Curriculum Connections Through the Library

Ch. 9 Building Learning Communities Using Technology –

by Frances Jacobsen Harris

• This PowerPoint was created by Rich Meland with the help of other students in Fresno Pacific University’s LIB 710 class during the Fall 2009 semester.

• It is a summary and gathering of quotes and responses from a discussion of chapter 9 in Curriculum Connections Through the Library, edited by Barbara K. Stripling and Sandra Hughes-Hassell.

Why Build Learning Communities Using Technology?

• “Individuals learn more in a community than they would on their own” (172) and technology “enables flexible and powerful information retrieval, analysis, and production in a shared environment” (173).

Learning Communities vs. Information Ecologies

• While a community may be composed of individuals similar in nature, ecologies “imply diversity and variety” and are interconnected (174).

Coevolution

• We "coevolve" together and "the players in an information ecology change and develop in response to one another" (175).

Keystone Species

• Keystone species “are those whose existence is key to the survival of the ecology” and as teacher librarians, we should strive to fill this role in our schools (176).

Research Trends

• In 2001, the Pew Research Center reported that “94% of online teens report to using the Internet to research at school. 71% say they relied mostly on Internet sources for the last big project they did for school” (177).

Libraries Face a Challenge

• “While the Internet has proven to be a great boon to libraries, it has also supplanted the library as the first-stop resource for finding information. As mentioned earlier, teenagers in particular have abandoned the library in favor of using the Internet” (181).

“Books, subscription-based databases, archival materials, back runs of periodicals” are examples of

resources not available for free on the Internet (182).

• Robert - “the quality of information that they find [on the internet] is typically lacking” (ie. Wikipedia).

“Books, subscription-based databases, archival materials, back runs of periodicals” are examples of

resources not available for free on the Internet (182).

• Robert - We need to “help students find the best information, not the easiest” and “show the value of printed texts or subscription journals.”

“One of the earliest and most persistent myths about computer technology is that it decreases the use of paper in our society and creates less need for human labor” (182).

• Mark – “Because of the enormous amounts of information that is available on the internet, which is sometimes difficult to locate, people tend to print out everything they find.”

“One of the earliest and most persistent myths about computer technology is that it decreases the use of paper in our society and creates less need for human labor” (182).

• Aaron – “I do hope that we will get to a point that there will be a thing such as virtual notebooks where students write on them and it is stored in a digital format as well as having the ability to "turn it in" to the teacher.”

“One of the earliest and most persistent myths about computer technology is that it decreases the use of paper in our society and creates less need for human labor” (182).

• Sarah – “I predict that this generation that we are all teaching, will find ways to create a near- paperless environment so that it is not only saving trees, energy (etc), and time, but it will make us more efficient and organized in the school setting and the business world.”

“However, as technology has evolved, teaching practice has not necessarily evolved with it” (183).

• Lisa – “technology has enhanced their lessons by using graphics, videos, sounds, visual aids, etc…. However, this also can lead to teachers being lazy or lax in their lessons and or the actual content within the lesson.”

“However, as technology has evolved, teaching practice has not necessarily evolved with it” (183).

• Christina – “We need to use technology to enhance what we already teach, not get in the way and make us water down what we teach.”

“However, as technology has evolved, teaching practice has not necessarily evolved with it” (183).

• Nancy – “most schools don't have the money to keep up with the technology… combined with the fact that a huge number of teachers are not really computer literate contributes to teaching practices that have not changed all that much over the years.”

“PowerPoint presentations are today’s fancy version of yesterday’s overhead transparency-based lessons; Web page projections are

today’s implementation of yesterday’s slide show” (183).

• Laura – “then Google and those like it are today's version of the index in the back of a book. The students face the same problems in both cases.”

“PowerPoint presentations are today’s fancy version of yesterday’s overhead transparency-based lessons; Web page projections are

today’s implementation of yesterday’s slide show” (183).

