Reading Reflection Lesson 2 - Access

Another point of discussion this week was “library access.” Some of my personal reflections relate to the Intellectual, Physical, and Digital aspects outlined in our lesson:

When it comes to the Intellectual Access, one point that stuck out for me was ”training in skills needed to access all information formats.” For elementary students, I feel proper training is necessary to access the appropriate information that is needed. I feel a majority of students, when researching a topic, just type the topic in the Google bar, and go with whatever pops up.

For Physical Access, I could relate mostly to the point: “providing facilities and equipment for viewing and listening.” I recall teaching a class a topic in science, and we went to the computer lab to browse a website that I had previewed at home. There were many videos and interactive activities to promote individual learning on the topic. Once we got to the computers, I forgot that there was no sound available as there were no earphones. As a result, we couldn’t go to the website. Having access to the proper equipment would have been very beneficial to their learning of that topic!

Lastly, Digital Access, for me, is the one I need to learn the most about. Site licenses, technical support, district databases – these are all newer terms to me. One topic that I could comment on is “developing policies and procedures that ensure students' equitable and responsible access to digital resources.” The “responsible access” is one that struck a chord with me. When I have TOC’d in some classes, I see some students almost too comfortable with their access to computers, and devices, and abuse some privileges. I have seen some students go into the computer lab to do their “research”, but end up changing backgrounds, play games, and act like it is their home computer. I can only imagine what some of the older students are “researching” on the side – there are only so many filters! I may be completely off-base with this understanding of “responsible access,” but it is something I see happening.