Digital Libraries - The Future of the Printed Word

Sites and Bull (2009) describe the convergence of a perfect storm that will shift the teaching and learning landscape towards digitized books and libraries.  With Google converting the world’s books to a digital format and the onset of digital reading devices, such as Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader, we can expect a dramatic shift in the way books are read, and it is likely that this will be an irreversible transition.  Already some schools and universities are moving to eliminate the physical volumes from some of their libraries and replacing them with digital versions, a trend, which I am sure, will increase in popularity very quickly.

So what does this transition hold for future students and educators? There are numerous educational opportunities to be had, some of which are only now being thought of and discovered.  One Advantage is built-in text-to-speech applications offered by Kindle and other devices that recite the books out loud. This technology would assist those with limited sight or with severe reading disabilities, such as dyslexia.    Additionally, students at higher-grade levels have been using this feature to increase reading comprehension and focus. This tool can also be used to help early and emergent readers, as well.  It would assist young readers in increasing user vocabulary by seeing and hearing the words, as well as increasing reading fluency and comprehension.

Another advantage of this technology is allowing us to reduce the space required to store the texts, books, periodicals and other sources of information. It will allow students to have a greater access to these sources of information, which in past, have been limited by physical location. No longer are students limited to resources physically located on their campus or city, but now students will have the ability to research and find information located anywhere in the world. Additionally, digital libraries will be able to offer students print-on-demand services. Students would be able to print personal copies of books that would be indistinguishable from the conventional books we know today, and rather than a mass printing, the reader determines when a copy is produced.  This would greatly reduced the costs for publishers and allow students to purchase physical books at a reduced cost. 

Finally, when books are digitized, it increases the ability for collaboration and joint interactions across the globe.  Digital books could be displayed on white boards in two different locations while students, teachers and experts jointly discuss the subjects and topics. 

Digital libraries are coming, and coming quickly, and with this technology, students will be able to meet a multitude of NETS.  This use of technology is going to increase access to texts, periodicals, and other sources of information that have been limited in the past by physical location.  This will increase the student’s ability to research and find information. And, it will provide the ability for increased communication and collaboration among students, teachers, and experts across the world. 

Reference:

Bull, G & Sites, M. (2010). Digital Libraries, Shifting the Landscape.  Learning and Leading with Technology, 37, 12-13.

The Power of the Interactive Virtual Field Trip

Field trips can be the highlight of the learning experience. They are stimulating, engaging, and hands on.  Unfortunately, field trips are rapidly becoming a rarity in our education system.  With ever increasing budget cuts and the increasing costs of field trips, schools are providing fewer field trips to their students every year.  As a result, it has become more difficult for teachers to bring real world experiences to their students. 

However, as Zanetis explains in her article (2010), Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) offer teachers the ability to take their students to far off places that were beyond the limits of the local field trip and can even put students in the hands of experts world wide.  She explains that there are two forms of virtual field trips, the Asynchronous VFTs, which most of us are probably more familiar with, and Interactive VFTs.  Asynchronous VFTs are not in real-time and are comprised of websites with text, audio, and video about a particular subject.  However, the real power of VFTs is in the Interactive VFT. 

Interactive VFTs are synchronous real-time experiences where students are able to connect to a real location outside their classroom and talk to experts on the subject.  The students are able to interact with these experts and ask questions through high-powered video conferencing technology. It connects the students with the world in ways even real field trips cannot.  Now, students are not limited by how far they can travel in a school day, with VFTs they can travel the globe.    

Imagine students asking a real NASA engineer about the Cassini probe or about future missions to Mars.  Or imagine students learning about George Washington from an expert at his Mount Vernon Estate.  These are the realities of the Interactive VFTs.  Not only do they expand on the learning experience of the subject matter, they are also meeting the NETs standards of Communication and Collaboration and Digital Citizenship to name a few.

As wonderful as Interactive VFTs sound, there are some drawbacks. The require internet connections with h.323 videoconferencing technology.  That means you cannot just hook up a webcam and go.  Only about 30% of school districts nationwide have this technology, and amazingly, those that do, do not know they can use it for Interactive VFTs.  This equipment can be very expensive and many districts consider it too cost prohibitive to purchase it.  However, some manufacturers offer programs to assist schools in applying for grants to purchase it.

