Keeping up – a how-to guide

Despite being very busy, I do try to keep up (catching up is an entirely different matter!).  As a public service message for those also looking for ways to stay somewhat current, here’s my routine:

Blogs: I use RSSOwl to read my over 150 RSS feeds.  No I won’t list them here, because I don’t want to get into the “why this blog and not that”discussion, suffice it to say that I read a variety – personal interest, friends, humor and professional.

Tweets: Some twitter feeds I get via RSS, but the rest I really only read from 5-6:30am and possibly from 6-7:30pm.  So people posting frequently throughout the day, whose feeds I can’t capture otherwise, well, I just don’t see those tweet.  And that’s ok.

News: In my email, each morning there’s The Daily Skimm and So What, Who Cares? (despite it’s name JSTOR Daily is a weekly update).  I also get updates from the NYTimes, Wall Street Journal and the Christian Science Monitor, and check the BBC, Globe & Mail and Guardian websites.

Books: In addition to the book-related blogs, there’s the daily (or more than daily) Shelf Awareness email.

Misc. Professional Stuff: The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s Academe Today and Wired Education are great daily newsletters.

Just for Fun: MyComicsPage and Delancy Place.

Looks like a lot, right?  But much of it can be skimmed, and for those long-form articles I would love to read later, there’s Readability (I know, I know, there are a lot of Instapaper fans out there but… Instapaper doesn’t appear to work offline, and Readability sends stuff to my Kindle, which does work even without a wifi connection).   It takes 90min to get through it all, if that, and I can start my day (and end it, sometimes) feeling as though I have some awareness of what’s going on out there, professionally and politically (and personally).

 

What if?

Three things came together this past week and got me thinking about the “always on” culture.  The first was a blog post about a distraction-free iPhone, the second an announcement at school’s first Morning Meeting in which the girls were reminded that while texting/checking the phone discretely in the dining hall was ok, actually taking/making a call was rude and unacceptable.  The final piece was at my Quaker Meeting, where one of the members said that she had never really seen a smartphone in action and didn’t know that there was a phone “app” so that you could make calls; she also mentioned that her home internet connection was out and had been for a week and she didn’t mind it, while her husband (writing three books) couldn’t do his work so wasn’t happy.

At first I was a little surprised: how has anyone missed seeing the face of a smartphone at this point in time?  They’re ubiquitous.  And one week without home internet? Yikes!

Then, on my drive home, I started thinking about it and realizing how calming.  How nice to not have websites to check, an RSS feed piling up, many many e-mails waiting for a response.

At one of my former schools the Head has declared weekends to be e-mail free.  Obviously if there’s an emergency, that’s one thing.  But no one, from the Head on down, is expected to check – much less answer – e-mail over the weekend or during a school break (for teachers; year-round employees don’t have to during their vacation time).  At another school, there has been a stream of complaints from faculty about administration checking e-mail continuously during meetings and events (sometimes the complaints lead to a lessening of the problem, but it soon is back to previous levels).  Faculty there who do not check their e-mails over the weekend (or even at night, when they’re at home) are frequently reminded that they need to do so and respond in a timely fashion.

My current school is a boarding school, and we function in loco parentis so completely turning off overnight or on weekends is not going to happen. But what if we did limit that to emergencies only?  What if we go back to The Good Old Days, like when I was at boarding school, when communication was mostly by letter or postcard, and only occasional calls to/from home?  Often we send off an e-mail in the heat of the moment, while having to reflect on “is this an emergency?” might be a better tack to take.  Students would voluntarily put their phones in their backpacks and not check them until the school day is over.  Parents would know and respect those limits, teaching students some measure of independence from their parents.

One school I know is starting to look at those communications and considering how to best work with/educate both parents and students so that the appropriate separation happens.

What if we all did that?

Minor Musings

(more from the vault – next month, fresher stuff!)

Books, Reading, Etc.

• New fodder for the annual “Read A Good Movie” display – hoping to also plan some great book-to-movie discussions.
• Great collection of booky news on Book Riot.
• Share these book related tumblrs with your students (maybe they’ll get inspired)
• Working in a high school you need to stay on top of the New Adult genre, right?  Here’s a good start.
• I love fairy tale retellings.  Stacked has a list I’m dying to tackle.
• Even though we don’t teach diagramming sentences any more, this set of famous first lines may interest students.

