School Library as a Technology Leader and Technology Plans

    Through my MLIS coursework, we have contemplated the topic of advocating for the library.  I have thought about collaborating with grade-level teachers in the elementary school library and finding ways to incorporate the community into library events.  I found the topic of using an annual report to advocate for the need for a library and the correlation on student achievement to be extremely useful.  A few takeaways that I gathered regarding the process of implementing an annual library report are: begin data collection early in your career, highlight the data so that it tells a story to administration about the impact of the library, and keep it brief so that an administrator will read the entirety of the report (LaGarde, 2019). In addition, the format of the annual report is important; the report should be made available in a digital format so that its outreach is vast throughout the school community.  The annual report is not only a tool to reflect upon at the end of a school year, but can also be utilized as a planning tool for the new school year (Abercrombie, 2017).  The examples of various libraries’ annual reports provided in the module gave me a solid perception of how to create a report and the manners in which I would disseminate this information.  As a parent of 3 children in elementary, middle and high schools, I would appreciate this kind of data regarding library services offered through the school and I will be incorporating annual reports in my future job as a librarian.

I selected to further analyze the Book Creator tool from the AASL Best Digital Tools article.  Book Creator is a tool for students to create their own books and tell their stories in a multimodal format.  I am a firm believer that storytelling in the library is especially important and Book Creator allows students to transform those stories into a book format.  This app allows students to save their work from each school year, so they can witness their growth as they progress through school.  Also, Book Creator allows for teacher involvement with the curriculum; teachers can utilize the tool to create presentations for their students that they can engage with.  Book Creator is a way for students to become authors and ultimately publish their own books.  https://bookcreator.com/

References

Abercrombie, S. (2017, May 24). Advocate for your school library program with an annual report. Knowledge Quest. https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/advocate-school-library-program-annual-report/

American Association of School Librarians. (2024).  Best digital tools for teaching & learning. https://www.ala.org/aasl/awards/best

LaGarde, J. (2019, May 21). It’s annual report season! Here are some tips to help you effectively tell your story. The adventures of library girl. https://www.librarygirl.net/post/it-s-annual-report-season-here-are-some-tips-to-help-you-effectively-tell-your-story

Information Literacy and Student Learning 

My personal daily information diet consists of news sources, social media and job related updates.  I listen to a 15 minute podcast each morning which provides me with a quick recap of popular news.  I utilize social media tools during the day to keep in touch with friends and family members.  In addition, I found myself readily fact checking the most recent presidential debate, which provided me with additional, current information during the debate.  I also utilize Instagram and Facebook for networking with other librarians and kindergarten teachers.  I have found these resources to be invaluable with lesson planning, behavior management and classroom management.  The school that I work in provides us with daily updates through emails.  Also, the administration keeps us abreast with policy changes to education within the state.  These policy changes typically spur me to conduct further research on my own.  In the classroom, we utilize Sora and PebbleGo with students, which were two technological resources referenced in the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) article (2024) on the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.  

Through the module readings this week, I recognize that a librarian’s informational diet should consist of keeping abreast of current technology trends and utilizing these resources to educate students.  I bookmarked several of the resources from this module as reference tools for my future role as a librarian. I found Google’s Be Internet Awesome (2024) website and videos to be especially helpful. A librarian educator has a responsibility with educating our students to become digital literate and to ultimately provide them with the tools to keep them safe while online. It is an interactive website that students can engage with learning about tools and resources which keep them safe in our digital world.  

In addition to digital resources, librarians must keep abreast of current trends in students’ and coworkers’ interest with reading materials (All4Ed, n.d.). All students should be able to find representation within the public school library.  To help with this, librarians should readily be perusing book award winners,, social media platforms and cross checking these platforms with verifiable journals, like the School Library Journal. 

