ISCI 761 End of Semester Reflections

End of Semester Reflections

 

    I must admit that I was nervous and anxious about this class and coursework.  The technology aspect of the MLIS program is outside of my sphere of comfort.  The coursework and material helped ease my anxieties regarding technology and solidified for me how I can incorporate technology in an elementary school library.  One aspect that stood out to me was the need for a social media presence and consistent updating of a library website.  I felt that the material covered with both of these topics stressed the importance of incorporating a social media presence for the library.  Not only does this help caregivers with viewing what their students are doing in the library, but it is multifaceted with promoting advocacy for the library.  I bookmarked several of the resources to reference when I am a school librarian to help me with managing social media accounts.  Another area that struck me as purposeful in the library was the VR unit.  I had only viewed VR as a gaming system which my teenagers play at home.  Over Thanksgiving break, I attended the Space Explorers: The INFINITE experience in Charlotte, NC.  The experience utilizes high-quality VR systems and allows the viewer to experience life on the International Space Station. The astronauts recorded over 200 hours of footage for this exhibit, which is impossible to experience in one session.   I do not have words to describe how astounding this experience was for myself and my family.  However, because of this course and materials, I viewed the experience from an educational perspective and contemplated how we could reach students through this type of high-quality VR system.  I have recognized the ways in which books can transcend place and time for myself and students.  For some students who do not enjoy reading, VR or AR can help achieve this same transformative experiences.  

In conclusion, the delivery for the coursework helped me to surmise how I would incorporate the various technological tools and methods in an elementary school library.  I am motivated to create a social media presence for my future library which will help with community outreach and support.  I have learned the value that technology can add to library programming. 

 Reflections on my School Library Website Design

    The school library webpage that I developed was for a hypothetical school. While the school is hypothetical, I used subscriptions and local information from my current school in Fort Mill, SC.   I was hesitant and nervous about creating my own website.  The website evaluations proved beneficial from earlier in the semester, garnering the information and material I wanted to include on my library website.  I appreciated working on the website in increments, mulling over the decisions, and then going back to the website to add additional tweaks. It was a definite process for me to channel my creativity and incorporate aspects of library websites that I discovered helpful.  

     I geared the website towards an elementary school that operates on a fixed rotation schedule for related arts.  The school that I currently work in operates on this schedule and it is what I am most comfortable with.  I included this schedule on the website because I found it important for students, caregivers, and teachers to reference when they will be visiting the library, based on the specific color day.  Another aspect that I found helpful from other websites was the insight into the library functions and news.  I included this in a section with pictures from the library and student involvement.  For student resources, I included links and descriptions to the online catalog, so that they could research from school or at home the books available to them in the school library.  In addition, I included the SC Discus link, which is a school subscription, that could assist with research needs with a plethora of resources.  Teacher resources included my digital curation project on makerspaces, which could help teachers incorporate makerspaces into their classrooms.  Also, teacher resources included videos to use with students on citation basics, logging into our digital account of SORA for the first time, and a video on how to use the SC Discus subscription.  The parent section of the website caused me to ponder what information I would appreciate from my children’s school library.  I included an article for caregivers on helping their children appreciate and enjoy reading and a link to our local library webpage.  In addition, I think that parents must help their students with digital citizenship. I included resources for caregivers on digital citizenship and how they can help their children with their online presence. Finally, I included a link to a survey for caregivers who are interested in volunteer work in the library.  I would like to stress the importance of caregivers’ involvement in the library to increase exposure to the library and the events.  

    I feel that I did not include a few items on the website pertaining to the curriculum standards.  I did not include curriculum-based resources only because the school was hypothetical, and I am not currently working as a librarian with other grade-level teachers.  Collaboration with grade-level teachers is an aspect of elementary education that I am most interested in pursuing. I foresee myself including this information on the library website when I am employed as an elementary school librarian.  In addition, I did not include a social media account with the minimum posts.  This is another aspect that I am excited about creating with my future library.  As we have learned and discussed in class, social media has a vast potential for community outreach.  This is another element that I will be incorporating into my future website.

