The most important takeaway I have from these weeks of exploration is the role that librarians in creating connections with the outside world. Although librarians are well-accustomed to teachers asking for books, making requests for digital resources, and inquiring about our community connections, I have come to realize that the quality of resources we provide can only grow by expanding our network.
With encouragement from everyone engaging in this blog, it is now a definitive goal for me to grow my Professional Learning Network (once this course is over!). Some of my peers have suggested great Twitter accounts and I will certainly use those recommendations as a starting point. I would love to make global connections with educators of all backgrounds and with individuals involved in the book trade, and to broaden the local connections with our diverse community in B.C. This new focus is an interesting shift away from my initial interest in digital citizenship and student wellbeing, though developing a PLN can certainly inform my knowledge and practice of digital citizenship and improving student wellbeing.
The reality is that digital citizenship is a permanent fixture in our educational landscape, and it is still intertwined with my new goal. I envision myself learning alongside students. I can model for them how I created my PLN, how to connect with strangers online safely and respectfully, and provide another means for them to conduct research and engage in learning. I will also be demonstrating the importance of diverse perspectives from around the world, as I aspire to build connections around the world with different schools, authors, and experts in different fields that relate to student inquiries.
I can incorporate this new PLN focus as I continue working on building Google Sites for the Library. I am creating one site to centralize all library-related information about literacy and research, and another site highlighting all the Learning Technologies used in the school. I now realize I need to actively seek out different platforms that can enhance online collaboration. I’m currently at an IB Conference in Denver and I have learned about the global network I have instant access to as an IB Educator through MyIB, as well as the one available through Future Ready Schools (sponsored by Follett and AASL). I’ve also discovered Padlet and Trello, along with many other platforms such as Powtoon, that can be used to increase student collaboration and engagement with projects that can be shared with the outside world. In the research section of the Library page, I can include forums for students to make real world connections, though admittedly, I do not even have a starting point for this. I ordered a copy of Digital Citizenship In Action: Empowering Students to Engage in Online Communities by Kristen Mattson, so I’m looking forward to perusing this for some real world ideas.
With so many rules and restrictions to secure safety, I think it’s important to nurture student agency with technology. These past weeks in Phase 2 have given me many ideas on how to incorporate student voice in conjunction with exposure to other library and learning settings. I love the idea of showing them examples of library spaces and events from around the world, digital and mobile libraries, different names for libraries, and having them participate in a rebranding of the library. It’s something that gets me really excited, and I know the excitement will transmit to the students. The most important aspect of my learning journey is that my learning becomes “our learning” in our school, and that the library feels like “our library” – one that everyone is invested in and extends far beyond our walls and books.
The Learning Circle 
A good overview of what you are planning for the future steps and after this course is done. A little more reflection/review of the highlights and new learning of the last 4 weeks would be a better focus for this post. While the plans for your future vision are based on your experiences of the last 4 weeks, a little more discussion of the key awareness, topics, resources and also things your small group shared and discussed would be a valuable addition to this post and topic. Your review of the experiences at the IB Conference and some of the tools and communities shared there are interesting and can provide some guidance for others. A little more reflection and review would be great.
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“I have come to realize that the quality of resources we provide can only grow by expanding our network”-I was thinking about this the other day too-the idea that it’s actually a responsibility of ours to expand our networks…an integral part of the job-not just an addition but a requirement.
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Your reflection on your personal learning network really resonated with me! Throughout this course, I was also finding that I was becoming more and more aware of how important a PLN is – as a teacher, but more importantly as a teacher librarian. I think it can often feel isolating in the learning commons, feeling like you have to provide and nurture communication in your school community but connecting to the learning network at large can be incredibly empowering and liberating.
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