An Inspired and Inspiring Sharing by David Warlick
David Warlick went to an event for the Ohio eTech ARRA Grant recipients. There he listened to former grant recipient-teachers, tech facilitators and administrators talk about some of the pros and cons of a “tech-rich” classroom. They discussed what surprised them—parent resistance was an issue at first but after a very thorough discussion with parents, they mostly came around to the new technology. The teachers also talked about how surprised they were with the quality of the work the students performed. Apparently the students who didn’t seem too interested in working on their assignments before, were a lot more interested in the work now. If that isn’t a reason to use more 21st-century technology, I don’t know what is. They mentioned how easy it turned out to be for the teachers to learn and use the new technology.
Everyone was excited about the fact that some students started taking on different responsibilities in the classroom and on team projects. Teachers started seeing some skills in their students that they hadn’t noticed before. And teachers started teaching differently, incorporating new technology in some of their things like reading assignments and that created more interactive learning.
I loved that one principal said that he used to worry when he saw a group of students all congregated together and he didn’t see a teacher. He naturally assumed that would mean trouble, but now he thinks, “What are they learning right now?” (Warlick) What a change of thought and, probably attitude on both the students and the principal. Not everyone liked the change in teaching style. Apparently there were some students who received good grades (notice I didn’t say learned a lot through the old style) who suddenly weren’t doing as well. They wanted someone to tell them what to do and what to think. They didn’t want to actually have to think, just memorize.
I loved that one principal said that he used to worry when he saw a group of students all congregated together and he didn’t see a teacher. He naturally assumed that would mean trouble, but now he thinks, “What are they learning right now?” (Warlick) What a change of thought and, probably attitude on both the students and the principal. Not everyone liked the change in teaching style. Apparently there were some students who received good grades (notice I didn’t say learned a lot through the old style) who suddenly weren’t doing as well. They wanted someone to tell them what to do and what to think. They didn’t want to actually have to think, just memorize.
Citation:
Warlick, David. “An Inspired and Inspiring Sharing.” 2 Cents Worth 24 Jun 2011. Web. 24 Jun 2011.
Building the Future of Libraries Now with Enchantment and Participatory Learning by The Unquiet Librarian
The Unquiet Librarian shares her vision of the future of libraries in this video presentation. In this video presentation, she asks
· How can we change people’s perceptions of the library—the mission and the purpose of libraries?
· Create meaningful, learning experiences?
· Building a learning community?
· Allow children more ownership of their learning and their questions?
· Build partnerships and keep them growing?
· Take the library to the learning community?
· Explore new types of learning?
· Help students find what they are passionate about?
· Create wonder and delight in our students?
She says it can be done through two very powerful concepts: Enchantment and Participatory Learning. She then gives you a lot of “e” words: embed, empower, engage and enchant. If you click on the Enchantment link, it sends you to Guy Kawasaki’s blog and you can find out what he thinks about enchantment.
This video is just a “teaser” she created to let you know what she’ll be talking about at ISTE next Tuesday. She’ll be talking about the future of libraries and learning. Even though there were not a lot of words in this blog, I thought the video was powerful and asked a lot of important questions that all librarians need to ask.
Citation:
Hamilton, Buffy. “Building the Future of Libraries Now with Enchantment and Participatory Learning.” The Unquiet Librarian 20 Jun 2011. Web. 24 Jun 2011.
New Webinar: Delivering Innovative Mobile Services through Your Library by Meredith Farkas
Five years ago, Meredith Farkas didn’t find many libraries that accommodated mobile devises or seemed to think it was necessary. Now libraries across the country are all scrambling to provide access and service for smart phones, including apps for their digital collections. She is offering part one of a two-part webinar, entitled, “Delivering Innovative Mobile Services through Your Library” on July 21, 2011 at 2:30 pm EST. The second part will be on July 28th at 2:30 pm EST. Part one will cover trends in mobile technologies of interest to librarians and the second part will cover specific apps and she will have lots of examples. She is excited about the webinar and showing getting librarians excited about the wonderful things going on with smart phone technology.
Citation: Farkas, Meredith. “New Webinar: Delivering Innovative Mobile Services through Your Library.” Information Wants to Be Free 22 Jun 2011. Web. 24 Jun 2011.
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