Not So Distant Future

technology, libraries, and schools

Not So Distant Future

Adding to the e-book offerings: Follett Shelf

May 12, 2012 · 4 Comments · Web 2.0

Our campus began using Overdrive this winter as a solution for delivery of check-outable items to our library.  In January, Follett rolled out an app for their Follett Shelf product that they’ve had for a couple of years, with promises that it would now integrate with Destiny’s online catalog porduct.  Since Overdrive sometimes carries only audio versions of particular e-books and not as many K-12 titles, I was interested in exploring what Shelf has to offer.  We already had some e-books from Follett but we were primarily using them via the catalog since I didn’t like that Follett Shelf was a standalone unit that didn’t integrate with Destiny.

Follett finally started working on joining the two products, but it has been a bumpy ride from my experience as a consumer.  Having seen a demo of the app at TCEA, I was pleased with the fact that we would have another option for delivery of K-12 ebooks and audiobooks (their Catalyst app) and purchased more e-books.

However, the process of implementing our Follett Shelves districtwide has been a very frustrating experience. ( A caveat before I go any further is that after I wrote a long letter detailing my complaints, they had a conference call with me to discuss solutions and  assigned an experienced tech specifically to us  and that has smoothed the transition hugely.  I also appreciate management’s openness about the difficulty of this transition and their openness and  willingness to discuss options for improvement with me and to ask for recommendations.)

All that being said, if you are beginning to transition to or considering purchasing Follett Shelf, be prepared for a few difficulties.  One of the problems we have had is from technical support that is  inexperienced with the Follett Shelf and Destiny as well.   Some assitance we received would have wiped out all our Fiction call numbers had we proceeded with it.   Also, the chain of command appears to be very unclear even to their staff.Sometimes when I called about the Shelf I would be sent to Tech Support, and sometimes to Customer Service with no apparent rhyme or reason.  I was given incorrect information a number of times because until their latest upgrade 3 weeks ago, apparently there was a lot of inhouse confusion as well.

Some recent changes should make it easier.  Through a new upgrade to Destiny, Follett has made the products integrate more automatically.  At that point, Follett decided to automatically set up shelves for all users with e-books, so this will expedite the process (as before you had to ask them to set one up for you).   But when ours were set up, we weren’t notified, didn’t receive any welcoming emails or instructions for setting up patrons or circulation periods, etc., nor did we receive our logins or passwords.  I only discovered upon calling our sales rep that they had already been set up.    Communication during this rollout has been completely lacking.

In terms of setting up the Shelf product, there are a number of steps to link the catalogs up, and set up access levels for the Shelf so that patrons feed over from Destiny.   Again, I didn’t receive instructions on this process, but thankfully the rep assigned to us walked me through the entire process.

Those were all items of feedback I have given Follett directly, but if you are considering pursuing e-books via the Shelf, be persistent in getting your questions answered and don’t hesitate to complain if you are having problems with service.

Now to the actual product.  The way Follett Shelf functions is that once it is set up, you can share your patrons between Destiny and Follett Shelf, but you have to have set up patron accounts within Follett Destiny originally to do that.   Follett can automate that process if you have not set up your patrons and can pull data from your Student Management system if needed.  Students and teachers will need these accounts in order to check out and download books online or on the app.

From thsi point forward, once you purchase e-books they will appear directly in Follett Shelf, NOT in your Destiny Marc records.  My understanding is that they will “feed backwards” from Follett Shelf into Destiny.  The Marc records included are minimal however and there isn’t a way to edit Marc records within the shelf, other than adding subject headings.  This is a disappointing decision–it would have been much better to have the books continue to go into Destiny as one option with a complete Marc record for better searching.   I’m troubled about how this is going to work in terms of effectively locating materials, although we plan to use the Shelf mostly for fiction titles.

When you login to the Shelf, it looks like similar e-book products, though not quite as polished as sites like Amazon or even Overdrive’s user interface.  The covers on free public domain titles are unattractive and need work.

As far as the functionality of the books, their e-reader via the App or website works similarly to how it did before.  There is a menu at the top and you turn the pages by clicking on an arrow on the top menu or on the app, by swiping.  You can search for a particular page and enlarge text, display pages one or two at a time, etc.   Each page loads pretty slowly, though, which is a disadvantage particularly when reading fiction.   You can click through chapters of the book to find a particular one, as I did with Sheryl Nussbaum’s new book.   But it is not the kind of interface iPad users would be accustomed to instead of smooth page turning.

One plus of Follett Shelf is that they do offer books that are not available via Overdrive and that you are only paying for the books you buy.  And of course they offer more K-12 sorts of titles.   Also some titles have multiple simultaneous access which for units, particularly in elementary, can be very helpful.   You also own the books in perpetuity which is a good thing.  They offer audiobook titles as well, and the prices seem more appropriate for the print titles than some of Overdrive’s.

