I’m a Seth Godin fan

Let’s face it, blogging has fallen by the wayside. Newer technologies like Twitter make it easier to spit out mircoposts and ideas in 160 characters or less. There’s a lot to be said in this world if you’re able to summarize.

But, there is one blogger that I still read religiously: Seth Godin. He has virtually no connection to what I do for a living and mostly blogs about marketing. Still, I find his writing compelling and addicting. He posts daily, and usually it’s no more than a few paragraphs. Funny thing though, I find those paragraphs helping me get through the daily struggle.

SOPAC2

I’m incubating again…

This time I’m wondering about the possibility of  social OPAC’s in school libraries. As social networks allow users to customize their space in the cloud, couldn’t school libraries at least provide similar services for students to manage their own personal learning & access to information in their library?

A glance at some of the modules being offered in the 2.1ver. of the SOPAC software leaves me wondering why this can’t be offered/achieved at the school level.

Consider:

My commentary is italicized…
- RSS everything- Would allow students to subscribe to lists of  materials, anything new, etc…

- Wish list- Would allow a streamlined way for students to request new materials for purchase, take more of ownership over the collection.

- Saved searches as a separate module- Great for teaching users to become more masterful searchers, great to track a students “searching progress” at the elementary level.

- Summer Reading module- A place to communicate & differentiate literature lists for multiple grade-level & content areas.

- Checkout History- Would allow students to manage and reflect on their reading history. Would allow librarians and teachers to better track and make recommendations for readers.

- Recommendation engine- Virtual recommendations. Think of something like iTunes Genius playlists but rather than it customizing your music, it would do so for your literature.

- “Recommend to a friend”-  A potential tool to increase student motivation on the peer to peer level.

For a good working model of what the SOPAC software looks like in action, head over to the Darien Public Library.

goodreads

Justin’s Books

Justin Ashworth’s favorite books »

My Summer Bookshelf 09

I have five or six books going as I work my way through the Summer of 2009. Here’s what I’m reading:

Tribes by Seth Godin

Redefining Literacy 2.0 by David Warlick

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee

Librarians as Learning Specialists: Meeting the Learning Imperative for the 21st Century by Allison Zmuda and Vi Harada

The Game for a Lifetime: More Lessons and Teachings by Harvey Penick (You know, so I can keep my head down and all that stuff.)

Anyone out there with a recommendation? I might be able to knock one more out before School Year 09-10 begins.

Video Games and Learning

A Point of Clarification

I feel compelled to blog today to defend myself against recent comments suggesting that I’m advocating school librarians concentrate their budget and efforts on gaming consoles and video games rather than on books or other educational/instructional content. I hope this isn’t what I’ve been conveying to my audience.

For the record, I’m not advocating the willy-nilly placement of a Nintendo Wii into a school library. It’s actually quite the opposite. I’m suggesting using the principles behind good games to collaboratively teach 21st century information literacy skills and engage learners.

From Marc Prensky:

We have seen that games engage kids because they incorporate so many important principles of learning. The first of these principles involves a subtle shift in mindset. Instead of giving precedence to simply getting through the material, your top priority must be to engage your students. We teachers all try to engage the students, and we all have to teach the material. But I think we can, and to be effective we have to, reverse our priorities. So as you put your lesson plans together, start by asking yourself. “How can I keep every one of my students at the edge of their seat for 30 (or 45 or 60) minutes- and still teach the content?”

What I am pushing for is school librarians and teachers to develop collaborative units of study that address local content area standards and benchmarks and AASL’s Standards for the 21st century learner while using the Nintendo Wii as an instructional tool. This involves some heavy and thoughtful planning on the part of the teacher and librarian. When well thought-out, digital game based learning can be an effective way to motivate students and teach virtually any concept in a creative and relevant manner. YouTube Tim Rylands instruction on creative writing using the video game Myst. It’s unbelievable how he has students captured and writing at such high levels. I’m looking to create a similar model using the Wii as a platform in school libraries.

Prensky again:

“ Complex games, already educating our kids after school, also have the potential to be a huge boon to formal education. That is one reason it is so important that teachers, parents, and educators learn more about them. As more educators and designers shift their focus to complex games and as parents, teachers, and educators really come to understand what complex games are capable of and why the kids love them so much, a great number of today’s resistant adults- including, hopefully you- will come around and embrace complex games, in their many forms, as a key educational tool for today’s students and for kids in the future.”

To the point that purchasing a Wii will siphon money away from valuable book money, I’m not suggesting turning your library into Blockbuster. I’ve never suggested purchasing a video game console or any video games off of my budget or your library budget for that matter. This is something my local consortium (OCM BOCES School Library Systems) is purchasing for the entire Central New York region (123 school libraries in all.) Their goal for the Nintendo Wii, as is mine, is to try to use it as an instructional tool and develop best practice using it in a school library setting. If this pilot program is successful and it proves to increase student engagement and student achievement, I will ask my Parent Teachers Association to completely fund the gaming console and games to use for instructional units of study and for after-school aesthetic purposes.

In a lot of ways I’m trailblazing here, so the ideas and some of the content I post seems flimsy. It takes a leap of faith and some pre-research and buy-in by the reader. If you’re interested in the topic I highly suggest reading Marc Prensky and Eli Neiburger. They have the data and teeth behind the argument for digital game based learning. I’m the one on the front lines in the field, armed with their research, developing best practice with a live audience.

Passages excerpted from Marc Prensky’s “Don’t Bother Me Mom….I’m Learning!” Paragon House. 2006.

