how do you trick children to become more digitally literate? with zombies of course! - kari morley
TRANSCRIPT
How do you trick children to
become more digitally literate?
With zombies of course!
Kari MorleySubject Librarian
Anglia Ruskin University
3 locations: Cambridge, Chelmsford and Peterborough
Over 35,000 students worldwide
Large proportion of vocational courses: Nursing, Midwifery, Paramedic Science, Surveying
Times Higher Education Entrepreneurial University of the Year 2014
Money DilemmasJelly bean budgeting
Assist the SurgeonAppInventer
The pig personality test Modelling junk
Why me?
(Isn’t it cute?!)
First steps
Biggest problems to overcome
One session suitable for children aged 6-16 and with varying abilities
IT - access to appropriate resources and sticking to the licensing agreements
Fear of the undead unknown
A hands-on, computer based session
Basic online research skills
“Fun” topic of zombiesSeparate sessions for each different age ranges
Include the younger siblings too
The concept
Cambridge 2015
Chelmsford 2014
Cambridge 2014
TeamZombie
Allocated tasks
Find online resources about zombies and survival suitable for children and add to a Libguide
Design posters and worksheets
Test any programmes to be used
Design the lesson plan
Plan costumes
One Page Project Plan
Safe online resources(not as easy as you might
think)
The Zomguide
A chance to show off Libguides and explain our day-to-day role at ARU
Includes links to:Open Access articles Blogs World Health Organisation Government websites NHS
Activities for all ages
2014 - Ability appropriate worksheets
Activities for under 7’s
Keyword game
A worksheet that can be drawn and written on
Wordsearch
2 min IntroductionSurvival scenario
Introduce ourselvesEmphasise that this might seem silly but it’s actually quite useful for own research.
5 min Ice breaker discussion:Zombie fiction vs zombie non-fiction
What we think we know about zombies – keywords added to the boardWhat we actually know – where could we look for reliable information?
5 min Discussion and demo: Good resources vs bad resources
“What makes a good reliable resource?” “Which of these sources would you trust or not trust?” Look at different sites and discuss which ones could be useful and why.
10 min Hands-on activity Using the Zomguide to answer the work sheets. Staff to distribute worksheets based on age/ability.
3 min Close Closing discussion included all the best things they’d found from the Zomguide & whose brain they’d like to eat
Timing Topic Activity
2014 lesson plan
Feedback from 2014
Very popular – 190 attendees & 30-40 turnaways at
Chelmsford alone
Parents were very positive and could see the value
Attendees enjoyed themselves
Misleading description in the programme - “Felt like homework”
People don’t read signs or programmes
It’s best to be over prepared – extra activities are always useful
2015
What did we change for this
year?
2015
Older age range: 12-16
More accurate description for the programme
Changed the survival scenario
Augmented reality apps: HeartCam was very popular (and gross)
Activity packs rather than single worksheets
Lots of posters – thanks to the budget from Outreach!
Improved the Zomguide & made a ReadingList
Timetabled a break for lunch!
“How doing your
homework could save your life!”
The Open Access area
at Cambridge
2015
Feedback
40 attendees
Cambridge session was held in the Open Access area instead of a classroom
Activity pack worked well
Most children were younger than we’d planned for
Each session was different depending on who turned up and we lost the “community survival” theme
My advice
Have a clear plan
Always have back-up activities (or 5) ready for
emergencies
One off events are a great chance to experiment with
new ideas
Group activities don’t work well for Open Day events
It’s ok if not all staff will find this as much fun as you do!
Seriously, no-one reads signs or programmes
Tips for working with children (if you’ve never done it before)
• Don’t be scared of them
• Talk to them normally – no-one likes being patronised
• It’s ok if one won’t talk to you there is always another one who will…
a lot!
• Children love gross things
• You are not responsible for controlling their behaviour
• Enjoy it!
http://anglia.libguides.com/Zombie
The Zomguide
Kari MorleySubject Librarian
Anglia Ruskin [email protected]