World Libraries and Emerging Mobile Technologies - Is my District ahead or behind Ethiopia?

It would be too easy to make a joke about our District's IT issues and if they could learn something from developing nations about the use technology in education, but frankly I've already done that in previous posts so doing it here would be repetitive.  Libraries in developing countries are supporting their patrons by travelling to them, relying on donations from other countries, or collaborating with people like Marlene Asselin who have a passion for teaching reading and an inclination for helping others.  Whatever resources are used in these environments are beneficial, but if so many of us in the world have mobile devices, why not use them in this way?  Obviously they would be better for gaining relevant information than an encyclopedia from the 70's that was culled from a Library here. 

I think we are in an age where libraries are expected to have more than just books, and although developing nations should still get weeded books from developed nations because there are access issues with internet and mobile technology, perhaps their focus should be more towards developing their ability to use mobile devices instead of mostly donated resources.  I think mobile devices help people access educational information in a way that is personal, meaningful, and timely.  They allow patrons to find things they didn't even know they were looking for from places they didn't even know they could find them.  That is certainly a different paradigm from when I grew up and looked in the one "World Book" my library had, in order to track down some facts about tigers for a Science project. 

This isn't always a positve though, and I cringe about what kids can see these days on YouTube or other sites on the internet that is intended for adults in terms of language, violence, or sex.  On a little side note, I had a spirited discussion with my class at the end of the day about the validity of being "famous" because of YouTube which I think is a joke and they think is legit.  No word of a lie; I saw a celebrity birthday online site that listed famous people who had bithdays on the same day.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shares a day with some guy with a large amount of followers for his YouTube Channel.  Yeah, they are both famous; one for civil rights/changing the world and the other for putting videos online of people getting hit in the groin with objects.  Totally the same and equally famous.  Anyone else see something wrong with that?!  But I digress.  They say information is power and I can see how true that is for citizens of a developing nation who may not have any idea what they are missing, but that access to the internet could provide.  One example I found was Vodafone, which aims to help kids in India learn using technology.  The Learn out of the box programme, being implemented by the Vodafone Foundation in India in partnership with Pratham Education Foundation, aims to improve the standard of education at 1,000 low income schools, targeting 50,000 underprivileged children in India over three years. The service uses innovative software and the mobile internet to train teachers and help them engage students with interactive learning materials and multi-media content. The service makes education more accessible to students whether they are using mobile phones, tablets or the Vodafone WebBox (a low-cost internet-enabled device that connects to a television). 

I have no problem with students using mobile devices, but my school is located in a low socio-economic area and some of our students can't afford them which is a problem.  My issue is more that kids haven't yet developed the self- discipline to use them appropriately.  Heck, there are some staff members in our school who need to update their Facebook status several times while at work.  I'm not confident a 10 year old would use their mobile device for anything educational, but rather only to play first person shooting games.  How much of my time am I supposed to spend policing these devices instead of collaborating with students about their learning?  Kids at the elementary level are impulsive and immature and lack the ability to moderate their screen time.  Do you know of an adolescent that uses their mobile device for the forces of good?  I mean something other than games, Snapchat or Instagram?  Honestly, I'm not sure I do and as much as I want our District to allow BYOD - ASAP, I'm worried about the implications of such a move in terms of all kids having equal access and the ability to use them properly for learning.

Photo #1 courtesy of: http://zaggblog.s3.amazonaws.com/community/blog/wpcontent/uploads/2011/04/cellphone1.jpg
Photo #2 courtesy of:
http://www.whiting.lib.in.us/images/2010_World_Book_largeview.jpg
Vodafone: http://www.vodafone.com/content/sustainabilityreport/2014/index/transformationalsolutions/education.html
Photo #3 courtesy of:
http://www.creativity.com.au/rapjumping/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/youtube-channel-logo.jpg
Photo #4 courtesy of:
http://s1.hubimg.com/u/4673320_f520.jpg

Module 7: Supporting ICT & Pedagogy - On-Going Pro-D

Ironically our topic this week is about Professional Development and we happen to have a Pro-D Day here in Vernon this Friday.  Unfortunately, it does not revolve around ICT, but pedagogy of another sort; the new BC Education Plan and updated curriculum changes for next year.  I suppose ICT will be a big part of it so they are related after all.  As our school's Librarian, I have some time at each staff meeting to share ideas or lessons and books I have been using with our students and to engage our staff with questions or ideas we can pursue to improve our student's experience at school.  That's one way to share with my colleagues what I am learning and doing to improve my practice.  Moreover, I am in the unique position of working with every teacher and every student in our school which should only encourage collaboration. 

