The Moss-Free Stone

Today I am attending a conference by one of my favorite educational technologists, Alan November. The session is directed at librarians, and focuses on technology resources that librarians can and should use in working with students to create products and with teachers in professional development.

Alan is discussing the problem we are facing as a society due to the fact that the Internet is giving access to our higher educational system to a global audience that will ultimately compete for jobs at lower rates and with a better work ethic. He asks whether or not American students even possess the stamina and rigor to compete, when they view education as entertainment. People who are self-motivated, self-driven will be able to achieve far more than those who just take a course.

The library, he states, will become more and more important, as students begin to pace their own learning through online courses. They will view the library and librarians as resources for their independent study. Therefore, there is a need for librarians to know how to utilize the resources available. He further states that the library can become the most exciting social place in the school, but librarians must first learn how to meet people around the world. Social communication skills are important.

He is espousing the belief that educators should not be simply blocking everything that kids normally do online. Rather, they should be learning how to insert the curriculum into those tools! Students are the best resource (and not often enough utilized) for learning what they actually do and what would be effective.

Alan identifies 3 skills students will need to compete:

1. Organize information
2. Communicate globally
3. Self-directed

This promises to be a long entry, so I’ll break it up into sections.