If You're Serious About Designing Edtech Solutions, Start With the Learners

Iansito, Karah

ET

Sussman, M.  (2017, February 25).  If you’re serious about designing edtech solutions, start

With the learners.  EdSurge.  Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-02-

25-if-you-re-serious-about-designing-edtech-solutions-start-with-the-learners

Summary

Sussman speaks about her own experience designing and implementing edtech, humanizing what can be a dehumanized, disconnected, and antisocial experience.

Evaluation

Such an eye opener!  Again, I was lucky enough to have a sort of epiphany as I was reading this article, originally shared with class from Dr. L.   In thinking about the setup of a learning commons at my own school, Sussman’s article really hit home.  From my essay for Module 1 on the topic of Educational Theory and Practice:

Among the many articles I have accumulated on the subject, one in particular stands out for the way in which it frames the whole endeavor of the school librarian as creator and caretaker of the learning commons.  Over the past ten or fifteen years, and certainly of late in my own building, there has sprung up an atmosphere that could be described as sort of “us versus them,” with the tech experts and adopters on one side and the rest of the school community on the other.  It is unfortunate at best and toxic at worst, and can seem insurmountable, erecting a wall between colleagues that hurts everyone involved, not least of all the students.  This article, written by San Francisco Bay area native turned “techie,” Maya Sussman (2017), not only defines the problem I’ve witnessed at work but been unable to identify until now, but she cuts right through the chaff and gets to a reasonable way forward.  Her comments have to do with designing edtech, but I believe apply well to the school librarian as designer of the learning commons:

The good news is that the skills required to be a thoughtful and successful designer are also skills that make us better friends, co-workers, and citizens. A little more empathy, collaboration, and optimism can go a long way in designing more effective learning tools, and in bridging the divides between designers and learners, researchers and educators, and yes, Bay Area natives and techies. (Sussman, 2017)

The “us versus them” feeling has been pervasive, and I’ve wondered at how to bridge that divide.  I think I can be a great asset to my principal in this capacity as a veteran educator in the school.  The simplicity with which Sussman addresses the issue was inspiring to read, and I will keep it close by as I begin to think about designing my very first learning commons.  

Digital Citizenship: A Holistic Primer

Coulterpark, Rebecca

ET
IL

TeachThought Staff.  (2016, October 28).  Digital citizenship: A holistic primer.  Retrieved from https://www.imperosoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Digital-Citizenship-A-Holistic-Primer.pdf

Summary:

This white paper discusses digital citizenship, its definition, its current role in schools, and how it should be employed in the future in schools. The team from Teach Thought discusses the history of digital citizenship, and how this new form of citizenship has developed as internet use has become more prevalent, especially as online resources have become more pertinent to education. They introduce the core themes involved with digital citizenship, proposing that they are 1) respect yourself and others; 2) educate yourself and others; 3) protect yourself and others. The paper continues by discussing the necessity of digital citizenship at all levels of education, and how to employ it and teach students about how to be good digital citizens. They conclude the paper by discussing how digital citizenship might evolve in the future and answering potential questions about digital citizenship with continuing technologies, and how to teach digital citizenship.

Evaluation:
The Teach Thought Staff take an in depth look at digital citizenship, and discuss how it should be employed not only at the K-12 level, but also in higher education. This article does a good job of looking at, and explaining, different components of digital citizenship and what types of responsibilities we have as digital citizens and the important pieces to teach to students who are new to the digital world.
The breakdown of the sections makes it easy to navigate, and takes an easy to read approach to the topic of digital citizenship.

Will Your Students Be Ready For College?

Jeselyn Templin

ET

Cahoy, E. S. (2002). Will your students be ready for college? Connecting K-12 and college standards for information literacy. Knowledge Quest, 30(4), 12-15.

Summary: This article talks about the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) standards and the teacher librarian's role in helping to implement them in all levels of education. The subject is presented with the intention of encouraging the reader to evaluate the educational standards in their immediate vicinity in order to make sure their students are getting what they need in the long run, not just to pass standardized tests.

Evaluation: This article has two downsides. First, it was published in 2002 which makes it the oldest source I explored for this class. Second, it is very specific about the ACRL standards and a few other sets of standards, all of which are rather old and not widely used anymore. However, the spirit of the article is relevant to teacher librarians of any generation. Teacher librarians are an important part of the educational system, and can take the initiative to make sure their students are getting what they need from the educational system.

IL-Teens and Tech Article

St Clair, Deb

IL

Zickuhr, K. (2014). Teens and tech: What the research says. Young Adult Library

    Services, 12(2), 33-37.

Summary:  This article covers how teens are using technology, including how they conduct research.  It then goes into the need for teaching online skills.  

This article is very informative and provides insight on a relevant topic.  The author uses a report for Pew Research Center, an independent, nonpartisan research group that conducts extensive research on a variety of topics.  

Digital Projectors for Interactive Teaching

I finally found an article interesting enough to post here on the classroom blog.

Kids around a table using an interactive projector.

Nelson, K. (2016). 10 game-changing ways to use an interactive classroom projector. WeAreTeachers.com. Retrieved from http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2016/02/01/10-game-changing-ways-to-use-an-interactive-classroom-projector

This article describes modern technologies, like digital projectors, used for interactive teaching, turning any surface into a whiteboard which then detects fingers or a special pen so it moves like the touchscreen on a tablet or smartphone. Think of the possibilities in that. Maps, history, geography, all able to be interacted with and change how classrooms work.