My Summer Bookshelf

My summer job has been rather demanding when it comes to reading professional literature and surrounding myself with research based best practices. Rarely do I ever read a book cover to cover, so it means that I have two or three going at the same time. I have six books going right now, or at least that’s what I counted on top of my bed this morning while I got dressed for work.

Here’s what I’m reading during the Summer of 2008:

Digital Game Based Learning by Marc Prensky

Don’t Bother Me Mom; I’m Learning! by Marc Prensky

Gamers…in the Library?! by Eli Neiberger

Social Software in Libraries by Meridith Farkas

Handheld Computers in Schools and Media Centers by Ann Bell

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

Why Wii in a school library?

I’ve been having a bunch of interesting conversations about gaming in school libraries with the folks in different offices at my new job.

The general response from many is that they don’t see how a gaming console like the Wii connects to any learning, and it certainly does NOT belong in a school library. After all, school libraries are known for their books, and quietness. All together now: “Shhhhhhhh!”

Armed with a few statistics from Marc Prensky’s and Eli Neiberger’s research, I’ve been able to successfully defend and justify the purchasing and placement of Nintendo Wii’s in school libraries. I found it necessary to pull together the most important talking points into a one page document for all the non believers out there. It’s not the cleanest looking document out there, but it’s the first of its kind…at least that I know of.

Feel free to use it, modify it, give me feedback on it and make it your own. I’m going to become a member of the LibGamers forum on Google Groups. It’s becoming the place to get ideas, gather materials and continue the conversation on gaming in school libraries.

Gaming in a School Library?

That’s what I have been getting asked at least ten times daily by anyone who wants to know what I’ve been doing this summer. I’ve found that being well researched and well read has been critical in informing the the masses about digital game based learning.

I have to admit, I am a slow reader and even worse when it comes to writing. I am trying to get my facts straight, work through my ideas, make curriculum connections, and complete my due diligence on gaming in school libraries.

The good news is that Gaming in Libraries is a burgeoning idea and new research is popping up daily. ALA has appointed a task force, ALA Tech Source holds a annual gaming symposium, and there are many fresh voices and advocates in the field.

If you’re interested in trying to pull together materials to help you in your quest to study the topic, I’ve found the following to be the best of the best.

Digital Game Based Learning by Marc Prensky

Don’t Bother Me Mom- I’m Learning!” by Marc Prensky

ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries

Gamers…in the Library by Eli Neiburger

The Shifted Librarian (Weblog) by Jenny Levine

and a quick plug for my Alma Mater & Scott Nicholson at Syracuse University-

Library Game Lab of Syracuse

Scott’s Recent Presentation on Gaming in Libraries- March 2008

Delivering Six Nintendo Wii Packages

In my quest to research the effectiveness of gaming in libraries, I’ve been charged with the task of pricing, purchasing and packaging six Nintendo Wii’s out to school libraries in the Onondaga, Cortland & Madison regions of Central New York.

I’ve already discussed with you the torture that goes along with trying to purchase the Wii console, peripherals, and games. Packaging of the consoles to prepare them for lending isn’t a hassle. You want to be sure that you have a well thought out strategy for making sure the console(s) and game(s) are grouped in a manner that is appropriate to the grade/age level and aligns with your goals and objectives for having the Wii in your school library.

Since my organization is purchasing six for the region the thinking right now is to have each console come with a unique package of games under a genre.

Preliminarily, I’ve decided on the following organization and grouping to deliver six separate Wii packages out to school libraries in the OCM region.

An attached file sits in the adjacent hyperlink —> Wii Packaging

Elementary Cluster (Grades K-5 appropriate)

Sports Package:
Console Includes: 1 Wii Console with 4 Wii Remotes & 4 Nunchucks
Peripherals Include: Wii Balance Board
Games Include: Wii Sports (ESRB Rating: E) , Wii Fit (ESRB Rating: E), Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (ESRB Rating: E)

Action Package:
Console Includes: 1 Wii Console with 4 Wii Remotes & 4 Nunchucks
Peripherals Include: 4 Racing Wheels
Games Include: Mario Kart (ESRB Rating: E), Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (ESRB Rating: E), Raymans Raving Rabbids (ESRB Rating: E+10)

Simulation/ Strategy Package
Console Includes: 1 Wii Console with 4 Wii Remotes & 4 Nunchucks
Peripherals Include: None
Games Include: Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (ESRB Rating: E), Boom Blox (ESRB Rating: E), Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (ESRB Rating: E)

Secondary Cluster (Grades 6-12 appropriate)

Sports Package
Console Includes: 1 Wii Console with 4 Wii Remotes & 4 Nunchucks
Peripherals Include: Wii Balance Board
Games Include: Wii Sports (ESRB Rating: E), Wii Fit (ESRB Rating: E), We Ski (ESRB Rating: E)

Action Package
Console Includes: 1 Wii Console with 4 Wii Remotes & 4 Nunchucks
Peripherals Include: Les Paul Guitar
Games Include: Mario Kart (ESRB Rating: E), Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (ESRB Rating: T), Super Smash Bros. (ESRB Rating: T)

Strategy/Simulation Package
Console Includes: 1 Wii Console with 4 Wii Remotes & 4 Nunchucks
Peripherals Include: None
Games Include: Trauma Center: New Blood (ESRB Rating: T), Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII(ESRB Rating: T), Blast Works: Build, Trade & Destroy (ESRB Rating: E)