seen before.  Since the majority of Pinterest resources I scouted were based on the interests of individual people, I decided to take things one step further, and design a tester account that, if actually put in place, would cater to the needs of remote library users, collectively.    

My second platform for early literacy was created using a more “traditional” method: the wiki.  Although wikis have existed for quite some time now, if you can believe it, this experience was my first foray into the world of wiki-creation (or, to be fair, wiki-usage).  Never before had I ever experimented with this feature (which probably makes me sound like I’ve been living under a rock, I know).  However, given my unfamiliarity in navigating this tool, as well as its ability to allow users to create pages dedicated to learning about a particular subject, I deemed it to be a highly appropriate platform for my project. 

Overall, I also felt that both these resources (Pinterest/wiki) were fairly accessible and simply designed, making them easy for patrons to access regardless of their location, type of computer, etc.   Furthermore, I tried to ensure (with both resources) that the information I provided was clean and well-organized, attempting to ease the experiences of users who may be less familiar with web resources. 

As for content, I made sure to keep both platforms fairly simplistic, providing mostly basic resources used to aid users such as new parents, especially those who may have recently immigrated to areas such as London, and may not be familiar with Western reading resources, or perhaps the English language itself.  Furthermore, regardless of location, I find many parents that I have interacted with (mainly through my library career and volunteering experiences) seem to be unfamiliar with the significance of early literacy.  Many new parents simply assume that their children will learn to read once they enter school, and assume that this is “good enough” in terms of literacy skill development.  As a future librarian who would ideally love to specialize in working with children, assumptions like this often frustrate me.  Children can be read to from birth.  They should start interacting with books as early as possible, given that these experiences aid in the development of language skills, and often allow children to have a stronger understanding of how people read, and why this behavior is so important.  Based on these factors, I figured it would be appropriate to include materials designed for very young children in particular, aiming to target an ideal age range of birth to seven years.  Some resources for older children (8-12) were also included, but in these cases, I made sure to make a note about the appropriate age group for the resource, as to make things as clear as possible.    

Wanting to provide a number of different options to encourage variety (and also, to let parents know exactly what’s available), I used the wiki to provide online resources for songs, picture book readings, and kid-friendly websites, providing details (for parents) on each resource.  To help adults develop a stronger understanding of popular or appropriate items for their kids, I also included areas such as “Notable Canadian Authors” and “Award Winners” to give them a starting point when seeking resources independently.  Finally, I also included an area with tips for new parents, in which I included some links about early literacy and its importance. 

Since Pinterest is designed to foster creativity and is generally a more “laid-back” tool, I tried to incorporate fun elements to encourage use of the Pinterest platform, and more importantly, quality time with their children.  After consulting resources such as Novelist, Good Reads, Shelfari and Amazon, I attempted to select books that were age-appropriate (both for babies, as well as slightly older children), entertaining and easy to read aloud to a child (as some books are better designed to be read independently by the child).  I attempted to include details on each book, including features such as author, plot, and often, a fact about the book (such as if it was part of a series, etc.).   I also included some information about some of North America’s most popular authors, making materials written by these people easy to find at any library, regardless of where a user is situated.   To keep things interesting, I also included a Board for fun children’s crafts, choosing activities that were simple, and cost-efficient, typically involving supplies that were easy to locate, ensuring that low-income or particularly busy parents could also participate.  Under the “Misc.” area, I chose to incorporate a variety of resources for which I could find no similar theme, but still considered to be important.  For example: lists of literacy building activities, storytime podcasts, printable alphabet pages, etc.  since these all seemed relevant to my theme and also interesting.  As for the “Neat Ideas” section, here, I attempted to add a few crafty things/activities that needed to be designed by parents – either for the kids, or for the whole family to share in. 

Though both the Pinterest account and the wiki were designed as temporary examples for class, if used beyond this assignment, I would ensure to update both on a regular basis to prevent dead links and keep things fresh J   For those who follow the blog, free to check out either resource here:

My wiki: http://literacyforchildren.wikispaces.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/earlylitforkids/