Technology and my professional life, Unit 6

When I studied for librarianship back in the 80's we used  punch cards for a statistical assignment. Our group wrote a proposal for how a country municipal library could promote and inform the borrowers about how a computerised library circulation system could assist them and allay any fears they may have.  Fortunately by the time I was in the public library system computerised circulation systems were operating.  I loved that I could tell the borrower yes we have that book, it had been returned half an hour ago and here it is. On the old card system all you could say with certainty was that at a point in time the library had purchased that title.

As I am married to a computer boffin we had one of the first "portable" computers.  It was about the size of a sewing machine and more lugable than portable and lightweight.  I saw more of the insides of the computer - the circuit boards, the heat chip -  than I ever saw the use of it or the basic programs of the day.  Technology has always been important and present in my personal and professional life.

To keep up to date I subscribed to print magazines, attended any conferences or cluster group meetings that I could attend  that my employer would allow me to be away from the library for. I am still a conference junkie I love hearing authors speak and to hear from people exploring all the possibilities available to us in libraries to promote books, information literacy and to help the people who use our particular sort of library.

Currently elists like OZTL Net, Facebook groups like iCentre, VIC PLN allow me to sit at home or work and join in the conversations or even just be aware of the issues being raised in libraries. Twitter is becoming useful but it isn't my first port of call.  Flipboard and Scoopit are also tools that I use to raise my awareness and challenge my thinking.

I really appreciated how technology has changed our learning when I returned to university in 2011.  All the articles I wanted available online  I spent some time learning how to use the citation service provided by the University, taking a library class to learn how to do it and then teaching others in my course. The uncertainty of the elements, capitalisation gone!  I was even able to consult with a university librarian about a particular issue while I was at home.

It was also frustrating to be in uni classes being taught "multi media". The lecturers remonstrating others saying THEY only use the Interactive WhiteBoard as screens and yet that was what they were doing showing us Powerpoints and Youtube clips.

HITTING HARD
Technology has impacted us in a big way. Teens around me at home and in school cannot be without their mobile phones. They expect to be always available to their friends, to be able to "Google it" to get an immediate answer. 

Technology does allow us to be global citizens.  I feel like the author John Green is a friend as I have read his books and watched his weekly vlogs.  The internet has drawn the world in closer. I have been part of 2 schools involved in the International Baccalaureate.  I have been part of wiki discussions about aspects of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) relevant to librarians, shared ideas, plans and even organised overseas visits to see other PYP libraries.

CITIZENS
My daughter is about to turn 18 and to cast her first vote. She is planning to create a video post about the candidates and issues that are relevant and important to her as well as her peer group and share that video through her own Youtube channel.

I spoke to a year 12 student about the issues of online privacy and she was very aware of the issues and made a point that you had to be careful with who you hung out with in cyber space as much as in the face to face world.  She said they (the students) had set up a private Facebook group for study purposes, a place where they could upload documents or pictures and discuss the work to be done. They might invite teachers but it was just to make them feel included.

The availability of information and the immediacy of event notification makes us feel like we can do something and make an impact as a citizen in our world.  And yet you have things like the petition to catch Kony or more recently the posts about bring back the death penalty after the awful hacking murder of the British soldier.  Does clicking on a button really change the outcome?  We need to teach our students how to assess what we are being asked to do and by whom.

To inform our students librarians or teachers need to have a time or role to play.  It is frustrating at my current school that it is not apparent who has the task to promote the skills of cyber safety and thinking about how we all use the Internet and other forms of technology like the phone.  It is coming but some of our students will have graduated without the skills and issues being clearly outlined to them.

DIGITAL TATTOO
I loved the video from the Jenny Luca Amazing mind reader reveals his 'gift".  I prefer the term "Digital tattoo" to "digital footprint".  A tattoo is permanent or very hard to erase, whereas a footprint seems to imply that it will be only visible for a short time (unless you step in wet cement).  Our students need to be aware of their presence on the web and who might view it now and years in the future.

This leads into our role as models and thoughtful users of technology. We need to be constantly learning and sharing  with our library staff and  our teaching staff the issues we see and the cool tools (so many of them) that are available to enhance our teaching. We also need to be able to learn from the students and acknowledge the strengths and insights that they have.

I was recently pleased to be informed by some year 11 students that they had looked me up on Facebook, they had found me but not been able to see any of my posts! Whew reviewing my settings and being aware of my output had paid off.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE MYP STUDENT
As I am at a IB school using the Middle Years Programme (MYP) I have decided that I would broaden the brief and look at how technology can support the 10 learner profiles that we as a school are trying to develop and encourage in each secondary school student.

Inquirers: Students need to have a range of materials, books, websites to draw their notes from.

Knowledgeable:  students need to have a way of evaluating the resources that they find on the web and not just use the first website they find. The CRAP test and other methods would help them.

Thinkers: The questions posed to students should require more than a copy and paste answer. A student should have to collect information and then be allowed time to construct a response.

Communicator: Technology allows us so many ways for students to share their work and we should be designing assignments and tasks that enable the students to do this. Their work can be shared through blogs, global tools like Glogster, Prezi and many others.

Principled: Plagiarism will not be an issue if students are principled, they can't copy and paste and they would acknowledge the resources used.  At our school we have been demonstrating to year 7's and up,  that Microsoft Office Word includes a bibliographic tool. It is on the document the students are using and it is very easy to use.

Open Minded: In previous generations it was very difficult to get an opposing point of view or contrary view to the dominantly held view of that particular community. Libraries can provide online resources such as EBSCOhost "Australian/New Zealand Points of View", Echo's Issues online and point students to websites which may have a contrary opinion to the dominant one held locally. There are also books which provide insights into different points of view.

This series of books by Kate Petty and Oxfam allow young students to think about how other children play, use bicycles, do their hair, live at home and that what we think is the norm for everyone may not be.

Caring: The culture of our school is to be charitable and to help others. Technology such as planes allow our students to travel overseas to work with others, the internet informs them of people in need and the connections they make through their own personal communities allows them to fund raise and to do practical work to assist others.

Risk takers: The number of tools that our students now have available to them means that instead of just showing their class they can show others in the world what they have learned. A blog post may read overseas, a Snapguide may instruct others how to do a mathematical problem or create a piece of clothing. Others are then free to comment on that piece of work.  Not all comments are positive (as my own children keep reminding me, don't read the comments in the Youtube posts).

Balanced: Perhaps a lesson our students and I need to learn is how to step away from technology. Incorporate outdoor activities, social face to face interactions, creative endeavors into our lives. I even find that to be unavailable from Facebook or the phone can cause me concern, not stress. As all staff were given iPads this year, I have found that reading is not my first choice when I have free time, I will choose to update Facebook or to read online resources. 

Reflective: Our students are asked to be reflective but I think we as staff need to scaffold a lot more about what that means and give broader options.  Rather than a written printed journal entry why not encourage the students to use a blog to record their thoughts?  Use Voicethread to allow students to respond to an image or discussion. I like the suggestion that on the return from a school excursion,on the bus pass around the iPad and allow the students to make a video response to the activity they have just done. This could then be used in the classroom to prompt the students to discuss further the insights they have gained because of the excursion.

FUTURE:
Perhaps it will be continuing with the mobile learning, students able to learn, teach, share, collaborate with any of their cohort or others in different countries.  Perhaps flipped classrooms will become the norm, and countries like the United States will see that standardised testing narrows the teaching and learning opportunities. Perhaps Google glasses will bring the learning straight to your face on an individual basis.  Whatever the future teachers and librarians will be there, thinking, challenging, creating opportunities for sharing and collaboration for their students and themselves.