Blog Post 4: Technology Leadership Role of School Librarians

Teaching in today’s world of ever-changing technology needs to be learner driven and specifically catered to todays learner’s styles of learning.  The 21^st Century learner needs to be utilizing Web 2.0 tools to create and engage while demonstrating understanding.  Who will teach students to be successful, safe, and ethical online if it does not come from the class room?  Twenty-first century learners need direct instruction on how to be an online citizen while being able to interact with the internet in structured environments. 

The standards for the 21^st Century Learner from the AASL are written to support reading curriculum and set students up for success after they leave public education.  The 21^st Century Standards state:

Reading is a foundational skill for learning, personal growth, and enjoyment. The degree to which students can read and understand text in all formats (e.g., picture, video, print) and all contexts is a key indicator of success in school and in life. As a lifelong learning skill, reading goes beyond decoding and comprehension to interpretation and development of new understandings.  (AASL, para. 1)

Teacher librarians have a crucial role to play in educating learners using the Standards for the 21^st Century Learner.  Librarians teach how to utilize information and they should be working collaboratively with teachers and staff to make sure that this gets done.  Sly reinforces this by teaching:

As teacher librarians, we have an increasingly important role in educating not only students, but also teachers, in the use of 21^st century technologies. We need to remain involved in discussions that highlight the particular skills we have in information retrieval, evaluation and authentication. (Sly, 2008)

In order for students to be successful in the real world after they leave the public education system they need to be able to read to learn.  This goes against what is often taught in the school system due to high stakes testing that teach students how to analyze a text for comprehension purposes.  Reading to learn means that a student is able to read proficiently enough to teach themselves as they go along.  The library plays a critical part in teaching students to read beyond comprehension and can teach them to be information literate.  Kuhlthau understands this when she states, “Determining importance in informational texts is an essential skill in the information environment in which they live and learn” (Kuhlthau, 2010). 

To summarize, students need to be taught to be information literate through technology.  Teaching students in a guided setting using the Standards for the 21^st Century Learner provides time for students to learn to be information literate in a safe and productive way. 

References

AASL.  (2007).  Standards for the 21^st century learner.  American Library Association:  Chicago, IL. 

Kuhlthau, Carol Collier.  (2010).  Guided inquiry:  school libraries in the 21^st century.  School Libraries Worldwide 16(1), 1-12.

Sly, F.  (2008).  Meeting the needs of the 21^st century learners.  Access  (10300155), 22(3), 8.