teachingstrategy | Looking Backward – No Sweat Library Lessons & Management That Works

In our complex, information-rich, culturally diverse world, literacy is no longer just knowing how to read and write. Students need to understand and be proficient in Five Essential Literacies to be successful in our global society:

Reading and Writing (the original literacy)
Content/Disciplinary Literacy (content & thinking specific to a discipline)
Information Literacy (the traditional library curriculum)
Digital Literacy (how and when to use various technologies)
Media Literacy (published works—encompasses all other literacies)

As School Librarians we need to integrate at least one Library Literacy component into every class visit to the library, so I’m addressing each of these literacies in a separate blog post to offer examples/suggestions about how we might do that. Previous blog posts covered reading literacy, content/disciplinary literacy, and information literacy, so this post looks at Digital Literacy as more than Technology Competency.

DEFINING DIGITAL LITERACY

The definitions of Digital Literacy are numerous. Here are a few:

Digital Literacy-the ability to use technology to navigate, evaluate, and create information. Common Craft
Digital Literacy is the ability to understand, use and safely interact with technology, media and digital resources in real-world situations. Learning.com
Digital literacy…includes knowledge, skills, and behaviors involving the effective use of digital devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop PCs for purposes of communication, expression, collaboration and advocacy. Wikipedia
Digital literacy…specifically applies to media from the internet, smartphones, video games, and other nontraditional sources. [It] includes both nuts-and-bolts skills and ethical obligations. Common Sense Media
Digital Literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills. ALA Digital Literacy Task Force
AASL National School Library Standards defines Technology Literacy as the “ability to responsibly use appropriate technology to communicate, solve problems, and access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information to improve learning in all subject areas and to acquire lifelong knowledge and skills.”

These definitions include Technology Competency—knowing how to USE technology equipment, applications, and online services, but too often we show students how to use a tool within the narrow confines of a particular assignment and fail to teach them why that tool is being used. Consequently, today’s students have and use digital devices, but they don’t really comprehend the digital world. We must, as the definitions clarify, go beyond mere tech competence and build Digital Literacy: a full understanding of the type and purpose of technology tools so as to communicate original multimedia productions through multiple devices and platforms.

With the increase in cloud computing, students can only achieve digital literacy if they understand these broad digital and online concepts:

Source: desktop application, personal device app, or cloud computing.
Purpose: personal use, presentation, or group collaboration.
Audience interaction: 1-to-1, 1-to-many, or many-to-many
Delivery method: 1-way broadcast or 2-way exchange
Response interval: synchronous (same time) or asynchronous (different times)
Scope & Efficacy: all potential uses vs. the best use
For example, a word-processing tool’s best use is to record information, but it can be a collaboration tool by using comment and track-changes features, it can be a multimedia tool by including charts, images, and hyperlinks, and it can be a presentation tool by publishing to a larger online audience.

HOW SCHOOL LIBRARIANS CAN INTEGRATE DIGITAL LITERACY

Creating lessons that integrate technology and digital literacy in an authentic way can be daunting. I find that models such as SAMR, TPACK, LOTI, and TIM are more theoretical than practical, and as busy school librarians we need practical. So, I ask this fundamental question: How do I create Digital Literacy Library Lessons that:

are short & simple and can be scaffolded over time?
focus on the objective of the assignment and the purpose of the library visit?
have a classroom-related activity so students can practice what they learn?

With such lessons, teachers, who otherwise might not know about or use the tools, can see how to integrate them into their own lessons.

ISTE provides Technology Standards for Students as 7 Outcomes, under which we can organize our in-house and online tools, as shown in this table:

Empowered learner	Knowledge constructor	Innovative designer /maker	Computational thinker	Creative communicator	Global collaborator
E-portfolio Flippedlearning Mind map MOOC	Curation Database e-book Note-taking Spreadsheet	Images-Animation Interactiveposter Photoediting Videoproduction Webpage	Coding Robotics Makerspace	Blog Podcast Slideshow Screen-cast Textdocument	Onlineforum Surveytool Wiki Videoconference

Organizing types of tools, rather than brands, prompts me to create lessons that teach students what a tool is and why to use it, regardless of who makes it. Furthermore, when I introduce tools to students, I present them through these 3 Digital Literacy Conceptual Groups:

Personal individual tools (1-to-1) for organization, communication, learning, and reflection, like email, digital documents, and digital storage.
Presentation tools (1-to-many) to create and publish original multimedia products, like blogs, audio pod-casts, slide shows, animations, videos, and live streaming.
Group tools (many-to-many) for collaborating with others, like chats, discussion forums, wikis, social networks, and Web/video conferencing.

