How can I help support innovative implementation of ICT through the Library Learning Commons?

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My research experience has helped me to develop a vision and framework for helping implement ICT in our school. I believe that it is through collaborative partnerships that the LLC can provide supports and resources so that we can transform the way we teach and learn in our school. I initially started out with 3 questions:

• How can I continue to support collaboration within my school?

• How can inquiry be used effectively to help teachers and students learn?

• How can technology be used innovatively to support inquiry and increase student engagement with learning?

I knew that I wanted to address all of these issues but I was unsure how to go about it. After doing some research and reading it became clear that they are very much connected to each other, and that I do not necessarily have to address them separately. Knowing this helped me to narrow my focus to:

• How can I help support innovative implementation of ICT through the Library Learning Commons?

What I also discovered through my research and readings is that the key to helping support innovative implementation of ICT through the LLC is using collaboration.

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I had no trouble finding articles, reports and studies that explained the need and importance of ICT in the classroom, and the positive impact it has on both student engagement and learning. When I reflect on what is currently happening in my school I realize that most teachers see the importance of ICT, but lack the knowledge or support to implement it in a way that will enhance the learning environment of their learners.

Two resources resonated with me and showed me that I need to focus my attention on how we are using ICT, and that we need to make sure that our method of teaching is not using ICT to reinforce tradition teaching. Can You Hear Me Now? Student voice: High school & middle school students’ perceptions of teachers, ICT and learning clearly communicates the frustrations that students have with teachers’ slow and ineffective integration of ICT. I found this resource to be valuable because it represents the student voice, and is therefore very difficult to ignore. The second resource is Larry Cuban blog As Teacher Use of New Technologies Has Spread, Have Most Teachers Changed How They Teach? which suggests we need to change how we teach first and then use innovative technology to support innovative learning. This important point made me realize that our school focus on inquiry does not need to be addressed separately, but rather ICT can be integrated into inquiry.

Every teacher at my school has a different level of comfort when it comes to incorporating ICT into their classrooms. This means that I have to meet them where they are at and help to nudge them forward. I came across an approach or a way of looking at this problem that made a lot of sense to me. Jeff Dunn’s article How to integrate Google Apps using the SMAR method  outlines a framework that helps to understand where teachers are at with their level of ICT implementation, and then the goal is to move them forward so that they can eventually get to the redefinition level. John Spencer outlines this very clearly in his video “What is the SAMR Model and what does it look like in schools?”

Our School District is currently using Google Apps for education and our staff is at varying levels of implementation. I see this as an opportunity to help incorporate ICT in our classrooms. For some, just learning how to create an account has been a challenge, while others are using many of the Apps to connect, communicate, create and collaborate with their students in new and innovative ways. I see collaboration as an opportunity for me to not only help and support those who are just beginning to use GAFE, but also for me to learn from teachers who are using GAFE in creative and innovative ways.

By no means is GAFE the only way to incorporate ICT into teaching. Rap Universal: Using Multimodal Media Production to Develop ICT Literacies demonstrates the power innovative use of technology can have on the development of ICT literacies. This article inspires me to keep searching for new and innovative technology and to discover ways that it can be used to support innovative learning for everyone in my school community. Understanding the SMAR method gives me a framework that I can use with staff so that I can help with their implementation of ICT.

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When I first began 3 years ago as a TL I knew that I had to make significant changes in order for our LLC to meet the needs of my school community. If I want the LLC at my school to emulate the vision set out by Pam Sandlian Smith at TEDxMileHigh, or meet the big picture goals set out in Inspiring Libraries, Connecting Communities: a vision for public library service in B.C., I need to have a plan that will help “bridge the physical and digital worlds, connecting people not only with a world of information but with each other”, as well as supporting and contributing to lifelong learning by providing safe, open spaces for people of all ages and backgrounds (B.C. Ministry of Education pg. 5). This research assignment and the reading I have done have demonstrated how to develop a strategic plan for helping my school community implement ICT in their teaching and learning. I now have a clearer vision for how I will collaborate to help support innovative implementation of ICT through the LLC.

Works Cited

B.C. Ministry of Education. “Inspiring Libraries, Connecting Communities: a vision for public library service in B.C.”. 2016. http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/community-partnerships/libraries/libraries-strategic-plan.pdf. Accessed 29 Sept. 2017.

Cuban, Larry. “As Teacher Use of New Technologies Has Spread, Have Most Teachers Changed How They Teach?” Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice, 20 Sept. 2012, larrycuban.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/as-teacher-use-of-new-technologies-has-spread-have-most-teachers-changed-how-they-teach/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2017.

Dunn, Jeff. “Integrate Google Apps with the SAMR model”. DailyGenius.com, Nov. 16 2015  http://dailygenius.com/integrate-google-apps-with-the-samr-model. Accessed 29 Sept. 2017.

Nat Turner, K. C. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy: "Rap Universal: Using Multimodal Media Production to Develop ICT Literacies”. 54 Vol. The Association, 05/01/2011. Web. 23 Sep. 2017.

Smith, Pam s. (2013). “What to expect from libraries in the 21st century: Pam Sandlian Smith at TEDxMileHigh.” Accessed 23 Sept. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa6ERdxyYdo

Spencer, John. “What is the SAMR Model and what does it look like in schools?” YouTube.com, Nov. 3, 2015. Accessed 29 Sept. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC5ARwUkVQg

Stefl-Mabry, J., Radlick, M. & Doane, W. (2010). Can You Hear Me Now? Student voice: High school & middle school students’ perceptions of teachers, ICT and learning. International Journal of Education and Development using ICT, 6(4), 64-82. Open Campus, The University of the West Indies, West Indies. Retrieved September 23, 2017 from https://www-learntechlib-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/p/42263/.