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Working together towards information literacy November 29, 2006

Posted by charris in : Community , add a comment

Educational Testing Service (ETS) released preliminary findings this week from the initial administrations of their new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy exam to 6300+ college students and high school seniors. According to their description, this exam was developed to test a student’s skills at:

It might just be that these objectives sound a bit familiar for some reason, but that is a very good thing. We need to be on the same page as technology specialists who are tackling digital information and communication issues. ETS uses slightly oblique language, but the gist of the initial report is that the average score was around 50% (ETS - P. 7), so there is certainly room for us to work together on this!

Some areas for growth identified in the ETS report:

This document might also spark some items to include in comments on the draft learning standards for AASL - don’t forget that feedback is due by Friday, December 8th.

Raise Your Right Hand and… November 15, 2006

Posted by dlogan in : SLJSummit2006 , 1 comment so far

Facilitator Christopher Harris started the School Library 2.0 group session by having us all raise our right hands and promise to not whine. Our task was to look at where we need to be headed without lamenting the past and present and without dwelling on roadblocks. Panelists David Warlick, Diane Chen, Michael Stephens and Doug Achterman then proceeded to share examples of Web 2.0 technologies along with ideas for integrating them in to library instruction and operations. While one of the main tasks of the group was to define School Library 2.0, Christopher’s opening was one of the things that I think needs to be taken from the Summit.

Two weeks before the SLJ Summit, Joyce Valenza’s presentations at OELMA’s annual conference in Ohio, sparked considerable discussion on our state listserv. Some angst over barriers prompted people to help each other by sharing ideas for getting around the barriers to using Web 2.0 technologies in school libraries. Filters and technology departments were just two of the obstacles that were discussed. The group responded with a variety of resources and ideas.

The focus for School Library 2.0 needs to be opportunities instead of obstacles. Moving school libraries into Web 2.0 has tremendous potential. Over and over SLJ Summit speakers emphasized that content and collaboration are two of the key components of Web 2.0. Content and collaboration are two of the specialties of school libraries. When we look at School Library 2.0 and how we are going to implement aspects of it into our programs, the emphasis needs to be on the opportunities. We need to find, share and use powerful School Library 2.0 examples with our decision makers and stakeholders in order to shape our programs to meet the needs of 21st century students.

Just One Thing November 11, 2006

Posted by pcreighton in : SLJSummit2006 , add a comment

As thoughts and ideas began to gel with us and the School Library Summit, http://extras.schoollibraryjournal.com/summit/, in Chicago drew to a close, Gail Dickinson, http://education.odu.edu/eci/dir/vitae/g_dickinson.shtml, challenged attendees to consider what we would do differently as a result of the collective brainstorming and critical action points generated at the conference.

I was awed as attendees began to suggest ideas such as: share at conferences, tell the school board, tell the state legislature, share with local organizations, speak to staff and school improvement team, share with tech team, share with readers in publications, share on wikis and discussion groups, share on websites, share with SIP teams, share with administrators, conduct research, join leadership teams, share with higher ed programs, share with partnerships, make inroads with other depts. (those that train leaders), get education programs to include a library activity, become an adjunct faculty member, create a presentation to give to teacher ed program and post to a wiki; each state pick one key organization and arrange to present to state universities, post ideas to aasl blog, http://blogs.ala.org , (hey! I am doing that!), identify a significant curriculum standard where there is a point of intervention and work in a leadership capacity and identify learning outcomes and embed some simple strategies for information literacy instruction, collect data and analyze and make some claims about how intervention impacted student achievement and post on school library web site and share in districts and make known what you are doing at local level and get your voice out there, participate in surveys (how about the AASL future vision survey?…. A link is found on the AASL homepage http://www.aasl.org), take each of these items and describe in terms of consequences of failing to act on them and turn into a powerpoint and send to every superintendent in the country, and update online communications frequently so all can see progress.

Gail Dickinson then led us into our “dotting activity” where we all added dots to items on charts that we considered to be the most meaningful, powerful, and challenging critical action points. Dots were counted and the consensus of the group led to the following Top Ten Critical Action Points for our field:

10) building trust and respect
9) equity—leveling the playing field
8)including information literacy in teacher programs
7)partnering in assessment
6)technology literacy

5)playing a leadership role in emerging technology
4) providing stakeholders with models and information
3) developing new models to embrace 21st century learners
2) demonstrating use of data and evidence
1)meshing library added value into learning environments at all levels—student, teacher, parents, local, state, national

I squirmed in my seat a little as I watched and listened. I began to generate my own Top Ten list, which was not very different from the lists above, just slightly more personal. I thought to myself, “I could do this!” And, as you can see, from this post and others I have made this week, I have begun. And now, I challenge you, friends, co-workers, peers, and esteemed readers. I wonder what we could do collectively if we all acted on this thought. Do you know how powerful all of this is? Suppose each one of us did just one thing? Wow!

Thoughts on the School Library Journal Summit in Chicago continued: November 9, 2006

Posted by pcreighton in : Community , add a comment

Saturday morning in Chicago was a bit overcast and windy as summit attendees reconvened in the Gold Coast Room of the historic Drake Hotel for a plated breakfast. Joan Frye Williams, http://www.jfwilliams.com/, library futurist and designer of innovative library services, delivered a speech on making sense of the future while attendees feasted on a glorious array of fruit, pastry, eggs, bacon and sausage, coffee and tea.
Williams maintains that innovations trickle up from the market level rather than down. While I glanced around the room of technogeeks with their PDAs, tablet PCs, Blackberrys and other bluetooth devices that were sending data to their wikis and blogs via the hotel wifi, I couldn’t help but smile.
Joan added that in an infodiverse environment, we must start with a student perspective and ask, “Is this my kind of place?” We must also stop whining and start practicing with new toys to be credible to today’s students. We might begin by seeing the library as library as an idea factory a place to try new things such as a book art studio, a media production facility, a new tech showcase and a place to crunch scientific data. We must simplify “wayfinding” and, most importantly, never forget why we are “doing this!”

The remainder of the morning was devoted to breakout sessions discussing the critical action steps identified Friday afternoon. Before lunch, all groups reassembled in the Gold Coast Room. Ross Todd, http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~rtodd/, of Rutgers School of Communication, Information and Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries at Rutgers University, presented reflections on the summit’s work so far. Todd contends that a purpose of the summit is “is contentious debate which is necessary for solutions and actions” and adds that “not taking action means we are taking someone else’s solution which is not necessarily in best interest of students.” He urged us to think outside the box and consider the educational influences beyond the school library media center. Todd asserted that key opportunities for school media specialists today include modeling effective inquiry and investing in teachers.

More to come…

SLJ Summit: E is for- November 7, 2006

Posted by ayucht in : SLJSummit2006 , 1 comment so far

From Adam Janowski, Library Media Specialist, Naples (FL) High School:
“No sooner did I arrive home, when my principal asked me to create an article for her next parent newsletter. Here is how I digested the conference for “civilians” –
What are we looking for in our school library?

Excellence
-school libraries provide resources for all students to succeed
-school libraries foster rigor in the classroom and in research
-school libraries assist teachers and students in success in standardized state tests

Emerging
-school libraries are leaders in evaluating technologies and their appropriateness for student achievement
Empowering
-school libraries give students and teachers the tools necessary to be successful in classroom assignments
Educating
-school libraries look to national models of excellence that can be replicated at the local level
-school libraries provide a focus for teacher and student training, be it hardware or software
Enabling
-school libraries foster partnering between teachers and librarians to plan successful and relevant lessons

Enjoyment
-school libraries foster life-long interest in learning
-school libraries encourage appreciation of reading”