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Challenging times, time for challenges

We are in challenging and unusual times, and the library sector has been as much affected by the Coronavirus control measures as any other work sector. I'm a librarian unable to access the two school libraries I manage. I am finding this difficult to accept as there is much more I could do for the students and teachers by physically being in my libraries. The sudden move to providing teaching and learning to students via online platforms like Teams has left me playing catch up and unable to engage with students as teachers are able to do. While I'm struggling to find a role this doesn't mean I can't have an online presence to support teachers and students. Rather than dwell on the negative side of things, I'm looking at using this time of challenge and change to challenge myself to find ways to have an online presence. 

While I still get to grips with Teams and what this can do, I have  created a Symbaloo page, https://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAAA-8TxUUAA41_WbdTSA== This is a page of links which appear as tiles - similar to how an iPad home screen looks. To access the links you simply click on the tile and that's it. I'm able to select the tile icon and text and also move them around the screen into groups, which makes it easier for users to see what's going on. The fact it is on one page I feel is a boon, though I realise there is no preview of what the site is about and the screen and tiles could prove very small if students are accessing the page on a phone. I can see possibilities for symbaloo pages for the future - each year or subject could have one with relevant links to support the pupils leaning for instance. On a personal level it can also be use to create a page of useful sites for me for reference and CPD options.  For now, symbaloo has allowed me to create a page of library related links very quickly and one I can share easily and quickly by email and tweeting. 


Quizzes are popular in my libraries with pupils yet I've never had to create on online before. Using the software available in GLOW and after a quick web search and you tube video watch, I decided to use Microsoft Forms to create an online interactive quiz. I'm glad I watched an introductory video on You Tube as this gave me a visual insight into creating a quiz in Forms. The software was actually more straight forward than I had been anticipating and within an hour I had created my first quiz using Tolkien Reading Day as the theme for my quiz. Forms gave me the option to have straight forward question and answer style or to offer multiple choice questions. The ability to preview the work was useful from a design point of view too, the the results data looks very interesting. I can see me using this for further online quizzes and also when we are back in school with pupils especially as a web searching quiz. 


While I'm still exploring Forms I feel the choice of backgrounds are a little limited, and feedback from some users is that the answer section is a little unforgiving in terms of spelling - it has to be exact or nothing! I've only used Forms so far  in the setting to give instant answers once the quiz has been submitted. I would like to try the delayed function where I can review them and provide any feedback. I feel I still have some way to go to be able to fully exploit Forms especially being able to monitor specific user responses, but for now I am able to create quizzes that look smart and share them online easily which is what I need to be able to do. I did use the website TinyURL to reduce the length of the web address. This too is a first, but it will not be the last time I use it!

Quiz web address: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=oyzTzM4Wj0KVQTctawUZKY53_l-rW3ROonjQ2jpem_xUMlZRWFBMR1JLV0NDREJGQ1VKSkE1S1NIVy4u

Quiz web address via TinyURL: http://tiny.cc/41vulz

This is just the beginning of my exploration of online platforms and software that I can use to develop and support pupils and staff as we all look to learn from home, and I look forward to sharing with you my thoughts, ideas and examples of these.

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