How AI can enhance our memory, work, and social lives

Persinger, Danielle

ET

Gruber, T. (2017). How AI can enhance our memory, work and social lives. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved from:  https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_gruber_how_ai_can_enhance_our_memory_work_and_social_lives#t-749702

Tom Gruber, the co-creator of Siri, spends ten minutes discussing the future of learning and human interaction with Artificial Intelligence. This movement toward the future is not something to fear, rather it should be embraced. AI will offer new ways to perform our jobs and live our lives. Using AI in addition to humans, we can find 99.5% of cancerous cells, mitigate memory loss, and create infinite design ideas.

I'm a TED talks junkie. This video is fascinating and leaves me hopeful for the future. There are many ways we are already using AI to improve our lives and create a "super human" ability i.e. using Siri to remember deadlines and stay on track is a super human feat in my book. This technology will only continue to grow and I cannot help but be excited about the possibilities of increased equality opportunities.

This Library is Going to the Dogs

Martin, Jeanette
ET - New Trends

Cottrell, M. (2017). Library Waggin' Train: Service dogs, therapy dogs, emotional support dogs: Which ones can come in? American Libraries,48(3/4), 24-25. Retrieved April 4, 2017, from americanlibrariesmagazine.org.

The article assists librarians in how to utilize service dogs in the library. It also explains the rights individuals have to bring their service dogs into the library and the rights the library has in questioning the owner of the animal. Many people buy a service vest for the animal to bring them into public places. Some animals have not been trained and can become a safety and health hazard. The law explains that a librarian can ask an owner of a dog if it is a service animal and what kind of service the dog provides to its owner. The law does not permit one to ask for a certificate or a letter to verify this.

Studies have shown the benefits animals animals can have on people. We are the largest school in the district with special needs kids. Twice a year a service dog comes into our schools library to provide emotional support to our students. It is very soothing to our students and gives our teachers a piece of mind that the students are calm. My son, while he was in college, had the opportunity to cuddle with service dogs during finals. It calmed him down so much he asked me to bring his dog on campus during finals week.

STEAM Trends

Karst, Kelly
ET
Abram, S. (2017). What's in the Pipeline? Teacher Librarians as STEAM Vents. Internet@Schools, 24(1), 8-10.

This article lays out current and upcoming trends in library spaces, particularly in the realm of technology. Some interesting highlights are search trends of the future that go beyond algorithms and even into sensorial searches. Current and future trends in developing maker spaces are also touched on as well as expanding a library's lending collection to include things like drones, robotics tools, and 3d printer/scanners. Of course, this means that the library of the future will require a more flexible design. 

The article gave me some great ideas to think about on what can be implemented in my school library now, and how we can think about designing our future school library spaces when the school builds a new campus. 

5 Big Ways Education Will Change by 2020

Hudson, Evelyn

ET

Cole, S. (2015, March 10). 5 big ways education will change by 2020. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3043387/5-big-ways-education-will-change-by-2020

This article gives a brief overview of what changes are likely coming in education over the next few years. It is useful to consider these ideas as we strive to become better educators and prepare for what's next.

This article helped me to better understand where the education system is currently located on the path to the future. I can see where we are and where we are going so I can prepare myself for what's coming.

FAKE NEWS

Martin, Jeanette
ET-Trends

Banks, M. (2017, Feb. & march). Fighting Fake News: How libraries can lead the way on media literacy. American Libraries, 48(#3/4), 18-21. doi:https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/12/27/fighting-fake-news/

This article reflects on the changes being made in regards to how libraries are making changes on educating students on what is "fake" and was is factual information. In this digital age, many of us are receiving their information through social media websites. This information along with ads are so prevalent in how individuals receive and retain information. This article highlights two projects that help readers indicate what is true and what is false regarding media. The first project is titled, Trust Indicator. This rates certain news journalists and news organizations on the accuracy of information they provide. Storytellers without Borders is another project where journalists teach and mentor others on the kid of questions to ask to determine if information is accurate or not. 

