Technology and ıts Effects - Inside the Screenage Brain
Social Wisdom, Social Ignorance: Critical Thinking and Evaluation in the Age of the Celebrated Crowd (with Debbie Abilock).
eBooks and eJournals - is ePublishing Coming Out of the Cold?
Going Beyond Google And Wikipedia: Finding Quality Information In Databases, E-Libraries And In The Hidden Web (with Christina Nord).  Part 1 : Seeking;  Part 2 : Finding
Changing Attitudes : Getting from Plagiarism and Punishment to PositivePractice.
Copyright, copyleft, copyfree a journey through the copyright maze (with Ahu Özkarahan)
Wikipedia or perish : the pros and the cons of 'the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit'.
Adding POINT to PowerPoint : and other presentation tips : 10 DOs, 10 DON'Ts, and 20 HOW-IT'S-DONEs.
Academic honesty : investigating the grey areas
Information 'satisfiction' : how searchers really search (and how to help them search better)
From literacy to information literacy: reading for understanding in the real world (revised)
IB AEM Librarians' Workshops : Geneva, July 2004
From literacy to information literacy: reading for understanding in the real world (original version)
Smart searching, better searching : in a Google Wonderland
Between the lines: the holes in the 'net
Plagiarism : keeping up with the cheats
Plagiarism : beating the cheats
Worth A Closer Look? Website Evaluation Revisited (Parts 1 and 2)
Information Technology, Information Literacy, and the International Baccalaureate
More than surviving - thriving in the information age : reading as a basis for using information technology efficiently

Technology and ıts Effects - Inside the Screenage Brain (after an idea by Coralie Clark).
Technology is increasingly used inside and outside the classroom. Many welcome the trend. Many feel disquiet. One thing seems clear: technology is not going to go away. In this session, current research and anecdotal evidence on the effects of technology use will be shared, with special focus on reading and learning. Participants are encouraged to share their concerns, approaches and solutions.
A revised version of a presentation first made at the 2011 Autumn Teachers' Conference is available here..

Social Wisdom, Social Ignorance: Critical Thinking and Evaluation in the Age of the Celebrated Crowd (with Debbie Abilock). “The opposite of critical thinking is uncritical thinking” (Ira Winn). When we stop thinking, we open ourselves to scams and fraudsters. Hype and spin become the new truth – and everyone’s an expert.
Young people need evaluation skills in a participatory digital world.  Well-publicized examples of “everyone” as authorities, doctored data and journalistic fabrications remind us that “truth” is complicated.  But if it’s taught at all, source evaluation and critical thinking are often presented in a vacuum of artificial situations and hoax web sites which are divorced from our everyday experience or the school curricula. Yet, in their “real” world, students (and teachers) ditch our checklists and forget our mini-lessons in the dizzying stew of click-and-go wikified information.  In this highly interactive workshop, we’ll be looking at, discussing, and doing a host of different activities which can be used in lessons on evaluation and critical-thinking. Don’t stop thinking!"
This workshop was presented at the 6th Triennial ECIS Librarians Conference in May 2011.

eBooks and eJournals - is ePublishing Coming Out of the Cold? ebooks have been around for years, but take-up has been slow. Amazon and the Kindle appear to have changed that: technology appears at last to give consumers what they want at a price they are willing to pay and epublishing is suddenly big business. What are the implications for schools and for libraries? How are students and teachers already using the technology, how might they in the future? In this session we look at a number of the questions and the issues and attempt to answer the ultimate question: 'Are we nearly there yet?'

First presented at the ECIS Annual Conference, 2010. The links, the sources used, and a copy of the handout, are all available here.
A revised version was presented at the 2010 Autumn Teachers' Conference.

Going Beyond Google And Wikipedia: Finding Quality Information In Databases, E-Libraries And In The Hidden Web (with Christina Nord).

Part 1: Desperately Seeking…Effective Search Tools? Start Here and Ye Shall Find Information is easy to find. Information sources which are reliable, verifiable, scientific, subject to peer referencing or editorial control - authoritative - that may not be so easy. They are there and many are free or low-cost. In this session, we look at a range of tools for tracking down sources and resources which students can use to enhance the quality of their work, including parts of Google which most searchers never reach.

Part 2: Finding Better Finds in Better Places Information is easy to find. Finding information sources which are reliable, verifiable, scientific, subject to peer-referencing or editorial control - authoritative - that is not so easy. This is confirmed in Extended Essay Examiners' reports, year after year, subject after subject. And yet, they are there, any many are free or low-cost. In this session, we look at and compare databases, e-libraries and other sources and resources which will enhance the quality of student work, and delight teachers and examiners.

These sessions, co-authored by and co-presented with Christina Nord, Bibliotekarie : Sannarpsgymnasiet, Halmstad, Sweden, were presented at the 2010 ECIS November Conference in Nice.  The slides (as slides and as handout), the links and the sources to Part 1 and to Part 2 are all available.

