Literacy through Technology

As I think about how school libraries should be affected by the Common Core State Standards, 21st Century Skills, and really most standards movements that have happened over my 17 years of teaching; it's all about literacy. How we define literacy is broad - information literacy, global literacy, transliteracy, reading, decoding, multi-modal literacy, media literacy, phew! LITERACY is a big term and it's important to treat it that way - finding ways to integrate literacy into everything we do. Can we add a reading to an activity in the library that used to just be about students using technology? Can we allow students to struggle through finding an answer through reading rather than telling them? Can we help our teachers require that students use well-evaluated websites with appropriate text complexity when researching? Can we work to be sure that literacy is an important part of the all-powerful STEM?

So, an ongoing goal of mine is to work to help teachers find tools to enhance student literacy and embed literacy into everything I do in terms of professional development, collaborative instruction, co-teaching, etc. I'm starting by really looking at how I can use the Subtext app with classes/pd sessions (iPad app only). Subtext helps a teacher/facilitator track how students/participants are reading and guide them through readings with embedded video, multiple choice questions, additional information, open-ended questions and more. Thus far I have used this enhanced reading/guided literacy tool with adult learners and in modeling lessons with pre-service teachers. The pre-service teachers read a poem using Subtext - answering questions, sharing thoughts and helping me (the instructor) gauge their comprehension and engagement.
I'm looking forward to continuing work with Subtext and hoping to find more tools that will enhance the literacy experience for students, teachers and librarians.

A little Learn.ist board on technology and literacy: http://learni.st/users/98996/boards/21912-literacy-using-technology

EdCamp 2013 - What do I want to learn?

So, it's tricky to make time for your own learning when you lead a lot of professional development and spend time working with others in a teaching capacity. So, I'm getting ready for EdCamp on Saturday and it's great to take time to think about what I really want to learn rather than just choosing from a catalog. If you are not familiar with EdCamp; it's an unconference, meaning that there are no predetermined speakers or even sessions. The folks who participate in EdCamp determine the sessions day of and discuss and learn from each other at these sessions. (You can still register - check it out: http://www.edcampnc.org/home)

Recurring themes for me when I think about learning are student literacy and communication skills. It seems like no matter who I get in a conversation with about education; there are comments/complaints about reading, writing, speaking, etc. I hope at EdCamp to get into literacy issues with some folks and even better to connect literacy and technology. There are so many ways to be literate and illiterate in our techno/info-rich society and we need to help our kids keep up.

I've also been reading more and more about curation - which I believe is directly connected to helping students become more literate and therefore more functional in the sea of digital information. In my new job, I've finally got some time on my hands to look at what our library really needs and I think curation is one of my new goals. Now I've just got to figure out what tools to use and what to curate! I love Joyce Valenza's idea that "Librarians can synchronize communities" through curation and hope to synchronize away this summer (http://www.schoollibrarymonthly.com/articles/Valenza2012-v29n1p20.html)

Conference Cacophony Prioritized

NC Ties 2013 was a tool-heavy, idea-sparking, gamification event. Via my iPad noting, Evernoting, Edmodo linking, Smackdowning, etc. I think I jotted down well over 100 tools, gadgets, etc. PHEW! Via Prensky, Warlick, LaGarde and others the conference also dealt with the why of all this - I agreed with some, disagreed with others but was reminded to make it about kids driving the learning. Now I just have to figure out what vehicles I want them to drive. Which of course means needing lots of time to play; so it's time to prioritize the cacophony.

I decided to start with Google Chrome/Extensions/Apps to make my own techie life more efficient. Numerous featured presenters mentioned the extensions that are making their lives easier. Since I've begun playing around and exploring, I have yet to open Explorer - guess that speaks to the effectiveness of some of these tools.... The ones I've liked the best/prioritized:

• Pocket - saving documents for offline reading - great webtool and extension. Easy to use and I've found it particularly helpful in Twitter. Although I started with this as a Chrome add-on, I've quickly adapted and started using it on the iPad as well.
• EasyBib Extension - citation/bibliography creator AND website evaluation tool. I still like NoodleTools for citations but I'm working my way towards EasyBib and I really like the website evaluation piece of the extension that lets a user know whether EasyBib evaluates the website as credible/not credible/may be credible and provides users with a helpful guide if evaluation is still needed. Want to use this with students in a future information literacy session.
• Diigo - a good reminder to use the social bookmarking/annotation tool and the extension makes it easier and more efficient. I think the extension may also get some schools around the problems with downloading that I had previously with Diigo.

So this post has a prioritization focus and I'm trying to do the same, so I'm stopping here for now with extensions. I want to use these three and use them well with a plan to revisit new tools again in a couple of weeks. Chrome is also my friend in adding apps and links to the "homepage" - love the customizability of the browser and honestly the "experience" - as cheesy as that sounds. 

NC Ties and other conferences are always good reminders to try new things, revisit tools that I haven't tried in a while and keep looking for the tool that will best fit tech needs, kids' needs, etc. I have always loved the scribing videos where the audience watches the creator draw and write out ideas to go along with music or narration. The tool VideoScribe makes this possible and has been my tool of choice this week. I've also been working on a Digital Storytelling activity for pre-service teachers and had great fun creating with VideoScribe - here's how I'm starting our conversation -- http://youtu.be/Xxq1qEh3_7c

So, there's an overwhelming amount of things to explore and play with and I'm excited to keep finding the tools that best fit my need for efficiency and student needs for learning!

The Digiliterate Librarian

I've been blogging at http://blogs.wcpss.net/mhsmediacenter/ through my former high school library media center. I am now a librarian for the Media and Educational Technology Resource Center in the College of Education at NC State University. I'm sad to lose the blogging I was building at my high school and decided to think through what's really important in my work as a librarian so I could blog separately from any specific position/job.

21st Century school librarians care about and teach literacies in all areas - we are passionate about books in multiple formats and helping our patrons/students read and use information. We help them research, become information literate, become responsible digital citizens and publish their work using various forms of technology. As a new librarian in a university curriculum materials center I am excited to collaborate with current and pre-service teachers as well as faculty to make all students literate in the growing areas of the 21st century. Whether it be a graphic novel in print form or online form like Inanimate Alice whether students are analyzing an infographic or using an academic database to research and process information, I am a digiliterate librarian ready to lead!