LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Announcing . . .
=46rom Now On
The Educational Technology Journal
Vol 10|No 2|October|2000
The full version of this issue is available free
online at http://fno.org
The October issue offers three articles and a cartoon.
1. The New Vertical File
2. The Research Gap (previously published in eSchool News)
3. Speaking of Fool's Gold (an editorial)
4. From Now On now pays $500 per article upon acceptance.
5. Cartoon - "A Really Long Report!"
(The following is an excerpt. For the full article, go to
http://fno.org/oct00/vertical.html)
The New Vertical File:
Delivering Great Images and Data to the Desktop
by Jamie McKenzie
1. Slim Pickings
How rich and varied is the menu of information available
to students and staff when they sit down to a networked
computer in your school?
We're not speaking of the "free" Internet alone.
This question is directly aimed at local serving of
images, data and text files that have been thoughtfully
collected in support of the school's curriculum
by media specialists and teachers.
How rich and varied are the choices when a
student goes to the File menu and explores local
offerings?
How diverse and inviting is the menu when a
student looks for information products such as
periodical subscriptions bought and paid for by
the district?
2. A Network Manifesto
During the writing and research for this
article I was surprised and disappointed to see
little evidence that many schools had developed
their networks to supply the rich digital
archives proposed by this article.
This discovery prompted me to draft
"The Network Manifesto:
Beliefs to Create Vibrant Networks
Serving Literacy and Learning."
- - - - - The Network Manifesto - - - - - -
Who controls the network resources and design process
in your school district and school? Is it a balanced team
with representation from teachers, librarians, school administrators
and IT folks? Or is control and management tilted to one extreme or another?
Do the educators have so much influence and hands-on control
that the integrity and the performance of the network is threatened?
Or conversely, do the network and IT folks have so much influence
and hands-on control that the curriculum value of the network is throttled?
Take the quiz below to see if your network has a strong educational focus.
Rate your situation from 0 stars to 4 stars on each of the beliefs below.
0 stars No evidence of this belief in practice at all.
1 star Some promising statements but mostly lip service.
2 stars Occasional evidence that the belief is practiced.
3 stars Frequent signs that the belief is practiced.
4 stars The belief is fully operationalized and
practiced with consistency and vigor.
The Network Manifesto: Beliefs to Create Vibrant Networks
Serving Literacy and Learning
___ 1) Information Richness - Networks support learning
most powerfully when they provide rich information
matched to the district and state curriculum standards.
___ 2) Developmental Match - Networks support learning
most fully when they offer rich information suited
to the developmental needs of students.
___ 3) User Friendliness - Networks support learning most
effectively when they are designed with menus and
user interfaces that are appropriate for the age and
the learning styles of students using them.
___ 4) Focus on Learning - Those with classroom experience
and training in information science and learning
theories (teachers and librarians) should have a
determining voice in the design of the school and
district information systems.
___ 5) Educator Management - One or two, responsible,
designated educational staff members at each school
should be granted hands-on access to the file server(s)
in each building to make sure there are robust
public resources and directories offered to all
students in the building.
___ 6) Educator Preparation - The district should provide
substantial training to teachers and librarians within =
each
building to perform basic network management, design an=
d
development tasks.
___ 7) Educator Guidance - Control, approval and installation
of information systems and resources meant to support
curriculum and learning should reside with educators.
___ 8) Support for Learning - Network engineers and specialists
should see themselves as serving educators as clients,
inquiring as to educational purpose before proceeding t=
o
design.
___ 9) Network Integrity - Reasonable commitment to network
security and performance issues should accompany
and balance the focus on learning and curriculum so tha=
t
performance is reliable and sustainable.
=A9 2000, J. McKenzie, all rights reserved. Schools and teac=
hers
may make hard copies for use within those schools only.
All other uses are prohibited without first obtaining
express permission.
Download as Word for Windows.
http://fno.org/oct00/manifesto.doc
The full article is available at http://fno.org/oct00/vertical.html
--
Jamie McKenzie
Editor
"From Now On - The Educational Technology Journal"
mckenzie@fno.org http://fno.org
500 Fifteenth Street http://staffdevelop.org
Bellingham, WA 98225 http://questioning.org
Voice (360) 647-8759 http://newlibrary.org
=46ax (360) 738-9083 http://fnopress.com
"The question is the answer."
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