Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

1.11.11 | Librarians and libraries are increasingly on the frontlines of improving digital literacy as well as using the latest digital tools to confront some old-fashioned attempts at censorship.

EduCon Requires Your Participation: EduCon, an unconference that puts educators and librarians in conversation (rather than having them listen quietly to podium presentations), has become one of the best places to hear about the latest strategies for integrating technology into students’ academic lives—in the classroom, the library and elsewhere. EduCon takes place Jan. 28-30 at Science Leadership Academy, a public high school in Philadelphia.

“The question becomes how to best use modern tools to enhance and extend the library experience for the populations being served, not whether modern technology belongs in a library at all,” Diane Cordell, a retired K-12 teacher librarian and online facilitator for CyberSmart Education Company, who is taking part in EduCon 2.3, tells School Library Journal.

Librarians, Teachers Speak Loudly: Librarians are also in the lead of the latest fight to censor many young adult novels. A Missouri State University professor is pushing to ban “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson and other works from public high school coursework. The Chicago-based Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and the the Office of Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association (ALA) are both leading campaigns to protect teens’ First Amendment rights.

The banning of “Speak,” which is one of ALA’s Best Book for Young Adults and is ironically a novel about breaking the silence around date rape, has particularly motivated activists. What began as a grassroots Twitter campaign (#speakloudly) by Paul Hankins, an English teacher in Indiana, has coalesced into SpeakLoudly.org. The site includes teachers, librarians, bloggers, and authors who are speaking out against the censorship of media materials for teens.

Library Services in High Demand: Turning attention locally, ArtDaily.org looks at how the Chicago Public Library system has been ramping up efforts to accommodate the now more than 1 million patrons each month. One of the efforts mentioned is YOUmedia, a digital learning space for teens that we frequently cover.

The library system also employs trained CyberNavigators—technology tutors—that work 20 hours each week in 47 branch libraries. They’ve been essential in helping job seekers:

As layoffs touched the lives of more Chicagoans in 2010, CPL librarians and CyberNavigators reported that more than 60% of the time they spent with patrons was devoted to searching and applying for jobs on the Library’s free computers. To aid in those searches, CPL staff developed an “Especially for Job Searchers” section of the Library’s website (www.chipublib.org), a virtual self-guided career counselor with advice on finding job openings, writing a resume, developing interviewing skills and such.

Kids Scratch Their Way to Creating Media: Janet Piehl, Wilmette Public Library youth services librarian, describes how the library has integrated Scratch, a digital media design program, into its regular digital services.

With the help of young volunteers, librarians teach Scratch to kids between the ages of 10 and 14. There are Scratch group workshops, and experienced users can work on independent projects. Participants in summer programs created original stories in Scratch that were compiled in an online literary magazine.

“The library’s Scratch programs have shown that 21st century learning is more than just a buzzword,” writes Piehl. “We’ve watched kids not only boost their technological skills, but also use critical thinking and creativity to make stories. They combine art and math to build games.”

Piehl adds that the social networking component—user can post their games, animations, music videos and stories to the Scratch website (www.scratch.mit.edu) for community members to view, comment on and download—increases knowledge while promoting relationships.

Spotlight has previously discussed the power of Scratch, which won a 2010 Reimagining Learning award.

The Wilmette Public Library is one of five public libraries around the country offering Scratch classes through a Media MashUp grant, which was funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and spearheaded by the Hennepin County Public Library of Minnesota and the Science Museum of Minnesota.