School Stuff

• As we talk to students at the beginning of the year, think about how we approach the digital footprint question.  And then talk about adjusting their privacy settings.
• 5 Research-Based Tips for Providing Students with Meaningful Feedback – aka “something to remember when research season starts and I’m grading all those bibliographies!”
• Starting to think about how to create good tutorials for our students using the iPad (we’re a 1:1 school).  This may help.
• We’re moving to Google mail (not Gmail) to make Google Drive access easier.  I’m loving these tips on how to use Drive better!
• Do you teach these 5 Steps to Electronic Notetaking Success?  I’m still looking for the perfect online Cornell method app.
• Interactive maps like this one can be replicated by our students for local history, right? What about  virtual museums?
• Wondering what will be expected at the next level?  ACRL is creating new a information literacy framework. I’ll be watching/learning.
• NAIS lists the 25 Factors Great Teachers Have in Common.  Something to ponder as school starts.
• Hugely difficult even for adults: finding information you can trust.  Hoping our students know we can help!
• Good advice: think beyond the platform.

Etc.

• I don’t use Pocket (yet?) but am a fan of Readability.  Which do you prefer?
• Great playlist of TED talks on Our Digital Lives.
• Over the years I’ve scooped, livebindered, diigo’d and been delicious… should I now flip?

Minor Musings

I promise: this blog will be better attended in the coming weeks and months.  In the meantime, enjoy these links and ideas that I’ve tucked away since, oh, January…

Books, Reading, Etc.

• There’s been a lot of talk about reading socially – let’s not forget that what we e-read isn’t all that private.
• BookRiot published a list of 60 YA books to read between January and June.  I’ve read 15… you?
• As part of our Big Collection Upgrade, tagging the fiction selection has been on my mind.  This list of genres will definitely help!
• The #weneeddiversebooks movement has garnered a lot of interest: Joyce does a good initial round-up, and Wendy takes on what happened at ALA.
• I haven’t been back to Oxford in years, but the Story Museum is a great reason to return.

School Stuff

• We bought Twitterature for work, and I’m hoping that some of our English teachers take on the challenge (perhaps not Beowulf, but other books?).
• Joyce highlighted Buncee a few months ago; maybe for tutorials or resource guides?
• We’re going to create a writing table in the library, encouraging students to write notes and letters.  I picked up some great paper in Montreal, and these formal sets are piquing my interest (so do the ideas in the post).
• Trying to figure out ways to introduce these Super Searcher Tips to students, since we have no real class time with them.
• I’m sharing this article, What do College Professors Want from Incoming High School Graduates, with my faculty. And, with luck, we can do a Professional Development session using this quiz so they understand the students take on research.
• I used an Office template for our annual report, then published to Issuu.  These look like some great alternatives.
• Is anyone using Postach.io with Evernote? Wondering if that would be a good way to push content to the school.

Etc.

• Are you paranoid about digital security? Maybe you should be… (and if you think your identities aren’t linked, think again; here’s why we can’t find out what They know)
• While at ALA I had lunch with Dan Cahoy and talked about copyright; this article highlights the biggest problem about the “rules” (via)
• If you don’t follow Barbara Fister, you should.  This post applies to school libraries as well as academic.

Words from the wise

Minimal Mac | I’ve learned that letting go is an active,… via kwout

#YALSA and the badging program – #ALAMW14

Linda Braun made it clear – this is a work in progress: testers are needed.  Just go to yalsabadges.ala.org

So what do we need to know beyond that?  Badges are a serious learning process, more about the learning than about the badge.  These are tied in to YALSA’s Core Competencies, with the idea that they will help people get the skills they need to be successful.  The following are about YALSA’s badges (my thoughts on this and some badging takeaways will follow):

• These badges are “crowdsourced” – once someone has completed the work, it becomes open to the public, who can then comment and either approve (“thumbs up”) or disapprove (“thumbs down”) for their work.  In other words, earning the badge is contingent not only on completing the various steps and requirements but on peer approval of the work you’ve done.
• The exact number of thumbs up is unknown, it’s based on an algorithm.  There is the danger of someone doing the work and then waiting… and waiting… and waiting… for approval.  Community buy-in is critical, as is community participation.
• The system is (as of right now) a Pass/Fail system, so you could be 100% on several steps but still not “badge worthy”; once you do get approval, you cannot lose it.
• Badges can be exported to Mozilla’s Backpack, which will enable people to show a variety of professional development badges as part of their online portfolio/resume.
• Obtaining badges demonstrating competency is gaining acceptance in the military and at colleges.  They demonstrate actual skills, much more clearly than a grade on a test does.