This grouping incorporates broad digital concepts that can be turned into short, simple lessons, and makes it easy to introduce a variety of media & technology tools for students to express themselves and add creativity & value to their products.

PRACTICES TO PROMOTE DIGITAL LITERACY

Convince teachers to introduce technology early in the school year & integrate it throughout the year so we can gradually build skills in students. So often big technology projects happen after State testing, but a school only has so many computers and kids can only learn so much new stuff at a time!
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I use my Library Lesson Curriculum Matrix to decide which Subject will most benefit from a new technology tool, and I prepare a Library Lesson Plan to convince the teacher to visit the library with their class. For example, when the 6g Spanish teacher asked how students could give online written responses to practice vocabulary, I introduced my “Cloud Computing” lesson with a district-provided online service that fulfilled that need.
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Introduce a new technology tool to students by using it as an alternative for a non-tech task; later it’s easy to interest them in new ways to use the familiar tool. I often try new tools with ELL and SpEd students—these teachers are very flexible with curriculum and eager to give their students new experiences. Lessons must be short, simple, and specific so these students grasp what I’m showing them, and classes are small so I can work with each student individually. Because technology is visual, interactive, and adaptable for every learner, they learn quickly and use the tools for other classroom activities. I can later introduce the tool to larger groups of students, having ironed out any problems.
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When technology is the end product of an Info-Lit project, I introduce the technology tool during the Create phase of the problem solving model. I show students the tool while the teacher distributes a checklist of end product requirements and an assessment rubric, both of which include my input for the technology tool.
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When integrating technology into a project that allows students to work outside the classroom or library, we need to be cognizant of the digital divide in our schools. Always offer alternatives to a technology product that meet the assessment evidence, but are completely different in nature. (When offering options to middle school students, we find that 3 choices gives variety without being overwhelming for students—or for teachers to create guidelines and rubrics.)
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Think about how to scaffold lessons in small chunks across subjects within a grade level or across different grade levels. For example:
- 6g Social Studies students learn that landmarks & monuments reflect the culture of a country. I show students how to search for copyright-free images online, and they use an in-house tool to create a picture calendar of landmarks from 12 countries. This project is repeated the following year with 7g State History monuments as a tech refresher for students.
- A 7g ELA project offers students the option to create a song about a novel they’ve read. Students learn to find copyright-free soundtracks online then use an in-house audio tool to create and sing the song. (7th graders like singing, even into a computer!) Students also create a cover for a CD container, using prior knowledge to find copyright-free images.
- When 8g ELA students create a video book-talk, I just need to review how to find copyright-free images and sounds online. I show them how to upload files to an online video-creation service then copy the URL into an online QR-code generator so others can view their book-talk.

TOWARD A DIGITALLY SUCCESSFUL FUTURE

In spite of the abundance of technology tools, educators still have obstacles to overcome: availability and reliability of tools, wide variation in teacher comfort, and the digital divide among students having home access to the Internet. And while we educators use digital tools every day for professional and administrative needs, what students need for their work is quite different. Thus, our challenge is to equip students with the digital literacy that will help them achieve success in school and in their future.

For further reading, try these 6 Books on Digital Literacy.

This is the fourth entry in my series of blog posts on the 5 Essential Literacies for Students. I invite readers to offer comments and suggestions about any or all of these literacies.

Putting student needs first means we don’t throw everything at them, all at once. It means we teach only the information or skill students need for the short time they are in front of us—and that is a very different perspective. What students deserve from School Librarians are short, simple lessons that support classroom learning and inculcate the multiple literacies important in our global society.

I regard library materials as accessories for Library Lessons. If books and electronic devices were the most important part of the library, they wouldn’t need us at all. Yes, there are those in school districts, in the business community, and in the political arena who think just that, but School Librarians know that even if the library and everything in it burns down, we can still teach kids what they need for their future success, better than any physical materials ever can. So let’s focus on creating meaningful Library Lessons that students need.

