Literacy and Web Applications
By Mirah Dow
The units of study required for earning graduate credit, 2007 Summer Institute for School Librarians, School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University course (LI755A) are amazing. I have been reading each unit one-by-one as enrolled students send electronic files to me. Who says that school librarians only check out books? I beg to differ. If only school administrators and policy makers could see what I see this summer in completed units using the NTeQ Lesson Plan Template (Morrison & Lowther, 2002). They would know that fully licensed, professional teacher-librarains are essential to learning in today's schools.
It is clear that the time has come when it makes sense to contemplate the school library and the school, rather than the other way around: the school and the school’s library. After reading your units of study, it is clear that this fall when school begins, school librarians will be teaching literacy reading and writing in the context of content, research and technology. Information and technology literacy, independent learning, and social responsbility are key. Many school librarians have known this and acted on the reality that web applications are central to teaching and learning long before summer 2007.
I just read my new issue of Phi Delta Kappan (June, 2007). The issue is titled and devoted to “Making Tough Choices”. One article, “Technology: Web Applications and Google” (p. 727, 792), discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using software on the Web rather than on our computers. The article points out that the time has come to consider that computing is all about the network as the computer. Web applications are what it is all about.
“Will children in our schools have access to the Internet” becomes a new question when one considers the future of computing is all about the network as the computer. Until recently, we have wondered if all children and youth will have equal access to information. We worried less about whether or not they would have access to MS Office and fancy technology bells and whistles in various software programs. The time as come for us to know that before long, if you cannot get on the Internet, you cannot do your work. This reality points to even higher stakes when it comes to teaching information and technology literacy.
Do you get the picture? I think many school librarians do. For example, during 2007 Summer Institute, many of you brought your laptops and logged on to the Internet. While you were listening and learning, you were also using web applications and Google (and more). For example, one Institute participant showed me her own Google calendar of activities and how she uses it to involve all the teachers in her building in scheduling their use of the library and library resources. She said, “This is my life right here.”
I feel more compelled than ever to be involved in the next best technology application. If I can’t do it myself, how will I teach others? This has always been my mantra. However, for me, summer 2007 is the time that it can no longer be optional. The time may finally be here when it makes sense to consider using the Web for almost everything. What advantages and disadvantages must we anticipate?
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Rethink Literacy as Experience
By Mirah Dow
Guests who come to visit often say that they are surprised how many chalkboards we have in our house. (They expect to see more computers than chalkboards.) From most any location, it is easy to look around and count four or five antique chalkboards of various sizes and shapes. There are small chalkboards hanging on the wall or sitting on easels for writing: menus in French, Italian, Spanish and English; lists of items to pick up or tasks to complete; schedules; timely quotations; and individualized welcome signs.
One chalkboard in the centre hallway is an 80 pound slate from an old school building. The beautiful, new frame holding the slate was designed and constructed by my husband (who attended a one-room school 1-8th grade and later earned degrees in public administration, political science, and law). Here seasonal landscapes with loads of color and stylized details (even a few musical bars with notes and words from a song) communicate change and anticipation of upcoming events and activities. There are many contributors to the text and imagery on our chalkboards. We all compete for attention. Our guests’ reactions to our chalkboards leads me to reexamine why it is that I love chalkboards so much, and what, if anything, chalkboards have do with rethinking literacy. I think the scenario that follows will help to sort out these two important issues.
A few days ago, a second grader came by to visit. The hall chalkboard was blank. She picked up the chalk and began to communicate. She drew a picture she titled “Happy Birthday, Patrick”. The picture is a boy and cultural artifacts one might expect to see at a mid-western USA birthday celebration. There were packages of various shapes and sizes with a variety of ribbons; decorated birthday cakes; a table with dishes and serving pieces; various foods and decorations; and four different, identifiably accurate game boards. The boy comes to life with eleven different facial features and colorful clothing. At the bottom of the drawing, she wrote, “Illustrated by Jayte Johnson”.
I think this child captured the essences of why I like chalkboards so much. Her work helps me to rethink what is meant by “literacy”. There were chalkboards on the front and back walls of all my elementary classrooms. I never got enough of chalkboards. Unfortunately for me, we could only write when the teacher said to do so. Sometimes we had free time on the chalkboard if it was raining during recess. What was created then was quickly erased when the bell rang for classes to resume. Usually while class was in session, only the teacher wrote on the chalkboard except when students were asked to complete a math problem or spell a word. Teachers at that time (and maybe still do) highly valued workbooks as the ultimate learning tool for students to write on.
I think most typically developing kids are somewhat like me when it comes to using chalkboards and sharing information. We want and need a public means to visually express the learning that is inside our head. Likewise, we learn from others’ displays of visual information. Interestingly enough, the genius expressed by this second grader on my chalkboard has not for the most part grown out of information and technology instruction. She does not have access to the Internet except during very limited opportunities during the school day or year. She has not grown up with other children or adults who have and use computers and the Internet. I know that many children who are educated today are in this same situation. They use available tools and adapt and invent suitable criteria for their own situations.
With access to up-to-date software and the Internet, computers make it possible for today’s children and youth to have unlimited access to public, visual expressions of academic learning and brilliance. Computers made it possible to have and use many forms of media. It is up to teachers to facilitate a safe and productive digital learning process. How will we do it? Many teacher-librarians and classroom teachers in Kansas and beyond ARE doing it.
Elf-Daniel Ehlers writes a European blog called “Quality in E-Learning”. She attended the EDEN Conference in Naples last week where she presented an organizational management model for achieving “quality literacy”. Ehler’s model has four elements/competencies:
quality knowledge (which tools, instruments, strategies are available) ;
quality experiences (how to use available tools, instruments, strategies);
quality innovative ability (how to adapt existing strategies to my needs or how to invent suitable criteria for my situation); and
quality analysis (to be able to develop my own quality objectives and goals).
I know about Ehler’s model because I use the Internet to access information. I can write in more than one language, compose text in various formats including varied points of view, imagine text and images in more than one format, and utilize various media because I search and read the work of many people that is available on the Internet. I use mathematic equations and scientific details each day in my home (and on my chalkboards) and in my school work because I can find useful formulas and details on the Internet. I am aware of various cultural commitments, attitudes, dispositions and values. For example, I know about Ehler’s blog because I have trained (using RSS feed) Internet-based information to come to me when there is a new post using key words “rethinking” and “literacy”.
Even when I am enjoying chalkboards, I think of information as magnetic and without containers (such as chalkboards). But no matter how hard I try, what I write on the chalkboard is still flat and only available to those who physically pass by. To be successful in today’s information world, I need more than that. Why? Because as I write this blog article, I am thinking of myself as a participator in an information society. I must to survive and thieve in today’s global society.
Ehler’s elements of “quality literacy” could be very helpful as a concept to reflect on what, if anything, is missing in the instruction we provide to students in today’s schools. Are we making information move beyond the chalkboards and workbooks of our schools? How are we helping each student to experience quality in e-learning? Think about your expertise in all four quality literacy areas when it comes to teaching. Can you adapt this organizational model for education (with focus on students and schools)? What should we work on so to enable each student to become a participator in a worldwide information society?
Guests who come to visit often say that they are surprised how many chalkboards we have in our house. (They expect to see more computers than chalkboards.) From most any location, it is easy to look around and count four or five antique chalkboards of various sizes and shapes. There are small chalkboards hanging on the wall or sitting on easels for writing: menus in French, Italian, Spanish and English; lists of items to pick up or tasks to complete; schedules; timely quotations; and individualized welcome signs.
One chalkboard in the centre hallway is an 80 pound slate from an old school building. The beautiful, new frame holding the slate was designed and constructed by my husband (who attended a one-room school 1-8th grade and later earned degrees in public administration, political science, and law). Here seasonal landscapes with loads of color and stylized details (even a few musical bars with notes and words from a song) communicate change and anticipation of upcoming events and activities. There are many contributors to the text and imagery on our chalkboards. We all compete for attention. Our guests’ reactions to our chalkboards leads me to reexamine why it is that I love chalkboards so much, and what, if anything, chalkboards have do with rethinking literacy. I think the scenario that follows will help to sort out these two important issues.
