Group items tagged

"After reading a novel, actual changes linger in the brain, at least for a few days, report researchers. Their findings, that reading a novel may cause changes in resting-state connectivity of the brain that persist, appear in the journal Brain Connectivity."

Richard Byrne exlainshow teachers can make the best use of the 2016 version of Padlet. "Padlet introduced a revamped version of their online corkboard tool. The core functions of Padlet are still the same, but the user interface has changed a little bit. The primary changes are in the way that you customize your Padlet boards. In the video that is embedded in the posthe provides an overview of this version of Padlet"

"Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet Project, runs through the seven questions libraries need to address as they consider future services and their role for their patrons and communities. He describes how project research about the changing role of technology in people's lives affects the kinds of issues librarians need to address as they experience the disruptions of technology change.

"MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses.  Although there has been access to free online courses on the Internet for years, the quality and quantity of courses has changed. Access to free courses has allowed students to obtain a level of education that many only could dream of in the past.  This has changed the face of education."

Digital literacy looks beyond functional IT skills to describe a richer set of digital behaviours, practices and identities. What it means to be digitally literate changes over time and across contexts, so digital literacies are essentially a set of academic and professional situated practices supported by diverse and changing technologies. 

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.

"Tool discovery is often a challenge for teachers interested in finding ways to use technology that will change the way they and their students work. With so much going on in the classroom, many teachers don't have the time to test out various apps and find the perfect tool to meet their needs. Luckily, several tech-savvy librarians have been curating the apps their colleagues find useful and sharing the all-stars with one another through personal learning communities (PLC) and edWeb webinars."

"It is essential that all of our students have a wide range of skills that develop the ability to function within a rapidly changing society - skills different from the 20th century. The essential 21st Century Fluencies are not about hardware. They are about critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, innovation, and so much more. These aren't just for the students, though. The 21st Century Fluencies are process skills that we all need, and there is as much benefit in cultivating them within yourself as within your classroom."

"Explores the changing roles, joys and demands of running a school library program at the elementary, middle and high school levels in the Cranston Public Schools."

"Pre-teen gifted readers often run into a problem around the age of ten: as younger children they read everything in children's literature that they could get their hands on. By the time they reach ten years old, they're starting to run into roadblocks when looking for appropriate books. Some ten-year-olds are ready to go on to Young Adult fiction, but most aren't. Young Adult, with its focus on teens' changing bodies and questioning of their place in the world, is often inappropriate and sometimes very upsetting for "tweens" who have outgrown children's books but are looking for meaty reading to satisfy their literary cravings."

Good article about Makerspaces (& STEM /STEAM) and schools. The discussion puts perspective into the equation. The authors talk about three values of student learning and empowerment: agency, authenticity, and audience and these are used as a basis for decisions about what happens in classrooms. I like the last few sentences. "Defining making in education in terms of tools, spaces, or disciplines is insufficient. Learning through making is a philosophical approach that can affect classes across the curriculum and schools across the globe. It's time to change the paradigm."

"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!"

"The school library has changed the main focus from providing books providing a place for students to practice skills like creative thinking and collaboration."

"Using tech tools that students are familiar with and already enjoy using is attractive to educators, but getting students focused on the project at hand might be more difficult because of it" Interesting discussion and results of some research about the value of /success with multitasking. Steps you can take to aid focus also looked at.

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."

"Our students are living their lives online. They can share everything and anything with the world with just a tap of a button and with it comes a new way to connect. It's nearly impossible to keep up. With technology changing constantly it can be difficult to know where to begin teaching digital citizenship. Fortunately for us, there are many apps, tools, and resources available to educators to help our students navigate the digital world safely. In a recent #Ditchbook chat, educators shared over 15 incredible resources to get you started teaching digital citizenship and take it farther than just a one-off lesson or unit."

Article that discusses how libraries continue to change from the traditional stereotype

A public library perspective but an interesting discussion on libraries generally which should be heeded by all in the industry