21st Century Moves

“Being in the company of a passionate adult who rigorously pursues inquiry in the area of their subject matter inviting students along as peers in that discourse.”

— Definition of Rigor

As information and educational technologists our job is to organize and communicate learning resources and tools in a systematic way so our community can access them with speed and agility. How is this collaboration in the evolving worlds of library and academic technologies to be accomplished? By working together to integrate The 4 Literacies: Information, Technology, Global/Cultural, and Media. These crucial skills are becoming more and more necessary to succeed in the 21st century but are still not taught in a typical academic course.

There is an existing system, The Big 6 (define, strategize, locate, use, synthesize and evaluate), which can serve as an excellent collaborative model to develop curriculum for each of these literacies. It provides a shared language for a librarian and technology integrator to design curriculum.

Some actions that will result from the Librarian and Academic technologist partnership include:

1. Create just-in-time tutorials (screencasts, screen-shots, videos, emails).

2. Working with department members to select and integrate info/tech standards.

3. Mentor lead teachers that will lead others into the 21st century.

4. Set-up Virtual Conference opportunities for onsite department trainings.

5. Create collaborative learning pods to create structured life-long learning.

6. Monitor technology “Pot Holes” to keep users safe.

7. Encourage Info/Tech Shares within the community.

8. Blog about current innovations.

9. Model open, collegial, honest, adaptive behavior.

There are literally hundreds of tools to focus training on. Information databases of course, and tools such as Libguides that include text, image, and video sources; diigo and noodletools to help users organize digital information; and Google docs or moodle for transparent collaboration.

The key for transforming any school into a dynamic 21st Century place of learning is the Library Media Center. School’s that overlook this powerful partnership are missing out on a great opportunity.

“Slow Technology”

In the late ‘90‘s when I was helping a school go digital, I coined the phrase: easier, better, faster, fun. I measured the worthiness of all new administrative technologies by these characteristics-though few besides myself every thought it was fun! I was operating under a noble, if misguided premise. That is, the saved administrative time would allow teachers to spend more time designing great learning experiences.

What has happened is quite different. Over worked parents, with more and more anxiety about their children’s ability to succeed in an over crowded global market, are flooding teachers with emails. And while the  technology may be supplying families and administration with more information, it is not giving teachers more time.  We inadvertently created a situation in our  schools, where there is often too much information and not enough time to focus on what is really important.

I have not become a luddite. Far from it. My life is almost completely  paperless. I love Facebook, google pages, doodle, Evernote, Mindmesiter, my smart phone and ipad but I choose to use technologies that make me more connected, informed, intellectually and creatively vibrant. I utilize processes that encourage systems thinking, abstract problem solving and conceptualizing.

Technology is not going away, nor do I want it to but we must guide its’ use instead of it guiding us. We can elect “slow” technologies that promote reflection; value quality over quantity; offer choices to users; and do project based service learning in support of local communities.  We are at an exciting crossroads. Let’s make sure we take the right path.

In the coming weeks, I will be featuring technology tools that educators can use to encourage “slow” learning, brainstorming, reflection, collaboration, iteration, design process, as well as ways to use metaphor and symbolism to make learning deep and lasting.  

Successful Problem-Solving Brainstorming

Don’t miss this great brainstorming technique from the Stanford Design institute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1h5L_0rFz8

Steps are summarized for you below.

1. Capture all the ideas
2. Defer judgement on your own ideas and others
3. Build off the ideas of others
4. Be visual _Use large paper
5. Have a designated recorder
6. Encourage wild ideas
7. One idea at a time
8. Headline ideas by summarizing them in 10 words or less
9. Go for quantity

Don’t miss this brief bad brainstorming video either. It will help you remember what to avoid:
http://youtu.be/ttWhK-NO4g8

21st Century Girls – Eve Ensler Ted Talk

The Action Club a student run social justice program at The Hewitt School, in New York is teaching media, global, information literacy and service learning in one fell swoop producing an amazing TedX youth program that features young women leaders who are changing the world with the aid of technology instead of using it to oppress and bully themselves. Each of these amazing speakers brought me to tears:  http://www.tedxyouthathewitt.org/2010-archive/

The 2011 line-up on November 19th, 2011 looks promising too. The theme: BREAKthrough! All of the featured speakers and performers are young adults “who at one time pushed a barrier or summoned up the guts to live authentically”.  http://www.tedxyouthathewitt.org/speakers/

Speaking of emotion…Eve Ensler shares her vision for the 21st Century girl. She is not “a pleaser”. She is an emotional girl. She can feel, activate, confront, create and educate. She is a 21st century girl. 21st century girls – Eve Ensler Ted Talk