As so much of our everyday lives moves towards the increased use of technology, I feel this is a wonderful opportunity to expose our students to just what technology has to offer.  Through Interactive VFTs, our students are able to connect to experts around the globe, visit places that are beyond the reach of a regular field trip, and learn about the wonders of technology.  In my opinion, it is an investment worth taking in our children’s future. 

Reference:

Zanetis, J. (2010). The Beginners Guide to Interactive Field Trips.  Learning and Leading with Technology, 27, 20-23.

Jounal 1 - Creating Our Future: Students Speak Up about their Vision for 21st Century Learning

In 2009, Project Tomorrow, as part of the continuing initiative Speak Up, conducted a survey of almost 300,000 K-12 students, parents, teachers, and administrators, to gain their insight on education and technology.  As we move into the 21^st century, it is important that we understand just how students are managing and using technology, not just in the classroom, but beyond it, in their everyday lives.  This study finds that many students are using technology much more widely outside the classroom than in it, and that we as educators need to find ways to expand our use of technology to meet the needs of our students and of the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS).

Through the survey, the students were able to conceptualize their vision of what learning should be in the 21^st century.  A vast majority of students strongly desired a more technology-based way of learning, using technology that they were already familiar with and comfortable using.  Yet, the schools seem to be falling behind, even to the point that their policies and procedures were preventing the use of the very technology which would allow the students to learn most effectively. 

In the study, three essential elements of technology-based learning were identified in the student’s vision of 21^st century learning.  These elements were social-based learning, un-tethered learning, and digitally-rich learning.  In the first element, social-based learning, students expressed a desire to tie emerging communications and collaboration technology to their learning process.  Just as many adults do in their jobs and personal lives, students are relying greatly on technology as the main means to communicate among their peers and strongly desire the ability to use that technology to communicate with their teachers and other experts in the areas that they studying and to collaborate with other students on their projects and assignments.  Many students use email, text, IM, social networking, and discussion boards to communicate, however, students report that the biggest problems they have in using technology in schools is the ability to access their communication accounts and send massages to classmates and teachers during the school day.  However, according to the NETS, teachers should be encouraging and enabling students to use digital media to communicate and work collaboratively.  By preventing the use of these tools during the school hours, we are failing to meet the NETS. Since most students already have the skills to use these tools effectively, it is a wonder why we do not implement a more open policy for their use in the classroom.

The second element was un-tethered learning, where students use technology-enabled experiences that transcend the classroom walls. Many students are finding that internet resources allow them a much broader spectrum of information than is provided within their communities and that the internet can provide a better quality or more effective presentation of information than they receive from their teacher or textbook.  Students claim that the primary way they use technology for schoolwork is by accessing the internet for research.  However, many students are not allowed to use their own personal computers or devices and the number of computers provided by the school for use by the students is very limited. Additionally, many schools provide little to no internet access for the students during the school day. Schools need to move to a more technology-open campus, where students can bring and use their own devices and have school wide internet access. By providing greater accessibility to the internet students would be able to meet many of their NETS goals in research and information fluency, and digital citizenship to name a few.  We cannot expect students to compete in our technically advanced world if we cannot even provide them the access required to this technology in school.

Finally, with the third element, digitally-rich learning experiences, students see the use of relevancy-based digital tools, content and resources as a key to driving learning productivity. From the survey, we find that students are doing more creation and manipulation of digital media in their personal lives than in the classroom. In a digitally enriched learning environment, often the process of creation is as important if not more important than the end product. One way that students and teachers are using more digitally-rich learning experiences is through educational online or video games, and a more interactive online textbook.  The textbooks would not just have a digital copy of the printed material, but would also include interactive games, online tutoring, links to data and websites, video clips, animations and simulations to name a few.  These interactive learning tools would assist educators in meeting a number of NETS, including critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making and technical operations and concepts.

It is startling to find that many of the obstacles preventing our students from meeting their NETS goals are actually created from the policies and procedures put in place by our schools.  As educators, it is clear that we need to find ways to embrace these methods of learning and to use the resources that our students already posses instead of limiting the technology that they use.  As adults, we incorporate these tools on a daily bases at work and in our personal lives. In training our students to be productive in our technology-based society, it is imperative that we adapt our schools to be more reflective the work environments are students will be entering into in the future.