They are still working on the badges, with only three available right now.  The format for each is Overview -> Goals -> Technology Requirements -> Steps (what you need to do) -> Rubric and screencasts on how to do things like set up a Google Form are included.  An online forum may be set up so that those working towards their badge can communicate with others in the same position as well as with people either already badged or those who are experts/mentors.  Notifications for new content need to be created so that people don’t have to log in daily (and see nothing there).

Linda stressed that this is a soft opening, reminding us that Gmail was in beta for five years (but YALSA’s working on a faster timeframe than Google).  She also recognized that there is work to be done on providing administrators and supervisors with information on the rigor required and the skills learned, so that people recognize this as a credential.

So, my thoughts about these badges specifically:

• The skills skew heavily to the public librarians and their needs; school librarians might not be able to see a need or value to the work needed to complete a badge.  School librarians have the NBPTS for Library Media/Early Childhood Through Young Adulthood and AASL’s NSLPY Award to help them focus their programs and skills. YALSA is going to have to make a really strong case for the school librarian contingent to make this a valuable professional development tool.
• There’s a w whiff of “checking in” here, like Foursquare or Get Glue.  This may skew the process towards younger librarians, or those who want to become a librarian, while those in the middle or further in their careers will not see them as necessary.
• Many school librarians are required to get CEU’s and without getting state buy-in to make a badge the equivalent of a certain number of hours of learning, again, there won’t be as much buy-in from school librarians.  Some states won’t accept CEUs from outside their state, again limiting the desirability of this program.
• While I understand why YALSA feels the need to provide interesting ways to provide professional development tools, particularly those that allow for self-paced, reflective learning, this feels as though YALSA is trying to be LITA Jr.  Perhaps a partnership with LITA to create badges for all ALA members would work better?
• At Midwinter, the Board approved the creation of a badge for Literary Evaluation.  One supposes that this is so that the President-Elect has better information when considering appointments to the various selection and awards committees – but murmurs I’ve heard are fears that this won’t be objective, that people “on the outs” with YALSA’s Board or VIPs won’t get fair treatment even if they have the badge.
• The badge that was used as an example, Leadership and Professionalism, struck me as problematic on two levels.  The first was that there are suggestions of library and related twitter feeds to follow – granted, I didn’t ask how that list could be updated by people, but I suspect that newbies might only follow the ones already listed and thus lead to a privileged echo chamber while interesting, outsider voices go unheard.  The second was that once the badge is earned, what mechanism is in place to ensure that the badgee(?) continues to keep up with this newfound PLN?  Maybe I’m jaded from working with students who tend to forget things quickly after the test, but…

On the other hand, the idea of badging is one that has interested me for a while.  I love the idea of creating skills-based badges so that students can demonstrate their ability to do things like cite a source, find information in our catalog or a database, and format a paper.  Teachers planning to do a research paper could mandate that the students complete certain badges by a specific time so that they (and the librarians) know what, if anything, is needed in the way of instruction on basic skills.  There were several things mentioned in this session that were very helpful as I think about how best to create a badging program:

• Make the look of the badge simple – not childlike, just simple
• Beware of complexity (perhaps break up a larger piece into smaller elements) and the time it will take (boredom or frustration can prevent completion
• Start small, figuring out what’s most important/needed now and then build
• The LMS needs to be really, really robust (YALSA is using Drupal) and that you have lots of tech support and training on how to use it
• Test, test, test and retest
• Ask the community experts how to assess the “win” and provide peer review

I’ve done one badge on information literacy and it was time-consuming and kludgy.  Not to mention the fact that there were two questions I got right but were marked wrong by the system (luckily I took screenshots of the “wrong” answers and successfully got the grade changed). I can only imagine the work it must take to keep them up-to-date and smooth-running so that students don’t have technoangst on top of everything else!