HOW TO PLAN FOR LIBRARY LESSONS

Our biggest adjustment from classroom to library is that we won’t see students day after day for lessons; most of the time we have a single class period to influence and inspire their learning. The key to a quality Library Lesson is to support what students are studying in the classroom and avoid anything that does not achieve the purpose of the library visit. Our Library Lessons need to build on classroom experiences, otherwise, it’s all meaningless to the student and quickly forgotten.

Most kids, of any age, remember something they do better than something they’re told, so our Library Lessons need to focus on a single objective and have a meaningful activity so students can practice what they learn. We need to know every teacher’s curriculum—not the depth, but the breadth of all subject curricula through all grade levels—so we can determine when teachers are likely to bring classes to the library, what students are studying that brings them to the library, and what they need to know about the library to do what the teacher expects them to do.

Library Lesson Curriculum Matrix example

click to enlarge

To keep track of lessons, I created a visual guide: my “Library Curriculum Matrix.” I examined subject area curriculum guides for classroom assignments that would need library visits or materials, then entered the name and time span for those units on my Matrix. Once complete I can plan short lessons to progressively build Information Literacy skills for each grade level throughout the school year. My matrix changes as standards and course curricula change, and I can maintain a broad view of Info-Lit visits to (and collection needs for) my middle school library. It’s also pretty impressive to teachers when I pull it up for scheduling their library visit—they really see what a School Librarian’s job is all about!

I learned pretty quickly that if I want the principal and teachers to regard me as a teaching professional, I need to have a formal lesson plan for my Library Lessons. I combined the best parts of other lesson planners into my own Library Lesson Planner. By starting with subject area content standards, I can integrate library standards and keep the purpose of the library visit clearly in mind throughout the planning process.

Download my Library Lesson Planner as a .docx or a .PDF from my Free Librarian Resources page.

INTEGRATING & SIMPLIFYING IS OUR SPECIALTY

I’ve always tried to see the big picture, and my Library Curriculum Matrix and my Library Lesson Planner allow me to do that. At the same time, they allow me to take a complex concept or process and simplify it. These two planning documents have helped me create successful and meaningful lessons for students as a School Librarian for grades 6-8.

Here are some of my tips to create a good Library Lesson:

Customize lessons for the age of your students; what works for 6g may not work with 7g and definitely won’t work with 8g.
Teach only what students need to perform the task at hand; if they won’t need it, don’t mention it. Less is better!
Limit slide presentations to 10-12 slides with only one bit of content per slide. Use illustrative graphics, whether images, charts, or examples, to provide anticipation for what you’ll say.
Use lots of infographics and graphic organizers rather than textual worksheets. Save the reading for the books!
Model with students what you want them to do. Seeing is not only believing, it is learning!
Always give students a chance to move around sometime during the class period.

One example of how I keep a lesson simple and relevant is teaching students the different type of stories in the Fiction section. The first time I tried teaching adventure, mystery, etc. as “genres“, the kids were completely confused because they’d been learning in their ELA class that genres are types of literature: narrative, expository, drama, poetry. I quickly changed the term to Fiction “Subjects” and they readily understood—they already associated Subject with Dewey books and with an OPAC Book Search by Subject for the kind of story they want to read.

An example of a short and relevant lesson is introducing Dewey books with 6g & 7g Math classes so they can practice decimals at the start of their unit. Since all students really need to know is how to locate a number on a shelf, that’s what my lessons do. The teachers love it because it’s more fun than a review test, yet they can fully interact with students during the lesson to see who might need extra help.

I also keep it short, simple, and relevant by using a WebQuest to introduce online subscription services. I pick one of our online encyclopedias and 1 or 2 other services that support the classroom activity, and students learn to use 1 or 2 different features from each one to complete their assignment. Teachers love my WebQuests—they are customized for their unit and give students quality online information sources without time-wasting Internet searches.

SHORT, SIMPLE, AND RELEVANT PRIORITIZES STUDENTS

I discovered that by keeping students and Library Lessons as the priority, and treating the school library as just a bigger classroom with a lot more stuff, everything else about the library falls into place: collection development, facility organization, library scheduling, library advocacy, and even professional development. Simplifying my Library Lessons helped me simplify managing my School Library, and I’m sure it will help you do the same.

Looking Backward – No Sweat Library Lessons & Management That Works

Practical Answers to Questions You Didn’t Know to Ask

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5 Essential Literacies for Students: Part 4 Digital Literacy