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AASL National Conference speakers announced November 26, 2008

Posted by mjones in : AASL News, AASL2009, Conferences , add a comment

danah boyd to address school library media specialists at AASL 2009 National Conference
danah boyd, the “high priestess” of networked social media, will keynote the AASL 14th National Conference & Exhibition, “Rev up learning @ your library,” November 5-8, 2009, in Charlotte, North Carolina. danah boyd is an internationally recognized authority on online social networking sites with unique and controversial perspectives on how America’s youth are engaging in sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. Read the full press release.

Marco Torres to wrap up AASL’s four-day national conference
Marco Torres will deliver the closing remarks for AASL’s National Conference, “Rev up learning @ your library.” A high school social studies teacher in San Fernando, California, Torres is focused on helping students become engaged in learning and acquire the skills they need to thrive in our 21st-century digital culture. Torres sees digital media as the tools of liberation for people who have lived in comparatively disadvantaged situations. Read the full press release.

Deadline approaching! Submit proposals for concurrent sessions at AASL National Conference
Don’t miss the deadline to submit a proposal for concurrent sessions at the AASL 14th National Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, November 5-8, 2009. The theme of the conference is “Rev Up Learning @ your library.” The conference will offer a number of 75-minute peer-reviewed concurrent sessions. As in previous conferences, program content must address any or all of the three areas of responsibility as identified in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning:

The National Conference 2009 committee encourages proposals that aim to inform conference attendees of the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. Proposals can be submitted and edited using an online submission process. The deadline for proposals is Monday, December 1.

Become an AASL follower on Twitter; Submit a proposal for AASL National Conference November 12, 2008

Posted by mjones in : AASL News, AASL2009, Community , add a comment

Join AASL’s newest social networking site for members
AASL recently added another venue to its social networking offerings for AASL members. Are you a follower? Check for AASL the next time you are on Twitter to stay connected.

While we are it, have you joined AASL’s group on Facebook, yet?
 If not, be sure to look AASL up the next time you are there. Search for the
“American Association of School Librarians.”

Submit proposals for concurrent sessions at AASL’s 14th National Conference
The deadline is approaching to submit a proposal for concurrent sessions at AASL’s 14th National Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The theme of the conference is “Rev Up Learning @ your library.” The conference will offer a number of 75-minute peer-reviewed concurrent sessions. As in previous conferences, program content must address any or all of the three areas of responsibility as identified in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning:

The National Conference 2009 committee encourages proposals that aim to inform conference attendees of the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.

The deadline for proposals is Monday, December 1. Proposals can be submitted using AASL’s online submission process.

AASL, Charlotte, and Web 2.0 July 24, 2008

Posted by Floyd Pentlin in : AASL2009, Conferences, Hot Topics , 11 comments

A group of us got together recently via Skype to discuss AASL’s great leap forward into the 2.0 world. Specifically we were talking about how the next AASL conference could take advantage of the collaborative and transparent nature of 2.0 to make the conference more available to AASL members as well as make the conference have a life beyond the few days that we would be able to spend in North Carolina in November 2009.

The discussion was pretty spirited as we talked about what it would look like to make the conference more interactive. So much of the conference is lost after the moment and events like the Exploratorium which have so many specific activities taking place within a short period of time could really benefit from additional exposure. The general excitement of the conference could be reflected through postings to Flickr and workshops could be streamed through software like Ustream. It would allow someone in Minneapolis to see the same thing that someone sitting in Charlotte would see. It wouldn’t be the same experience but it would be an experience that someone who can’t attend the conference personally would miss out on completely otherwise. I suppose one could even twitter your comments about the presentation at the same time it was happening. (Be nice!)

Needless to say this brings up all kinds of questions. What kind of technical resources would be required to do this effectively? What are the copyright implications? What might the frustration level be for someone who is trying to participate virtually with little or no technical support? Can we extrapolate from the conference experience data that might be useful in helping the organization know more about its users? How do we extend the use of 2.0 in school libraries when so many school districts filter many of the most popular 2.0 software?

From all of these questions, the group began a philosophical discussion of where all of the 2.0 technology puts the library media specialist. Everyone in the group feels that librarians continue to be in the cross-hairs of a technological revolution that will continue to redefine our position within the educational structure. If we don’t model the use and knowledge of this environment, then someone else will take up the mantle. The fact that 2.0 ties in so closely to a broader interpretation of information literacy means that we have a natural entrée into this world. If that is the case then AASL needs to interlace aspects of the 2.0 world into its next conference. The question is how and in what way?

We are looking for suggestions.

Over to you.