Blog Post 4: Technology Leadership Role of School Librarians

Traditionally, school librarians have been seen as the ambassador of reading and helping students build a lifelong love of reading. While this is still true, they now have an additional role to help students responsibly and successfully access information through technology in the 21st century. The Standards for the 21st Century Learner (American Association of School Librarians, 2007) is a great guide to helping to plan and implement the teaching of information and technology skills for students. These standards help to build the gap between the traditional role of the librarian and the new role of the 21st century librarian.

School librarians have an important role in the implementation of technology in schools. They are leaders when it comes to use of technology. School librarians are in a unique position because they collaborate with colleagues and work with all students in the school. Because of this, not only can they directly implement the use of technology with students, but they can also provide support to their colleagues. School librarians act as a leader and expert in technology at their school. They can provide training for students, teacher, and parents. Librarians have an exciting opportunity where they can bring the latest of educational technology to both their colleagues and students. The library, itself, is filled with various technologies and provides access to all students, regardless of economic class. As the librarian, this is your domain and you are able to help implement these various technologies in a flexible, but meaningful way (Perez, 2010, p. 72).

In schools that are lucky enough to have an additional instructional technology specialist, the librarian can work closely with that person to seamlessly weave instruction to students and both teachers. As schools continue into the 21st century, it is crucial that students build these skills in order to become successful in careers that are probably not even invented yet. In order to truly become fluent in technology, they must be taught specific, useful skills. Teachers must feel comfortable using technology before they are able to successfully teach the skills. Librarians can work with the instructional technologist to help build those skills in their fellow colleagues. If schools have a high level of collaboration among their staff, the students are the true winners and become successful members of the 21st century (Johnston, 2013).

References

American Association of School Librarians (2007). Standards for the 21st-century learner. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/files/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf

Johnson, M.P. (2013). School librarian + technology specialist. Knowledge Quest, 42(1), 70-75.

Perez, L. (2010). The role of school librarians in promoting the use of educational technologies. Teacher Librarian, 38(1), 72-73.

Blog Post 3: Technology Implementation Strategies

Summary 

• In this time of increased standards and seemingly limitless technologies, it is a challenge for educators to determine which technologies to use with our limited time and best prepare our students to not only read, but read online.
• Reading online is almost always to seek information. As more students have access to the internet, we must specifically teach students the skills to read online and bridge the gap between offline reading. The specific skills to teach students are: reading to locate information, reading to synthesize information, reading to evaluate information, and reading and writing to communicate information.
• In elementary classrooms, we can prepare beginning readers by introducing them to online technologies, teach students to teach each other, provide opportunities for online research, integrate online research with other research, engage students in collaborative online reading, teach students to critically evaluate sources, and use websites as a supportive text for reading.

Application to Instructional Strategies 

Based on the information presented in this article, the best way to teach strategies to students that will be most beneficial and authentic is to integrate online reading sources into our reading curriculum. Showing students that the information they find online can be used as an additional reading source. During a unit on expository texts, using supplementary resources online would be a good way to integrate this into your reading curriculum.

Modeling online searches for information and then having students use these skills to research a topic of their choosing is an excellent strategy to teach research skills. Having students do research for a writing project, such as a biography, animal report, or feature article would be an ideal activity for this. A mini lesson that could be included during these writing units would be to teach students to evaluate the sources to see if they are reliable and accurate.

Collaborative blogging is an excellent way to have students teach each other, engage in collaborative online reading, and teaching both online reading and writing skills. Having students post their reading responses from independent reading on a class blog and having them respond and discuss with each other would be an appropriate way to teach these skills, while also bridging the gap between online and offline reading.


References

Leu, D.J., Forzani, E., Timbrell, N. & Maykel, C. (2015). Seeing the forest, not the trees: Essential technologies for literacy in the primary-grade and upper elementary-grade classroom. The Reading Teacher, 69(2), 139–145

Blog Post 2: Handheld Devices

Summary

• The use of technology in schools, specifically tablets, is a new concept for educators and we must strategically plan the best ways for children to use the. Students learn the most when using technology when there is scaffolding and the activity encourages independent thinking and problem solving. It is critical that students are given specific tasks that will increase and direct them to their learning objectives. 
• Although not traditional computers, tablets are a very useful tool for students. They can improve fine motor skills, writing, organizational skills. Students can use a stylus to hand write or type like a traditional computer. Tablets have been shown to be successful for a wide variety of age levels. They are versatile and can be used for many different uses. 
• Students have increased motivation when using a tablet computer. They have been found to be engaging for students from early childhood through high school. Some reasons for this have been found to be because of novelty, bright colors, use of stylus, and because it mirrors traditional writing more than on a computer.

Application in Real World
Libraries have a great opportunity to easily integrate the use of technology, and specifically tablets. Many school districts provide ipads or other tablets for use in the library and other areas of campus. Many libraries integrate the use of e-readers, such as Nooks or Kindles. Tablets are very accessible because of the ease of use and their lower cost. Because they are portable, they can be used all over the library and for various purposes. They are more durable and are often better with younger students. They can be used for research and to access the online catalog. QR codes can be put up and students can use these to access more information. This could be use to help students find out more information about a particular subject or as a part of a webquest or other research hunt. QR codes could also help students locate e-books or other related material in the online database. They can be used to respond to their readings or create book trailers by the students. Because tablets or so versatile, they can be used for all age groups. An older student might use a tablet to create a video book trailer using a video editing software and a much younger student might simply draw a picture and record their voice. Use of tablets in the library seems almost endless because of the vast amount of applications and uses.

References
Cause, L. J., & Chen, D. W. (2010). A tablet computer for young children? Exploring its viability for early childhood education. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 43(1), 75-98.

Blog Post 1: Technology Strengths and Weaknesses

When I first thought about my use of technology as a teacher, I felt pretty strong. I feel comfortable with technology and I try to use it when possible. I know there are areas I could grow, but I felt pretty good. However, after I reviewed the ISTE standards, I realized how far I really have to go and how much I could stand to improve upon.

The first two statements from the International Society of Technology in Education [ISTE] (2008), “Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity,” and “Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments,” are the two areas that I could stand to improve upon. I teach in a STAAR tested grade and my district is very focused on testing, way more than integration of technology. Because of this, I think a lot of my instruction is more focused on this, then on using technology in ways to inspire creativity in my students. In order to get past these weaknesses, I think I need to be more strategic in how to use technology, but still adequately prepare my students for the test. I have recently been introduced to Google Classroom, so I’m trying to integrate this in a way that I can use to assess my students. I need to make more of an effort to integrate technology into the subjects that are not tested with STAAR. Additionally, I have found it hard to use technology at my school because my district does not spend a lot of money on revamping our technology, so a lot of it is out of date or does not work properly. It is often not an efficient use of time to use technology because you will spend a significant portion of the time trying to get it to work. Time that takes away from the learning of the students.

I think my strengths are more closely related to standard three, “model digital age work and learning” and standard five, “engage in personal growth and leadership” (ISTE, 2008). I consider myself a digital native and feel that I am fairly proficient in using technology. Additionally, I try to improve myself professionally, especially when it comes to technology. I have attended conferences on technology and literacy that provided many great resources that I have tried to use, although not as successfully as I would like. When possible, I try to collaborate with colleagues that are open to using and successful with using technology. I am a member of my campus’ technology cadre and have spent time sharing the information that I have gained through these experiences with my campus and colleagues.

References

International Society for Technology in Education (2008). ISTE standards for teachers. Retrieved                from http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-teachers

Class Projects