Creating the Learning Commons
Course
The Virtual Learning Commons [7:01]
The seventh step is to create a great virtual learning commons. There are a lot of easy-to-replicate virtual learning commons out there; find one you like and customize it to meet your users' needs.
My Virtual Learning Commons is broken into three main sections. Section one is books and reading. Section two is research and teaching. And section three is hours and schedule and all the other administrative stuff. If you don't have edit access to your website, that needs to be addressed. If you don't know how to do it, you could take an online tutorial. There are thousands of high quality instructional videos and tutorials for every different type of web product. If your district doesn't allow you to edit your own site, advocate for this by talking to your principal about how vital this is for your students and their learning.
Some systems are complicated, so you could suggest creating your own website in Google sites or some other free easy to use tool and create a link from your school site to your library website. Our Virtual Learning Commons are just as important as our physical learning commons now. And they need to be just as flexible and customizable as our space.
When you first start designing a website or if you want to remodel it, I like to think of this: web designers often use the Z design principle. So the eye pattern actually travels in a Z shape when someone looks at a new web page. You catch the reader's attention in the top left. Let the eye travel left to right across the page and then down diagonally back to the left and then across left to right again. So it looks like a big capital Z when they look at a web page. So I try to lay out my web pages with a big question across the top. And then images lower down on the left to keep the eye tracking, and then readings on the right. So everybody's looking in a Z shape at my web page.
A couple of rules for school library website creation: remember to focus on your users, just like in our physical learning commons. Your students are primarily your audience. This information is for them. And if they can't find what they need in a couple of clicks, and independently, they'll go somewhere else and they'll go there fast. Make sure you spend some time watching students use your website. This is such a valuable task. Ask a couple of students to find one of your databases or ask them to find out if a book is currently checked out or if it's available. See if they can figure out how to cite a source from the tools and directions on your web page. You may even want to ask them what they expect to see on the Virtual Learning Commons. Students are always surprising us with their great ideas.
If you're a primary school librarian, your website may mostly be for your teachers. So be sure that it has the resources they need and that it is easily accessed and usable. Be sure that your entire website has a simple and clear purpose. Think about three big ideas you want to share with your students and teachers. How about books, technology, and research tools? Or digital citizenship, information access, and circulation policies? What are three big ideas that could cover everything on your website?
Make each page focus on a specific need. You could create a reader's advisory page, or a summer reading guide, or a list of all of your databases. But don't put everything on one page for people to root through. Dedicate a page on citing sources or evaluating websites or other skills our students need to succeed.
We've been adding participatory zones into our physical space. A Virtual Learning Commons also has participatory spaces. Can you embed a survey on your website? Invite students to suggest new book titles by filling out a Google form? I love to embed Padlets on some of our webpages and ask students to add their own links to course projects. Students will feel empowered when they're participating and they have that feeling of ownership when their resources are up on your website. They also feel trusted and valued when we allow them to share their knowledge in a format like this, especially a public forum like a website.
Another thing to do is think of ways our virtual space can intersect with our physical space. One thing I like to do for required reading, titles, and big projects is to collect different versions, get the best of the web on a topic. For instance, I have a Hamlet LibGuide. I have links to NPR shows about Hamlet, images from the painting "The Death of Ophelia," information about Shakespeare's Globe. Anything a student would need to know about Hamlet. But then I like to create QR codes in the physical space. So on our Shakespeare shelf, I have a Hamlet QR code and a Macbeth QR code. These QR codes link directly to the resources, curated for students on our LibGuides. So now your virtual space and physical space intersect.
There are a lot of great ideas for using QR codes in your space to connect your Virtual Learning Commons. Links to eBook versions of the same book, links to book reviews, author biographies. Think about how you can connect your virtual space with your physical space.
Imagine what it's like to look at your Virtual Learning Commons for the very first time. Can you find the databases in one or two clicks? How about the online catalog? Are the library hours obvious? Is there a way for students to participate on the website? Take a moment to watch actual students using your website and consider ways to make your Virtual Learning Commons more user-centered.
A natural and important extension of the physical learning commons is the virtual learning commons, probably better known as the school library website. In this space, students access curated content, share ideas and participate with peers, and build connections across classroom and library learning, physical library resources, and digital tools.
Review Pam Harland's suggestions for a user-centered library website in lesson 7, then view your school's library website with an eye toward best practices. Try the "Z" test to see if your eye follows a Z pattern, finding useful information as you scan the home page.
Finally, create a list of 2-3 short-term and long-term goals for making your library website more user-centered. Share your list with a colleague, administrator, or student, and gather their perspectives on how the website meets (or doesn't meet) students' needs.
MLA Citation
Morris, Rebecca J. "Creating the Learning Commons: Make Your Website User-Friendly." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987404?learningModuleId=1987406&topicCenterId=2247903.
Entry ID: 2122732
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Harland, Pam. "Creating the Learning Commons. The Virtual Learning Commons [7:01]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2015, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987404?learningModuleId=1987406&topicCenterId=2247903.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987404?learningModuleId=1987406&topicCenterId=2247903
Entry ID: 1987404