• Mark – “I just hope by the time PowerPoint is considered yesterday’s technology our school is not still using overhead projectors.”

“PowerPoint presentations are today’s fancy version of yesterday’s overhead transparency-based lessons; Web page projections are

today’s implementation of yesterday’s slide show” (183).

• Linda – “I think it's true that PowerPoint may seem like a fancy version of the overhead projector but it definitely is much more visual, user friendly, and can even be interactive.”

“Feldman et al (2000, 78) found that substantive discussions are hard to sustain online” and “..much online discussion never progresses beyond the ephemeral” (183).

• Linda – “I completely disagree with Feldman’s statement that the discussion never progresses beyond. I had students write more than they would on a typical journal entry because they quickly got instant feedback via responses from other students, they could write more and faster using a computer than pen and paper, and they were able to converse with their friends (which is something kids just love to do anyways).”

“Feldman et al (2000, 78) found that substantive discussions are hard to sustain online” and “..much online discussion never progresses beyond the ephemeral” (183).

• Linda - “My class proved that technology creates and builds a collaborative learning community.”

“Feldman et al (2000, 78) found that substantive discussions are hard to sustain online” and “..much online discussion never progresses beyond the ephemeral” (183).

• Laura – “The [blog] responses are so much deeper than any written or oral response that I would have received.”

“Feldman et al (2000, 78) found that substantive discussions are hard to sustain online” and “..much online discussion never progresses beyond the ephemeral” (183).

• Mark – “On-line discussions do give shy people a chance to open up and express themselves in a way that then never would do in a classroom in front of their peers.”

“…it is the media specialist who will be able to help students find resources on the invisible Web and distinguish between

the real gold and fool’s gold on the visible Web” (184).

• Laura – “Knowing how to navigate the web and make it a tool that is useful is one of the most important roles that an LMT can fill. In my own classroom, even my most adept students struggle to find "useful" information on the web. If it isn't in the first few "hits" on a search engine, then they go to wikipedia or they give up entirely.”

“…it is the media specialist who will be able to help students find resources on the invisible Web and distinguish between

the real gold and fool’s gold on the visible Web” (184).

• Mark – “Not all students have the skills to successfully navigate the vast amounts of information to find the pertinent facts they are seeking.”

“…it is the media specialist who will be able to help students find resources on the invisible Web and distinguish between

the real gold and fool’s gold on the visible Web” (184).

• Christina – “Our job is no longer about teaching students how to find things; our job is to teach them how to be “investigators” of ideas.”

How are you and the school using technology to build learning communities on your campus?

• “I hope that the teacher will begin to embrace the technology [smartboards] and see how they can interact with students and involve them in what is going on with the presentation.” – Aaron

• “Probably not. I think we as Teacher Librarians need to coevolve together.” – Linda

• “My school does not equip our classrooms with the latest technology which I see as both a disadvantage to the teacher, and the students.” - Mark

How are you and your library coevolving with current trends in technology?

• “I also want to introduce online databases” – Lisa• “Our students communicate via texting, social networking

sites such as Facebook, and share thoughts using blogging sites and messaging sites such as Twitter. Has our library evolved to meet students where they are at? I have to honestly say, NO we have not.” – Linda

• “Our school has evolved and has invested in some great information databases that provide our kids with "prescreened" and "relevant" information, but our students still struggle with the skills needed to navigate them.” - Laura

Would you describe yourself as a keystone species on your campus? Why or why not?

• “I do not think that the administration at my site, at the district level, or even the school board, see the library as a valuable resource” – Robert

• “YES! This is the first year that I have worked as a Teacher Librarian. Prior to my arrival my library did not have a website.” – Linda

• “I don’t feel that I represent the hub of the school yet…. very few have ever experienced quality teacher librarians as resources.” - Christina

Thank You!!!

• Linda, Laura, Christina, Lisa, Robert, Mark, Aaron, Nancy, and Sarah - I appreciated all of your participation in this week’s discussion.