USING DIGITAL PRIMARY SOURCES FOR TEACHING K-12 Cheryl Walters & Heather Leary Utah State University 2009 CONTENTdm Western Users Group Meeting, Reno, Nevada

Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) “The Teaching with Primary Sources Program works with colleges and other educational organizations to deliver professional development programs that help teachers use the Library of Congress's rich reservoir of digitized primary source materials to design challenging, high-quality instruction.”  National TPS  Regional TPS  TPS Colorado -

What are these?

What are Primary Sources? Voices from the past, places, documents, and people Voices from the past, places, documents, and people What we work with everyday! What we work with everyday! They are history and great building blocks for school & research projects

Why are Primary Sources Important? How can they be delivered and used in the classroom? Raw material of history Raw material of history Great for high level thinking Great for high level thinking Help meet demands of teaching standards in creative ways Help meet demands of teaching standards in creative ways Now online in many digital libraries Now online in many digital libraries

Digital Libraries & TPS Digital Libraries are the publishers for online resources, especially primary source materials Digital Libraries are the publishers for online resources, especially primary source materials Control over the metadata associated with the resources Control over the metadata associated with the resources Many K-12 teachers do not know about local, regional, and national digital libraries (Shocking!) Many K-12 teachers do not know about local, regional, and national digital libraries (Shocking!)

Our Goals Approach lack of awareness from many directions for teachers Approach lack of awareness from many directions for teachers Professional development workshop Professional development workshop Integrate into university curriculum Integrate into university curriculum Introduce regional and national digital libraries Introduce regional and national digital libraries Introduce different tools for organizing and teaching Introduce different tools for organizing and teaching Create an awareness for digital library creators of LOC initiatives and to encourage K12 collaborations Create an awareness for digital library creators of LOC initiatives and to encourage K12 collaborations

More Goals Include many people Include many people School library media specialists School library media specialists Classroom teachers Classroom teachers Publishers of the digital library resources (That’s you!) Publishers of the digital library resources (That’s you!) Pre-service teachers Pre-service teachers Get the word out at conferences Get the word out at conferences Utah Educational Library Media Association Utah Educational Library Media Association CDM Western Users group CDM Western Users group Utah Educational Association Utah Educational Association

TPS in Utah December 2008 TPS Colorado trained some history teachers and USU faculty and staff December 2008 TPS Colorado trained some history teachers and USU faculty and staff Training involved learning about the Library of Congress and American Memory Training involved learning about the Library of Congress and American Memory html html html html Fall 2008 Jordan School District writes grant for TPS training Fall 2008 Jordan School District writes grant for TPS training

Options with TPS Awareness GrantEnhancement GrantImpact Grant  $5,000  To create awareness about TPs in your state  $10,000  Extension of awareness grant  To support ongoing education initiatives  $15,000  Extension of enhancement grant  To impact professional development

Pre-workshop Activities Class session in a graduate student School Library Media course introducing Class session in a graduate student School Library Media course introducing Library of Congress Library of Congress Mountain West Digital Library Mountain West Digital Library Utah State University Digital Library Utah State University Digital Library Annotated Resources Set Annotated Resources Set Instructional Architect Instructional Architect Presentation to the Utah Educational Library Media Association (UELMA) Presentation to the Utah Educational Library Media Association (UELMA)

Workshop Details 3 day face-to-face workshop at USU in Logan, Utah (next week!) 3 day face-to-face workshop at USU in Logan, Utah (next week!) Participants include school library media specialists paired with classroom teachers from their schools in Northern Utah Participants include school library media specialists paired with classroom teachers from their schools in Northern Utah Grant will pay for Grant will pay for Travel to and from the workshop Travel to and from the workshop On-campus housing during workshop On-campus housing during workshop Meals Meals USU graduate course credit USU graduate course credit

Workshop Activities & Curriculum  Tour of USU Merrill-Cazier Library Special Collections  Tools  Instructional Architect  Annotated Resource Set  Fishbone charts  Digital libraries  Library of Congress  Mountain West Digital Library  Utah State University Digital Library

Tools: Instructional Architect (IA) Online tool for finding, using, and sharing resources Online tool for finding, using, and sharing resources Allows teachers (and others) to create, engaging and interactive educational web pages Allows teachers (and others) to create, engaging and interactive educational web pages Developed by Utah State University Instructional Technology faculty Developed by Utah State University Instructional Technology faculty Free! Free!

Instructional Architect example

Tools: Annotated Resource Set (ARS) Simple Word-based file for collecting, annotating, and storing online educational resources or primary sources Simple Word-based file for collecting, annotating, and storing online educational resources or primary sources Easy way to build sets of online educational content around a topic or state standard Easy way to build sets of online educational content around a topic or state standard Easy to use Easy to use Sets up a lesson plan Sets up a lesson plan doc doc doc doc

Annotated Resource Set example National ARS – /tps/resources/primar ysourcesets.shtml /tps/resources/primar ysourcesets.shtml /tps/resources/primar ysourcesets.shtml /tps/resources/primar ysourcesets.shtml Utah ARS – /tpsmountainplains/re gion/utah.shtml /tpsmountainplains/re gion/utah.shtml /tpsmountainplains/re gion/utah.shtml /tpsmountainplains/re gion/utah.shtml

Digital Libraries Library of Congress (LOC) Library of Congress (LOC) Mountain West Digital Library (MWDL) Mountain West Digital Library (MWDL) Utah State University Digital Library Utah State University Digital Library

Workshop Activities & Curriculum  Hands on activities all three days in the computer lab  Final day presentation by the teachers showing off their progress and work  Summer communication through Blackboard  Implementation in their Fall 2009 classroom using primary sources  Follow-up focus group and sharing Fall 2009  Presentation at the Utah Education Association (UEA) October 2009

Benefits to Digital Libraries  K12 teachers and students using resources  Opportunity to evaluate and improve metadata for better resource retrieval (specifically targeted for K12 users)  Opportunity to publicize collections  Opportunity to develop partnerships with educators and schools  Aware of options for grant money to develop partnerships with schools

Questions? Contact information Contact information Cheryl Walters - Cheryl Walters - Heather Leary - Heather Leary -