Blog Post 4: Technology Leadership Role of School Librarians

The advancements of technology have impacted the education that children need to receive in school. Because the use of technology is everywhere around them and will be necessary once students hit the workforce, teachers and librarians need to teach students several important skills. According to the Standards for the 21^st Century Learner, “The degree to which students can read and understand text in all formats (e.g., picture, video, print) and all contexts is a key indicator of success in school and in life.” Students have to go beyond simply reading a book. Students must be taught to evaluate the information they find in all formats, effectively search for information and use it ethically. Teachers must prepare students to be independent thinkers who know what they need to search for and how to search it. The school librarian is one of the few individuals on campus who can focus solely on teaching students how to use technology for technology’s sake. Classroom teachers often shy away from adding technology to an assignment because a majority of the students do not know how to use it or there are not enough computers in the classroom. In addition to a limit in resources, McNeil (2000) states that “the accountability craze of the last decade has stripped teachers of their creativity and their expertise.” Another concern that school librarians have to counteract is the push for test preparation. Teachers are bombarded with state and local assessments that are tied to their own rating. Stepping outside of the required state standards in order to teach technology is not likely. The librarian can encourage the partnership between teaching reading standards as well as applying technology to everyday lessons. In the library, a librarian can take the time to show students how to navigate through a new software like Animoto or Google Slides. The library is usually equipped with enough computers for a regular class size. Olga Vasquez (2007) writes that “at no other time in history has it been more evident that there is a blaring disconnect between technology-based instruction in the classroom and what students are able to do with technology outside the classroom.” Students can use social media like Twitter or Facebook, but when asked to create presentations or research projects, they fall short. The school librarian and the classroom teacher must work together to help students apply what they already know through social media and adapt those skills to the academic world. It is not that students cannot learn or won’t learn, it’s that they have been pushed to acquire new skills in technology. This disconnect between technology in a social context and technology for academic purposes is what teachers and librarians must address.

References

McNeil, L.M. (2000). Contradictions of school reform: Educational costs of standardized testing. New York: Rutledge.

"Standards for the 21st-Century Learner", American Library Association, November 8, 2006. Retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/standards (Accessed April 19, 2015) Document ID: ec710ea2-99a2-27d4-b987-e042c9f4bf3f

Vásquez, O. A. (2007). Technology out of school: What schools can learn from community-based technology. Yearbook Of The National Society For The Study Of Education (Wiley-Blackwell), 106(2), 182-206. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7984.2007.00122.x