So far, I find Follett Shelf a mixed bag of nuts.  Like many e-book products out there for libraries, for the moment I’m going to have to live with it if I think our students will be using it.   But it is extremely important that as customers, we give e-book companies constant feedback and become advocates for the improvements needed for our students and readers.   We need to push vendors to provide the best designs and materials possible at prices that are affordable for schools.  We need to speak to them about recognizing some special needs of schools, like the fact that for class sets, we often need 100 copies of a novel for 3 weeks, and it’s not really feasible to purchase those for one time uses like that if the e-book pricing isn’t affordable.   As more schools move to 1:1, BYOT policies, or tablet roll-outs, solving these problems is going to be vital to our libraries so our role in this process is very important.

At least to Follett’s credit they were eager to hear more feedback after I initially wrote them.  If you are a user of Follett Shelf or decide to implement it and have problems, their email feedback address  is follettshelf.feedback@flr.follett.com.   It was unfortunate that they rolled out the app before details with the Shelf weren’t completely resolved from a programming end, and before their documentation was distributed.  As a company, they tend to be very responsive to customers so librarian feedback will continue to be important in improving this product.

 

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Time to broaden our strategy?

April 15, 2012 · 6 Comments · Web 2.0

You’ve gathered the statistics, you’ve had an active library program, you’ve served teachers and students consistently well, your usage has increased, and you’ve publicized what you do, through sharing, videos, newsletters, visibility at meetings and more.  You’ve shared research on the impact of libraries on achievement scores, the importance of staffing, and studies galore.

Yet your library staff or program still gets cut, your budget gets cut, librarian positions are reduced.  Frustratingly, this scenario has been playing out around Texas (and around the country).   It’s dismaying, it’s disheartening, and discouraging.  We wonder what we could have done better, how much more we could have shared, and how to make an impact.

I’ve been thinking that perhaps we need to reframe the issue, because to an extent, it’s not just about us, it’s about them.

I don’t mean to set up librarians against administrators or other decision makers because I think we are all contributors to learning in our district.  But for some reason, some decision makers  just “aren’t wired” into libraries.   I don’t think that is an unchangeable situation, in fact, I know it is not.  But if it is about “them”(per se), and not so much about us, what do we do that can have an impact?

First off, it is very important to continue our efforts to share what we do, gather data, document, inform at every opportunity.  Document what cuts mean to your students.  Document the positive learning experiences they are having, and results in any way or format you can.  Maybe administrators prefer video to written reports or images instead of text (they oversee many different programs so appeal to their style of receiving information).   I do believe the tide can change–it just takes time and sometimes we aren’t heard until after cuts happen and the resulting problems become obvious, so it’s important to keep up the efforts to communicate EVEN after cuts happen or library staff is removed.

But if it is also about “them,” then what else can we do?  What would help us create a sea-change in our district, I am wondering?

–Change is strategic.   We need to map a plan and we need to understand the process of change.   We need to read books on change and transitions so we understand it better, like Managing Transitions:  Making the Best of Change (Bridges), Made to Stick(Heath Brothers), Enchantment (Kawasaki)and many more (such as these titles).

–Consider establishing a library and information technology Visioning institute in your district.  Gather together a team of pertinent players–teachers, librarians, instructional technologists, parent representatives, students, and chart a vision for your districts’ libraries.   Again, EVEN if your libraries have been cut, do this anyway.  Even if you have been put back in the classroom, ask if you can do this ANYWAY.   Show your skills as an instructional leader and help your district chart their way back to the inclusion of a vital and growing library and information literacy program in their school.

–If you can’t or don’t have the authority to have a visioning institute within your district, consider banding together and asking the local Regional education service center, your state library association,  or some other entity like your state association of school principals or some other entity to put one on.     Imagine a regional “Charting the future of our school libraries” summit that you could invite your administrators to–how powerful could that be?  Plant the seed of this idea by suggesting it to organizations around you; we can certainly offer to help guide this as well.

–Ask some administrators you know personally through your PLNs  in other districts how administrators  “hear” their staff best.  What works for them in their districts?  What are they hearing on the grapevine about libraries that might be influencing them?  What are their belief systems?   What dilemmas are they facing budgetwise?   Suspend frustration and get curious and see how other professionals can inform you about the lack of support in your own district.  Don’t complain to them– just inquire how they work so that you understand the administrative perspective better.

