Collaboration: The Library Media Center and Educational Technology

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VALLEY CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS (VCS) STUDENTS ARE NOT YET USING THEIR CELL PHONES TO SUBMIT LASS ASSIGNMENTS NOR ARE THEY SENDING THEIR TEACHERS QUESTIONS VIA TEXT MESSAGING, BUT THEY ARK USING OTHER EMERGING INTERNET AND WEB TECHNOLOGIES

We agree with Farr (2009) From Mad Magazine to Facebook--What Have We Learned? reprinted on pages 30-32 of this issue, that fighting students' access to technology is pointless. Instead of fighting access, as the VCS Education Technology (EdTech] coordinator and Library Media Specialist, we have found success in opening access to existing Internet technologies by finding harmony between teachers' instructional needs and the students' desire to use the technologies to which they already have access.

Learning 2.0 is the unofficial EdTech theme of the 2008-2009 school year; all teachers at VCS are direct-teaching using Tablet PCs and LCD projectors. Laptop carts roll from room to room for computer-based student activities, and an increasing number of teachers use online Web 2.0 tools for collaborative learning opportunities. Elementary science students map bodies of water in shared Google Maps. Junior High history students co-create comics on ToonDoo. High school English students discuss books on Blogger.

The implementation of these projects has resulted in numerous and rather revealing insights during the collaboration between EdTech and the Library Media Center (LMC).

THE EDTECH COORDINATOR'S VERSION

VCS considers access to Web-based technologies a critical element in fulfilling our duty to prepare students for higher education and the 21st Century workplace. In fact, equipping students to become leaders who positively affect their communities and the …