The Learning Teacher-Librarian

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Why Implement Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom: 

 

This is their world. Empower them for it: 

• Yes, it is important to plan well and implement effectively, but don't wait until you are the expert with a tool! Be a brave co-learner with your students:

  • Empower those who may already be familiar with various applications.

  • Model how to try something new and learn from mistakes, to empower your more hesitant students (both young and old).

  • Think aloud in your process (especially with younger students) so they can learn positive self-talk when facing new technology.

  • Demonstrate skills for how to explore and learn a new site/technology, with evaluative skills and safe online practices.

• This leads naturally to a discussion of inquiry-based learning (discussed HERE), which is for all ages and subject areas! 

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This is their world. Build in them the resources to evaluate it and judge accurately for themselves:

• "[M]ainstream culture has normalized the idea that because everyone has an opinion, all opinions are equally valid" (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p.9).

• It is our duty “to provide the young with the tools and understandings necessary for interpreting the constructed nature of popular culture, and to provide a critical view” (Merchant, 2007, p. 125).

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This is their world. Help your lessons be more relevant by using today's tools:

• “[Y]oung people continue to use emerging technologies in their personal lives, even if a large number of educators have not yet found ways to meaningfully integrate them into the classroom” (Robin, 2008, p. 221).

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This is their world. Give them choices to find their voice: 

• "Offering students a space to create in multiple formats through multiple methods, including technology and online tools, breaks down the barriers I've seen when a blank piece of paper and a pencil are placed in front of a student” (Plemmons, 2014).

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This is their world. Don't leave them to have to encounter it alone:

• "[The internet is] the library you would expect to find in the type of gothic house you see in horror films: huge and rambling, with long corridors leading off into the middle of nowhere, small rooms packed with frequently used material...and yet other places shrouded in darkness from which one can hear rather nasty noises" (Bradley, 2000).

• “Young people are not rendered safer when schools block access to these sites; instead, blocking ensures that many kids will be forced to confront online risks on their own” (Losh and Jenkins, 2012, Shifting Fo cixs [sic.] to Solutions that Support Learning section, para. 3). 

• “Young people may not need adults snooping over their shoulders, but they certainly need adults helping to watch their backs” (Losh & Jenkins, 2012, What Can We Do-and Not Do? Section, para. 4).

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This is their world. But it is our world, too!

• "In the classroom, differentiating instruction is one of the main struggles for an educator. Technology integration offers educators ways to pace student lessons based on the student's level and multiple intelligence" (Elliot, 2016, para. 5). 

• "With the further development of the internet and rise of social networking tools educators have many online options in terms of how and where they seek self-regulated PD” (Moreillon, 2016, p.65).

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Where does this come from? References:

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Bradley, P. (2000). The advanced internet searcher's handbook, 2nd Edition. London, UK: Library Association

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Elliot, H. (2016, September 28). The importance of education technology in our changing world [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://edblog.smarttech.com/2016/09/importance-education-technology-changing-world 

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Losh, E., & Jenkins, H. (2012). Can public education coexist with participatory culture? Knowledge Quest, 41(1), 16-21. Retrieved from ProQuest Database.

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Merchant, G. (2007). Writing the future in the digital age. Literacy, 41(3), 118-128. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9345.2007.00469.x

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Moreillon, J. (2016). Building your personal learning network (PLN): 21st-Century school librarians seek self-regulated professional development online. Knowledge Quest, 44(3), 64-69. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1087618.pdf 

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Plemmons, A. (2014). Building a Culture of Creation. Teacher Librarian, 41(5), 12-16.

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Robin, B. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory Into Practice, 27, 220-228. DOI: 10.1080/00405840802153916

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Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. Teachers College Press.

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