That being said, some of our staff are more willing to collaborate than others who simply see their Library block as a "drive thru" where they drop off students for 30-40 minutes without caring a great deal about what I am doing with them in the Library.  So I need to continue building relationships with those teachers and go one step further by inviting them to stay to see what I am doing with their kids and involve them more in the process while communicating about where it fits into their curriculum.  I think if I can get some buy in from that perspective then I can lead them to incorporate the technology I am using in the Library into their classrooms.  That's another way to share my changing practice with a wider community.

Last year I had many teachers working with me in terms of what they wanted me to focus on in the Library to help their students improve academically, which in turn helps them in their own classes as well.  Unfortunately, we had a high turnover of staff with layoffs and I felt a bit of a hangover after the Strike in terms of teachers wanting to work with "ADMIN", so less of it has occurred this year.  So I've had a tougher time responding to the teaching needs of our staff, though I certainly work through many other issues with them and their students whom they send to me for discipline or when they are having a problem. 

I have found our staff to be a challenge in terms of Professional Development and their willingness to participate, even though we have staff professional book clubs, we more recently worked on finding Inquiry Questions whiach seemed to be more engaging.  I have supported our staff and their various questions with professional resources in our library and some favourite books I encountered while an administrator, or when I did my Masters, or even a few that friends recommended about parenting, or simply for a good laugh.  So that aspect of being the Librarian has been excellent.

 

I am also excited that our school will be hosting an upcoming parent night revolving around how we teach math and it will be a good chance for our staff to demonstrate their expertise and for our parents to "get on board" with vocabulary and strategies to help their child improve.  I also like how it connects the home to school as both play such an important role in a child's success, and for students to see how we can work together in a fun and non-threatening way I think will pay dividends for our entire school culture.  It really comes down to communication; with colleagues, with students and families, and about what everyone is doing in their classes that is successful as a way to stretch ourselves and our practice.  It is also about sharing what didn't work when we tried something new, so others might be able to guide us towards a way that will yield better results. 

 

I think the most important things I can do this year to support others is to open the lines of communication about our learnings in order to promote staff discussion about incorporating them into more classrooms.  It is also important share our successes and failures with colleagues in order to improve, and I need to continue personally inviting others, even the most reluctant staff members, to work collaboratively with me in the Library.

Photo #1 courtesy of: http://chriswejr.com/files/2012/01/BCs-Education-Plan-Graphic-r0a4xa.jpg
Photo #2 courtesty of: http://marysville.mykansaslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mean-librarian.jpg
Photo #3 courtesy of: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2695/4340974776_6333297941.jpg
Photo #4 courtesy of: http://www.redstaplerchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/principal%20skinner.jpg
Photo #5 courtesy of: http://www.worldpgl.com/userfiles/images/inquiry%20handle%20call%20center(1).jpg
Photo #6 courtesy of: http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu//overcomingadversity/files/2013/11/Failure-Success-1.jpg

 

Does ICT stand for I Can't Think (of one way that PC is better than MAC?!)

It is really tough to get psyched up about developing my own ICT Skills and Pedagogy when our District is going through a switch from Mac (read: awesome and user friendly) to PC (read: a complete disaster with constant problems) and I can't even upgrade things on my personal school laptop, let alone be a leader in my Library when my computers in there aren't even functional yet.  I'd have better luck teaching students how to use a card catalogue to find books!

That being said, this course has certainly opened my eyes and pedagogy to new ways of connecting with others and ways of developing my practice.  From the start, I thought Screenr seemed like a cool tool I could use to teach students about using programs so I created an account, but as of yet have not created a video.  I'm thinking I will make one for the project students will create using the program Scratch after Spring Break.  I'd like to see how using a video from Screenr to teach something compares to me doing it "in the moment" with my laptop and projector when I often have little post it notes about what to "remember" to tell the students. 