Changing Attitudes : Getting from Plagiarism and Punishment to PositivePractice. The problems are wide-spread: from students who find that the way they have always worked is no longer accepted, to students confused by different expectations of different teachers, to teachers frustrated with students submitting work clearly not their own, to schools with inconsistent approaches. In this session we look at what schools and colleges are doing, and at what works (and what does not) in the journey to consensus, common understanding and the promotion of good practice.
This session was first presented at the 2009 ECIS November Conference. As well as the slides, the handout includes further details, several exercises, and a set of references.

Copyright, copyleft, copyfree a journey through the copyright maze (with Ahu Özkarahan).  (1) The laws of copyright are often vague.  In aiming to be fair (cf. 'fair use', 'fair dealing' and similar terms) and flexible, it is often difficult, even for lawyers, to determine whether a given use is an infringement until the case comes to court - and even then, different judges may give different decisions, even in very similar circumstances.  (2) There is no such thing as "international copyright", even amongst countries which have signed up to the Berne Convention or its successors, even amongst signatories to the European Union Copyright Directive.  (3) Teachers (especially in international schools) come from different backgrounds and experiences, so have different expectations and awarenesses of what is, and what is not, allowed, acceptable or permissible, they have different understandings of 'educational fair use'.  (4) Except where big money is involved, the penalties for copyright infringement tend to be small and inconsequential. So does it matter?  Why bother? Why should we be concerned? In this discussion, presented with Ahu Özkarahan at the 2008 Autumn Teachers' Conference and at the ECIS November Conference 2008, we investigate these thoughts. The slides are posted here, and also a list of links to useful sites including FAQs and classroom quizzes.

Wikipedia or perish : the pros and the cons of 'the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit'.  Wikipedia is extremely popular with students, but it is dismissed by many teachers. Is it a case of getting what you pay for? Can Wikipedia and its spin-offs be relied upon? We look at how Wikipedia has evolved over the years, see why Wikipedia is controversial, and discuss how Wikipedia can be used to inform knowledge and research activities.  This was first presented at the ECIS November Conference 2007, and the handout can be downloaded as a .pdf file.

Adding POINT to PowerPoint : and other presentation tips : 10 DOs, 10 DON'Ts, and 20 HOW-IT'S-DONEs.  Think of all the good presentations you've seen, and think about what made them good.   Then think of all the bad presentations you've seen, and think about what made them awful.  Here are some tips on effective effects - and what to avoid.  (The .pdf file shows what was on the screen, the .doc file summarises the points, and tells you how it's done.)  First presented at the 2007 Autumn Teachers' Conference.

Academic honesty : investigating the grey areas.  Often, cases of cheating are open-and-shut, cut-and-dried.  Very often, it's less clear, especially when different teachers have different understandings of cheating and how to handle it.  Is there such a thing as accidental plagiarism?  Are there degrees of guilt?  Is it possible to be both fair and consistent in one's handling of plagiarism and other forms of cheating?  This workshop raises more questions than answers - but if there were easy answers to the problem, there wouldn't be a problem!  Here we  investigate the grey areas, note how academic honesty policies and procedures enable degrees of fairness, consistency and transparency, and consider the effectiveness of honor codes.  The presentation (as presented at the 2006 Autumn Teachers' Conference) can be downloaded as a .pdf file; the workbook (which includes case studies for discussion) may be posted later.  Later and slightly different versions of this workshop have been presented at the ECIS November Conference 2006, the School Library Association Training Weekend June 2007, and the IB AEM Summer Workshops for Librarians New to the Diploma Programme in July 2007.

Information 'satisfiction' : how searchers really search (and how to help them search better). Research reveals paradoxes; for instance, even though most searchers know they should not trust everything they find on the internet, most still accept the first hit they look at, with no attempt to verify findings. Something, anything, "satisfices".   Presented at the Autumn Teachers' Conference 2005, and later at the ECIS Conference in The Hague, November 2005.  The handout is available for download in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to read it); the bibliography and several other useful links are available in Word .doc format.

From literacy to information literacy: reading for understanding in the real world.  This piece has gone through several incarnations.  First presented as a paper at the IASL/ SLA Conference, and re-presented at the IB AEM Workshops, it has also been presented as a 45 minute lecture (ECIS November Conference, Nice, 2004, and the ECIS Librarians' Conference, Prague, 2005), a 60 minute mini-workshop (NESA Teachers' Conference, Istanbul, 2005) and as a full-blown 105 minute workshop (I.B. Day, Istanbul, 2005).  It ties together research in reading, critical thinking, and web site evaluation, and provides examples of real-life situations which can be used to show the necessity of critical thinking and constant alertness.
You can download the ECIS November Conference powerpoint slides in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to read it).
Also here (in Word .doc format for the time being) are updated versions of the bibliography of the paper, and a list of the links used as examples.