References

All4Ed. (n.d.). Future ready librarians framework. https://all4ed.org/publication/future-ready-librarians-framework/

American Association of School Librarians. (2024). Best digital tools for teaching & learning. https://www.ala.org/aasl/awards/best

Google. (2024) Be internet awesome. https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/

Fun Creations with Microsoft Designer

I have a husky dog with a fun personality and I wanted to see her as a rapper.  :-) 

 Diversity and ISTE Standards

The module for the week addressed diversity in technology and the integration of ISTE and AASL standards.  The lack of equal access to all students with technological resources was concerning to me.  The Code.org (n.d.) article highlighted the discrepancy of equality for all students regarding computer sciences and the detrimental effects that occur for students without this access.  Specifically, females and students of color are mostly impacted by the lack of access to these resources. Computer science courses are a necessity to prepare students for collegiate work and ultimately the workforce (Valenzuela, 2022).  

One way to improve access with technological resources is to offer technology programs to all students.  Technology integration should no longer be a choice. Bias should not exist that promotes computer science fields to a specific gender or ethnicity. Our school utilizes a rotational schedule for related arts, each class receives library instruction every 7 days. As a school librarian, I can incorporate technology into the media center’s rotational planning, for all grade levels and classes.  As I have previously learned and discussed in education and library sciences coursework, not all students learn in the same manner.  The same concept applies to computer science coursework.  As a school librarian, I must be cognizant that the technology material which I am teaching reaches all students.  One educational concept that Valenzuela (2022) discusses is through project-based learning which gives the students ownership of their learning experiences.  As the school librarian, I would facilitate computer science group projects that encourage students to work together, building their rapport and sharing the knowledge that they are learning (Valenzuela, 2022).  Being mindful and understanding of the fact that students come from various backgrounds and experiences helps bridge the gap with access to technology and computer science coursework. 

The readings and lectures for the week have provided me with an opportunity to envision how I will incorporate technology into my future school librarian role. Not only is it important for me to facilitate learning with the students, but I also must keep abreast of technological tools.

References

Code.org. (n.d.). Code.org's approach to diversity & equity in computer science. Code.org. https://code.org/diversity

Valenzuela, J. (2022, November 18). 3 ways to ensure that all students have access to computer science. ISTE.org. https://iste.org/blog/3-ways-to-ensure-that-all-students-have-access-to-computer-science#:~:text=Equity%20in%20CS%20requires%20an,equitably%2C%20in%20succession%20and%20effectively

Module 2 Blog Post September 3rd

 Copyright, OERs and Social Media

Copyright

I studied copyright in ISCI 701, so this was a welcome refresher on the copyright policies.  I am relieved to understand through the module readings and lectures that I will not be the "copyright police" for the school where I will work.  However, I appreciate having an understanding of copyright and fair use which I can provide professional development lessons to school educators and administrators.  Teachers and administrators should have a basic understanding of what is protected by copyright and also the different items that are not protected and how this applies to education.  Russell's (2019) article addresses copyright by recording and publishing storybook readings on the Internet.  Through analyzing the four factors of fair use, Russell discusses how these stories published on the Internet have a low risk of copyright infringement.  The article applied the four factors test of fair use in an easy-to-understand scenario and I feel that this is the type of scenario that can be addressed for professional development within the school. 

Open Educational Resources

As an educator, I appreciate and value the use of open educational resources (OERs) for student learning and advancement.  OERs can create equality among varying educational systems through the flexibility and convenience of valuable resources being available to all students.  Not all schools can afford textbooks and OERs can provide schools with a cost-benefit by offering students access to high-quality resources.  The only caveat is that the student must also have access to technological supporting devices to access the OERs.  In addition, I value the learning experience of students through the engagement of OERs, students are not passively learning (IFLA, n.d.).

Social Media

Librarians are transforming the outreach to patrons, students, parents, and community members through the utilization of various social media outlets.  I was energized and motivated by the various articles that addressed how librarians are using social media to reach their communities. For example, Jones's (2020) article inspired me to set goals for myself when posting about library initiatives. Parents and caregivers of students need to see what their students are learning in the library. I already follow many librarians on Instagram and TikTok. I love the ideas that librarians post for read-alouds and activities in the classroom. As a future librarian, I will be posting weekly about library initiatives, book reviews and student involvement.

References

IFLA. (n.d.) Open educational resources and libraries: a briefing. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.

Jones, A. Get your self(ie) out there: My year as an AASL social media superstar. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.

Russell, C. (2019). Tackling copyright concerns when taking storytime online. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.