Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

Recently Carolyn Foote, a friend who is honestly a friend in the virtual sense, as I only know her from Twitter, blogging, webcasts, and Ustream forums, has challenged my thinking about the library. She works in a large public suburban high school in Austin, Texas (Westlake High School). She is in the process of packing up her entire library book by book for a renovation project. Earlier this week she was informed that the renovation could take as long as a year. My comment to Carolyn was “Wow, you will be a virtual librarian in every sense of the word.”
As I reflect on my joking quip, I realize it is true. Will her job end until the renovation is done? Will she have anything to do while the renovation happens? How can a staff member with no physical “home” in the building continue to work and serve the school without any books or tables, a checkout counter, or a reference section, especially in a high school?

I know the answer to my questions. Carolyn will be in need and in high demand right through the whole project. She will probably work harder than any other staff member in the entire building, as she strives to provide the same level of service and instruction as before when there were the typical tables, chairs, books, and more. How?

Just as I jokingly called her a “virtual” librarian, she will become just that. Research projects will be just as effectively completed as they were before. She will continue to teach information literacy and using online resources effectively. Students will have access to necessary resources. Book talks and author visits will continue to happen, even if she has to use Skype. You see, Carolyn is a 21^st century teacher librarian, who has adopted and uses instructional technology to “complete” the job. She uses the tools to compliment instruction, and I would wager she is so good at this already, this vehicle called web 2.0 will drive her services until she can park her self back in a physical space called a library. Carolyn already uses wikis, blogs, and more to supplement instruction. She is using Skype to pull in authors for literature appreciation and book analysis. And students as well as teachers know she can assist in just about any kind of project she is challenged with. Carolyn Foote is a 21^st Century Librarian, and I am so glad to know her, at least in the virtual sense.

Be sure to wish her luck as she tackles the project of library renovation. I know the end result will be a 21^st Century Library to compliment her, the student body, faculty & staff, and community. I am looking forward to a face to face meeting with you in San Antonio this summer at Iste’s NECC.

Carolyn’s Blog Not So Distant Future

Carolyn’s Wiki Web 2.0 in Education

Image Attribution:

Image: ‘packing_boxes‘
www.flickr.com/photos/69157454@N00/25159668

Image: ‘Carolyn_Foote_007‘
http://web20ineducation.wikispaces.com/

PS–my 17yo is looking at Austin, TX for college.

This media guru always knows exactly what to say to make me feel I am right there with her! The media guru of the century, Joyce Valenza, admittedly calls herself a 1.8 person, not quite 2.0. She considers herself still in beta, but proclaims to all that it is okay to still be in beta. We are, after all, lifelong learners!

Valenza starts with a a pix of the soldiers from the story Stone Soup. Many want to believe they scammed the village, but in reality, if looked at a different way, they were instead an inspiration for change and a catalyst for collaboration in that village.

With the increase in Web 2.o tools, our students are living in a very rich media world. As literacy teacher librarians, we should be embracing these tools to teach responsible use. We can model the use of these tools as well through our instructional practices. An IDEAL way to model is to change the way we do pathfinders, and instead of publishing static webpages, make wiki pathfinders! Of course this is just one way, but what a way to jump right in!

Joyce Valenza created a wiki for this presentation that can be easily accessed, and she welcomes its use for us to teach our faculty and staff, and yes, even students. There are some GREAT examples of end products of project based learning here as well, and a ton of ideas for us to start small (while we are still in beta) and grow to become authentic 2.0 users and contributors.

Remember the intro with the analogy of the soldiers and their stone soup?  We as professional teacher librarians can be the soldiers of Web 2.0.  We can model the use of web 2.0 tools in our own instructional practice, and help teachers integrate their use as well through solid collaboration.  I left this session so inspired! Check out her avatar–I’ve got to find where this was made so I can make my own too!

I have been trying to find a wiki–any kind of wiki outside of Wikipedia–that serves its users well. I particularly would like to see a class wiki, but I haven’t seen many that I liked or that the purpose was obvious. A lot of my friends use Moodle, which is not really a wiki or a blog, but rather a more combined approach. But most who use them have them password protected (for good reasons) since their kids openly post and comment, or edit the site in its wiki sense. (I feel like I’m speaking a foreign language.) Here is a wiki that truly makes me “get it.” It gives me something to show at SLI to ensure the principals or other administrators who haven’t quite grasped Web 2.0 what it is, what it’s capable of, and what its potential is. Check out his wiki from Princeton Public Library.