Blog Post 4: Technology Leadership Roles of School Librarian

Technology has evolved into the way of living in the 21st Century.  Everything around you has something to do with technology. From washing your hands, reading a book, and driving your car, it all stems from some form of technology to operate.  In the education field, technology has helped to improve how students learn today.  It has sparked a new interest in students to learn to read and read for fun!  With the new gadgets like e-readers, students are wanting to download the latest graphic novel or fairytale to read on their new Nook or Kindle.  It is important that libraries stay abreast of these new advancements in technology to not lose the patrons and to keep them coming to the library.  The library in schools and the community all have a vital part in building education. 

The 21st Century Standards has set guidelines for educators to follow to ensure that they are ready and able to use the latest technology.   According to the NETS, National Educational Technology Standard for Students, students should be able to use technology to solve and analyze problems and use creative thinking to create new ways of learning and discovery (Smaldino et.al., 2015).  There are six total skills that they should accomplish by the time their school career is done that will have them ready for their future endeavors.  Those six skills are: “Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Research and Information Fluency, Critical Thinking, Problem solving, and Decision Making, Digital Citizenship, and Technology Operations and Concepts” (Smaldino et.al., 2015).  These skills are taught and enhanced through teaching and experience.  Students will be able to gain access and have the hands on ability to use the skills in the classroom and library. 

          The library is now the haven for technology and librarians have the responsibility to make sure students are aware and fully equipped with the knowledge to use the technology that is available to them (Koechlin et al., 2008).  Librarians will make sure that their collection should reflect a 21^st century learning environment with computers, tablets, e-readers, along with the access of making podcasts, wiki pages, and blogs.  There are many ways of creating a classroom outside of the classroom and the library has the resources to help in teaching this concept (Koechlin et al., 2008).  

Librarians can make reading and learning fun by promoting the library through infographics and reading nights.  Being an advocate for the library and bringing parents and students in will help in making sure that the knowledge of technology is passed along.  Libraries should be a user friendly environment for anyone to come have access to the resources and tools needed to become successful readers (Koechlin et al., 2008). 

Lastly, with technology being the way of communication for the 21^st century, it is important for users to practice proper behavior on the internet.  Librarians have the knowledge to teach teachers and students proper behavior on the internet.  By making sure everyone is using ethical behavior, will help in making sure the sources are being used productively (Lincoln, 2009).  The internet has a wide range of information that can easily be passed on as someone else’s work and teaching how cheating and plagiarism is wrong is part of molding the generation of information (Lincoln, 2009).

Overall, technology will be around for a while and advance through time.  The world needs to make sure that it is ready and equipped with the tools needed to survive.  There will come a time where all classrooms will have laptops and computers and paper and pencil will be demolished.  Online courses will be a requirement and having a wiki page will be a must for students.  Making sure the next generation is ready is what is key to teaching in the classroom of the 21^st Century Learner.

References

Koechlin, C., Zwaan, S., & Loertscher, D. V. (2008). The time is now: Transform your school library into a learning commons. Teacher Librarian, 36(1), 8-14. Retrieved fromhttp://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2069/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=502956741&scope=site.

Lincoln, M. (2009). Ethical behavior in the information age Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2069/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=502978033&scope=site.

Smaldino, S., Lowther, D., Russell, J, & Mims, C. (2015). Instructional Technology and Media for Learning (11^th ed.). Boston: Pearson.