Blog Post 4: Technology Leadership Role of School Librarians

The application of technology in the schools is the teacher librarians’ responsibility. Librarians have specific standards to teach. The main focus of the standards is to teach children to be life long thinkers and learners.  Along with the standard of ISTE to create learning in digital world, technology must be integrated into all aspects of education. “As technology permeates teaching and learning, teacher librarians are continually directed from professional standards and guidelines, as well as from theorists and researchers in this area, to assume leadership roles in integrating technology in schools” (Johnston, 2012, pp. 18). Librarians need to be at the forefront of guiding teachers to integrate technology into their lessons. Some of the benefits to having a librarian that is familiar with Web 2.0 tools and know how to integrate them in to a lesson are another head and hands to help prepare the lesson and teach it. The librarian is one of the best resources for teachers. The Standards for the 21^st Century Learners focus on the learner acquiring new knowledge and being able to use it to make informed decisions to apply to new situations, create new information while being ethical. The librarian is in a position to encourage learners to focus on their interests and to become life long learners. Reading is the foundation skill for learning. “Reading goes beyond decoding and comprehension to interpretation and development of a new understanding” (American Association of School Librarians, 2007). If technology is not taught students will be unprepared to meet the demands of the 21^st century.  “Teacher librarians have a vital role to play in making certain that students develop the 21^st century skills that will enable them to use technology as a tool for learning and for participating in a digital culture” (Johnston, 2012, pp. 18). Students that are in school know do not know a time when there was a not personal computer. These students apply their 21^st century skills from an early age.

With Web 2.0 tools students and teachers create engaging lessons and projects to meet the standards.  Reflecting on the Web 2.0 tools there is so many that can be used. Some are easy and have lots of possibilities. Some that were tried are: Thinglink, Padlet, Animoto, TedEd Technology, Pearltrees, Masher, Storify, Storybird, My Storybook, and Comicmaster. This is just a few that were used and reviewed. With each one the students would be engaged and increasing their 21^st century skills.  

American Association of School Librarians. (2007). Standards for the 21st century learner. Chicago, IL: American Association of School Librarians.

International Society for Technology in Education (2008). ISTE Standards Teachers Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-teachers

Johnston, M.P., (2012). Connecting Teacher Librarians for Technology Integration Leadership. School Libraries Worldwide, 18(1),  18-33.

Union, C., Union, L., & Green, T. (2015). The Use of eReaders in the Classroom and at Home to Help Third-grade Students Improve their Reading and English/ Language Arts Standardized Test Scores. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning