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The School Library as Learning Commons is a paradigm shift that is happening around the world. "We can get hung-up on the money when it comes to learning commons spaces. But it is first about mindsets - we need to embrace new ways of learning and find ways for our space to reflect these changes and be the gathering places for our all our learners.  The thinking around the learning commons is symbolizing the shifts we are seeing with learning throughout our schools."

A reflection about one school library faculty's goal of creating a positive learning environment with space that would help students and teachers develop real-world connections and the approach they took to creating it. The ideas for the space included housing the collection, helping students and teachers collaborate, being a hub for learning with a flexible floor plan and supporting newly developing areas in educational technology. The school decided to create a learning commons to move beyond traditional thinking about libraries and respond to what the kids and teachers really needed. The faculty envisioned their environment to be developmentally appropriate for their young students, as well as to foster a sense of creativity, inspiration, and encourage dialogue and a sense of community. The new learning commons library offered more space for stacks, added conference rooms and a lounge area, but the learning commons concept informed more than the library. These design changes increase opportunities to be inspired by student work and performances and create stronger interpersonal connections among students and faculty.

"Common Craft recently produced a new video on that topic. Through Bias Detection Explained by Common Craft students can learn about common signs of bias in media, problems that occur when bias is ignored, and why bias is common in communication. GIFs from the video can be seen here. The video itself is embedded below."

"Often called the 'library of the future' in learning and educational circles, Wallaceburg's A.A. Wright public school has transformed their library space into a learning commons."

Options for teachers to make virtual learning or distance learning work for all your students. CommonSenseEd has put together a list to assist teachers (The best tools for virtual and distance learning tools to build great learning). Tools to build great learning experiences for remote students. They have grouped the tools according to some key needs teachers may have when setting up virtual classrooms.

"  Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, 2014 offers a vision and provides practical approaches for all those engaged in creating successful 21st century school libraries in Canada. Its framework presents five standards supported by a set of themes and growth stages that lead to the transformation from traditional library facility to vibrant library learning commons. The standards represent guideposts along a journey of continuous growth. Because Canadian schools are at different points on this journey, this publication includes a range of markers of progress, sets of implementation strategies, and rich examples of innovation and success. Leading Learning also contains key resources to provide educators, individual schools, and school districts with helpful direction and support."

"Searching and citing usable images is easy once students learn the basics Teaching students to respect the intellectual property of others is important in this digital "cut and paste" world we live in. One great project to share with students that can better help them understand how and when they may use images created by others is the Creative Commons project. Creative Commons is designed to span the gap between full copyright and the public domain. The Creative Commons project provides content creators the opportunity to state ahead of time how their images may (or may not) be used."

Google site set up to share: Celebrating the Transformation of School Libraries and Computer Labs into a Learning Commons. April, 2015 ~ May 2016. Celebrate, initiate, advocate and create opportunities all year. April, 2015 ~ May 2016 Celebrate, initiate, advocate and create opportunities all year."

"An interesting sketchnote about how to introduce maker stations to the Learning Commons. Of course it's not the only way but this is how we are attempting to change the culture in our school and to foster entrepreneurial spirit in our students. We would love feed back or comments on how others are doing it!"

"These CC 4.0 licenses are the result of of two years of work to overcome some of the weaknesses that marked the 2011 version CC licenses. Some of the features and improvements included in 4.0 licences which make them easily shared and re-used include improved readability and organization and common-sense attribution."

"PBS LearningMedia now offers more than 100,000 digital resources, including common core-aligned videos, interactive learning games, and tools for teachers. The site is a partnership between PBS and WGBH Educational Foundation and includes tools to help teachers make storyboards, build lessons, and create quizzes using PBS's digital content. There's also a student view, which teachers can set up so that students can access class materials from their own devices. Many resources are also labeled with standards information so that teachers can determine how a potential lesson might line up with the common core. Though some parts of the site are available only to paid users, the majority are free."

"No two school makerspaces should ever be exactly alike, because no two school communities are ever exactly alike. What do the best ones have in common? This post tries to identify the main features "

Presentation by SLAV member Camilla Elliott

The library now also has reading lounge areas with comfortable modular seating, as well as tables with chairs and stools that students are free to move around; two music studios; a HackerSpace (with high-tech equipment such as a microscope, 3D printer, gaming hardware and software, and a green screen for filming) and a Maker Space that also houses a 3D printer and serves as a "hands-on" craft room where old technology can be disassembled and re-configured with other materials. In short, the Monticello Library Media Center has become a "Learning Commons."

"This website chronicles the transformation of the NCSSM library into a Learning Commons, 2012-2014, and is a session presentation at the  North Carolina School Library Media Association's (NCSLMA) annual conference, October 10-11, 2014 "

"The culture of any library should not only encourage meaningful student learning, but also provide the tools, resources, and opportunities for students to thrive and flourish. The impact of these types of transformations on libraries can support all learners and encourage them to contribute to building a more dynamic and creative community."

Good Infographic on creating Book Trailers and the Common Core. Easily applied to Aust standards.