Tag Archives: Evaluation

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, Public, Special

CMLE membership needs assessment!

survey
All the cool kids fill out surveys!

 

This one goes out just to our members! (Everyone else: we like you too. We are just looking for member feedback right now.)

Survey Link

As your library system, our job at CMLE Headquarters is to support you and provide help in training, grants, and other services to make your job easier as you serve your community. And so: this survey.
As I am new, I want to get acquainted with all the libraries in our system, and to start making some longer range plans on services we can provide to help you to do your jobs. I want to know what people are doing, what kinds of continuing education would be useful, what issues you see coming up, and really anything else you think is important for me to know about the libraries here.Tell me about your job, about the things that are important to you, and let me know what CMLE can do to help you!

Continue reading CMLE membership needs assessment! →

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Special

Giving and receiving: Performance Appraisals (Hiring Series #2)

performance-appraisals
It’s a conversation!

Everyone dreads this. It’s hard, as an employee, to have your performance judged – even when the result is good news. And it’s hard, as a manager, to have to come up with insightful things to say about everyone’s work without constantly repeating yourself.

So is it still valuable to go through the process? For most people: yes!

Ideally, a performance appraisal is not a time to talk about problems – though those should be addressed. When there are performance issues during the year, those can be addressed in the moment and dealt with at the time. They should not build up to wait for the annual review. Instead it is a time for people to reflect on their past performance,  and to think about what they want to do over the next year. It is an opportunity to take time out of a hectic schedule, or one that has a lot of repetition from day-to-day and week-to-week, and to see, think, and do some self-evaluation.

Continue reading Giving and receiving: Performance Appraisals (Hiring Series #2) →

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

E-Books and K-12 School Media Event Summary

Thanks to everyone who attended the E-Books and K-12 School Media event at RJ’s American Grill and Bar on Tuesday, January 8! Patricia and I were quite happy with the turn-out (20 participants!) and were glad to touch base with so many of you again.

The event kicked off around 3:30, with a brief welcome and introduction to the topic and the event from Patricia. Soon after, we launched Sue Polanka’s webinar recording. Polanka is a Head of Reference and Instruction at Wright State University and is the author of the No Shelf Required blog. Polanka shared some broad information about e-books, e-book readers, e-book lending, e-book publishing, and trends to be aware of. She is a big picture thinker, and provided a thorough overview for the topic of e-books.e-book

After Polanka’s video, we conversed for about 30 minutes on a variety of topics related to e-books and K-12 media. The evaluations from the event indicate that attendees appreciated the opportunity to discuss e-books with others from around the region. And, that there was value in seeing where others are “at” with e-books at their media centers. Next, we took a break, allowing the opportunity for attendees to grab some pizza – yum!

The last video presentation was from Chad Mairn. Chad Mairn is the Information Services Librarian and Adjunct Professor at St. Petersburg College & Chief Technology Officer at Novare Library Services. Mairn was humorous and energizing, and talked about tips and tricks for library staff to help their patrons use their e-reading devices to their full potential. Specific focus areas included: dedicated and non-dedicated e-readers, new and innovative e-reading devices and software, current and upcoming e-formats, Digital Rights Management, privacy issues, and emerging technologies impacting reading in a digital age.

Attendees indicated that as a result of attending this event, they hope to:

  • share what they’ve learned about e-books with other media specialists in their district
  • publicize & market their current e-book collection
  • engage in broad discussions within their district about e-books
  • look into links and websites shared by the presenters
  • investigate e-book publishers/providers
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Evaluating Educational Apps

By billsoPHOTO
http://tinyurl.com/c5ar6dd

Have you ever wondered if you should be evaluating apps before you begin using them with your students? The question is certainly valid, and one that others in the field have been pondering as well. Independent Consultant, Tony Vincent, author of the Learning in Hand blog and former teacher, recently wrote a blog post on this very topic http://tinyurl.com/72gnytk. Here, Vincent provides an app evaluation rubric and explains that others before him asked the same question – he provides a bibliography of sorts for app evaluation. Vincent credits Harry Walker, Doctoral student from Johns Hopkins University, for first developing an app evaluation rubric and Media Specialist, Kathy Schrock (a MEMO Conference Keynote Speaker!), for later adapting and editing the rubric.

So, what are some key pieces of information to keep in mind when evaluating apps? First, is the app relevant and does it instill or reinforce what your students need to know? Is the content appropriate for the age group? Are there advertisements – and how easy is it to accidently click on an advertisement? Can the app’s settings by customized to vary according to the individual’s or learning cohort’s needs? Has the app been updated recently? Does it promote collaboration and critical thinking? These are just a few questions to consider asking when evaluating an app.

What are some things you and your teachers consider while evaluating apps? Do you evaluate them, or do you tend to choose what is used based upon recommendations, what you can find through a basic search through the iTunes store, by price, or by teacher requests?

This topic is one CMLE staff is currently stewing on, and hopes to possibly explore further in the future. Media specialists and librarians are masters at evaluation and at creating and utilizing rubrics effectively. As such, this could be an important new role for media specialists working with teachers, as well as for librarians in a number of other settings. It is our role to inform others on how to ask the important questions about the resources we’re using – why should apps be any different? Be on the lookout for more on this topic from CMLE in the near future! Hopefully you’re excited to explore it with us too!