    In conclusion, the process of developing a library website was daunting at first. But as I broke it down into smaller increments and pondered the elements that I wanted to include, the process became more manageable.  The link for my website is:   https://myoviparousanimalresearch.my.canva.site/welcome-to#page-0

 

 VR/AR and AI

Before this week’s module readings and lecture, I had not considered the uses of VR or AR in the library.  My children play with a VR system at home and love it.  Librarians are central to the concept of instituting VR/AR systems and teaching fellow educators about AI tools.  Young (2020) highlights that librarians must assess the need for a VR or AR system in the school, evaluate its usefulness in different classrooms, and then educate the teachers on how to use the system.  Through this type of professional development, librarians are satisfying a critical need in the school (Young, 2020). 

Diffit

The Diffit application is an AI tool that can assist with reading proficiency. Diffit provides texts to students at different reading levels and can also offer alternative languages for texts.  Diffit is user friendly and it is free.  A user can search by topic, a specific article, or a text excerpt (Malespina, 2024). I used Diffit to search for a general topic on ‘volcanos’ and selected the reading proficiency at a 2nd-grade level.  The search provided me with text regarding volcanos, key terms, a summary, teacher activities and worksheets, and questions to ask students, all geared towards a 2nd-grade reader.  The search provided results in under 2 minutes.  It was astounding to me, the amount of resources that were provided in that limited time.   It is not a new concept that educators are busy and tired of trying to reinvent the wheel.  Diffit can help teachers make detailed lessons and teach text that is geared toward the students’ reading levels (Breisacher, 2024).  As a kindergarten assistant, I witness the varying levels of students’ reading capabilities.  I can see the effectiveness of Diffit in the classroom by creating lessons that are geared towards individual learners.  The following two blog posts highlight how to use Diffit in the classroom and also why you should be using the application.

https://elissamalespina.substack.com/p/diffit-for-teachers

https://www.studentcenteredworld.com/diffit/

References

Breisacher, J. (2024, January 16). Diffit for teachers: Differentiated with an AI tool. Student-centered world. https://www.studentcenteredworld.com/diffit/

Malespina, E. (2024, January 8). Diffit for teachers. The AI school librarians newsletter. https://elissamalespina.substack.com/p/diffit-for-teachers

Young, L.J. (2020, April 7). Get the most from AR/VR technology without breaking the budget. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/get-the-most-from-ar-vr-technology-without-breaking-budget-library

Makerspaces

    I appreciate and understand the necessity of including makerspaces in school libraries.  I highlighted resources for creating makerspaces in my digital curation project for this course. Makerspaces help reach all learners through Project Based Learning (PBL).  The library is a perfect space to incorporate makerspaces with the dimension of space that it provides, materials and priority of making the space engaging for all students.  Also, I love the concept of reusable materials in a makerspace.  Students can use materials which may be considered junk, to create STEAM projects as opposed to the materials being thrown into the garbage (Preddy, 2013). I believe that as we create in the library with makerspaces, we must also be cognizant of sustainability.  Reusing materials when we can and not being wasteful. 

The Lawrence University Interdisciplinary Makerspace for Engaged Learning includes a helpful reminder to students when creating within a makerspace.  These are ideas and guidelines to make the area more sustainable. 

https://blogs.lawrence.edu/makerspace/2022/06/21/reducing-waste-in-a-makerspace/

The Disruptive Librarian highlights ways to ask for donations from your community for a makerspace.  As you begin your makerspace in a library, funds maybe limited, especially if you work in a public school.  This blogpost is helpful with asking for donations and also the organization of materials.

https://www.disruptivelibrarian.com/2022/03/24/spring-cleaning-free-makerspace-stuff/

Through collaboration within the school community and donation of unwanted materials, a public school librarian can provide students with ample supplies for a makerspace. 

References

Elzen, V.E. (2022, June 21). Reducing waste in a makerspace. The Lawrence University Interdisciplinary Makerspace for Engaged Learning. https://blogs.lawrence.edu/makerspace/2022/06/21/reducing-waste-in-a-makerspace/

Preddy, L. (2013, February). Creating school library “makerspace.” School Library Monthly, 29(5), 41 - 42. 