Maker/Create/Collaborativespace pre-conference – #RUSA #ALAMW14

I was fortunate to get off the waiting list for the RUSA MARS/RSS pre-conference and see what public and academic librarians think about the maker/create/collaborate space trend.

The overwhelming message was the “maker/createspace” was not just about 3D and Audino, it was anything that isn’t reference or readers advisory.  You don’t need to be a coder to be a creator, you can be a knitter, calligrapher or a rubber stamper (or another type of creator).  This is a message that we need to remember as we create our spaces: it’s about the creation, not the tools.  At bottom, doesn’t “maker” meet our mission as librarians, helping people explore their passions?  In schools especially we’re supposed to help students create new things with the knowledge they acquire – and a maker/create/collaborative space does just that.  Thinking about the space is a great way to start the strategic planning process, too, as it will involve people from different constituencies.

One important thing is to not be a closed shop: be open to all platforms (iOS, WinTel, Chrome, Lynix) and allow people to use all those during the programs.  A diversity of experience and resources can spark really interesting ideas.  It’s also critical to remember that not everyone can afford the tools necessary (it’s also important not to go broke providing for people using the space – finding that happy medium can be difficult).

How should you start? Ask the community what they want, and what they can bring to the space.  Consider an Idea Studio (a la Warwick PL). NCSU’s Hunt Library has a 270o Visualization and Teaching Lab (home of the Virtual Paul’s Cross Website).

Final words: balance what the users really do want and need with what they’re told they want and need (by the media, the library administration, etc.).  It’s a difficult process, and an on-going one, but very worth it.

Other pearls of wisdom:

• outside funding, but BYOP[roject] is also good
• Facebook and Twitter are great sources of ideas for what other libraries are doing – see how you can re-purpose their ideas
• helping people with digital curation is as much “maker” as it is “archivist”
• consider putting large windows in the space, so people outside can see what’s inside and get inspired
• students like whiteboards, flexible seating and furnishings

Resources:

• MakerCamp (includes kits and program ideas) and other Google Summer Projects
• Squishy Circuits
• Ice Cube Crayons
• Cardboard Robots
• MakerFaire
• Lynda
• Learning Space Toolkit (especially journey maps)

Minor Musings

Books, Reading, Etc.

• Just discovered Go Book Yourself.  Might be interesting to try to emulate for school, but definitely I’m recommending this to friends and students!
• If you missed this Atlantic article on how Tablets Make It Nearly Impossible for Kids to get Lost in a Story, go read it now.

School Stuff

• We did a Before I Die wall in October… what about using Padlet all year long for similar things?
• I’ve always been a huge fan of Cornell notes (even before I knew what they were) and now there’s Classmint for digital versions.  A “must play with” for me!

Etc.

• Are you reading the Journal of Creative Library Practice?  You should be.
• This video of the creation of a paiting via iPad is just very, very cool.
• Curation’s meaning then and now.
• When you work in a school library, finding focus can be difficult (too many interruptions).  How can you tweak this?

More data links (via) – to compliment the Data Driven post

• Fieldtripearth
• Graphingstories
• Floorplanner
• Educreations
• 3dtin

The missing piece

Just after my school went on Winter Break I headed off to my former school (easier to see everyone in one place!).  They, like several schools I know, are struggling with the question of going 1:1 with some device, as well as the question of if they do, what device should it be?  Since my school is nearly 1:1 (they did a slow phase-in, and by next year it’ll be 1:1 with iPads for all grades) some of my former colleagues asked my opinion and for my reaction to what I’m seeing now.  Some of my answer was informed by serving on the Professional Development Committee and hearing departmental responses…

Here’s the thing: yes, using the iPad can be helpful.  There are drawbacks, like thinking about privacy issues (do the apps track student use? what information is being collected and share without our knowledge?) and whether you’re being forced to change a text that works really well but isn’t available digitally  for one that might not work as well but is available digitally, and how to distribute apps/resources to a large number of people.  There are pluses, like lightening the load for students in terms of textbooks.  Cost is another issue, especially if you’re asking parents to pay for an iPad when they’ve just bought a new laptop for their child, let alone replacement/upgrade costs.  Etc.