–It often seems that administrators/school board members are more likely to “get it” from outside than from within.  (True of many of us–the “never a prophet in our own homeland” phenomenon).   One of my former administrators attended an event the Texas Library Association provides for administrators, “Strong Libraries, Strong Schools,” and came back a much stronger supporter after hearing Keith Curry Lance and others discussing research studies and academic achievement in schools.  Hearing it from someone outside the staff made a difference.  Can you find ways to help factiliate that for your administrators in your district.  What we do is vitally important to our students so how can you play a part in bringing in resources from outside, or connecting your administrators with speakers or resources that might be influential and informative?

–That being said, help other administrators along too–submit sessions to your state principal association conference, school board conference, or write for their journals or website.  Do your part to raise the profile of libraries in venues where administrators seek guidance.  Step out of the library silo–even if you don’t reach your own administration, you might help save another library program.

–Don’t neglect the importance of engaging with the school board (ahead of a crisis). Especially in smaller school districts, this can have an impact.  If you aren’t asked to present, then ask how to get on the agenda.  Again, do this in a non-crisis time.   Present not only what you are doing, but paint for them a vision of the future, one that they can relate to with their own children, one that they can also get excited about your role in.  This is also helpful because they see you not just when you are fighting for jobs, but can see you as significant partners in an exciting, forward thinking educational environment.  Painting a picture of the future of libraries can help them understand far beyond the crisis of a particular budget-cutting season.  Another benefit of doing visioning at school board meetings is that many decision makers are at those meetings–business officials, principals, teachers, parents.  So it provides a venue to get a lot of community members interested in and excited about your vision of the future.   Everyone wants to have things to believe in, and most of us involved in schools want to feel good about the future of our districts in terms of the students we teach.   And EVEN IF your libraries have been cut, ask to go to the board and paint this “long term” vision of “where you COULD go.”   Give them a roadmap for when the budget cuts lessen.  Guy Kawasaki writes in his book Enchantment (a must read) about ways to enchant others with your vision;  the power of getting buy in to a vision of powerful library programs can be compelling.

–Engage your technology department (if that is a possibility in your district) as a partner.  Often their positions/work is devalued also, so they can understand your position.  And they also are leaders in your school and can partner in your efforts.

–Be a change agent yourself.  It can be so discouraging to do what you think is effective and then have your staff or program cut anyway.   Believe that you do have the power to regroup.   Be a believer.   Your efforts may impact surrounding school districts as well, so it’s not just about your students, but about our students in general.

–Always think of this as a marathon, not just a race–it takes effort over time.

I’d love to hear more ideas you have for working to impact administrative decisions in our districts and to help preserve the services our students need and deserve.  Of course we can’t carry all of these–this post is meant as a brainstorming space for ideas.   But we can do some strategic thinking about how to address the situation.  When we know that school libraries have significant positive impacts on learning, on achievement scores, on reading scores–it is unconscionable to not provide those services to our students.   We have to continue to think as strategic planners to help preserve,  grow, and evolve the services we provide our students.

 

 

 

 

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Upcoming “iPadpalooza”

April 6, 2012 · 4 Comments · Web 2.0

On June 19, our district will be hosting its first iPadpalooza in Austin, Texas.  Cosponsored by TCEA, iPadpalooza will be a learning event for all things iPad.    Student presenters will talk about our own experience with 1:1 iPads, as well as educator led sessions on helpful apps, lessons incorporating the iPad in classrooms, use of iPads in libraries, and the nuts and bolts of iPad use. We want to hear your stories as well, particularly focusing on collaboration, creation and creativity.

The call for presentations is up at http://www.ipadpalooza.com and registration is open (and is inexpensive).  If you’re traveling here, there is information on the website about the conference hotel and other details.

We plan the conference to be a confluence of play, creativity and learning, as we all begin engaging with the possibilities of mobile devices in our learning environments.   Please join us either as a presenter or a participant!

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CIL session–Integrating Tablets/Apps into the Public Library

March 22, 2012 · 1 Comment · Web 2.0

Vickie Oatis- Norwalk Public Library
Keira Parrott – Darien Library
Earl Givens and Art Gutierrez -Emporia State Univ.

NAEYP Standards support the engagement of young students using online devices.

Darien Public Library started with iPad station as an entry point–mounted iPad with a MacLocks mount, and load an “app of the day.”
Caveat–If you mount an iPad, think about if apps run in Landscape or Portrait mode.(swivel mount would be good for flexibility)

Moved to Early Literacy iPad Kit.–Patrons can check out  Ipad with cover, bag, brochure and survey.  Loaded with early childhood apps, and part of program is to discuss with parents how to use apps that are developmental tools.  Their brochure has info on early literacy, how tablets support it, a list of the apps that are pre-loaded, and then a guide for parents on finding and selecting apps.   Shows that librarians are involved with internet/technical literacy as well.

