Reading Review Part B - LIBE 477

It was interesting to search for information around my key words and ideas. I found a wealth of information and it was overwhelming to try and limit what I wanted to include.  I learned there is a TON of information on 21rst century learning and its obvious connection to technology.  I started by looking at the BCTLA’s website which I haven’t spent a lot of time on. I then moved on and looked at some government documents as well as some articles and books from the UBC library.  Finally, I google some of the other TLs I follow on Twitter and found some interesting blogs.

·         The BC Coalition for School Libraries was an interesting starting point. Despite being a bit out of date, I found some really useful information advocating for school libraries and librarians. I thought that this might be a good place to take some information when I speak to my school’s PAC this week.

·         The Ministry of Education’s 2010 Report on 21rst Century Learning is a good overview of 21rst century learning and how the nature of education in changing. 

·         I learned that ERAC (Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium) exists. One of their roles, apparently, is to provide “leadership in the areas of new technology and new media and their potential roles in education. We provide educators with research-based trends and also encourage sharing of knowledge and experience within the membership.” (ERAC).  I also learned that my school district has people who are designated as ERAC representatives but I have no idea what this looks like, what the costs are or if our district does by and large, use this service.  Something to look further into I suppose.  Despite my complete unfamiliarly with ERAC I did enjoy this video on their website which shows some great example of what a teacher could potentially do when supported with technology.  I also found this report which discusses a schools readiness (or lack thereof) to implement new technology.

·         I’ve been following Gwyneth Jones on Twitter for a few years now but I recently took a good look at her blog which is both humours and informative to many of the issues I have already discussed.  A Pinterest search also turned up some suggestions of other TLs to follow which I would further like to explore in the future. I’m not sure how much Canadian content this contains however and I do like to remain contentious of the differences in American and Canadian Education systems.

·         I was able to find both a book and journal article through the UBC library which were very interesting:

 

Ng, Wan. New Digital Technology in Education: Conceptualizing Professional

Learning for Educators. 2015. eBook.  Accessed September 24, 2015.

Learning and Leading with Technology: Should there be Limits on Students' Screen Time?

Although most Agree that Digital Media have a Place in Education, the Majority of Respondents Believe Limits Help Students Achieve Balance. 38 Vol. International Society for Technology in Education, 09/01/2010. Web. 26 Sep. 2015.

·         I was happy to find this book and see that is was published just this year! One of the chapters includes some useful information about the barriers to technology (Ng 18) which I could absolutely relate to. This journal article also presented some useful information about digital balanced and started that in many schools ““computers tend to be quite underused, especially in constructive, creative way” (Learning and Leading). Yes,  sounds like my school!

After doing this research and seeing how much is out there on education and technology I’m hoping to focus my topic on barriers to technology and how an individual/school/district might look at overcoming them.  I don’t see an easy solution to this but certainly it is an issue worth exploring.