Thing 16: Student 2.0 Tools

My first thought is that I wish I had known about these tools when I was younger and doing research papers. Other than 3x5 cards and outlines, my teachers offered little assistance and guidance. Well, I can't go back and improve my old papers, but I can use these tools to help the next generation of students. I looked at The University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator. It contains an impressive but not overwhelming 12 steps. I appreciated that step 5 and 6 have students reviewing books and articles before looking at websites. Good luck with that one, teachers! Each step contains links to other resources. I did find that the first link in step 12 was a 404 (couldn't be found).

Research Project Calculator is a 5-step research calculator for secondary students. It is funded by Minitex and MnLink. One nice feature of this tool is that you can choose your assignment format. I decided to try it for myself as a slide presentation, thinking that it might help me think about a PowerPoint presentation for an upcoming conference. I'm looking forward to getting e-mails reminding me of what I should be doing. The teacher guide emphasizes the teacher's role as information literacy coach, a role that librarians perform on an individual basis daily. There was even an instructional planning guide for library media specialists.

I can see the value of these tools, especially as we think about junior and senior high school students coming to our library to do their History Day projects. Now if they only had a guide for parents. Step one: drive your student to the library. Step two: let the student ask the questions and perform the research. I almost choke when eager parents come to the desk, standing in front of their children, and telling me "We have an assignment." I want so badly to ask about their boss. Instead, I try to get eye level with the student and direct my questions and responses to them. Sometimes it takes a while for the parents to catch on that this truly is in the best interests of their child.