Monthly Archives: March 2010

Things are not the way they are suppose to be

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My district library coordinator sent me a list (once again) of new technology tools, asking if I had tried them.  I will be presenting another staff development session on integrating tech tools into the library for back-to-school next fall.  Here’s the recent list:

Weebly.com

Yola.com

Yudu.com

Scribd.com

WordPress.com

Blogger.com

Livejournal.com

Voicethread.com

Jing.com

Delicious.com

Diigo.com

Wetpaint.com

Jamstudio.com

Fotoflexer.com

Gimp.com

learnscratch.org

When I replied to my boss that I had tried most of them, giving suggestions of other sites, I thought about how often teachers and librarians complain to me that they can’t keep up with changing technology!  I hear things like “we don’t have enough time” and my all time favorite “things are not the way they are suppose to be.”

My profession of librarianship is not the only field where “things are not the way they are suppose to be.”  Whether you work as an educator, nurse, politician, business owner, or practically any job I could name, there are those who complain.  I mean those who ALWAYS complain.  The world is not the way it’s suppose to be and maybe it never was.  When you stop to think about it…we are all going to die at some point.  So we plan our lives and live our days, knowing that is the end result.  How’s that for things the way things are suppose to be?  The old-timers used to remind us to “put on a happy face.” 

How does this relate to my list of new tech tools?  Well, I don’t think I need 14 nings, 3 facebook accounts, 12 online writing tools, 8 photo editors, 7 websites to update, 9 avatars, 5 virtual worlds, 26 presentation tools, 24 usernames to remember and so on.  Everyday, it seems, several new tech tools come my way.  I could look at it in dread, in fear, or simply gripe that things are not the way they should be!  But they are the way they are. 

So, my plan is to write a snappy song called Things are Not the Way they are Suppose to Be. I may ask my daughter to accompany me on the ukelele.  I’ll upload it to one of many social media sharing sites.  Maybe the chorus will end with

Things are not the way they are suppose to be

and that’s just fine with me.

Transliteracy

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As a school librarian, I have often considered the best way to teach learners how to research for themselves in a “real world” context.  Often, students are assigned topics to research that are not personally meaningful.  Information literacy skills (back in “the day”) meant learning to use a card catalog, an index, or an encylcopedia.  The skills were first taught and practiced, so the students could use them someday when ready to look for information.  Currently, students are taught how to evaluate websites and how to access online databases.

Having spent two years researching virtual worlds, it now occurs to me that an individual in a virtual world is learning “in the moment” rather than in theory only.  In a virtual world, the individual is situated with other learners discovering and sharing the same inquiries.  As a librarian, this is revolutionary.  Imagine two library patrons actually entering a print encyclopedia to discuss their findings synchronously.  Images, text, and multi-media are commonplace information resources at the beginning of this new decade.   Studies are just beginning to provide evidence of the role virtual worlds play in information literacy and education.

During my exploration of rapidly changing technology in relation to literacy, I stumbled upon a new word- a word that implies more than media literacy or digital literacy.  Transliteracy includes all forms of information delivery, across all platforms.