Young, B. (2022, March 24). Are you spring cleaning? Spring cleaning = free makerspace stuff. The Disruptive Librarian. https://www.disruptivelibrarian.com/2022/03/24/spring-cleaning-free-makerspace-stuff/

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

 Useful Technology Applications and 1:1 Technology

As an educator, I need guidance with the use of technology devices in the classroom.  We work with students on a spectrum of technology usage in the kindergarten classroom.  Some students tell us they have unlimited iPad time and even eat dinner with a tablet while others are limited to only watching one television show after school.  We can help with this digital divide by providing students with rich resources on technology devices that complement the academic curriculum.  The library transcends physical books and needs to include other technological resources for reading and exploring books.  These applications include: Starfall, Epic!, ABCmouse, and Scratch Jr. (stayingcoolinthelibrary, 2024). This module's readings have helped me reframe my prior thinking regarding technology.  Applications are another way to help students experience books and develop a love of reading.  Not all learners enjoy reading a hard copy and technology can help us reach a greater population of students. 

The digital divide with students can be bridged through 1:1 technology access throughout the school.  Ensuring that all students have access to a technology device is the first step to bridging this gap. However, educators need the resources, training, and comfort of using these devices in their classrooms.  Librarians play a crucial role in professional development with educational peers and administration.  Educators can understand the importance of incorporating technology with curriculum standards but lack the training in the technology.  Librarians can help ease the demands of the administration and the technology department by providing professional development programs for teachers.  In addition, a librarian has a unique perspective on the needs of the community.  This perspective allows librarians to effectively reach the needs of students, the community, teachers, and administration (Smith et.al., 2022).  My takeaway from these readings is that librarians can fill another critical role in their school communities by being the “go-to” for technology assistance and also continued education for their peers.  At a time when school library positions are being eliminated, this is another opportunity for school librarians to validate their worth and necessity in the school community. 

References

Smith, D.L., Milburn, S.M., Yildiz, E., & Colby, D. (2022, May). Teacher perceptions of one-to-one laptop implementation: Suggestions for the role of school librarians. Research Journal of the American Association of School Librarians, 25(2022), 1-28.    

Stayingcoolinthelibrary. (2024, February 1). Educational learning apps bring reading adventures

            to life.    https://www.stayingcoolinthelibrary.us/educational-learning-apps-for-school-

            libraries/

Cyberbullying

 

I have followed Mychal Threets' library stories and enjoy his Instagram posts detailing his library experiences.  I feel that his story relating to cyberbullying has helped shed more focus on this topic.  Teenagers are experiencing cyberbullying at alarming rates. I found the definition of cyberbullying by the Cyberbullying Research Center (n.d.) interesting since bullying must be repetitive.  One time that a person is harassed online does not fall under the cyberbullying umbrella, it must be repeated harassment.  Cyberbullying is all-encompassing to the victim and the victim feels that there is not an escape from the harassment. The statistics regarding cyberbullying are especially alarming to me as a parent and an educator.  The Cyberbullying Research Center’s study (2023) found that 55% of students have been victims of cyberbullying in their lifetimes and 27% experienced cyberbullying within the last 30 days of the study.   My teenage sons have cell phones and my oldest has social media accounts. I place restrictions on their phones, such as time limits for applications, and downtime, and the phones are not allowed in their bedrooms at bedtime. As a parent, I can try to best educate and place restrictions on my children’s social media presence.  But, how can I best help educate students about cyberbullying and representing themselves as digital citizens? 

As a librarian, I feel that it is important to collaborate with the school’s guidance counselors regarding digital citizenship and cyberbullying.  This is a first step in addressing digital citizenship at the school and observing programs that are currently in place.  In the elementary school librarian role, I would highlight stories that detail experiences of cyberbullying and then have students role-play scenarios.  In addition, students could also write about how they would address harassment online (stopbullying.gov, n.d.).  All of these conversations would open up further conversations for assisting students with resources and making them feel comfortable with telling a professional about instances of cyberbullying.  In my current role, as a kindergarten assistant, we discuss daily social-emotional learning skills like words that can help build others or words that take away.  Digital citizenship plays into this same concept.  We are trying to teach students to be kind and respectful in person and also behind the screen of technology.  Digital citizenship is an ongoing, daily conversation with our students. 