Tech Programs they offer for kids:

Little Clickers (2 to 5 yr)
Techsplorers (6-8 yrs)
iKids (9-12)

They participate in a program called Storytubes where students film book trailers and they are using iPads for that.

Norwalk Public Library — different community profile than Darien.  Check out iPads “in house” for one hour at a time, pre-loaded with apps.  They also use the iPads in Storytimes with small groups to incorporate apps, videos, music, book apps into Storytimes.   Vickie likes Kirkus reviews of book apps.

Using books that are more interactive is helpful with storytime for younger students like Sandra Boynton books, Bartleby’s book of buttons(game and book integrated together-interesting), Nash Smasher, Cookie Doodle (process for making cookies).  Fantastic Flying Books app, etc.

She also has children write reviews of book apps and posts them or shares them.  (Nice way to bring in evaluative piece for elementary age students and even high school).

Emporia Univ. Library–  Used Androids but discovered they didn’t fit their needs, but because they are open source they customized it for their own needs to save money. They offer a course in Information Literacy and Technology.   (Rooted them with Cyanogen-Mod 7.2 and use MIUI). Students from rural areas–using tablets to increase their access to technology.

 

 

 

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iPads in Libraries — CIL Presentation

March 22, 2012 · 1 Comment · Web 2.0

My presentation on iPads in Libraries (including video of various libraries using iPads) can be found here. Austin is a food truck city, and it seemed analogous to me to the idea of libraries becoming mobile.

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Beyond standard search tips

March 21, 2012 · No Comments · Web 2.0

I’m at Computers in Libraries (D.C.) and liveblogging my notes from Gary Price’s session on search sites and beta sites.

His materials can be found at http://j.mp/CILGaryPrice and he is @infodocket on twitter.

He asks some important questions–

This should be our (libraries) shining moment.  Why isn’t it? and how can we change that?

He encourages us to talk to everyone we meet in different contexts about what we do–it elevates our library and our profession, he says.

Sites of interest:

  • reminder to use the siderail of Google search.  Scroll way to the bottom–can search Verbatim, set date limits, can even search by reading level.
  • Microsoft Academic Search (like Google Scholar)– close to 40 million academic publications; currently still enhancing.   http://academic.research.microsoft.com;   you can look up an academic profile , visualize their publishing, connect to their publications
  • City Maps –available for NYC, SF, AUstin; soon for Chicago and Boston;   street by street level map of every store in the city mixed in with social media   http://www.citymaps.com  They also just released an app.
  • Net Galley  (Librarians can apply to get copy of galley copies of books as e-books).  http://netgalley.com  Request copy and if you are approved, you receive the galley.
  • Ifft– create automatic emails or reminders anytime something happens.  Anytime you favorite tweet, send a link somewhere like Everynote.  Combine different tools.  (Will Richardson is a fan of this)
  • twdocs–  Can select  your latest tweets, favorite tweets, a twitter search resultsand have them delivered to yourself in many different formats like .pdf, spreadsheets, doc, etc.    http://www.twdocs.com
  • SMall Demons — taking an word and looking for it in books that mention it.  Like search Elvis and shows you books that he is mentioned in.  cool book discovery tool
  • National Gallery of Art– http://images.nga.gov  all open for use.
  • TinEye — upload your image or paste in a url of an image online– you can find who else might be using an image online.  (So if someone is using an image you took, it will tell you.  I wonder if that works with flickr images?)  They are building a database
  • WatchKnowLearn.org  –free  educational videos that are curated by educators; rated.  Sorted by subject area.  Cool. (Dr. Larry Sanger’s project–co founder of Wikipedia).
  • Fulltextreports.com  collection of full text documents you can add to LibGuides, wikis, etc. you are creating.
  • Cloud Magic — also app;  instantaneous search of your Google mail or your tweets when you are trying to find things.  cloudmagic.com Have to link your Google mail or Twitter accounts.  Really fast, especially the app.
  • Spool– you can archive articles and videos for later, even offline.  It will also archive Flash video and make it accessible to you on an IOS/Apple device.  http://www.getspool.com   “A dvr for the web.”

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SXSW Edu Panel – Social Media Research and Practice

March 10, 2012 · 5 Comments · Web 2.0

For those of us both trying to understand how the use of social media in classrooms/libraries impacts student learning, or trying to convince our IT departments or administrators that there is value to students using social media, this SXSW Edu panel presentation “Social Media Research and Practice in Higher Ed” provided a lot of meat to chew on.

