Thinking about the future of libraries, it seems clear to me that the vision I have for my own space is to be more focused on effectively incorporating technology into our teaching, classrooms and my own library programs. What does that look though? And how do I best meet those needs in my school?
I think what I would like to attempt is a better connection with my teachers. Unfortunately with budget cuts the way they are and library time perpetually on the chopping block, becoming an invaluable resource to teachers and administrators I believe has to be a priority now more than ever. For my vision project I think I would like to create an electronic resource or professional section for my teachers that would help further their goals for inquiry learning and ICT incorporation. It would be a place where teachers could easily access demos of new technology tools, articles relevant to their goals, ideas for inquiry lessons and units.....basically a place where I could share my professional learning and resources and they could share their feedback or request certain resources or ideas.
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As I already have a wordpress library blog for our school, it seems natural that the format for this resource be a section or link on that page. I've not yet decided on several key things though. Should it be a place that is password protected so students do not have access? Should the posts be directly on our library website or should it be a link to a separate professional blog? And lastly is the interactivity of a blog enough to have an open community of learning?
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A decent brainstorm of your potential ideas. I think it is a good idea and can be a very valuable resource, but I would caution against password protecting anything as that will kill off half of your potential community through forgotten passwords, or technical difficulties. There is no reason to keep this good stuff hidden away, it should be open, transparent and available for the wider community. I would make a new 'section' of the library website, just for the teachers, just like how most Libraries have a Professional Collection of resources just for the teachers. Keep thinking about ways to make this collection engaging and inviting and also how to decide and select what you feel your staff needs. Overall, a decent start to the brainstorming.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! The push for technology integration is on the rise but not many educators actually feel comfortable with technology or adventurous to jump in and try it out without experience. I think the idea of demo videos is perfect, you could use a tool such as screencast-o-matic.com to create videos of web tools. It seems in the age of YouTube that everyone is happy to learn from a video and they often seem more comfortable after seeing a tool in use versus just reading about it. This would give the teachers an opportunity to follow along and try the tools out on their own time before they do it with a group of students.
ReplyDeleteI agree that using a password might not be a great idea. You mention it as a possibility so that students can't access the information, but this could be valuable information for them as well.
I have a teacher section on my library website where I put links to websites that could be useful for the classroom or that provide interesting lesson plans. It really helps when during lunchtime I'm talking about a new website that I found and I can simply say that they can find the link on my library site. I also provide a page for each class so teachers have an area where they can share useful sites with students to access based on topics they are teaching. This is new and I have not added much but it will be more of a focus for next year. Looking forward to seeing the end result!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a wonderful idea! I really like the idea of sharing video how-tos. In our busy lives as teachers, it is getting increasingly difficult to find time to "figure it out" and often, we just stick to the tried and true because it needs to get done so we can get the rest done! Having a resource that you can look at and access that gives you step by step instructions would prove invaluable in many situations and may be enough to get some people out of their comfort zone and try something new.
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