I don’t need to cover all that here, because others have done it better earlier.  For me, the biggest challenge, the biggest “missing” has been teacher training.  It’s more than merely rethinking classroom management, keeping students engaged in class despite having a machine linking them to the world “outside”.  It’s completely redoing your pedagogy and revamping lesson plans: how does this homework assignment look if we’re using digital resources in class?  should the class “flip” and if so, how?  what multimedia resources should be integrated to best make use of the new tool?  It’s also about training teachers to help students use the new tool: if it’s an iPad, how are they taking notes (using a keyboard? with NotesPlus or Penultimate or ??)? how are they organizing their digital notebooks? how do they access your downloadables and do they really need to print them out? And finally, who is making the decisions, the tech people (deciding what they think will work best) or the teachers (which may mean more work for tech support, but would lead to better teacher experience).

The departments at school all have different approaches, with only one truly embracing the possibilities the iPad presents.  Another department is using it, but the teachers are struggling with all of the above.  Still another seems to be refusing to really use it, staying with “tried and true” for now.  Training would help – having the teacher who really rocks a specific app or process work with those who can see some way to use it but don’t know how to get started.  More than a mere introduction at the start of the year would help (Genius Hours for teachers, anyone?), and when a major application changes (as NotesPlus did just as school started) then PDO time is not just nice, it’s a necessity.

All too often I’ve seen this rollout done poorly: tech department, plus the administration, decides what device and which applications without teacher input.  Teachers don’t get the training or time to effectively integrate the new tools into their curriculum, just a mandate that This Is The Way Things Will Be and are hesitant (or resentful).  Students sense that the teachers haven’t fully embraced the tools and don’t try, either.  Result? Failure.

I’m hoping that we can change and improve what’s going on at my school, and that my experience can help others heading down that road.  Stay tuned as we move forward, finding the missing.  And, as always, if you have thoughts and suggestions, the comments are open!

Minor Musings

Now that I’m tidying up from a year-end reading binge, it’s time to clear out some of my saved links on Twitter and in my RSS feed.  Lucky you!

Books, Reading, Etc.

• Thinking about your collection?  Ponder Why YA Lit Matters to Everyone and What’s New About New Adult
• If last year’s summer reading list didn’t include these 23 books, perhaps they’ll make 2013’s (or maybe a display of “catch up on last year’s best reads”?). And speaking of displays, do you use Pinterest or Riffle?
• One of my new favorite “what do I read next?”/collection development sites: LibraryReads
• We’re thinking of moving from Dewey to LC in our non-ficiton… but what about rethinking our fiction section?

School Life

• Conversations we should repeatedly have with students: who are you online?  How do you clean up your social media profile before applying for college (or a job)?  LITA’s Top Tech Trends discussed privacy and has some hints to share with students. Oh, and in case you missed it, Facebook does track non-users.
• I know three schools with (or starting) Health and Wellness programs.  Let’s teach the skill of concentration and mindfulness.
• I’m getting a certificate in e-learning, and many schools are asking teachers to explore teaching online; here’s a course template and a post with links to free callouts to help get your juices flowing (though let’s not forget the value of blended learning).  It’s also interesting to think about these oxymorons in 21st century learning.
• Much as I don’t trust Pew’s research methodology, this report on library experiences and expectations is worth reading.
• The introvert/extrovert discussion goes on: how to survive as an introverted teacher.

Tech Stuff

• As the start of this post says, “When I find a really interesting new blog, I often find myself reading six months or more of postings at a time.  ” – so I’m busy with Ebook Glue!
• Why writing with our hand is still important (part of the discussion any school should have when going 1:1 with computers [tablets or laptops]).
• In keeping with my webinar and Digital Literacy chapter, here’s more on how to help students use Twitter to write papers.
• End-of-year tidying? Think about curation. And personal digital archiving.
• Brilliant idea for research/reader’s advisory meetings with students – use Calendly
• Considering 23 Things? What about 10 Mobile Things?

Etcetera

• If you haven’t seen this yet, here’s a great infographic about 12 Things I’m Doing When You Think All is Shhhh
• Just for fun: Shakespeare’s characters as a London Tube map and Litographics posters and t-shirts (via)