It's Bike to Work week. My Comox Road commute is hard on the thighs, but easy on the eyes. I risked life and limb to stop by the side of the road for a few pictures.

Technology Blog Post by Kim Marks

If you haven't already biked to work, you should try it.  It gives you plenty of time to ponder important questions, such as "How can I improve my computer and technology skills?" According to Leading Learning:  Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, honing information management and literacy skills is a key goal for teacher librarians.  In the Leading Learning Framework under "Cultivating Effective Instructional Design", we read that the teacher librarian leading into the future must "foster student and teacher technological capacities and digital literacies" and use cutting edge technology to "empower networking and participatory learning opportunities within and beyond the school".  As early as 2013, Washington State public schools was getting a handle on this:

A tall order, indeed. Sounds like a job for Kara Dawson, SD71's amazing technology lead teacher.  "Kara's Corner" is a great site to visit if you want to learn more about evolving technologies, with an instantly-classroom-applicable spin that keeps us reading her Tuesday Tech Tips week after week.  Visit Kara's Corner 

Kara is one of the people I turn to when I need technology support.  Not only does she answer my questions about Arduino and webquests, she also takes me on tech learning junkets, like a Lighthouse Labs two-day train-the-trainer coding extravaganza, the Vancouver Island Learning Network ADST and Coding events and the district ADST kit creation/mentor days.  If you know someone like Kara, get under her wing and stay there.  

Under Kara's wing. It's a beautiful place.

How else do I learn about technology so that I can do the important work of information and technology instruction?

• I google all kinds of technology questions
• I watch tutorials on YouTube
• I use Web 2.0 app Help and FAQ pages
• I became a Microsoft Innovative Educator.  Microsoft offers free courses with levels from beginning to advanced in everything from Minecraft to Skype.  Get started by choosing a learning path here.

It might be the exhaust fumes I'm breathing in as the cars pass me on Comox Road that make me think I'm getting on top of this technology situation, when the reality is that learning about technology in this day and age is equivalent to trying to hit a moving target.  If the idea of knowing enough about the digital world to be a future-ready librarian starts to seem overwhelming, how will I respond to changing technology and student needs?

Suggestion #1.  Be Humble.  In working to integrate iPads into daily classroom instruction with my estimable colleague Martin Hartig, we agreed that we need to let go of being the "sage on the stage".  If our students had to wait for us to master the ins and outs of every app, they'd never touch an iPad.  As "guides on the side", Martin and I share the initial features of apps and then invite students to explore.  We are available to help students troubleshoot and to model other strategies--asking for help, persistence, humour, undoing, saving, resetting--that we find useful in our digital lives.  Evidence suggests that this sense of self-efficacy may be more important than skills and knowledge when we implement new technologies (Holden and Rata, 2011).  So embrace that Can-Do Attitude! (Also known as "Fake it 'til you Make it!")  Here's something lovely a student made while Martin and I stayed out of the way:

Suggestion #2:  Don't be like Spiderman.  Can you read what's in the little speech bubble? It says, "No one ever said saving the world would be easy."

Teacher librarians cannot be the sole agents of students' engagement in information literacy, digital citizenship and meaningful integration of technology.  In addition to our own technology learning we must mentor our colleagues in their information technology integration.  How can we support teachers in developing the sense of self-efficacy that promotes increased technology use?  

• Work with the tech department to ensure infrastructure and school tech devices are in good working order.  
• Provide monthly pro-d to help teachers master programs such as Office 365, Destiny Discover, Scholantis, Book Creator, Google Reading and Write and other Web 2.0 or iOS applications.
• Team-teach model lessons and leave reference materials (e.g. tip sheets; Jing videos) that teachers and students can consult when accessing applications on their own.
• Show how technology can enhance instruction, rather than just being technology for technology's sake.  For example,  a collection of curated Internet sites about Ancient Mesopotamia may be superior to a school's small collection of books on the same subject.

It's 9:36 PM. That's late for someone who has to add a bicycle commute to her morning routine.  In a nutshell:  seek mentors of your own and be a mentor to others.  Be surprised and grateful at how much we can all learn from each other.

References

Holden, H., & Rada, R. (2011). Understanding the Influence of Perceived Usability and Technology Self-Efficacy on Teachers' Technology Acceptance. Journal Of Research On Technology In Education, 43(4), 343-367.

Gökoğlu, S., & Çakıroğlu, Ü. (2017). Determining the Roles of Mentors in the Teachers' Use of Technology: Implementation of Systems-Based Mentoring Model. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 17(1), 191-215. doi:10.12738/estp.2017.1.0234

Kirkland, Anita Brooks, and Carol Koechlin. (2015.) "Leading learning: standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada: a catalyst for igniting change." Teacher Librarian no. 5: 45. General OneFile, EBSCOhost (accessed May 31, 2018).

Seasholes, C.  (Jan. 9, 2013).  Teacher librarians at the heart of student learning.  [Video file].  Retrieved from https://youtu.be/z_ybY5O7WvA