Presenters Ed Cabellon (Bridgewater State Univ.), Greg Heiberger (South Dakota State Univ.), Liz Gross (University of Wisconsin-Waukesha) and Reynol Junco (Lock Haven University) shared the results of their research on Facebook and Twitter in their institutions.

Whether the tools were being used for classroom learning; after hours support for students, or publicity for the university, the results of their findings speak a lot to the K12 environment.

The first data presented regarded student involvement in campus activities as correlated with their use of Facebook.  The research found that increased time on Facebook was predictive of higher levels of involvement in campus activities; similarly more commenting on FB also correlated with higher levels of involvement on campus.   However, students who engaged in more gaming on FB were indicative of those less likely to participate in school activities.  (I have to wonder if these students gaming more are those who perhaps don’t feel as connected to an institution in general?)  How can schools use these findings to engage students in more campus activities, I wonder?  If indeed Facebook is a route to student engagement, then why aren’t schools leveraging that tool?  And if students who are gaming more on Facebook aren’t as involved in school activities, can we use gaming features of Facebook to get them more interested, or use elements of Game Design in our campus FB posts to engage them more.     (And if your campus has concerns w/ FB, a sidenote:  I saw a startup Hoot.Me which creates a platform for schools to use FB without some of the downsides–worth looking into).

A second study correlating the use of Facebook and GPA was also illuminating.   Rey Junco’s study found that increased time of Facebook or posting frequent status updates was predictive of lower GPAs, but that lurking or sharing links was correlated with higher GPAs.

A third study regarding Twitter use in the classroom also led to some not so surprising but helpful insights.  Junco’s study looked at students using Twitter in the classroom versus the control group which used Ning.  The students using Twitter had significantly increased engagement and significantly higher GPAs.  When looking at college student retention, students using Twitter in classroom were 17% more likely to stay than students who were not.    Heilberger spoke about student retention as well, and the many factors that go into that.  He pointed out that many studies of retention focus on the FTF things universities can do, but that the college clientele is shifting, and the types of ways we can engage students as an institution are different.  The use of Twitter by students in and of itself wasn’t predictive, but if Twitter was used in substantive ways in the classroom for assignments, exchange of ideas, student-teacher chats, hashtags for courses, etc., students were more engaged, and that engagement seems that it would encourage them to feel more individually valued in a college class.  Using Twitter as just a backchannel did not necessarily yield that positive result.

When asked by an audience member about using other software tools to attract student engagement, but Liz Gross and Ed Cabellon commented that research shows that students prefer using Facebook, rather than another tool, since they already spend about 1 hour and 40 mins daily on FB on average. (Not sure if that number is from their studies or other ones).

Cabellon discussed the use of Facebook and Twitter in drawing students to campus events, and their campus found that more TYPES of students were drawn to their events than if they had promoted them via normal means.  It was attracting the outliers who weren’t necessarily in student government, etc. which is important in student engagement and retention.  He wondered if high schools should be doing more to help students use FB educationally and pointed out the cost effectiveness in lean budget times of using FREE tools like Twitter and Facebook.

Liz Gross’s comments related to using advertising on FB versus traditional advertising to attract future students.  She found that she paid four times more for traditional advertising, but had much higher numbers/click-throughs from Facebook advertising.  So she was paying 154% more for less response from potential students.

All of their work illustrates why public schools should increasingly take a hard look at how these tools could impact the engagement of their students, the attendance at school events, and the sense of belonging that helps student retention.   Rather than flee from the tools in fear (the type of fear-mongering often flung out at administrative conferences regarding social networking), perhaps we should be doing research studies ourselves comparing the impacts of these tools on student learning, student engagement, and student attendance at events.  I think there’s great potential for action research on Twitter and Facebook use in schools in this regard.

Junco’s papers and research articles are posted full text on http://blog.reyjunco.com/publications.  Since this session was a panel, the information shared was only snapshots, so I’m looking forward to digging into some of the research in more detail.

 

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Animal, vegetable or mineral: SXSW Edu evolution

March 10, 2012 · 2 Comments · Web 2.0

Having attended SXSW Interactive last year for the first time, I had certain expectations going into #SXSWEdu.  However,  a first glance at the program left me a little concerned that it was too tied to TEA Initiatives and not indie enough to meet #SXSW standards.

And to be honest, the first day at #SXSW Edu left me a little befuddled about what SXSW Edu was all about.  There were some good and meaty sessions but also there were quite a few mainstream vendor sessions, like one from Dell, one from HP, one from Google(debating over whether I can lump Google in the same category) and many from TEA/Project Share/Epsilen.   Does this really fit the “indie” spirit from which SXSWEDU was born?   Doesn’t having such a consolidation of sessions on Project Share make #SXSWEdu seem more like a Texas conversation instead of a national/global one?  And with all the many programs out there and innovative schools and educators, should that much time at #SXSW Edu be devoted to one initiative?  If this conference wants to grow and not be considered tethered to TEA (which being a #SXSW event, it shouldn’t be), this is an important question to consider.  Also befuddling was who the expected attendee was?  In terms of educators, the audience was rather unclear.  And at one point, start-ups outnumbered educators in some sessions.

