Tame The Web

In Library Journal this past month, I explored the concept of “learning everywhere.”  Here’s a snip:

This semester, I’m teaching a new class based on Mezirow’s concepts of transformative learning, the work of Char Booth in the arena of user instruction, and the Learning 2.0 model…. We’re working with consultant Polly-Alida Farrington, who teamed up three groups of my students with two libraries and a school library consortium in New York State. Over the course of our 15-week semester, each group is adapting, designing, and running a “mini-23 Things” for its assigned organization.

It’s been a fun, chaotic, and messy experience. In our weekly group chats online, the mantra has become “Learn by doing….” Real-world messiness offers a level of experience unmatched by classroom activities. This high-tech/high-touch experience sets the students on course for getting jobs and taking on future projects.

The class has been incredible. Three groups of students created Learning 2.0 websites for three insitutions:

• Bethlehem Public Library – Opening Doors to the Future
• Crandall Public Library – Create +8
• Oswego County BOCES – Expand Your Toolkit

Here’s the cool thing. We’ve archived all of the modules the students created for their programs here: http://thehyperlinkedlibrary.org/learning20/

We want them to be available for any future Learning 2.0 programs or just for individual library staff to explore. Please share far and wide.

I also want to take a bit of space here to thank some important folks:

• Everyone at the project sites above who worked with my students and participated in the programs. I took a step back and let the groups interact and plan with the point people and I am most pleased at how successful it was.
• Special thanks to Polly-Alida Farrington, who volunteered her time to work with us – coordinating the project sites and meeting with us in our online workspace throughout the planning stages of the projects.
• A huge shout out and thank you to Char Booth. We used her incredible book Reflective Teaching, Effective Learning: Instructional Literacy for Library Educators as our text. Char also gave her time, lecturing for us and coming back to answer questions during a project debrief.
• And, of course, a big thank you to the brave students who took this class. it was the first time I had ever done such a project-based learning experience. I am knocked out by their work and the high quality of their reflections of the process. They also designed their own online personal learning networks as part of the course. Very impressive work!