RSA Animate did a rather amazing white board animation of one of Sir Ken Robinson’s talks. It made the rounds in the blogosphere a few months ago, but I put it in my “watch later” pile. With only 8 more student project to grade before I wrap up the term, and having received an email from a colleague with a link today, I indulged.

The kind of creative interpretation it takes for someone to draw images to accompany someone else’s talk is rather mind-boggling in and of itself. But even more than that is Robinson’s core message about the impact of standardized testing and the role of the arts in helping our senses work “at their peak.”

This video reaffirms why I am in education and raises questions about where, in my own practice, I’m allowing individual growth versus requiring that students do things the way I do them.

Take a few minutes and indulge … then ask yourself … what am I doing that directly supports students learning to their capacity? What could I do in the New Year?

My colleague Jeff Stanzler and I gave a Webinar for the folks in Holland, Michigan, attending the MACUL Teaching and Learning in the Cloudhere. We couldn’t get there in person, so our intrepid colleague Steve Best was our face-to-face host and coordinated this Webinar.

You can view the chat transcript or watch the Webinar here.

You can learn more about the conference by clicking through the Scribd document below.

Conference Program v3

Here’s another T.H.E. Journal story, about a Walden University study that says that teachers perceive that integration of educational technology promotes 21st-century skills.

It also states that teachers who have graduated since 2000 feel that their pre-service education programs do not feel adequately prepared to instruct using these skills.

Teachers Report Educational Benefits of Frequent Technology Use — THE Journal via kwout

Links to the executive summary and complete report can be found here: http://www.waldenu.edu/Degree-Programs/Masters/36427.htm

Be sure to view the study’s executive summary, which points out five myths:

1. Teachers who are newer to the profession and teachers who have greater access to technology are more likely to use technology frequently for instruction than other teachers.

2. Only high-achieving students benefit from using technology.

3. Given that students today are comfortable with technology, teachers’ use of technology is less important to student learning.

4. Teachers and administrators have shared understandings about classroom technology use and 21st century skills.

5. Teachers feel well prepared by their initial teacher preparation programs to effectively incorporate technology into classroom instruction and to foster 21st century skills.

There are so many questions wrapped up in this study … starting with our perceptions of Walden (a major online education provider) as a research university … whether or not teacher or administration perceptions are accurate … whether or not perceptions are an appropriate measure of use … whether the real question is “use of technology” or “results of use of technology” … where the librarians are … the amount of tech integration that could be happening if there were better bandwidth / support / equipment …

But it does remind me that school librarians can use the study to leverage themselves in schools. Here are three ways where I see that school librarians can step forward:

1. Work with administrators to develop a shared vision for what great ed tech integration and 21st-century learning looks like in schools.

2. Rearticulate our role as embedded professional developers to provide just-in-time evaluation and modeling of new technology tools.

3. Reaffirm our leadership role by helping teachers hone their own critical evaluation skills regarding ed tech adoption and the resulting student work.

What do you think?