I have already invited the District IT teacher in to our Library to work with Intermediate students on projects using PhotoStory 3, which has been great and engaging for everyone, except when our network crashes and our laptops have issues that I cannot solve or help with after she leaves.  I have to admit I also enjoy reading other people's blogs and can see that as a way to sustain my learning and continue connecting with my LIBE 477 colleagues, especially the ones in my District with whom I have been grouped.  Once our technology "upgrade" gets completed and more stable I plan on having a Library Blog for our school attached to the Library page of our school website. 

Speaking of our school, I will continue to use the resources of our staff that are also involved in an inquiry project to help me during mine.  After watching this week's video, I would say I am more inclined to use Delicious rather than Diigo as I found the interface way more user friendly.  I should also utilize Twitter more as a way to connect with other educators, and while I have an account, I rarely tweet or do more than follow others in a superficial way.

Photo #1 courtesy of: http://mnkusi.com/images/ICT%20Pic.PNG
Photo #2 courtesy of: http://images.wisegeek.com/library-card-catalogs.jpg
Photo #3 courtesy of: http://digitallearningmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/screenr.png
Photo #4 courtesy of: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3130/2836828090_67d4900ab3_o.jpg
Photo #5 courtesy of: http://cdn.pamorama.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/the-perfect-length-of-a-tweet-is-70-110-characters.png

Inquiry Project Blog Post #1: Reading Culture (of Yes!)

Stole my title a bit from a fellow Richmondite, Chris Kennedy, and his awesome blog The Culture Of Yes, as my theme this week is about saying yes to all kinds of reading.  Like when kids come to me in the Library and ask, "Mr. Ward, does this Archie comic count for my book?" YES.  "Mr. Ward, can I take out this graphic novel?" YES. "Mr. Ward, Can I read my Twitter and Facebook Feeds for reading time?" Hmmmmmm, I suppose so, no wait; YES. 

There are lots of ways we promote reading in our school, from participating in Drop Everything And Read at whole school assemblies, to hosting a Scholastic Book Fair this week (it is a lot of work!), to participating in our District Battle of the Books Competition. These are initiatives I either organize from the Library, or collaborate with staff members to make happen for the kids in our school.  Perhaps most importantly, I spend time modeling reading with students each Library period.  I can't emphasize this point enough.  Genuine enthusiasm and daily reading with kids each and every time I work with them is vital to having a culture of reading in my opinion.

Not only do I help students choose books, expose them to a wide variety of books during read alouds, and give lots of opportunities to read throughout the day, but we also allow kids to use laptops to access RAZ Kids, and have instituted daily school wide "Lovin' Literacy" blocks.  Each class has a daily, 30 minute chunk of time with 5 staff members who divide the class into ability groupings and work with them teaching guided reading, literature circles, or genres and reading skills depending on the needs of the kids.  It has really transformed our kids and their confidence, attitudes, and abilities in reading.

For these reasons, I think we are doing a good job of promoting reading in our school.  We also host an After School Reading Program in partnership with the Junction Literacy Centre in town to help kids gain confidence and skills in reading while also having volunteers come into our school to read with primary students in our 1 to 1 reading program.  I even had the Strong Start teacher approach me at the start of the year so we could find a time during the week for her to bring her classes of 2-4 year olds to the Library so I could read to them and chat with parents about the benefits of reading with kids even at the youngest of ages.  I gave up a half hour of my Admin. time to make it work.  I look at it as an investment since many of the kids in the Strong Start Program will one day attend our school, so if they already love books and love the Library, we are setting ourselves up for success in the future. 

As a school we also formed book clubs with our staff around 4 books they were interested in, and have been working together to share our findings, wonders, and ideas at monthly staff meetings. One thing I would like to see more of in the Library are teachers who want to collaborate with me and their students instead of "dropping them off" for their prep.  I see our book club as a foot in the door to do so, and I will be suggesting to staff that we co-teach something we read about in the book and see if it has an impact on student achievement.  Perhaps I could tie this in as part of my inquiry into kindling student motivation as our course progresses.