This was a great article. It showed once again how libraries and librarians are at the forefront of ensuring that the information people receive is accurate. Also, they highlight programs in teaching others about media and digital literacy and how to know the difference between accurate information and fake  news.

MEOW: CATS IN LIBRARIES

Martin, Jeanette
ET-New Trends

Ford, A. (2017, Jan. & feb.). Library Cats Leave Some Sneezing, Others Feline Fine: Libraries face hard choices as resident kitties grow scarcer. American Libraries, 48(#1/2), 18-20. doi:https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/01/03/library-cats-leave-some-sneezing-others-feline-fine/

This article talks about feral cats sneaking into libraries and making the libraries their home. In 2006, there were over 200 cats living in public libraries. The calming effect of the feline as well as the publicity having generated by having a library cat, has been welcoming in most libraries. However, due to allergies by patrons and complaints by some board members the count is down to 39 library cats across the country. 

As a child I was very lonely and my only solace was books. I can't imagine the joy I would have found if the library had housed a cat as well. This article was a great joy for me to read and emphasized how much an animal can bring to a learning environment. In the past I have read to a dog days in the library. Service dogs are brought to the library and our special education children pet them and read stories with them. The smiles on their faces is priceless. I have brought the service dogs into the library for our general education kids. I had no idea what an effect it would have on them. Our students are going through some horrendous things in their lives that I only hear whispers off. The animals bring a great joy to the library, the students and the school. I wish I could have a library cat. Then this place would be the cat's meow. 

Love the Library: Make It a Game

Post by Lora Poser-Brown

ET

Squires, T. (2016). "Engaging students through gamification." American libraries. March 1, 2016. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/03/01/engaging-students-through-gamification/

Overview: After instituting a game based library reading and writing program, the school library attained an 80% student participation level. Since the program was entirely voluntary, the success has been attributed to the opportunity to compete, collaborate, build non-classroom relationships with school staff, and the simple please of playing a game.

Analysis: The school library made itself a relevant, enjoyable place to be by making learning and exploring the library a game. While creating the game was labor intensive, the success was well worth the effort in staff eyes. Furthermore, the improvement in school morale and quality relationships has been viewed positively by the school community.

Genius Hour in the Library

Frey, Jennifer

CO

RUSH, E. B. (2015). Genius Hour in the Library. Teacher Librarian, 43(2), 26-30.

Summary:

This article is about how a librarian went about implementing a librarian led genius hour for students in grades 3-5. The article takes you through the planning to the approval and implementation phase then addresses what worked and what's next. The librarian worked with teachers to lead this project so there is a lot of collaboration going on.

Evaluation:

I really enjoyed this article since I was interested in genius hours and wanted to know more. I thought this article was especially helpful since the focus was on librarians leading it. I liked how she shared her plan and what worked and the students reactions.

Pop-Up Perfection: Staging a Pop-Up Library

Aubree Burkholder

ET

Fiore, S. (2016, September). Pop-Up Perfection: Staging a Pop-Up Library. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2016/09/pop-up-perfection-staging-a-pop-up-library/

Summary:

This article outlines the value behind community outreach and making personal connections with members of the community, especially when trying to plan new events or even pop-up libraries. The author gives a good explanation of what exactly a pop-up library is and the role that a pop-up librarian needs to have.  The article also gives great tips on how to promote the pop-up library and the ways to incorporate as many library departments as possible.

Evaluation:

I enjoyed this article because it shines a light on how important community outreach really is. It also gives great tips on how to begin setting up a pop-up library within a community that has never hosted one before. 

