The Unquiet Librarian

I am not sure how I missed this ( I don’t remember an official announcement?), but you can now follow School Library Journal on Twitter!  Yeah!

http://twitter.com/sljournal

Twitter / sljournal via kwout

[mixwit_mixtape wid="3b319c094d01e4771384463dd98a0ae2" pid="b014ef80044f43b0bb5872e8231f8730" un="K_Glogowski" width="426" height="327" center="true"]

Calling all Grizzly patrons!  Are you looking for a cool multimedia tool to show your teachers what you have learned this fall?  Check out Mixwit, a fun “media playground” that allows you to artwork, photos, and music in a format that can be easily shared!  Read about how this teacher, Konrad Glogowski , used this tool as part of a novel study (hit the play button above to play his mix); you can also visit and see student examples by going to the link beneath this screenshot.

blog of proximal development

You can register your own account for free!  Click on the link below to visit Mixwit and start mixing up your own creative projects today!

Mixwit – Create and Share Digital Mixtapes

I actually stumbled on this yesterday while working on a pathfinder (and sent an email of pure excitement to my fellow district media specialists!), but in case you haven’t heard this exciting news, the Library of Congress is now on Flickr!  Check out all the tags on the Library of Congress Flickr account!

What is the project about?  Why would the Library of Congress create a Flickr account?  You can read the full scoop here, but here is what you need to know in a nutshell straight from the Library of Congress on Flickr Project Page; you can also learn more by visiting the Library of Congress on Flickr FAQ Page.  The purpose of creating a LOC Flickr page includes these aims:

• To share photographs from the Library’s collections with people who enjoy images but might not visit the Library’s own Web site.
• To gain a better understanding of how social tagging and community input could benefit both the Library and users of the collections.  
• To gain experience participating in Web communities that are interested in the kinds of materials in the Library’s collections.

Here are two “must read” posts detailing the project and the public’s response to this new project from the Library of Congress Blog:

• Post 1
• Post 2

What does all this mean for us as educators and librarians?  I personally feel this is going to make the rich photo collection so much more accessible to our students and the American public in general.  Talk about an easier mode of searching!  Wow!  This new tool is a fabulous way to tap into these amazing primary sources.  To me, this is another example of the power of Web 2.0 tools to ignite learning and get our students excited about history. 

As always, Joyce Valenza has her thoughts and musings on this exciting development, too—you can read more in her post, “Let’s Tag:  Library of Congress Shares on Flickr“.

What do you think about the Library of Congress @ Flicker?  Share your thoughts!

The latest study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, “Online Activities and Pursuits:  Information Searches That Solve Problems”, revealed some surprising findings that challenge traditional beliefs about who uses libraries; the report also seems to allay fears that libraries may be losing their relevance in the digital age.   The report highlights these key findings: 

• Libraries drew visits by more than half of Americans (53%) in the past year for all kinds of purposes, not just the problems mentioned in the survey.
• Young adults in the tech-loving Generation Y (age 18-30)  led the pack. Compared to their elders, Gen Y members were the most likely to use libraries for problem-solving information and in general patronage for any purpose.
• Young adults are the ones who are the most likely to say they will use libraries in the future when they encounter problems: 40% of Gen Y said they would do that, compared with 20% of those above age 30 who say they would go to a library.

“These findings turn our thinking about libraries upside down. Librarians have been asked whether the Internet makes libraries less relevant. It has not. Internet use seems to create an information hunger and it is information-savvy young people who are the most likely to visit libraries,” noted Leigh Estabrook, Dean and Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois, co-author of a report on the results.  She added that Internet users with broadband were much more likely to patronize libraries than those without broadband access to the Internet (61% vs. 28%).

The survey did seem to indicate the problem of the digital divide and traditional issues of equity of literacy (as demonstrated in Deborah’s Brandt’s ground-breaking researching in Literacy in American Lives).  The report summary states:

A major focus of this survey was on those with no access to the Internet (23% of the population) and those with only dial-up access (13% of the population). This “low-access” population is poorer, older, and less well-educated than the cohort with broadband access at home or at work. They are less likely to visit government offices or libraries under any circumstances. And they are more likely to rely on television and radio for help than are high-access users.  

What do you think are the implications of this study for us as media specialists and educators?  How can librarians (school and public) better reach those who are not using the library for information?  How can we bridge the gaps highlighted in this report?
 