That being said, overall, my experience at SXSW Edu got increasingly good over the 3 days of the conference.   Sessions the second and third day were meaty and less vendor influenced (other than Project Share–and some of those were meaty too).  I learned a lot, heard some thought provoking conversations, and pushed my thinking.  The level of presentation/conversation is higher, which I liked- it felt like we could move beyond those “beginner” types of conversations and knowledge and connectivity were just assumed, which was refreshing.

Also, the fact that SXSW Edu had so many built-in and sanctioned meet-ups was a wonderful opportunity for educators, entrepreneurs, academics, and tech company reps to network and interact informally and it also kept the indie feel of the main SXSW conference.

The distinguished speakers were interesting and intriguing and the opening keynote concept–tying three simultaneous conferences together with a joint Keynote via videoconferencing was very creative.   In fact, SXSW Edu did a great job of pulling some speakers that were maybe not the “typical” education conference speakers and connecting us–that I really loved.  Jane McGonigal was excellent, for example, and her sort of session exemplifies SXSW spirit for me. (Bringing in TED Talk speakers an awesome idea). (Although I am still puzzled as to why the CEO of Pearson was one of thekeynoters–that did NOT feel like indie spirit to me).   And SXSWEdu was able to leverage the power to have Arne Duncan and Karen Cator speak.

Even though sessions seemed sort of a mish-mash initially,(which again, makes the target audience question confusing) every one that I attended was thought-provoking in one way or another if I matched myself with the right session.  I ended up liking the variety.  I especially enjoyed the panel presentations though I wish they had all been a little bit longer so there could have been both more Q and A time.  (Admission: I was on a panel on School 2.0, which I also enjoyed–love to participate in panels.)  And I loved that they included the LaunchEdu competition ( education startups compete with rapidfire presentations of their idea and judging by a panel) in the mix.  How about a LaunchEdu for student entrepreneurs next year, by the way?   One note about that–I would have liked to see more teachers on the original judging panel for the Launch Edu startups–who better to help determine the finalists for education software startup tools than teachers?

It was great having a manned blogger’s lounge(thanks Ilene Haddad), although I wish space had allowed for a more prominent “lounge” area (much more like the Beacon Lounge from SXSWi for example which created a real sense of  “place”.)  And I was thankful the size of the conference was intimate, which has its advantages in terms of meeting people.  (Although again, I wish more educators had been there.)

What I hope for #SXSWEdu to be/become is a place for a variety of voices in education, and a place where entrepreneurs can come, not just to push their startup ideas, but to listen to the needs/concerns of educators K-16.   I want to hear keynotes that provoke, challenge, or make us curious.  I want to be able to “mix” with people, network with “unlike” colleagues and to have the education-thinking pot stirred a little bit by bleeding edge speakers.  I’d love to see a clearing house for educators:  a “what we need”  and “what skills I can provide” board where entrepreneurs and educators can communicate with one another.  And I’d like to see a truly global connection, like SXSW has.  It’d be cool to have a conference where we could talk with a Finnish educator or a Korean educator or… you get the drift.  And some more students–I think the ones that were there added a great deal to their panels. I’d like to hear from a few more “bleeding edge” practicing teachers or schools asking the tough questions.    And I think SXSW Edu has to think about what audience it wants to attract.

How can SXSW Edu attract more educators? (Obviously for the entrepreneur presence to work, they have to have educators to converse with!) 
For one thing, I think the focus needs to be clearer.  What does the conference want to be?  It seems to be having an identity crisis as I’ve mentioned previously.   If teachers are going to pick and choose among conferences competing for their attendance, they have to be able to understand what SXSWEdu is all about.  And if they want to have a larger reach beyond local educators, that is important.  The reasons start-ups want to attend seem clear, but how can these conversations be a draw for educators and what educators are you wanting to attend?  Classroom teachers?  Administrators?  Curriculum folks?  Techie types?  Cutting edge educators?  Academics?  Idea-exchangers?  I think it’s really important to have the K12 contingent there–with funding what it is, it is possible this could end up mostly attracting college educators and then I think a huge “real” piece of the education audience would be missing.

Lastly, people I wanted to hear much more from or wished were there:

Larry Rosenstock–High Tech High(or any teachers from High Tech).  The array of work they are doing is fascinating and this is a perfect conference for opening up conversations about it.  I was wildly curious about all the assignments he jetted through.

