Teacher-Librarians, School Libraries and the future impact of 21st Century Learning

By Annabelle PendryEDES 545 Vision of the Future Final

Project

"The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet." -William Gibson

Presentation Outline

Part 1: A Shift in Learning

Part 2: What Will This Mean for Students?

Part 3: How Teacher Librarians Will Help

A Shift in Learning

I believe that in the future, the shift from passive to active learning will be finalized and the action of acquiring knowledge will become increasingly

interactive.

I also believe that…

Knowledge Sources Will Continue to Change

Where we get information will move away from solitary teachers to • each other • online experts (and not)• different global perspectives

Information Sources Will be Smarter

• Search engines will be voice activated and personalized to student’s abilities

• Living Library concept will be omnipresent online• Feedback will be embedded into the learning process

making it more personalized since “That’s what it takes for work to satisfy us: it must present us with clear, immediately actionable goals as well as direct, vivid feedback.” (McGonigal, 2011)

Personalized Learning Will Enable:

• Learners the ability to seek out their own sources of information online in a way that suits their learning style

• Self tracking mechanisms that will support ongoing self-assessment

Gaming Will Become More Integrated Into Learning

Gaming will play an increasing role because “Gamification can motivate students to engage in the classroom, give teachers better tools to

guide and reward students, and get students to bring their full selves to the pursuit of learning”

(Lee & Hammer, 2011)

Collaboration and Creation will be Natural in the Learning

ProcessBecause we will have to memorize less, our

cognitive surplus that presently sits at maybe a trillion hours per year (Wired Magazine, 2010) will result in applying knowledge to create more, on our own

and collaboratively.

We Will Connect Globally

These creations will provide students more of a voice and find more opportunities to contribute to the social fabric of our world

Online Citizenship Will Expand

• Our online lives will become more public, stressing the need for developing an awareness of online presence

Our Brains Will Change

• With all of these changes, our thinking will become increasingly non-linear as learners learn to manage a deluge of information sources (Carr, 2011)

• The skills and mindset associated calm, quiet singular mind will become an endangered species

Offline time will become more valued

We will reserve time offline for deep thinking since “...the constant shifting of our attention when we’re online may make our brains more

nimble when it comes to multitasking, but improving our ability to multitask actually hampers our ability to think deeply and

creatively.” (Carr, 2011)

So What Will This Mean for Students?

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read

or write; they will be those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

--Alvin Toffler

There are many models and ideas for the skills students need to have. For example…

Wagner’s 7 Survival Skills for the Future

1. Critical thinking and problem solving2. Collaboration across networks and leading by

influence3. Agility and adaptability4. Initiative and entrepreneurship5. Effective oral and written communication6. Accessing and analyzing information7. Curiosity and Imagination(Wagner, 2013)

ISTE’s Standards for Students

1. Creativity and Innovation2. Communication and Collaboration3. Research and Information Fluency4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making 5. Digital Citizenship6. Technology Operations and Concepts(International Society for Technology in Education, 2007)

Kereluik et. al, 2013

The Assessment and Teaching of 21st-Century Skills

(ATC21S)

Ways of thinking, ways of working, tools for working and skills for living through:1. Collaborative Problem-Solving 2. ICT Literacy Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (2012)

ALA Guidelines and Standards

Learners use skills, resources and tools to:

1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply

knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

3. Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.

4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.(American Associations of School Librarians, 2007)

All Require Flexibility in Thinking

Students will need greater adaptation skills (be able to seek, assess, reject)

So How Will TLs and School Libraries Help?

The evidence continues to accumulate that libraries - and their librarians - lie absolutely at the heart of 3rd millennium learning

organisations: a place for scholarship, a place to escape into adventures, a place of discovery, a place to share and explore, a place for deep thought, a place for surprise, and above all else a place absolutely without limits. The best schools have libraries at their centres not as some sad throwback to an earlier age but as

a clear and evocative prototype of what ambitious learning might look like in this century of learning.

