Congratulations, Meggan (Megg) Aston, library media specialist at Davis Middle School Dublin City School District. Meggan is the Rosen Publishing Ohio School Librarian of the Month for December.

What is the goal of Digital Detectives? According to nominator, Brendan Erb, Digital Detectives is a three-day lesson in digital literacy in which the students create focused research questions, generate search terms to access information about their question, and identify authoritative sources from databases and the free internet.

Can you give us an overview of Digital Detectives? Brendan Erb elaborated on the lesson. “Students in a Digital Literacy class were getting ready to research an ‘essential question’ related to social media.  In order to do the research well, Megg had the students become Digital Detectives. Everyone had a detective code name (which Megg used to refer to each student throughout the lessons) and spent three days going through lessons about databases, the open Internet, search terms and Boolean operators, and how to write an essential research question.  By the end of the lesson, students had a far more complete understanding of the value of source authority and relevance of information in research.”

Why do you feel the program is a success? After the lessons, students spent the next week researching and becoming experts on the topic surrounding their essential question. They used the handouts and knowledge from their lessons with Megg to read and take notes on at least four sources - at least two from databases and two from the open internet, They used lateral reading for their open internet searches, which is also something that Megg discussed with them (Erb).

Is there any other information your would like to share? According to Erb, “the linked slides that were created in Canva, gives a sense of Megg’s humor that hooks kids and her masterful instructional planning in this unit.”

The Rosen Publishing Ohio School Librarian of the Month recognizes one school librarian a month who designs, develops, and implements a collaborative lesson plan and/or programming that empowers student learning. This award spotlights the importance of both the school library community and librarian and the pivotal role each plays in transforming learning throughout students’ K-12 education.

Consider nominating yourself or another OELMA Library Media Specialist to be considered for Rosen Ohio School Librarian of the month!  The Rosen award nomination form can be accessedunder the Professional Recognition tab. Contact Susan Yutzey (oelma.awards@gmail.com) with any questions.

Congratulations Meggan!