PURPOSE & OBJECTIVES

Abstract

What's your role and the role of the school library media program in meeting the needs of learners today and tomorrow? How can we prepare a generation of motivated questioners, thinkers, and communicators who will harness the power of information and apply it in meaningful ways? Learn to combine the potential of Web 2.0 applications like Google Earth, blogs, wikis, social technology, and interactive software with powerful approaches to inquiry, information, teaching, and learning.

Objectives
Participants will be able to:
Identify the characteristics of Learner 2.0, Web 2.0, and School Library Media Specialist 2.0.
Design a plan for meeting the demands of the 2.0 world.
Re-image the tools of the school library media specialist including text, data, illustration, photography, audio, video, and animation.
Rejuventate learning spaces by incorporating social technology, participatory technology, collaborative technology, interactive technology, and mashups.
Renew partnerships through LEADing: Listen, Empathize, Analyze, and Decide.

Overview

Whether tracing the movement of a book character using Google Earth or video conferencing with colleagues from around the globe, there's never been a more exciting time to be a School Library Media Specialist.
- Do you view new information technology as an opportunity to learn or a needless drain on time and money?
- Do you consider a library packed with enthusiastic, engaged students exciting or overwhelming?
- Do you see the Internet as a dynamic tool for extending your services or a wasteland of misinformation that should be filtered?
Regardless of your point of view, our profession is in a state of flux. Like upgrading your software or adjusting to new equipment, change can be stressful. Are you ready for the Class of 2020? The Class of 2020 begins preschool this year.

The Future. Without a crystal ball, it's impossible to predict what the future holds for this generation. However we can identify trends and anticipate likely changes and challenges. For instance the trend toward smaller, cheaper, and faster technology is likely to persist. We can also assume that technology will continue to become more individualized, intuitive, and interactive. It's more difficult to predict how educators and students will react to the increasingly complex web of information and collaborative opportunities available through global networks.

Jump In. Let's start by facing the changes and challenges through reflecting, rethinking, and reacting to our past experiences. Rather than entering a new cycle of discovery, consider ways to learn from the past and spiral to higher levels of school library programming. How can we merge our love of books with the power of graphics, audio, video, and animation? How do we balance the demands of standards with the need to develop life-long learners?

High Tech Learning & Web 2.0. High tech learning refers to the constantly evolving hardware, software, and networking tools and resources available to those wishing to acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values through formal instruction or free inquiry. Because of the virtual nature of these digital tools and resources, high tech learning can occur anywhere, anytime. In this section of the session we’ll explore Learner 2.0, Web 2.0, and School Library Media Specialist 2.0.

Re-image, Rejuvenate, and Renew. It's time to re-imagine, rejuvenate, and renew as we meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

As you explore each step, reflect on your past experiences. What have you learned? What will you do differently as you explore new resources, approaches, and technologies?

Step 1: Re-imagine the Tools
Just as children gather hammers, nails, and lumber to build a treehouse or adults organize family history documents and post-it notes for genealogy projects, high tech learners seek out resources and tools for their learning experiences. Computers, open source software, and digital cameras are just a few of the tools that can be used in learning to organize and express ideas. Lots of practice examples and strategies will be provided.

Step 2: Rejuvenate Learning Spaces
As you design learning spaces, consider how these spaces facilitate critical and creative thinking. Lots of practice examples and strategies will be provided.

Step 3: Renew Partnerships
As you design projects, build in information age issues, project relevance, and meaningful assessments. Lots of practice examples and strategies will be provided.

Are you and your program on a path to evolution or extinction? Rather than waiting for change, be proactive and seek out opportunities to re-imagine, rejuvenate, and renew by exploring the potential of technology for your program.

Outline

OUTLINE

Content and Time

The following outline highlights the key ideas. Specific examples are available at my website at http://eduscapes.com/sessions/reimagine/
(5 Min) Overview
(15 Min) Characteristics of the 2.0 World
(15 Min) Re-imagine tools
(15 Min) Rejuvenate learning spaces
(15 Min) Renew partnerships
(10 Min) Conclusion and Questions

Process

Participants will explore ideas for re-imagining, rejuvenating, and renewing the school library media program. A desktop presentation will be used as a guide for the session. Each participant will receive a handout of this session including the presentation materials, worksheets, and resource lists.

A web page has been developed for this presentation. Learn more at http://eduscapes.com/sessions/reimagine/

Rather than simply listening to the speaker, participants will be asked to consider how they can re-imagine, rejuvenate, and renew themselves and their school library program. Suggestions will be provided for specific approaches and activities
The session provides lots of examples, many web resources and sample student technology-rich projects, as well as other useful ideas and techniques.

Supporting Research

An important aspect of the ISTE, Information Power guidelines as well as NCLB is the use of technology to achieve content area standards. This session focuses on using technology to address standards through developing practical technology-enhanced projects.

I've designed a page that contains lots of resources associated with Evidence-based Practice and Educational Technology
http://eduscapes.com/tap/evidence.html

Presenter Background

Dr. Annette Lamb has been a school library media specialist, computer teacher, and professor of education and library science. She is currently teaching online graduate courses for librarians and educators as a professor at Indiana University - Indianapolis (IUPUI). In addition to online teaching, she writes, speaks, and conducts professional development workshops, presentations, and keynotes throughout North America and is well-known for her realistic approaches to technology integration and information inquiry. In addition to working on state and national-level grant projects, she enjoys spending time with administrators, teachers, and individual school districts, universities, and museums focusing on practical, technology-rich approaches to teaching and learning. Annette received her Ph.D. in Educational Technology from Iowa State University. Her roots in library, media, and technology are reflected in her passion for interdisciplinary approaches, reading and writing across the curriculum, and using a variety of resources from books to the Internet.

Annette's numerous articles and over a dozen books are valuable resources for educators. Her popular website, Eduscapes.com, includes a wide range of award-winning, free resources for educators including 42explore, Teacher Tap, Literature Ladders, Activate, Naturescapes, Escrapbooking, Multimedia Seeds, and High Tech Learning.

She loves to share her ideas with others. All of her sessions and workshops are available at http://eduscapes.com