Information Springboard
Launching lamentations of a future library media specialist
Saturday, July 25, 2009
SU Poster Session
IST 511 Reflection Day 5
While IST 511 has come to a close our careers are just beginning. As I reflect on my time at SU I had two epiphanies. First, I reaffirmed my goal to be a school library media specialist. I have big plans to integrate technology into our childrens' education and collaborate with teachers. Schools are the desired venue for this change agent. Schools will be my niche; librarianship is where I belong. This leads me to my second discovery: I am so proud to be part of such an accepting, honorable and diverse group of individuals that serves as the foundation for our intellectual freedom. Our nation is blessed to have advocates of this caliber who share so much of their time, intellect, and values. It is with great anticipation that I may carry this torch forward.
Many thanks to Scott Nicholson, Tasha Cooper, Blythe Bennett and the rest of the
Spring,
Kate
Thursday, July 23, 2009
IST 511 Reflection Day 4
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
IST 511 Reflection Day 2
Monday, July 20, 2009
IST 511 Reflection Day 1
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Syracuse University IST 601 Reflection
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Readers Response: Schultz-Jones, B. (2009). Collaboration in the school social network
The study followed 5 school library media specialists (SLMSs) with a range of practical experience and from varied districts who voluntarily documented their collaborative relationships with classroom teachers and administrators. The SLMSs classified their relationships according to 6 collaborative levels along an interaction continuum: “no interaction, exchanging information informally, providing books/resources when requested, consulting on course content, providing course materials, and designing a unit of study and presenting this unit together with a teacher or administrator” (Schultz-Jones, 2009).
Schultz-Jones then graphed and labeled the relationships. The result is a “webbed” illustration that documents the various subjects the SLMS interacted with and on what level of the continuum. Those plotted closest to the center (represented by the SLMS) are reflective of the highest level of collaboration – “designing a unit of study and co-presenting this material” (Schultz-Jones, 2009); those farthest away from the center represent those with no to low-level collaboration.
Through deductive analysis the data revealed 4 emergent themes referred to as “Social capital”, “Who’s your Fave 5”, “Strategic groups”, and “Professional learning communities” (Schultz-Jones, 2009). The first of these refers to the universal sentiment among the 5 SLMSs that social networks are a highly valued resource despite the investment of “time and effort…sometimes those efforts yield few results” (Schultz-Jones, 2009). The second emergent theme refers to effective collaborative relationships and how they are not necessarily those that are an SLMS’s 5 “favorite” informal friends, but those relationships where both parties have an agreed interest to engage and work efficiently together in the interest of their students. Thirdly, the study dismissed the assumption that existed at the onset, that is; that certain disciplines are more interested in collaborating than others. This was deduced from the data which, when plotted, showed various subjects in close proximity to the SLMSs. As a result, SLMSs are encouraged to look for those teachers who are willing to engage in high-level collaborative projects rather than target subject groups. Lastly, the data revealed the importance of demonstrating life-long learning traits and how the richness of your learning community can impact successful collaboration.
Schultz-Jones believes that “visualizing the school learning environment as a set of social networks provides the SLMSs with a way to map interactions and think strategically about building relationships”. Once these foundations are laid, SLMSs can then capitalize on their life-long learning communities to truly impact the academic experience of their students for the better.
Schultz-Jones, B. (2009). Collaboration in the school social network. Knowledge Quest, 37(4), 20-25.
Small, R. (2002). Collaboration: Where Does It Begin? Teacher Librarian (29)5, 8-11.