Thinking outside the library sphere Learning 2.0 beyond the library environment

Presentation outline  Why outreach our services?  Learning 2.0 program  Evolution of the program  Ways Yarra Plenty has used it the library community  The school environment  Purpose behind the program  Administration  Challenges  Rewards  Importance of keeping up-to-date

Why outreach?  Today’s economic climate  Ideal time for libraries to share resources and knowledge  Now more important to develop partnerships  Era of open source and cloud computing  Organisations now have options  Open source software  Use of internal or hosted resources

The library environment  Yarra Plenty Staff  Now use Web 2.0 within the workplace  Other libraries  Victorian public libraries  State libraries  Special libraries

Outside the library sphere  The community  A taste of Web 2.0  Corporate Clients  Web 2.0 workshops  Seminars and demonstrations tailored to needs  The School environment  Library staff  teachers

Todays student “Our students live in a global, digital world that many of us could never have imagined… A world that has been transformed and will continue to be, in part, due to technology. Of course, societies have always been in a constant state of transformation due to human ingenuity, but I bet we can all agree that the pace and scope of transformation is accelerating due to the technologies surrounding us. ”  (Godwin 2008)

Todays student Technology used to communicate   Friendships through social networking  Facebook /Myspace  Mobile phones  Texting  IM  Laptops /iphones  Information needs are immediate  How students view their future Generation of multi-taskers Don’t think or task in a linear way New technology New jobs

Victorian Essential Learning Standards  Students use ICT as a major element of their learning environment  Encourages change in teaching practice  Encourages teachers and library staff to learn about social networking applications which their students are familiar with

Collaboration Partnerships between -State Library of Victoria -School Library Association of Victoria -Yarra Plenty Regional Library Partnership between -Sybasigns -Yarra Plenty Regional Library

Learning 2.0  Self paced online learning program  Use of open source Web 2.0 applications  Social networking software  Emphasizes learning through play and exploration

Set up of the program  Set up under the umbrella of the global teacher web blogging space  Participants also set up blogs in this environment  Participants use the blogs they set up for the program as online journals to record what they have learned after each activity

Web 2.0 applications Personal DevelopmentCollaboration toolsSocial Networks RSS feedsGoogle ToolsMySpace Feed readersLibraryThingFaceook iGoogleBlogsWikisNing EBooksFlickrYouTube Audio booksYouTube Ebooks

Administration  Tracking of participants done using a Google RSS Feed Reader  Tracking log set up using Google Docs  Weekly s sent to participants with tips for the weeks activities  Support was also given via and phone.  The program was set out in a weekly sequence however all the weeks were accessible so those wishing to work ahead at their own pace.

The challenges The security of the school environment -IT issues -Blocking of sites -Use of alternative sites and alternative activities - issues -time -new type of learning environment

Advantage of online learning  Accessible 24/7  Can be done anywhere, not reliant on the school network  Self paced  Online, no isolation issues  Not reliant on attendance at workshops  Suitable for casual and part time employees

The rewards  The discovery of easily accessible technologies that provide new and exciting ways to share ideas and develop reading an literacy skills in students

What an amazing journey has begun. I have so loved seeing the big ICT world out there and the potential for my own professional development and teaching. There is so much to discuss. We really need to look at our current teaching practice and make modifications to suit the world that the kids are living in now! Our teaching needs to become more interactive and make use of these amazing web resources that are out there.

I have found using these web tools over the last few weeks has made me take the time to explore the web and is keeping me up-to-date with what is available on the net, what our students are exposed to and how we can harness these as educational opportunities.

Students in today’s society live on the web. … My fear has always been that including technology into the curriculum will only add to the already saturated usage by students. What this program has been able to demonstrate to me is the vast range of ‘educational’ value type activities and practical uses. Setting assignments, students listening to and commenting on others work, posting thoughts and comments onto the web, creating discussion forums were just a small range of activities that I have been able to include into my curriculum writing. The challenge for today’s teachers is in making sure that when technology is included into the curriculum that we as teachers are not teaching ‘how to use a program - rather how to get the program to compliment the students work’.

Future “Learning in the 21st century is all about networks and the connections we can make to other learners and teachers... But being literate in this new learning environment requires more than knowing how to read and write. It requires us to edit, publish, collaborate, create and connect in the process of building our own personal learning spaces.” Will Richardson

Summing up  Libraries are community services  Technology  No boundaries...no start or finish  Employment today  Time management / multi tasking  Web 2.0 an important skill  Professional Development  Need to strive to learn through exploration and play  Continuous lifelong journey

Thank you Lynette Lewis Recruitment Consultant The One Umbrella