Will changes bring out the votes?
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the night freda came to toWn
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crime doWn on public transit
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friday
OctOber 12 2012 www.burnabynewsleader.com
When it comes to bridges and tunnels, todd litman says toll first, build later. and who knows? you may not even need to build. See page A12
Council debates corporate support Wanda chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
MArIO bArteL/NeWSLeADer
technology like tablets, e-books and smartphones have changed the way teacher-librarians do their job, says patricia finlay, a consultant for the burnaby school district’s teacher-librarians.
Teacher-librarians change with times Focus now includes teaching how to find reliable info online Wanda chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
A student approached Burnaby district teacher-librarian Patricia Finlay raving about what she learned on a website she’d found. The site touted all sorts of wonderful things a new chemical was capable of doing. Finlay looked at the site, and the description of the chemical’s makeup, and asked the student,
“Do you know what H2O is?” The amazing new chemical was water, and the site was a hoax. The situation is an example of the new role that teacher-librarians are playing now that the Internet and high-tech gadgets have seemingly brought the world’s information to students’ fingertips. “It’s a tsunami of information, it’s overwhelming,” Finlay said. “Just because they know how to operate a device doesn’t mean they know how to make sense of what they find.” Today, in addition to introducing
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children to books and curating collections in school libraries, teacher-librarians are doing the same with websites and online information. They often research and vet appropriate websites ahead of time to provide to teachers when they’re covering a particular subject, just as they do with books. But they also teach students to do better Internet searches, refine their search terms, and become more independent. Part of the challenge is a trend teachers and librarians call
“satisficing,” a combination of satisfying and sufficient or suffice, said Finlay. In other words, a student’s approach is often “get what I need for an assignment and hand it in.” Teacher-librarians aim to get students to look deeper into their subjects. “They can find all this stuff and make it look good in Powerpoint presentations, but if you ask them afterwards to explain it, they don’t actually understand it.” please see heLp teAch crItIcAL, A4
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When the new Edmonds Community Centre opens in the spring of 2013, it will include a children’s indoor playground for kids five and under. Of the $60,000 cost of the equipment, Burnaby-based G&F Financial Group will fund $15,000 in an agreement it reached with Burnaby’s parks and recreation department. In exchange for the partial sponsorship, said a city staff report, the credit union will receive several opportunities for recognition, including acknowledgement on the city’s website, in brochures and the centre’s program guides, verbal acknowledgement during parent advisory committee presentations to Edmonds-area schools, a plaque, participation at the opening ceremony, and the chance to host an annual event or activity in the playground area for 10 years or the life of the equipment, whichever is less. G&F will also receive the right of first refusal for all future sponsorship opportunities involving the playground for up to 10 years. see SpONSOrShIp, A3