Chris Lehmann and SLA teachers– A natural fit for these sorts of conversations.  I hope SXSW Edu reaches out to him next year.

An interesting/edge library speaker or two with library cred but also pushing the envelope (Librarian in Black? )

School design representation–  Christian Long? Jeffrey Sharpe? Other people I’ve never heard of?  poking around at how our spaces connect with learning.

Some cool PBL folks like Kerissa Bearce or other PBL charter school types.

Dan Meyer

Reggio Emilia — Gary Stager has me curious about this.

International educators?

Overall, I could feel the event starting to shape up this year, and I hope it finds its identity.  The k-12 world needs an offbeat, nonmainstream, thought provoking conference.  And part of what is cool for us in K12 is really–there aren’t conferences we go to that have the “hip” factor and the ability to blend all the varied idea people together like SXSW can (other than Chris Lehmann’s Educon conference) or that treat educators quite so much like respected contributors in a “non-schooly” way.

I’m looking forward to watching this grow.

 

 

 

 

 

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13 ways to turn talk into action

March 1, 2012 · 6 Comments · Change, Collaboration

In a FB discussion yesterday, a number of us (Buffy Hamilton, Diane Cordell, Beth Friese)  were interacting in a post about the frustrations of collaboration–  feeling the lack of an understanding  between ourselves as librarians and the teachers we work and plan with(a lack on both sides), a wondering about what the balance is with our instructional role, and exploring the contrast between what library schools teach librarians about collaboration and teaching as a integral part of their roles and what new educators (or even experienced ones) and administrators believe and learn in colleges of education about our roles.   This creates a tremendous conflict for those of us who feel that collaboration is significant to student learning on our campuses.

I’m not really blaming anyone because it’s hard in any type of school transformation to change the status quo or to completely understand all of our different “silos”.  But we all do have the same educational mission, and I just want us to understand each other better and what we all have to offer to one another.

If you are not a librarian, this is a call to be aware that there is a tremendous amount of angst in the library field about these issues.   We are all teachers by degree and experience with a strong identification with that role.  We see ourselves as general experts across the curriculum; possibly the only one in the building other than the principal.  We know the importance to our students of real world information literacy skills.   We have a great deal to offer and sometimes we do not feel like that is seen.  We really want to work as part of a team with teachers in our buildings.  For some reason, that process doesn’t come naturally and so it compels us to ponder the concept of collaboration continuously, and ask how we can be both managers of facilities and programs and also co-teachers.  I’m sure these may be similar questions to the ones technology integration teachers may ask themselves as well.

If you are a librarian, I’ve long been of the mind that while our profession has evolved and defined our instructional role, our outreach to administrators and colleges of education hasn’t evolved that much at all.  How can we impact the thinking and decision-making of those who will be our future co-teachers or our principals or superintendents? How can we work with universities?  How can we impact our professional organizations?  How can we play a stronger role in content area organizations?

I do believe there are some “future-active” things that we can do, each of us, to further change.  So here are a few ideas to start with:

1)  Contact your local school of education at a nearby university or contact an online education university.   Find out who the key professors are who are working with teacher training.  Strike up a dialogue with them and find out if they include instruction about library collaboration in their teacher training programs.   If not, offer yourself as a guest speaker or offer for their class to take a “library field trip.”   Offer yourself up as a role model to plant the seeds of what a librarian can do.

2)  Contact the library and information school from which you graduated and speak to the dean or some key contacts there.   Ask how their program interconnects with the College of Education.  Do they have a joint meeting of an education class and a library school class?  Could they?  Do they go speak with future teachers?  Can the LIS program create some ties with the College of Education or create materials about 21st century libraries that they can share with future teachers?

3) If a professor can’t bring a class, ask a few education professors to come meet with you in your library; observe you teaching a class, or have some dialogue about the changing roles of librarians and the imperative need for teacher/library collaboration.  Help them become aware of the AASL standards and the NETS if they are not.

4) Speak at education conferences, not library conferences.  Each time you do that, you help establish the expertise of librarians to other educators.   There are many to choose from both in your state and nationally for most subject areas.  Why can’t a librarian speak at an art teacher’s conference, NCTE, NCTM, etc.?

5) Speak at administrative conferences.  NASSP, TASSP(in Texas), the state School Board conference, the state administrative conference about the role of librarians, new information literacy tools they should be aware of, how teachers and librarians can collaborate, etc.

6)  Write for education journals, technology magazines, and administrative journals, not just librarian journals.  The articles can speak to anything, from the role of librarians to different web 2.0 tools useful to educators or administrators, etc.   Help create the sense of expertise and collaboration that librarians have by sharing in a wide variety of publications.