IB AEM Librarians' Workshops : Geneva, July 2004.   In the middle of May 2004, I was asked to help organize the IB AEM Librarians' Workshop. This event had been postponed at least five times since 2002, but this time IBO was determined to see it through. Many of the sessions I led were based on earlier presentations, rehashed and updated with an IB slant, with plenty of hands-on individual and small group exercises. There were also sessions prepared with my co-organizer, Anne-Yvonne Bouvier, and Anne-Yvonne also led several sessions of her own.
The links on the IB AEM Librarians' Workshop page lead to handouts for my major sessions. Apart from references and links for the "From Literacy to Information Literacy" session, the exercises and other supporting materials are NOT included here.

From literacy to information literacy: reading for understanding in the real world, presented at the IASL/ SLA joint conference From Aesop to e-book, Dublin, June 2004. This presentation of the professional paper ties together research in reading, critical thinking, and web site evaluation, also providing examples of real-life situations which can be used to show the necessity of critical thinking and constant alertness.
You can download the powerpoint slides in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to read it).
Also here (in Word .doc format for the time being) are the bibliography of the paper, and a list of the links used as examples.

Smart searching, better searching : in a Google Wonderland (a study in relativity), presented at the ECIS Annual Conference, Hamburg, November 2003. This presentation shows why Google is the best search engine around at this time (although it may not stay the best). We look at lesser-known features of Google, and look at areas where Google may not be quite so successful. We look too at other techniques and strategies for improving our internet reference use.
You can download the handout in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to read it).
Also available, an updated version of the Good Searching Guide file (also in .pdf format), which gives some general hints for more effective searching, and the top of my top tips.
See also the essay, Google : a personal paean in the Current Concerns section of these web pages.

Between the lines: the holes in the 'net, presented at the ECIS Annual Conference, Berlin, November 2002.  You can download the Powerpoint presentation in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to open the file) and view the latest edition of a constantly revised bibliography.  An earlier version, aimed at an audience of librarians, was presented at the 3rd ECIS Librarians' Conference and Workshop, Budapest, March 2002, and the Powerpoint slides can be viewed online. An even earlier version of this workshop was presented at the Fifth Autumn Teachers' Conference, Eyüboglu Schools, Istanbul, October 2001, with the title Beyond search engines : unmeshing the invisible web.
         See also the Good Searching file, a downloadable Word document, which gives some general hints for more effective searching.

Plagiarism : keeping up with the cheats, presented at the ECIS Annual Conference, Den Haag, November 2001. The ECIS handout is available here in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to open the file).  This workshop is somewhat different to those presented at SLA and CEESA (see workshop below);  it has more emphasis on detection methods and commercial plagiarism detection services.
The latest edition of a constantly revised bibliography is also available.

See also the page Detecting plagiarism : a self-help guide in the Current Concerns section of these web pages.

Plagiarism : beating the cheats, presented at the School Library Association Training Weekend, University of Cardiff, June 2001. The SLA handout is available here in .pdf format.  This presentation was aimed at librarians, and so is slightly different to an earlier version presented to teachers at the CEESA Teachers' Conference, Istanbul, March 2001.  The CEESA handout is also available in .pdf format. You'll need Acrobat Reader to open the .pdf files.
The latest edition of a constantly revised bibliography is also posted, renamed Plagiarism: keeping up with the cheats.
An even earlier version of this workshop was presented at the fourth Autumn Teachers' Conference, MEF Schools, Istanbul, October 2000.
See also the page Detecting plagiarism : a self-help guide in the Current Concerns section of these web pages.

Worth A Closer Look? Website Evaluation Revisited, presented at the ECIS Annual Conference, Nice, November 2000.
Part 1: From coding to content: first looks at website evaluation, and
Part 2: Website evaluation in the classroom are available in PowerPoint format, and the webliography as a web document. (Note: several slides in part 1 are based upon slides developed by Nick Kwan for a joint presentation to the Teaching Faculty of Robert College, August 2000, and taken further for a joint presentation for the NESA Teachers' Conference in March 2001.)

Information Technology, Information Literacy, and the International Baccalaureate, presented at the Headmasters and Coordinators Conference : IB Diploma - A Preparation for Life, Liverpool, October 30 - November 1, 1998.
The slides were created in Astound 4.0 for presentation as OHPs. They have been converted to Powerpoint slides and can be downloaded in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to open the file).
Also available: the Bibliography / List of Sources Used.
Libraries and learning : notes on research into the impact of school libraries.

More than surviving - thriving in the information age : reading as a basis for using information technology efficiently, presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, Ramat-Gan, Israel, July 5 - 9, 1998.
The slides were created in Astound 4.0 for presentation as OHPs. They have been converted to Powerpoint slides and can be downloaded in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader to open the file).

Return to Now read On Home Page

To the top of this page

To Robert College Library Home Page

John Royce, BA, MLib, CILIP
Library Director, Robert College
Arnavutköy, TR-34345 Istanbul, Turkey.

The URL of this page is http://www.read2live.com/workshops.htm
It was last revised on 30 April 2012.