Hacking the culture of learning

Sun, 1 - 2
Hacking the culture of learning

Erica Compton - Idaho Commission for libraries
Megan Egbert - Meridian (Idaho) Library District, Programs Manager
Connie Williams - Petaluma (CA) High School, Teacher Librarians

Christopher Harris - Genesee Valley School Library System - moderator

This panel discussion was about linking school libraries and public libraries to create a learning commons, blurring the lines of where formal/informal learning ends through maker spaces. The panel discussed the conversation and actions they were taking to bridge the gap. Activities included circulating maker kits, lots of classroom visits for information instruction, and kits visiting classrooms to tie in to lesson plans (sounds like your Eureka! project Wess).

One of the most interesting discussion points I enjoyed was the discussion on how to quantitate or qualitate the skills, importance of these spaces or this type of learning for funders. I don't know that an agreement or answer was found, but this conversation starter is an important road for many libraries as we move into new, unfamiliar territory.

Notes:

Panel Discussion

Erica Compton
Idea driven conversation of spaces for learning, for informal learning, libraries are a part of that conversation. Out of school learning are a trusted source - level playing field, provide access, rich learning experiences. Library perfect venue to embrace informal learning.

Megan Egbert - children's librarian, powerful experience for her, talking about the well known word gap, where would children have access to rare words, created a list of where (museum, science camp) for affluent children, then for lower income parents (only library came up).

Connie Williams - think of the library as a classroom and manuever with a classroom. Bring museums to schools, makerspaces to schools. Integrate into a learning classroom - create *one classroom*. Teachers had chrome book carts for the first time. All of a sudden people not coming to the school library - so she went into the classrooms (equal time) in classes and libraries. Encourage them to meld / invisiblize the division between classes.


Chris  - Pivot - means we've failed, company gone down in flames, salvage what you can and move on to creating the next company. Connie pivoted, was flexible, go to new space where customers are.

Megan - Erica's commission has funded makerspaces in 22 libraries. Mou signed for what they would do / libraries would do. Training for staff, maker spaces. A certain amount of programs would be held. Many libraries had a hard time finding a space - when we had to decide it made them become more creative. Still using technology in all kinds of creative ways, programs even though there is not a physical space. Circulate maker kits (Arduinos, makerbots, rasberry pi) can get them anywhere you are. Big pivot for them.Foster making where you are at.

Connie - CA is bottom of the list for services for schools from school libraries. No librarian services for students. In town, they broke through, two high schools collaborated. Parcel tax pays her salary. Public and school library worked together for a comic convention for youth. Will be doing again, looking at what went well, change, looking at databases - library cards going back and forth between school public library. Looking at variations in staffing, how two spaces can not compete, but rather work together.

Megan - creating maker kits for schools to have access.

 Chris - libraries do not purchase any databases beyond what state purchases, school libraries

Erica - year 3 of pilot, assessing with surveys, nothing has been working well. Challenge - how do we assess informal learning? Can see skill growth, has seen an increase in teen participation. Quantitative, no problem. What about qualitative? Understanding fail - fail forward? Understanding persistance. Pittsburgh children's museum working on it (making/learning). Butler working on research.Gut says - longitudinal study, video taping of the making, watching changes over time (persist longer in a task, learn problem solving techniques, move from learner to mentor). Interested in soft skills that help across the board.

Megan - want to accomplish growth, grit - dumpworth lab out of Pennsylvania focusing on grit. 8 step self evaluation for grit. Out of curiosity having teams asses grit before and after.

Connie - we need to get over our assessment lust. How do we know kids are learning? What's of value in education is test scores. If a maker space can show up in a test score, people will like it. We don't know what is assessible, or what the goal is? People giving money want more than just number of kids showing up. Expand into getting teachers with students and we do maker stuff in the classroom, look at lesson plans and take it into the library. Look at how we teach in the classroom and expand school instructional opportunity  into the library. Sounds like a great idea to do professional to professional to expand.

Erica - don't think we should give a grade, we need to redefine learning outcomes and what is meaningful. From a policy standpoint, some outcomes make look different than traditional programs in the past. One of the things we are asking, teachers work with librarians and they will help the teacher design the project using tools in the maker library - meeting a common core requirement already in the classroom. Need to find ways to support the teacher - expand in that direction and look at interesting outcomes. Utilizing informal / different tools.

Connie - not asking teachers for more, asking for teachers to do differently. All kinds of things that will help bring hand son learning / learning commons. Not more, just different. If we have a standard, we have to assess. Conversations are around standards and assessment. How do we want to show what we are doing works and working well.

Questions:

Lisa Guernsey - think tank Washington dc, wants to cross into library world new ways. Experience with tools in observational methods. One called, the class, classroom assessment, looks at how rich the conversation or dialogue. Makerspace is that kind of vocabulary being used.

Megan - we will look at language in programs, as well as modeling (parent education sessions - are they open ended questions). I'm not familiar, but looks like a useful tool.

Chris - personal passion is play based learning, looking forward to moving play based learning out of classroom and into older grades and classrooms.