Teaching Social Studies with Video Games

ET
IL

Maguth, B. M., List, J. S., Wunderle, M. (2015). Teaching social studies with video games. The Social Studies, 106(1), 32-36. doi: 10.1080/00377996.2014.961996

Summary:

This article highlights the use of interactive video games as instructional tools in the classroom.  Students used the game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings to build up a civilization.  This game was chosen because it could be aligned with state standards, had an easy to use interface, and good enough graphics to keep students engaged.  The teacher assessed student learning by having students write reflections related to academic content standards such as geography, trade, economics, etc.  Students were required to make connections between class discussions and the video game.  Teacher and student found the game to be a success in allowing students to practice academic content in “real world” scenario that was engaging.  The article even attributes this teaching strategy as an example of learning through play—a theory of Vygotsky and Piaget.

Evaluation:

This article highlights the importance of information and technology literacy in our classrooms.  While this article did not highlight the role of a teacher librarian, I can only imagine how much more beneficial the outcome would have been if teacher and teacher librarian had co-taught this assignment.

Exploiting Synergies Among Digital Repositories, Special Collections, and Online Community

Reyna, Lisa

IL - Media Literacy

Huwe, T. (2009). Exploiting synergies: among digital repositories, special collections, and online

community. Online, 33(2), 14-19.

Summary/Evaluation

Huwe elaborates on how only just a few years prior to the writing of this particular article, there were only a couple of leading research facilities (E.g. Library of Congress) capable of developing an online presence of high-quality digital library collections. Further discussion into the article depicts that today in current times, this ideal is no longer the case. Huwe speaks of the rise in development of digital collections not only emerging among research libraries, but also other organizations as well as various museums. Research libraries and librarians are evolving with the constant change of advancement in digital media technologies and are becoming familiar with open-source web development tools specialized in digitization, although most collections are of a smaller scale. 

Emphasis is expressed when referencing the importance of historical collections and how an online presence will not only benefit libraries and librarians, but also have the capacity to reach new scholars and experts trying to obtain rare materials within a searchable online environment. Huwe also ventures into the realm of social networking, blogs, and community websites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo, which are currently responsible for enabling managers of digital repositories to merge technologies utilizing web 2.0 applications, therefore symbolizing the effect of creating new synergies. I found this article to be quite interesting as Archivists and scholars now have the ability to be involved in newly developed trends surrounding the accessibility of historically valuable collections through the opportunity to take on leadership roles in scholarly communities.

Kelly Roys

Herring, J. E. (2011). Improving students’ web use and information literacy: A guide
for teachers and teacher librarians. London: Facet Publishing. doi: 10.3233/EFI-2010-0888

Summary: Review of James Herring's new volume on information literacy skills includes the processing and evaluation on web usage. Herring is a professional who has been publishing works related to teacher librarians and theories for practicum in information literacy for over 30 years. The review of the book details the overarching themes to the nine chapters within the book. The beginning chapters of the book are detailed to introductory on web usage pre-Web 2.0. Herring's volume promotes a few models of theory for learning when using technology and the author reviewing the book notes that there are parts of the volume that not all will agree with and the reader should be made aware of these sections.


Evaluation: I found this review of Herring's book to be of value as it notes the background of the author, the preferences towards theories applicable to teacher librarians, teachers and students. The volume is practical and theory based, which allows the reader to both apply what they are learning in a contextual aspect. The review does not lean heavily to one perspective of the author and his work. The review describes the book for its application and relativity in relation to the topic and allows the reader of the review to make their own conclusion as to whether the volume will be of interest to them to read.

Disney 'Connected Learning' Aims To Infuse Games with Learning

Posted by Darren Ng

ET

Corcoran, B. (2013). Disney 'Connected Learning' aims to infuse games with learning. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2013-02-06-disney-connected-learning-aims-to-infuse-games-with-learning


Summary:
Disney has been developing games with learning in mind. A marriage of entertainment and education. Game designers and educators are collaborating to produce games that can hopefully be both "fun" and support "learning".


Evaluation:
Unfortunately there is not any research provided in this article as to whether or not the efforts of Disney to "infuse games with learning" has been successful. As of the writing of this article it is still too soon to know if their efforts have had the impact that they intend. There are too few games at the moment designed with these teaching goals in mind, and the games that do exist have not incorporated all of the concepts that the game designers and educators hope to teach. This is a great idea and one that has gained a lot of STEAM.

NMC Horizon Report 2015 K-12 Edition

Posted by Karen Kotchka

ET

Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M. (2012). NMC Horizon Report: 2012 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium

Summary

This report is a very valuable summary of the latest trends in educational technology that is produced annually and takes a five year look ahead at technologies for education.  The organization produces a version for K-12, higher ed, museums and libraries and breaks the trends down into short-term, mid-term and long-term time frames.  They also present the significant challenges impeding the introduction of educational technology broken down into solvable, difficult and wicked.  Finally, they present the important developments in educational technologies over the next one to five years.

Evaluation

I find the report very useful and interesting to read each year.  There is an executive summary so you can get all the main information quickly and easily and then just read the parts that apply to you.  It's a great way to stay abreast of developments in educational technology and start to plan ahead for what may affect you in your situation.