A few days ago, a second grader came by to visit. The hall chalkboard was blank. She picked up the chalk and began to communicate. She drew a picture she titled “Happy Birthday, Patrick”. The picture is a boy and cultural artifacts one might expect to see at a mid-western USA birthday celebration. There were packages of various shapes and sizes with a variety of ribbons; decorated birthday cakes; a table with dishes and serving pieces; various foods and decorations; and four different, identifiably accurate game boards. The boy comes to life with eleven different facial features and colorful clothing. At the bottom of the drawing, she wrote, “Illustrated by Jayte Johnson”.
I think this child captured the essences of why I like chalkboards so much. Her work helps me to rethink what is meant by “literacy”. There were chalkboards on the front and back walls of all my elementary classrooms. I never got enough of chalkboards. Unfortunately for me, we could only write when the teacher said to do so. Sometimes we had free time on the chalkboard if it was raining during recess. What was created then was quickly erased when the bell rang for classes to resume. Usually while class was in session, only the teacher wrote on the chalkboard except when students were asked to complete a math problem or spell a word. Teachers at that time (and maybe still do) highly valued workbooks as the ultimate learning tool for students to write on.
I think most typically developing kids are somewhat like me when it comes to using chalkboards and sharing information. We want and need a public means to visually express the learning that is inside our head. Likewise, we learn from others’ displays of visual information. Interestingly enough, the genius expressed by this second grader on my chalkboard has not for the most part grown out of information and technology instruction. She does not have access to the Internet except during very limited opportunities during the school day or year. She has not grown up with other children or adults who have and use computers and the Internet. I know that many children who are educated today are in this same situation. They use available tools and adapt and invent suitable criteria for their own situations.
With access to up-to-date software and the Internet, computers make it possible for today’s children and youth to have unlimited access to public, visual expressions of academic learning and brilliance. Computers made it possible to have and use many forms of media. It is up to teachers to facilitate a safe and productive digital learning process. How will we do it? Many teacher-librarians and classroom teachers in Kansas and beyond ARE doing it.
Elf-Daniel Ehlers writes a European blog called “Quality in E-Learning”. She attended the EDEN Conference in Naples last week where she presented an organizational management model for achieving “quality literacy”. Ehler’s model has four elements/competencies:
quality knowledge (which tools, instruments, strategies are available) ;
quality experiences (how to use available tools, instruments, strategies);
quality innovative ability (how to adapt existing strategies to my needs or how to invent suitable criteria for my situation); and
quality analysis (to be able to develop my own quality objectives and goals).
I know about Ehler’s model because I use the Internet to access information. I can write in more than one language, compose text in various formats including varied points of view, imagine text and images in more than one format, and utilize various media because I search and read the work of many people that is available on the Internet. I use mathematic equations and scientific details each day in my home (and on my chalkboards) and in my school work because I can find useful formulas and details on the Internet. I am aware of various cultural commitments, attitudes, dispositions and values. For example, I know about Ehler’s blog because I have trained (using RSS feed) Internet-based information to come to me when there is a new post using key words “rethinking” and “literacy”.
Even when I am enjoying chalkboards, I think of information as magnetic and without containers (such as chalkboards). But no matter how hard I try, what I write on the chalkboard is still flat and only available to those who physically pass by. To be successful in today’s information world, I need more than that. Why? Because as I write this blog article, I am thinking of myself as a participator in an information society. I must to survive and thieve in today’s global society.
Ehler’s elements of “quality literacy” could be very helpful as a concept to reflect on what, if anything, is missing in the instruction we provide to students in today’s schools. Are we making information move beyond the chalkboards and workbooks of our schools? How are we helping each student to experience quality in e-learning? Think about your expertise in all four quality literacy areas when it comes to teaching. Can you adapt this organizational model for education (with focus on students and schools)? What should we work on so to enable each student to become a participator in a worldwide information society?
Friday, June 15, 2007
Rethink Literacy
Rethink Literacy
This week at the 2007 Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians held at Emporia State University, Emporia, KS, 143 teacher-librarians from Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma heard David Warlick speak about the changing nature of information.
David Warlick challenged us to rethink what is meant by literacy. He said that Web 1.0 made information networked, digital, and over-whelming. Web 2.0 adds more challenges as information becomes increasingly more digital. Information is now participatory, trainable, magnetic, and without containers. Web 1.0 presumed respect for authority. Web 2.0 respects the reader.
