Growing up, we were just about the only Finns in town. “You’re Finnish? Finished with what?” (insert adolescent guffaws)

But now, with Finns at the pinnacle of educational skill (not to mention Marimekko and Nokia cell phones … and SANTA), I’m kinda proud. Now the Finnish Library Association is getting in on things. Found via Stephen’s Lighthouse, I present ….

Luisa posted a fascinating link on the IASL listserv today about a tech-intensive program at Seton Hill University  (not to be confused with Seton HALL!).  In a program they call the Griffin Technology Advantage, the university writes:

Twenty-first century students live in a world of technology and collaboration where learning happens 24 hours a day and is supported by professors, friends, professional experts, and fellow learners in the classroom, on the web, and around the world …

Seton Hill’s faculty understand that each student has a unique learning style. Some of you learn best by attending lectures and writing papers; others excel when given the opportunity to research a topic and create a video or an audio podcast.

To this end, Seton Hill is committed to moving past the teaching of information literacy (understanding how to locate and evaluate information from resources that range from the traditional library to sophisticated online sources) to what we like to call “creative literacy” – teaching you not just how to find the information you need, but how to process it in the way that allows you to make sense of the information, apply the information to actual situations, and solve problems.

Fostering creative literacy by:

• Connecting you and your teachers to versatile, dynamic communities of learners.
• Providing linkages and connections throughout our academic and co-curricular environments.
• Allowing any classroom to become a virtual computer lab.
• Providing access to both Mac and PC-based software applications from a single hardware device.
• Increasing more interactive and in-depth teaching and learning experiences.
• Supporting our vibrant campus environment – increasing both student learning and entertainment opportunities…

In this way, Seton Hill is training students of all learning styles and abilities to be better researchers, better at compiling and organizing data, and better at publishing and presenting information – better, in fact, at becoming lifelong learners who can easily adapt to new situations and new technologies in their lives and careers.

Each incoming student will get a Mac laptop, which they’ll exchange two years later for another laptop that will become theirs upon graduation.  Faculty will also receive a laptop.

Could your school district claim similar goals? (Mine has a very similar set of objectives, though different means.)

Seton Hill uses “creative literacy” to define the process of seeking, using, and synthesizing information.  Do you agree with this term? 

My hunch is that this blurb tells us more about the technology and less about the pedagogy. And since it’s PR, I can’t blame them.  We see the who, what, when, where, and why.  But the $64,000 question (to date myself as a child of the 70′s) is … how? How is an entire university moving from where it is to where it wants to be?

I’m so thrilled that Carl Harvey is going to be speaking (via Skype) to my school library management class tonight.  I really admire how Carl balances friendliness, skill, savvy, and the strong message that if you want to be a great school librarian, well, to quote the opening credits of Fame,  “right here is where you start sweating.” It’s up to you to make things work.

In anticipation of his visit, I pulled his new book, The 21st Century Elementary Library Media Program, off my to-read pile. A few hours later, I had read it cover to cover. 

It’s a terrific overview of what elementary libraries should and can be doing in primary school settings. My head is full of ideas that I need to try, projects I’ve let slide that I need to pick back up, and new goals to set for myself. Whether you’re a pre-service librarian or already in practice, I’m confident that Carl’s book will be useful.

If you haven’t read Carl’s work before, check out his Library Ties blog or this article from the October 2009 issue of LMC Connection on what administrators should expect from school librarians.