-Stephen Heppel, 2010

TLs are Models for Other Educators

TLs already have a strong tradition of:• Acting as guides to discovery, helping people find

what they need• Adapting to changing technology• Using and teaching new technology tools effectively• Enabling cooperative work • Working with a variety of colleagues and grade levels • Encouraging students to find multiple sources of

information including people, organizations

“…we have to stop thinking of games as only escapist entertainment”

(McGonigal, 2011)

• TLs already follow a strong tradition of helping students discover their own learning paths (through reading, finding information) and actively encouraging the non-escapist aspect of internet

• TLs can also be leaders in helping students develop “attention literacy”, how to exert some degree of mental control over our use of laptop, handheld, ear-budded media (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011)

TLs are already leaders in building their own Personal Learning

Networks

(American Associations of School Librarians, 2013)

TLs Will Reach Beyond “The Tech”

Help students use tools effectively beyond their “zone of possibility” (Dirkin & Mishra, 2010) with a variety of tools (ie. infographics, presentations, animations, timelines, PLNs, etc.)

“Libraries should focus on the phenomena made possible by the technology', not the technology

itself.”-David Lankes

TLs Already Ask the Right Questions

Does the student have the right proficiencies to explore a topic or subject further?

Is the student disposed to higher-level thinking and actively engaged in critical thinking to gain and share knowledge?

Is the student aware that the foundational traits for 21st-century learning require self-accountability that extends beyond skills and dispositions?

(American Associations of School Librarians, 2007)

And They Will Work to Preserve the Joy and Importance of

Reading-TLS will continue to advocate for the development of the quiet mind via their ongoing support of the importance of reading and the establishment of free, voluntary reading.-School libraries will continue to be havens for the traditional reading experience; reading for enjoyment, non-leveled books-School libraries will also be havens for the enhanced reading experience-extended world of readings, book clubs, author celebrations

TLs and School Libraries Will Help Students Become Learners

“ In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer

exists”-Eric Hoffer

ReferencesAmerican Associations of School Librarians (2013). Working together is working smarter [Infographic] Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/research/ncle-infographic

American Associations of School Librarians (2007). Standards for the 21st century learner. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_Learning_Standards_2007.pdf

Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (2012). What are 21st century skills? Retrieved from http://atc21s.org/index.php/about/what-are-21st-century-skills/

Carr, N. (2011). The shallows: What the internet is doing to our brains. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.

Dirkin, K. H., & Mishra, P. (2010). Values, beliefs, and perspectives: Teaching online within the zone of possibility created by technology. In D. Gibson, & B. Dodge (Eds.), Proceedings of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2010 (pp. 3811–3817). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from http://editlib.org/p/33974

Heppell, Stephen (2010). School libraries in the UK: a worthwhile past, a difficult present - and a transformed future? Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/special-interest-groups/school/Documents/strategic-school-libraries-report.pdf

International Society for Technology in Education (2007). ISTE NETS for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

International Society for Technology in Education (2008). ISTE NETS for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

References ContinuedKereluik, K., Mishra, P., Fahnoe, C., & Terry, L. (2013). What knowledge is of most worth: Teacher knowledge for 21st century learning. Journal Of Digital Learning In Teacher Education, 29(4), 127-140.

Kuehn, L. (2012). 21st century learning. Our Schools / Our Selves, 21(2), 39-42.

Lee, J. J. & Hammer, J. (2011). Gamification in education: What, how, why bother? Academic Exchange Quarterly, 15(2).

McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. New York: Penguin Books.

Richardson, W. , Mancabelli, R. (2011). Personal learning networks: Using the power of connections to transform education. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Summers, H. (2012, January 20). What you (really) need to know. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/the-21st-century-education.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Wagner, T. (2013). Tony wagner’s seven survival skills. Retreived from http://www.tonywagner.com/7-survival-skills

Wikipedia. (2010). Chronocentrism. Retrieved July 17, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/chronocentrism

Wired Magazine (2010). Cognitive surplus: The great spare-time revolution. Wired Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_pink_shirky/

Young, N. (2012). The virtual self. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd.