New ISTE Standards

OK, so they’re not Library and Information Literacy standards per se, but I like the direction NETS is headed with their updated (1/04/07) ISTE standards for students. We should be steering the conversation and our curriculum programs in K-12 settings towards this model.

As an elementary school librarian, I have felt that for years now the nine information literacy standards set forth by AASL in Information Power (1998) are outdated. The planning of these standards probably started sometime in ‘96 when computing and being information literate meant something different. A draft document was most likely laid out in ’97, and full adoption of the standards took place sometime in ’98.

It’s now almost ten years later, and school librarians and educators are still working with the same document. In a time of rapid change and emergent technologies, we need to do better than that. Shoot, in 1998 I was still in high school. That means in the time since AASL last updated their standards, I’ve graduated high school, received a four year degree in Elementary Education, received a two year graduate degree in Library and Information Science, and worked two years as an elementary school librarian. And in that time, my world and the way I work, learn, and interact with my social network has been completely turned upside down.

I commend ISTE on their work and recognizing the need to update their standards. I only wish that AASL would’ve updated theirs sooner.

The loss of unitedstreaming

This past Friday (6/02/06) my inbox was busy as usual. I was receiving the normal office communiqué and a normal day’s worth of spam, when I came across the following message:

Dear Friends -

Over the past 24 hours, we have received numerous inquiries about New York Public Television's decision to terminate their long-term agreement with Discovery Education and what it means to your ability to continue to subscribe to unitedstreaming after June 30, 2006. In response, I've attached to this email a flyer that outlines subscription options that are available to you for the period beginning July 1.

Whoa! It looks as if United Streaming is moving towards becoming even more of a pay service. Sound the alarm!! This is a huge blow to school libraries and here’s why:

 

1. Going in reverse- Back in the 90’s and early 00’s, the school librarian was responsible for familiarizing themselves with state and local curriculum and selecting the appropriate media that best fit into units of instruction. When it came to purchasing VHS’ and DVD’s, it forced the librarian into having a ‘just in case’ collection, thus, creating a stockpile of tapes and discs with the hope that it was used more than once a year. The type of audio/visual materials a librarian could obtain was limited to what was in their collection and in their local Union Catalog, provided it wasn’t checked out. The advent of unitedstreaming and digital on demand video services allowed for the classroom teacher to select the materials that best matched up with their curriculum, allowing the school to share a collection of videos that were ‘just in time.’ If we lose unitedstreaming’s services we’ll likely be moving backwards towards the model of the early 90’s.
2. Media Budget- Every school library in NYS receives funding from their district and the state to purchase supplies and materials. School Libraries fight hard for the money that they receive, which most of the time is peanuts. Now the librarian will once again have to fit the most essential elements of the curriculum back into their shoestring budget. Talk about spreading it thin. BTW, have you seen the cost of performance rights for “educational” videos lately? With that price, I'd be able to afford around 10 videos with my '06-'07 A/V budget.
3. Tech Savvy Teachers- I touched on this a bit in #1 but I saw a difference in the attitudes of teachers and their willingness to adopt new technologies when they started showing digital on-demand videos on their LCD projectors. If teachers have the ability to easily show a video using a computer and a projector, all of a sudden modeling Internet searching, or creating and using a class blog isn’t such a big leap. Now, I’m not saying that the cancellation of Unitedstreaming will be the death of tech-savvy teachers, but the transition towards digital on-demand video usually was the segue for a teacher to become familiar with other forms of digital media.

I’ve just started to think about the impact this going to have on school libraries and the ripple effect it is going to cause. I hope its possible, that through negotiations, this service can be brought back for little or no cost. In my short time as a school librarian, I was starting to see all sorts of positive benefits from digital on-demand video services.

 

Maybe this blog entry will get New York Public Television and Discovery Education to kiss and make-up.

 

Image borrowed with permission from Zimpenfish's flickr photostream.

The future

I glanced at the clock. Sh&*! It was 3:45pm on a routine work day and I had again fallen miserably short of accomplishing the tasks on my ‘to-do’ list.

 

I needed a change of scenery. I decided to meet my girlfriend for an after school snack at Panera before the evening PTA meeting at my school. I arrived about 20 minutes before our planned rendezvous with every intention to tap into Panera’s free Wifi. I found a secluded comfy chair near a window, and set up shop. Within 30 seconds, I was connected to their network and right back where I left off at school. Interestingly, I found myself more focused than I was at my job site and more productive, too.

 

I had never been to Panera before to eat or work, but somehow this scenario seemed eerily familiar. I then realized who I borrowed the idea from:

 

David Warlick writes…

“There is no way that we can predict the technologies, cultural and social characteristics, work environments and experiences, or learning opportunities that our children have to look forward to.

For Instance:

My wife is out of town today. I’ll go to Starbucks in about an hour and write, working on a new book. At lunch, I’ll pack up my computer and walk over to Panera Bread for a sandwich and then a few ours of programming (working on Son of Citation Machine) tapping into their free WiFi. Now how could I or my teachers have possibly predicted this kind of work environment in the 1950s and 60s.

So what we have to do is to create an irresistible void of possibilities for our curious and communicative students and say think, dream, wish, and describe.”

That gosh darn David Warlick. He always has a way of wrapping his head around a concept then spitting it out in ways that anyone (including me) can understand. His anecdote and assessment regarding changing work environments and learning opportunities is dead on. Work is becoming less of a destination, with more mobile workers and informal communication in less structured systems. In the world of email, the WWW, and instant and text messaging, it's never been easier to work remotely with people you never have met or businesses you've never visited.

In the 20 short minutes before my girlfriend arrived, on Panera’s wireless network, I was able to: 1) digitally analyze and work on my collection with Titlewave, 2) catch up on a backlog of email, 3) IM my brother (who’s also a librarian) for informal mentoring and moral support and 4) work on my magazine budget for 06-07.

Warlick talked about how no one could have predicted such working environments. I’m a relatively young guy, and I often catch myself wondering the same thing. What will it be like in 2025? How will all of our digital systems further advance? Enter Web 2.0. I also wonder what the impact will be on my position as a library media specialist. Enter Library 2.0.

More importantly, I am curious about changing work environments, and the impact it will have on how we educate our youth.

In what ways will schools equip themselves to support and educate the increasingly diverse needs of students?

Who will be the future leaders in education and why?

Photo borrowed with permission from FlickrJunkies photostream.

Blogging Pam Berger

It was a long month. An unbelievably long month. I was ready for a conference day. Today I got my wish. I spent my day at a BER conference called "21st Strategies for Strengthening Your School Library Program" at the Clarion Riverside in Rochester, NY.

The keynote presenter was Pam Berger. She did an awesome job! The morning portion of the session was particularly good, and I'll try my best to dissect some of it in this post.

Here are three morning anecdotes that stuck in my head: (particularly useful for the first year librarian)

Berger: Depending on the topic, you will most likely be a novice or an expert, and don't be surprised if most times you're a novice.
Ashworth: Realizing it, and coming to terms with it are completely different. It's OK to be a novice about a library related topic, even if you are a certified teacher librarian. You'll never have time to master it all.

Berger: Teachers that won't collaborate aren't your problem, they're the principals problem. Go after the teachers that are open and willing to collaborate. You want to start small fires and have them spread. You want to have teachers talking about what comes out of the library.

Ashworth: THIS WILL HAPPEN!! There will be at least one teacher in your building that won't want to collaborate. Maybe it was a bad experience with your predecessor. Maybe the library doesn't appeal to them. Whatever the case, don't take it personally. Work with those willing to meet you halfway, especially if you're in the first few years of your career. When you work with the willing and do a kick-butt job, they'll be trumpeting the librarian, the facility, etc.. to all the other teachers. The metaphor of a wildfire is perfect, start it in one place and watch it spread.

Berger: In terms of bibliometrics in your school library, don't look at the books that circulate (which in terms of percentages is only about 10-20% of your entire collection), instead look at the books that don't circulate and haven't circulated for years. Get rid of the things that don't circulate. Smaller more targeted collections generally do better than those that are large and topically pervasive. School Libraries are NOT archives.

Ashworth: Right on! Now, run those reports and start putting the junk in the circular file. But, if you're in your first year, wait until at least the summer so you've had a chance to see what circulates in one school year. And also, you don't want to take on another project in your first year. It might kill you if you're not careful.

You can see that she made quite the impression on me, even if I am only a neophyte, first year, know-nothing teacher librarian.

It's important to take conference days every now and again. At the very least, it keeps you honest and makes you aware of successful programs within the field. It's an added bonus when you get to listen to someone like Pam Berger. She's a tremendous advocate for school libraries, an inquiry based junkie, and an information expert. Not a bad combination at all.

Image excerpted from Chapter 3, "Collaboration, Leadership, and Technology," of Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. Copyright © 1998 American Library Association and Association for Educational Communications and Technology. ISBN 0-8389-3470-6. Order by phone at 1-866 SHOP ALA (1-866-746-7252).