One university professor has decided to take Wikipedia and turn it into a teaching tool for her students in her environmental history course at the University of Washington-Bothell.  After perusing Wikipedia, Dr. Martha Groom noticed that the information was lacking in information related to topics she covers in her course.  Consequently, she decided to do away with the end of the term research paper, and instead, students are now required to write a complete entry on a course topic or to do a major edit on an existing topic related to the course syllabus.

Dr. Groom cites several benefits to this assignment:

• For her students, the Wikipedia experiment was “transformative,” and students’ writing online proved better than the average undergrad research paper.
• Knowing their work was headed for the Web, not just one harried professor’s eyes, helped students reach higher — as did the standards set by the volunteer “Wikipedians” who police entries for accuracy and neutral tone.  The exercise also gave students a taste of working in the real world of peer-reviewed research.
• Most of the articles were well received, but Groom said some students caught heat from Wikipedia editors for doing exactly what college students are trained to do: write an argumentative, critical essay.

Dr. Groom also feels that this assignment presents a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about using quality and authoritative information sources as well as evaluating information.  In addition, she believes her students have a better understanding of how to go the extra mile to do secondary research that goes beyond “surface” level research.  However, Dr. Groom is disappointed that the Wikipedia editors have been sometimes “rude” in their responses to student entries.

You can read more about Dr. Groom’s experiences by checking out these links:

• Yahoo News
• Ars Technica
• CNN Technology

I think that Dr. Groom has had a stroke of instructional genius here!  What do you as teachers think about this assignment?  I have emailed Dr. Groom to see if we can get a copy of her assignment guidelines.  If any of you are interested in collaborating with Ruth or me on this kind of research project for your students, please let us know…this assignment could be incredibly beneficial on many fronts and would definitely cover many of the Georgia Performance Standards that you are required to teach in your courses.

Buffy

In the spirit of super librarian Joyce Valenza, I will be rolling out a new learning initiative for our students and our faculty, http://theunquietlibrary23things.edublogs.org.  Our program, which is modeled on the dazzling array of 43/23 Things library sponsored programs across the United States, is designed to help our patrons learn about exciting Web 2.0 technologies and tools that can increase productivity and improve student achievement.  Mrs. Fleet, another super-librarian, will be my partner in this venture as we work to help all of our patrons become lifelong learners!

Of course, the intrinsic thrill of learning is the primary reason for participating in this self-paced program, but we will also be offering prizes to patrons who complete our program.  Stay tuned as we launch our http://theunquietlibrary23things.edublogs.org/program in November 2007!

Buffy Hamilton

Check out this interesting article from The New York Times called “Spreading Out Homework So Even Parents Have Some.”  Damion Frye, an English teacher at Montclair High Schoolin Montclair, New Jersey, requires parents of his ninth grade students to participate in weekly homework assignments that mirror those he gives to his students.   Parents are given identical assignments as their children and asked to respond on a blog set up by Mr. Frye. 

The point, he said, is to keep parents involved in their children’s ’ education well into high school. Studies have shown that parental involvement improves the quality of the education a student receives, but teenagers seldom invite that involvement. Mr. Frye  decided to help out.

While a few parents have been resistant to the idea, Mr. Frye reports that most have eagerly jumped in and found the experience to be a positive one. 

Tracy Parsons, whose son Danny is the second of her two boys to be a student in Mr. Frye’s class, said that the weekly assignments had changed the way she approached homework with her children.  “In high school, to some degree you have to back off from homework, so they can gain independent learning skills,” Ms. Parsons said. But teenagers, she noted, “leave a lot out. You ask, ‘What’d you do in science?’ and they say, ‘It was fine.’”

While some educators caution against Mr. Frye’s policy of penalizing students’ grades if parents do not do their assigned homework, Mr. Frye reports that only one parent has flat out refused to participate in the three years of assigning parents “homework.”  He states that he is flexible and works with parents who may not have Internet access or who may have challenges dealing with language differences. 

What do you as teachers, students, and administrators think of Mr. Frye’s creative way of involving parents in homework as a means for involving parents to be involved in their children’s education?  The primary suggestion I have is that he have the students blog along with their parents rather than doing all the assignments in the traditional format of paper and pencil.  If students are having the opportunity to blog too, then perhaps more dialogue could be ignited between parents and students.

Let us know what you think!