Specific to literacy, David Warlick said that the Web 2.0 information environment requires us to be able to distinguish information, to make decisions on what information to use and what to ignore. From the stand point of the communicator, it means that the communicator must produce messages that will compete for attention. It is no longer enough to simply be able to write a coherent paragraph. We must be able to express ourselves compellingly, so that our information will compete for the attention of our audiences. He said more than ever before, reading leads to exposure; mathematics to employment; and writing to expression. More than ever before, ethics matter. Today's kids are growing up in this Web 2.0 information environment.
David wrote this week on his 2 Cents Worth Blog that kids need to learn in new ways because technology is not enough. He challenged readers to talk about dramatic changes. What does change look like? How do we find change? What can we do with change? How do we communicate change? If we talk about dramatic change, we might make a case for “basic skills” that more closely reflect today’s information landscape.
So, I say, let’s do it. Let’s talk about dramatic changes. Start by responding to these questions:
In what ways does the concept of library change in your students’ digital context?
What basic skills are needed in the digital context?
What roles can teacher-librarians play in helping student to become literate adults?
Mirah
This week at the 2007 Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians held at Emporia State University, Emporia, KS, 143 teacher-librarians from Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma heard David Warlick speak about the changing nature of information.
David Warlick challenged us to rethink what is meant by literacy. He said that Web 1.0 made information networked, digital, and over-whelming. Web 2.0 adds more challenges as information becomes increasingly more digital. Information is now participatory, trainable, magnetic, and without containers. Web 1.0 presumed respect for authority. Web 2.0 respects the reader.
Specific to literacy, David Warlick said that the Web 2.0 information environment requires us to be able to distinguish information, to make decisions on what information to use and what to ignore. From the stand point of the communicator, it means that the communicator must produce messages that will compete for attention. It is no longer enough to simply be able to write a coherent paragraph. We must be able to express ourselves compellingly, so that our information will compete for the attention of our audiences. He said more than ever before, reading leads to exposure; mathematics to employment; and writing to expression. More than ever before, ethics matter. Today's kids are growing up in this Web 2.0 information environment.
David wrote this week on his 2 Cents Worth Blog that kids need to learn in new ways because technology is not enough. He challenged readers to talk about dramatic changes. What does change look like? How do we find change? What can we do with change? How do we communicate change? If we talk about dramatic change, we might make a case for “basic skills” that more closely reflect today’s information landscape.
So, I say, let’s do it. Let’s talk about dramatic changes. Start by responding to these questions:
In what ways does the concept of library change in your students’ digital context?
What basic skills are needed in the digital context?
What roles can teacher-librarians play in helping student to become literate adults?
Mirah
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
welcome to the 2007 Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians
The 2007 institute theme is "Digital Literacy: The School Library Media Program and Learning in an Information Rich World http://slim.emporia.edu/programs/summerinst.htm.
This event will be held on June 13-14, 2007 at The Jones Conference Center for Educational Excellence at Emporia State University, Emporia, KS USA http://www.emporia.edu/.
This institute is comprised of two parts: best practices in school library media programming (day one); and new ideas for promoting literacy reading and writing (day two, The Mike Printz Writers Workshop).
I invite you to use this blog to share
1) new ideas about how to provide practical and effective ways to go beyond finding information on the Internet to using information in effective ways in instructional programming;
2) new ideas for promoting literacy reading and writing; and
3) highlights of the institute.
Mirah Dow PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Management
Emporia State University
Institute Coordinator
This event will be held on June 13-14, 2007 at The Jones Conference Center for Educational Excellence at Emporia State University, Emporia, KS USA http://www.emporia.edu/.
This institute is comprised of two parts: best practices in school library media programming (day one); and new ideas for promoting literacy reading and writing (day two, The Mike Printz Writers Workshop).
I invite you to use this blog to share
1) new ideas about how to provide practical and effective ways to go beyond finding information on the Internet to using information in effective ways in instructional programming;
2) new ideas for promoting literacy reading and writing; and
3) highlights of the institute.
Mirah Dow PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Management
Emporia State University
Institute Coordinator
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