I am aware of these excellent standards. And I certainly agree that this is
the role of librarians - whatever you call yourselves. ;-) But my concern is
that too often you are viewed as the person's whose responsibility is
checking out books and telling kids, "shh." Unfortunately, it seems that
this is the perceived nature of your position - with its current names.
And so then when budgets are cut - there go the librarians, because an aide
can do that. Which is absolutely ridiculous because who do we really need to
help teachers and students in this area of digital media literacy?
Librarians. Duh.
I am thinking that for major parts of your day, maybe you need to be out of
the library and into the classrooms - much like the ed tech specialists -
providing assistance to the teachers. Essentially in a position of "master
teacher in digital media literacy." And some of the increased funding for
educational technology needs to be dedicated to library/digital media
specialists.
Which is why I am thinking it might be good for someone (like me) to start
to call you "digital media specialists" and try to redefine some of your
responsibilities in schools. So that more people will recognize how
important your role is in all of this.
So is anyone out there actually doing this? Are you a recognized
"specialist" (not ed tech specialist - added technical responsibilities) but
a specialist whose job it is to help the content teachers shift to 21st
Century instruction? Is this something that resonates? Or am I off-base?
I have had some excellent thoughts shared privately also. And would
appreciate more. Thanks.
Nancy
> Hi, Nancy.
> The AASL Learning Standards for the 21st-century Learner specifically
> discusses the role technology must play for students (and hence, for
> school librarians.) The link to the learning standards is here:
> http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandard
> s/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf
> TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/blkh3k
>
> One of the core beliefs is, "Todayıs students need to develop
> information skills that will enable them to use technology as an
> important tool for learning, both now and in the future." Information
> technology, and its ethical use, are mentioned over and over. Digital
> access to information and the creative use and sharing of information
> using digital media are an absolute necessity for students today.
> Therefore, teacher-librarians need to be school leaders in the
> adoption, promotion, and mastery of digital media, just as we strive
> to provide and promote the very best books for our students & faculty.
>
> We don't even need to create a new title, and it's not really a new
> role. Librarians (whether we're called school librarians,
> teacher-librarians, school library media specialists, or whatever) are
> responsible for providing access to new information technology, just
> as we are for access to "traditional" media--print, audio, video, etc.
> We're all about the story--whether it's in a newspaper, a book, on a
> Kindle, or loaded on an iPod. Information is our business, whether
> it's in cuneiform writing or on Twitter.
>
> Librarians in my district are "early adopters" & promoters of lots of
> digital media tools. In the past few years, we've provided
> professional development and student instruction on blogs, podcasts,
> social media, wikis, databases, web-based applications, Animoto,
> VoiceThread, Glogster...and many other topics.
>
> It's our job!
>
> --Anne-Marie
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 4:19 PM, Nancy Willard <nwillard@csriu.org> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I am working on some material and would really, really like some feedback
>> from my favorite professionals. I want to describe what I think is a new
>> role for library media specialists in schools. I know others are also
>> envisioning this and you are likely ahead of me - so forgive me if I am
>> behind the visionary librarians.
>>
>> Yesterday, I watched a webinar produced by THE Journal, and had the
>> incredible Julie Evans from Project Tomorrow and a panel of ed tech
>> specialists. They discussed how there needed to be an educational technology
>> specialist in every school - who can provide support for the teachers on
>> their use of the technologies.
>>
>> As I was listening, I thought to myself, "What we need to have are the
>> educational technology specialists, a tech team of students who can assist
>> teachers in using the new technologies, AND digital media literacy
>> specialists."
>>
>> I know that sometimes librarians are also ed tech specialists. But other
>> times not. And whereas the insight and approach of the ed tech specialists
>> is very necessary, I really think that there needs to be a larger "team"
>> supporting the teachers to establish these 21st Century Learning
>> Environments.
>>
>> It seems to me establishing this new team would require a new role for
>> library media specialists - digital media literacy specialists who are
>> providing professional development and support for all teachers to enable
>> them to provide effective 21st Century instruction.
>>
>> Like I said, I am pretty darned sure that others are ahead of me on this. So
>> I would really like to hear from you on your thoughts on the manner in which
>> I am expressing this. Please expand on my thoughts on this with your insight
>> - and do not be concerned about questioning my statements. I really want to
>> learn from your insight.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Nancy
>>
>> --
>> Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
>> Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
>> http://csriu.org
>> http://cyberbully.org
>> http://cyber-safe-kids.com
>> http://csriu.wordpress.com
>> nwillard@csriu.org
>>
>> Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social
>> Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press)
>>
>> Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the
>> Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass)
>>
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>
--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
http://cyberbully.org
http://cyber-safe-kids.com
http://csriu.wordpress.com
nwillard@csriu.org
Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social
Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press)
Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the
Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass)
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