7) Join FB groups for the professional organizations of all kinds, NCTE or NASSP for example.  post ideas from the librarian’s vantage point and use these sites as a way to socially connect with others.

8) On Twitter, follow professors of education, principals, and teachers–expand your network to include a variety; again, you can make contacts this way and share the concerns and issues facing librarians and students.

9) Create a “library of the future” Pinterest page or Tumblr page or wiki and invite teachers and principals to contribute to it (instead of just librarians).

10) Foster relationships with new teachers methodically.  Hold breakfast or luncheons for them, share with them how librarians and teachers can work together and solicit planning with them.  Go observe their classrooms and make clear you want to be a partner and support person for them during their first year.

11)  Ask your state library association to make a plan for reaching out to colleges of education systematically to build strong partnerships between educator training programs and librarians.

12) Help your state library organization start workshops like the one that the Texas Library Association conducts called Strong Libraries, Strong Scores–it’s strictly for administrators and happens just before the annual conference.  TLA  invites speakers like Keith Curry Lance to spend a day with administrators learning more about data on libraries and student academic achievement and to inspire their support of their library program.  Any librarian in the state can nominate their administrator to attend and then TLA invites the administrator formally.

13) Realize that you, too, have power to change things, power to urge your organizations to change things, and that your individual acts of leadership and expertise help the profession as a whole.

I’d love to hear other ideas you might have about helping to create better partnerships and understanding.    Perhaps these ideas are grass-roots, and perhaps they are naive, but by reaching out beyond our own professional spaces, we can have an impact.  It’s difficult because it’s spotty, it’s gradual, it takes time, and sometimes we aren’t even somewhere any longer to see the payoff.  But even though the changes needed are immediate, change takes time, and it benefits us to be active partners in improving communication and connections within the education community.

I’m interested in your feedback–so please, share your ideas as well.  Or if this spurs you to do something, come back someday and share what you did.

….stepping off my soapbox now ;)

 

 

 

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E-book market update

February 22, 2012 · 3 Comments · E-books

It seems like I’ve been on an e-book tear lately but with the market changing so rapidly, I find it helpful to share.

Today I met with a representative from Baker and Taylor who shared their new e-book product.  Their marketing I find a bit confusing because of so many different product names, but their digital media library is called Axis360.   When you begin using Axis360, your site is fairly standard across their platform, but they can customize your logo and a couple of other items.   Once you select the e-books, they appear within a couple of hours on an Axis360  site called the Magic Wall, which shows all of your e-book offerings in an attractive display, much like Amazon or other online stores.

Patrons can make a wish list or check out a book, and for some titles they have short synopses.  Students can also contribute book reviews.   If students are reading the book on an iPad, they need the app Blio to actually read the book.

The process works like this–students go to the Axis 360 site(your Magic Wall) with your books.   They login and select the book they want.  Then they can either download it to read on the computer or use the Blio app to download it to the iPad or Android device.  If they are reading on multiple devices, the book is stored “in the cloud” and it keeps their place as well as their notes.   (Notes can be copied and pasted out of the app before the book is returned, evidently.)   When students open their Blio app, the book is already waiting there to be downloaded, without physically hooking any device up to a computer.

One limitation that we discovered today was that although the Axis360/Magic Wall site works fine on the iPad for browsing titles,  as soon as you try to check out a book it freezes up.  It appears to use a flash pop-up for the sign in, and so there’s not a way to initially “check-out” the book on the iPad that I could find, unless the site was just being problematic when I was using it.  You would have to use a computer to check it out from the Magic Wall, and then it would load into the Blio app for reading later.  Our rep seemed to think that the books have to be checked out on the website, but then they can be downloaded anywhere.

Baker and Taylor doesn’t have this ready for prime time on the Kindle or Nook although that is evidently coming in the next month or two.

Their pricing model is pretty optimal for schools– to start it is $125 annual fee, which doubles to $250 the second year.  You have to start with a minimum order of $1000, but that’s it.  The content is yours, so if you quit BT, you can have them help you move the books to another site.

I did find their ordering site (Title Source 3) a little too detailed for my purposes, although the speed of it is much faster than Overdrive’s site which is very slow.

One other plus with Follett and Baker and Taylor is that you can have a district e-library, and Follett even allows you to have separate k-6, 6-8 collections in a district.  While all of the books from BT are one-to-one use, (Follett has a few multi-use titles), this could still provide some significant cost savings, as there are titles you may want to have in district, but don’t need copies of at every library all the time.

I plan to write an updated post about Follett’s Shelf offerings soon, as they also look like an affordable and viable model for k-12.   So the e-book developments continue…

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