On this page, you will find links to a variety of Pathfinders and pathfinder clusters.
I have also included information about Pathfinders, which may be helpful when developing your own.
What is a pathfinder?
A Pathfinder is a guide to locating a range of suitable resources that may be online and/or offline. It guides students through these resources for a specific subject area or topic to achieve a successful learning outcome.
When might teachers use a pathfinder?
When students need to locate resources in the library or on the Internet to achieve specified learning outcomes within or across Learning Areas.
In a school, a Pathfinder may be prepared by teacher librarians in consultation with teachers to support students researching specific topics set by the teacher to achieve a number of identified outcomes.
Definition taken from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/pathfinders/path2.htm#what
In a school, a Pathfinder may be prepared by teacher librarians in consultation with teachers to support students researching specific topics set by the teacher to achieve a number of identified outcomes.
Definition taken from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/pathfinders/path2.htm#what
This is a long video, but it shows what can be created in a pathfinder and how far we can actually take this medium if we want to!
The TL in this video uses a platform called LibGuides to create her pathfinders. I have been using Weebly, which is a great inexpensive tool, but will probably soon start using LibGuides as it is especially designed for Libraries. More information can be found at http://www.springshare.com/libguides/
Pathfinder Information and Helpful Readings
Pathfinders: Helping students find paths to information
This is an article by Kelly Kuntz, who is the Coordinator of the Instructional Technology and Library Services in Oregon. Kelly talks about the purpose of pathfinders, but also explains the process undertaken by a school within her district. Even though this article was written in 2003, and the link does not now work to the pathfinders she describes, the article itself is still very relevant and well worth a read.
Alice in InfoLand - Project Pathfinders
Another great article to read when planning the development of Pathfinders within your school. This is a guide to setting up pathfinders and the process in which to go through to when beginning Pathfinders within your school.
Pathfinder Swap Welcome Page
This is the welcome page for a pathfinder site (listed below). This page has some more information for setting up pathfinders in your school, and reminds us that pathfinders are really just the online version of what TLs have been creating for teachers for years.
Pathfinders and Pathfinder Clusters
Teacher Librarian Help
This site is created by a Teacher Librarian in Victoria and offers wonderful support for the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. The TL has started producing pathfinders and support guides for each of the History topics. Well worth a look.
Schoolarium
Schoolarium was created by a NSW Primary TL (in training). This site has a section for students and teachers and covers a wide range of topics. The bonus is that it is Australian and is compatible with our curriculum. Highly recommended.
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Pathfinders for StudentsPathfinders for Students is a website created by myself during my uni study. It was part of an assignment that I hope to continue with. It was created for the Year 6 SoSE team at the school I was working at in 2010 and contains pathfinders for topics related to Renewable Energy sources as well as Space.
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ETL 501 Pathfinders
This is a wikispace set up to display the assignments of ETL 501 students from Charles Sturt University. The pathfinders on this page range from Year 1 through to Year 12. As these pathfinders are part of an assignment task, they contain quite a lot of detail and range in design.
Library PathfindersThe pathfinders on this page have been developed for the school I currently work at. This is a work in progress, however the pathfinder concept has been well-received by the staff, so we will certainly be adding more as the year progresses. The pathfinders have been developed in line with the new Australian Curriculum in mind.
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Pathfinder Swap
Pathfinder Swap is a wiki which contains links to many different pathfinders, including some English and literature-based ones.
IPL2 Pathfinders
This site contains a wide range of Pathfinders, starting at the Junior Primarylevel and continuing right through to teacher resources.
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Spartan Guides - PathfindersAnother Spartan Guide: this one is a collection of pathfinders that Joyce Valenza and her team has curated.
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Blackfriars Priory School Libraries - LibGuidesAt my current school we have started using LibGuides to create Online Pathfinders for the students. We incorporate skills-based tutorials within the pathfinders to encourage students to develop their skills in a variety of areas.
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The Pathfinder Project
This site has many pathfinders listed, including some Australian sites. Each pathfinder is available as a PDF file or Word document and lists the target audience.
