Technology Leadership Role of School Librarians

     There are numerous benefits of technology use in the educational setting.  Student engagement is one of them.  When used properly with student led activities students learn more because they take ownership of their learning. They are able to create, collaborate and communicate with others applying and demonstrating their knowledge using technology tools like Google Apps for Education and the suite of apps such as Google Documents and Google Presentations that it offers. These skills are mandated in ISTE's Standards for students under standards 1 and 2 (2007). Differentiated learning is another very important benefit of technology use in education. Many web 2.0 tools are adaptive and allow the student to work at their level in skill reenforcement.  Technology is able to level the playing field for students with learning disabilities. Apps and programs enable students to get the same information that once was not available without special help, such as text to speech options.   With technology, information is portable and learning is at their fingertips. With this access comes a new set of rules and instructions as to what is appropriate and how to navigate information. This is where the School Librarian plays a big role. Learning digital citizenship, how to search, what to search and where are necessary skills for this information age. Digital citizenship is a skill listed as standard 5 in ISTE's standards for students (2007).  Students need to be able to discern from a good source and a bad one. Listed in the AASL's standards for 21st century learners is standard 1.1.7 that states learners need to be able to make sense of information from diverse sources (2007).  Web 2.0 tools like Diigo allow students to gather this type of diverse information and search using tags to cross exam information. Librarians are equipped to teach these skills and should be knowledgeable on all tools like this that will help students wade through the massive information that is available today. Librarians can make a safe environment for those new to research by creating a search engine from websites they have curated.

     AASL's  set of standards define the necessary skills learners need today. It describes how multiple literacies are vital rather than just information it includes multimedia and technology skills. The goal is to create life-long learners that are equipped with skills to think critically,  create new knowledge, be ethical users and producers, and to cultivate a desire to learn.

     In summary the role of school librarians and technology implementation is a crucial one. Fontichiaro said it best when she describes the roles of teachers and school librarians as "tightly aligned" (2009) This implies the need for librarians to communicate and collaborate with classroom teachers to create a strategy for teaching these skills.  In doing so they will model those skills to the students. One of the mandates found in the School Librarians Bill of Responsibilities is to support multiple paths to understanding, which means to differentiate teaching styles to accommodate the different learning styles (Bogel, 2009).  All of these things stress the important role of the school librarian in teaching with technology and all the responsibilities that go along with its use.

References

AASL Standards for the 21 century learner (Rep.). (2007)

Bogel, G. (2009). SCHOOL LIBRARIAN'S BILL OF RESPONSIBILITIES AND THE ALA CORE COMPETENCES. Knowledge Quest, 38(2), 64-68.

Fontichiaro, K. (2009). HOW DO SCHOOL LIBRARIANS FIT IN?. Knowledge Quest, 38(2), 70-72.

ISTE Standards Student (Rep.). (2007).

Blog Post 3 How Technology can be Incorporated in the School Library and Classroom

     Technology use and the skills it promotes is a vital part of student learning today. It should be incorporated in the library and classrooms alike. The article read described how a public school librarian infused technology in her library. She gave specific examples that will be highlighted in this post.

     One main point the librarian made was to note that it was a process, which started first with funding through grant writing and constant request to administration. It happened gradually not overnight. She also pointed out technology is constantly changing the librarian needs to keep up with the changes. The author noted the importance of the library as a place of fun and learning with lots of flexibility.

     Another important point was the importance of differentiated instruction. Being aware of the learning styles as well as the levels of your patrons is important. She uses several approaches to teaching lessons in the library, each reinforcing yet accommodating different learning styles. Websites, interactive whiteboard activities, videos and games are all things included in her teaching strategy. One of the author's favorite activities is a library lingo vocabulary game. This is played through a presentation teaching library vocabulary such as various literary awards like Newbery and other important terms students need to know in order to navigate the library. This whole group activity is followed up with an interactive whiteboard game in which students work in groups to play.

     Another key point the librarian spoke about was the need to provide activities in which students have hands on experiences. This includes creating videos that provide learning for others. One activity she described was having a grade draw pictures about respect and then they recording it to create a video. Another activity is teaching the students how the library is organized in order for them to help keep it clean and to stay organized. The interactive whiteboard is used to assess the student's knowledge and then to award them a certificate of completion noting this skill obtained.

     One strategy learned from this article I plan to implement is to use technology to differentiate instruction. This is so important but so often left out of the lesson plans. I like the authors multi faceted approach to teaching a lesson incorporating videos for the visual learning, hands on activities for the kinesthetic, and songs for the auditory learners. The author tailored activities to individual needs as well. The other technology that I plan to incorporate in the library is to design lesson specific activities for the interactive whiteboard to make a game or fun activity for reinforcing the knowledge learned. This as been a tool readily available, but not used to its fullest. I think the authors use of this tool helps to create a fun learning through game experience that is perfect for the library setting. I especially will remember the author's description of the library as a place of flexibility, fun and learning.

References

Mashriqi, K. (2011). Implementing Technology and Gaming Lessons in a School Library. Knowledge Quest, 40(1), 24-28.