Blog Post 4: Technology Leadership Role of School Librarians

Technology in education has vast benefits for students. The school librarian’s role for implementing technology in schools is crucial since school librarians have one of the best positions in the school to affect students’ learning (Green, L. l., & Jones, S. s., 2014). In the ALA's “Standards for the 21st Century Learner”, technology is heavily supported as a necessary educational element for today’s students. According to these standards, reading is imperative and foundational for all other skills to be built upon. A students ability to read and analyze material lays the foundation for academic and future career success. Information literacy leads students to asking more questions and inquiring about the environment around them. School librarians are responsible for teaching students how to use information they gather from materials, print of digital, in an ethical way ("Standards for the 21st-Century Learner", ALA). Technology skills are so important for students because they can determine a student’s success in the future as a contributing member of society. Work environments are becoming more digitized and technology literacy is a vital part of their success. Even though all students may not have the same financial and technological advantages, all students have access to a computer at school. All students deserve the same access to print and digital materials. The resources offered in the school library are very meaningful in student development. The school library is a safe environment where students should feel comfortable to expand their technological skills with the help of school librarians and practice the skills they've acquired. School librarians can make sure students meet these ALA standards by following this process: Plan, Prepare, Present, and Perfect (Green, L. l., & Jones, S. s., 2014). School librarians must plan the procedures they want to implement in teaching students about technology in the library. The procedures must be age appropriate, rely upon previous knowledge, figure out how much time it will take, and thoroughly understand each task they are asking students to complete. Next, they must prepare the content by choosing the most beneficial resources for students. This requires a lot of editing from school librarians to make sure they are including the most appropriate information they can. Their presentation of these technological skills will determine how students react to them. They must display these skills in different ways so different learners can benefit from various presentations: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. School librarians should be ready to give students considerate feedback in how to improve their skills as well. The final step is perfecting this process. Technology is constantly changing and school librarians must read academic articles, be involved in the librarianship community and organizations to stay up to date. School librarians must also constantly reassess their process of implementing technology to validate its success and if students are meeting learning outcomes. If not, they must change parts of the process to better suite students and adequately prepare them for learning in the 21st century. References: Green, L. l., & Jones, S. s. (2014). Instructional Partners in Digital Library Learning Spaces. Knowledge Quest, 42(4), E11-E17. Houston, C. (2012). Digital Natives, 21st Century School Libraries, and 21st Century Preparation Programs: An Informal Affirmation of Branch and deGroot. School Libraries Worldwide, 18(1), 138-143. "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner", American Library Association, November 8, 2006. http://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/standards (Accessed April 19, 2015) Document ID: ec710ea2-99a2-27d4-b987-e042c9f4bf3f