Shonda--much of this post makes me sigh. It's such a
reality check.
I THINK there are fewer and fewer librarians that are
not involved with technology, doing troubleshooting
and repairs and teaching inservices and one-on-one
tech help to students and staff--but that involvement
is SO uneven around the nation's schools.
I went from a district where the first Internet
connection in the school was in my library and I was
in charge of the server to a distict where student
tech assistants are given more administrative rights
than I have on the computers in the library. It's
taken more than five years to get a higher level of
trust by the techies. I was on a panel at the last
NECC about librarian/tech relationships and
represented the "dysfunctional" side of the picture.
But I think that if anyone named the tech-savvy people
in the district now that I would be on the list.
And when the money follows the national tech plan
after state and local plans are written, I will do
anything it takes to make sure that the libraries are
included. As a LMS friend of mine said tonight, we are
not on the radar screen of the Dept. of Education and
we have a lot of work to do to get there.
In the meantime, here is contact information I found
for feedback on the national tech plan should anyone
want to send in a statement:
Contact Information:
<http://www.nationaledtechplan.org/about.asp>
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of
Educational Technology develops national educational
technology policy and implements this policy through
Department-wide educational technology programs. Susan
Patrick was named Director of the Office of
Educational Technology in March of 2004.
The Office of Educational Technology
400 Maryland Avenue
FB6 - 7E222
Washington, DC 20202
Phone - (202) 401-1444
Fax - (202) 401-3941
feedback@nationaledtechplan.org
And, I am sure that Doug Johnson who is on the Board
of ISTE and Karen Lemmons who is the president of the
ISTE SIG-MS (special interest group for media
specialists) can relay our concerns to the ISTE board.
And I am also sure that the AASL Board will not stop
advocacy for the profession (members and non-members)
with just a press release.
It's still -20 F. with the wind chill in Saranac Lake,
NY.
Shivering,
Sara Kelly Johns,
Region II Director,
AASL Board
--- "Brisco, Shonda" <briscos@TRINITYVALLEYSCHOOL.ORG>
wrote:
> One personal comment that I received from a
> librarian on the list
> mentioned that perhaps we (as librarians) are
> ignored in the technology
> documents because many librarians are not actively
> involved IN
> technology within their schools--- and this includes
> doing even some
> simple things such as checking cables, cords, or
> connections when
> computers "are down."
>
> Perhaps many of us are not taking a significant part
> in the process that
> involves technology. Are we on the school's
> technology committees? Do
> we have a voice (or ask questions) when programs are
> being decided on
> for placement? Do we share our knowledge (and
> research) in the programs
> that we have seen work in other schools (or have
> used)? Are we doing
> more than hooking up VCRs and pulling down film
> screens?
>
> I realize that many of us are involved in technology
> (some more than
> others) but do those who are not involved find
> themselves struggling to
> make their administrators / technology people aware
> of the problems that
> are faced by students when they work on
> library-related projects that
> also involve technology? Are librarians teaching
> technology
> applications---or are these being done by others
> outside of the library?
> Who made that decision...and is that decision
> guiding the library
> programs as they relate to access to information,
> user-friendly systems,
> software program compatibility?
>
> There are MANY areas that need to be reviewed, I'm
> afraid. In addition,
> I believe that librarians have to change the
> preconceived ideas that
> people have of them...and becoming
> technology-literate AND active in
> those roles within the school and the library may be
> one step toward
> this process.
>
> Now, before anyone gets upset and sends me email to
> complain that they
> are in charge of "everything" in their school and
> don't have any help to
> fix computers, check out books and do storytimes,
> please realize...I
> know you're out there. I also know that there are
> librarians out there
> who meekly hide in their offices and post "out of
> order" signs on their
> computers when they don't have a clue about what is
> happening and then
> wait for a tech person to show up three weeks later
> to plug in the cord.
>
> Perhaps WE need to take the initiative to make
> ourselves MORE involved
> in technology on our campus AND through
> presentations to our faculty (as
> well as in public forums such as local, state and
> national technology /
> library conventions). In addition we will still
> advocate for
> administrative support in the needs that face our
> libraries and push for
> the assistance that WE need in the library. After
> all, if technology is
> driving the curriculum (and the budget) in our
> schools....then
> librarians need to take the wheel and put this baby
> back on track!
>
> Just some thoughts.
>
> ~Shonda Brisco
> Trinity Valley MS / US Librarian
> Fort Worth, TX
> briscos@trinityvalleyschool.org
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: School Library Media & Network Communications
> [mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Peter
> Milbury
> Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 8:52 AM
> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Re: [LM_NET] AASL on National Education
> Technology Plan
>
> Dear LM_NET Colleagues,
>
> On Thu, 20 Jan 2005, Brent Bradley wrote:
> >I'm more interested in what people think of the
> NCES document
> >"technology in schools" at
> >
>
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003313
> > While the AASL and the NETP pieces seem to be a
> lot of propaganda and
>
> >'We're doing great things here', this document
> seems (to my untrained
> >eye, I suppose) something actually useful to
> districts and individual
> >schools.
>
> I think Brent made an astute observation.
> Bureaucracies always seem to
> drift toward inertia, or even worse,
> self-destruction. They become timid
> and afraid of offending their perceived benefactors,
> and even forget
> about who their benefactors are!
>
> We just have to do our best with what we have, and
> let it be known when
> there are deficiencies. There are many ways to band
> together for mutual
> support, and LM_NET is one of them.
>
> Perhaps there is a way that we can let both ISTE and
> the U.S. Department
> of Education know that they are ignoring school
> libraries in this
> important document, the National Education
> Technology Plan.?
>
> Please, let us all know your thoughts on this topic!
>
> Peter Milbury, LM_NET Co-Moderator
> pmilbury@iis.syr.edu
> School Librarian/CA TeleMentor, Chico HS, Chico, CA
>
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=====
Lake Placid Middle/Senior HS LMC
250 Main Street
Lake Placid, NY 12946
518-523-2474, ext. 4132
FAX: 518-523-4861
johns@northnet.org
SaraKJohns@aol.com
"Information is the currency of democracy." -- Thomas Jefferson
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