As a librarian, teacher and media specialist for my campus is a huge
responsibility. It is our job to insure
that our students are becoming twenty-first century learners. We accomplish this by embedding technology is
all aspects of our curriculum and learning styles. Though it may be hard at first it is
important to remember that this is where our world is taking us and it needs to
start were our students begin, in school.
The article, Piloting the Learning
Commons, gave me a new perspective on the design of a library and media
center. Having this learning commons
integrates technology right away and makes it readily available for students
and staff when needed. There is no
waiting time because the equipment and sources are right at their
fingertips. Though this could be an
ideal way to set up your library and media center, it does and will take time
to get there. With this, we need to make
sure that we are utilizing our technology with our students to get them ready
for such an event.
The learning commons is set up with the students in mind. There is a variety of furniture and equipment
for the students to use. They do not
have to wait as much because everything they need is at their fingertips. The use of different design software to enhance
projects and research is also available.
The learning commons becomes a place not only for reading; it becomes a
place for thinkers and problem solvers.
Students collaborate with each other, teacher and media specialist. They develop their ideas, brainstorm and plan.
This kind of environment also helps in units of study. The students are excited to use the space and
become excited in using all the technology and print sources available. Teacher collaboration also falls in this
category. When students are excited
about the lesson or project, the teacher is also excited and it makes the
lesson flow better.
The article discusses makerspace, Tinkercad, Cubify, Schoology and
Google Documents. Utilizing the
makerspace area gives the students ideas, examples and lessons to explore. Tinkercad and Cubify were used with their 3D
printer technology and Schoology was the learning management system they used
for assignments, discussion threads, questionnaires and quizzes. Google Documents was used in a similar way,
to keep students and teachers collaborating with their lessons and assignments.
Reading this article helped me understand more about learning commons
and the use of technology as a tool for learning. Some strategies that I took away and will use
in my classroom will be the open seating model, google documents and a type of
learning management system.
The open seating model, though it is not a technology, is a strategy
that will benefit my students by giving them some independence as they work. This will help them become comfortable with
our classroom and gain interest in the assignment. Having this seating available will make the
use of technology more open and interesting.
Using Google Documents and a learning management system will alleviate
some stressors for the student and teacher.
Having assignments done online will help with a paperless
classroom. Being able to do assessments
online will help with grading. Using
shared documents will benefit student groups and collaboration. They will also help with teacher notes on the
assignments. Having these in my
classroom will make my teaching a little easier and become a facilitator and
the students become the teachers.
Reference
Murry, E. (2015).
Piloting the learning commons. Teacher Librarian, 43(1), 18-24.
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