Education Practices in Several Countries

Gabrielle Thormann

ET

Doyle, W. (2016). How Finland broke every rule and created a top school system. The Hechinger Report. Retrieved from:

http://hechingerreport.org/how-finland-broke-every-rule-and-created-a-top-school-system/

A journalist writes an opinion piece about his child’s education in a remote corner of Finland.  Personalized learning is implemented, but few computers/technologies are present in this classroom.  Children have freedoms that are not seen in American classrooms, and students are guided to self-assess and peer assess.  Teams of trusted professionals have the freedom to ‘innovate and experiment,’ and teachers teach when have a masters in education, not after 5 to 6 weeks of training. 

Summary

This article is an overview of the best of the Finnish teaching system.  In between paragraphs and key points links to other related articles are inserted.  These articles reference overarching concerns such as the growing achievement gap between rich and poor as recently studied in 33 countries, as well as focusing on other countries’ educational issues: Estonia, China, Denmark.

A Strategy Session With Some of Education’s Top Thinkers

Williams, Susan

ET

Ryan, J. E., Selingo, J., Christakis, N., Gasman, M., Levy, H., Krislov, M., ... Weingarten, R. (2016, June 22). A strategy session with some of education’s top thinkers. Retrieved from http://nyti.ms/28PovcP

This is an article of big ideas, featuring 15 perspectives from top education thinkers.  Topics include:

The importance of social emotional learning; balancing diversity and freedom of expression; the status of a liberal arts and vocational education programs in light of the intense STEM push; income and opportunity inequalities and balancing technology use. Offers useful names to attach to ideas for further research and highlights trends.

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.

Reinvention of Libraries

Shibrie Wilson

ET-New Trends
ET- Restructuring
Z- Discussions

 Manguel, A. (2015, October 24). Reinventing the Library. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/24/opinion/reinventing-the-library.html?_r=0

Summary: Libraries and information in which they hold are defined in different perspectives. One thing in which most people can agree on is that libraries have been the hub for accessing information. Over the course of history libraries have been able to adapt to changing conditions whether war or other idiosyncrasies in history. During era of Alexandria libraries were viewed as powerful and central place for symbol of society. Libraries have become a social center for many patrons, according to this article, and librarians have done an excellent job befitting such change. Librarians are able to stay relevant in these times by diversifying mandate. Providing services in which traditionally were not provided, in which is excellent because it exhibits how librarians are more than just guiding one to a particular book. Being an advocate for libraries and assuring that they are not cut because they are important for symbols in our society.

Reflection: Enjoyed reading this article though I do not agree with all statements made. Some points are imperative regarding history of library and its essence. As librarians we must continue to provide services for all patrons even when that includes adopting new job descriptions. Ultimately the goal is to provide service, learning commons, and increase literacy. Literacy is an interdisciplinary word not confined to print materials only.  

The Best Animation Tools, from CrazyTalk and Toon Boom to Free Web Apps

Alan Phelps

IL

Stern, J. (2011, May). The Best Animation Tools, from CrazyTalk and Toon Boom to Free Web Apps. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2011/05/reviews/tech/the-best-animation-tools-from-crazytalk-and-toon-boom-to-free-web-apps/

Summary

This is a good informative review article discussing online animation tools and some of the ways they are being used in schools. The article talks about the importance of schools giving students a creative outlet and tools to express themselves but the bulk of the article is a review of the best pay and free online animation tools. CrazyTalk and ToonBoom were selected as the best pay tools and they recommend quite a few free online sites like AniBoom and CreaToon 3.0 as two of the best. They also review and recommend some non-animated comic strip creation tools that look fun and interesting.

Evaluation

I liked this article because it was non biased and informative. It gave good concise information on each tool or website and explained what they liked and disliked about each. I am particularly interested in this because next year I want to begin creating a maker space in the high school library at which I am the TL. Over the course of the next few years I want to use part of the library space for drawing, digital storytelling, animation, video making, and someday, maybe even 3-D printing. I will refer back to this article when I am ready to begin work on this space. While this article is from 2011 I think it is still relevant but I need to look into the recommended sites and tools to see if they are still at the top.