References

stopbullying.gov (n.d.). Prevention at school. https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/at-school

The Cyberbullying Research Center (n.d.). What is cyberbullying? https://cyberbullying.org/what-is-cyberbullying

The Cyberbullying Research Center (2023, October 4). 2023 cyberbullying data. https://cyberbullying.org/2023-cyberbullying-data

 Blog 9 Social Media

I am really looking forward to creating advocacy for the school library through social media. As a parent, I subscribe to the various social media accounts for my children’s programs and I feel like it keeps me connected with what they are learning and experiencing in school.  In order to reach students and their families in the elementary school setting, I would utilize YouTube and Instagram for the library’s social media presence.  The Pew Center Research study (2023) rated Instagram and YouTube to be mostly used by teenagers and students.  In addition, Instagram reaches a target audience of parents and caregivers (Green, 2024). SnapChat is also very popular with teenagers, but I do not surmise that it would be an ideal social network with trying to reach elementary school students and their caregivers.  

School Policy

I am employed in the Fort Mill School District and I viewed our social media policy.  We are not allowed to use TikTok for school social media accounts.  In addition, X (formerly known as Twitter) is no longer recommended for use. Before posting students’ pictures on social media, an employee must check the students’ FERPA status on PowerSchool.  Another aspect of the social media policy is that your private and school accounts must be kept separate.  If you acknowledge that you are employed with the district on your private account, then you must be mindful of the information that you are posting since it will reflect on the school district, also (Fort Mill School District, 2024).  Since I am currently employed with the school district, I am already adhering to these policies.  We are sent an email from administration which provides the names of students who are not allowed to have pictures taken of them and posted on social media.  In addition, I keep my private social media accounts private and separate from my employment with the district. 

Instruction, Communication, and Advocacy

I have used social media like Instagram to collaborate with other professionals and foresee myself utilizing this resource more often when I am in an elementary school librarian role.  The Davis (2018) podcast discussed collaboration through finding similar interests on social media. Chats through specific hashtags provide many professional ideas.  In addition, through social media, the librarian can gain further outreach to classroom teachers by highlighting various tools and resources being used in the library (Davis, 2018).  I found this particularly relevant since the school that I work in currently operates with the library on a fixed related arts rotation.  Social media could help me with collaborating with these classroom teachers, when I am especially constricted for time with meeting with classroom teachers.

Social media plays a crucial role with student instruction, also. For example, Robertson (2017) stresses the importance of students in early grades creating classroom digital portfolios through a platform like Seesaw.  Students are able to watch the teacher demonstrate critical digital literacy skills while also viewing their own personal growth.  Digital portfolios are a living document that grows with the student as the student progresses through their educational journey (Robertson, 2017). We currently use the platform Seesaw with our kindergarten students.  Families and students are able to access their personal accounts and view the photos we post about our instruction, activities, field trips, and classroom life.  

Advocacy for the library is what I am most passionate about when assuming a role as a librarian.  I find the value and importance of the community recognizing and witnessing the resources that the library provides.  I love the idea of engaging students with the decision-making process in the library because it is ultimately their space to learn and enjoy.  Students can become involved with developing a logo for the school library, and social media page.  Also, I appreciate keeping the posts consistent with the content displayed for each day of the week (Green, 2024).  At a time when research shows that schools tend to take an easy path with cutting the library program, I am passionate that advocacy for the library is central to our position as a school librarian. 

References

Anderson, M., Faverio, M, & Gottfried, J. (2023, December 11). Teens, social media and technology 2023. Pew Center Research. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/12/11/teens-social-media-and-technology-2023/

Davis, V. (Executive Producer). (2018, August 17). 5 ideas to tap social media to enhance PD and student learning [Audiopodcast]. Cool Cat Teacher Blog. https://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2018/08/5-ideas-to-tap-social-media-to-enhance.html

Fort Mill School District (2024, August). Guidelines for the use of social media. https://www.fortmillschools.org/departments/communications/guidelines-for-the-use-of-social-media-in-schools-and-classrooms

Green (2024, March 10). Harnessing the power of social media to advocate for the school library [Presentation]. ISCI 761 University of South Carolina. 

Robertson, N.D. (2017). Blogs and digital portfolios. In Connected librarians: Tap social media to enhance professional development and student learning (pp. 54 - 62). International Society for Technology in Education.