[COMPUTER] ILLITERACY

http://www.slj.com/slj/printissue/currentissue/856655-427/of_mice_and_mentors_an.html.csp

Here's an article from March 2010 that discusses an inner-city charter school librarian's efforts to teach elementary school students to become "capable computer users." The librarian was surprised by having to start with basics (like how to turn the computer on) when working with this generation that everyone assumes is already familiar with using a computer. The article details some of the things that worked (and didn't work) in helping the kids become more confident using technology in many varied ways.

Although I don't teach computer classes for kids at our public library, I really identified with some of the hurdles she mentioned, as I've noticed some issues while helping kids at the computers. The kids at our branch seem to be highly skilled in playing flash games, so you might think that they could do other things like use the mouse correctly and maybe even begin to navigate the Internet (at least through Google). However, most cannot. Another problem is that many of the kids here can hardly read. Even if they know what it means to "click on" something, giving directions like "click on the word 'games'" may not be adequate assistance. At our branch, we also have a group of teenaged computer users who are wonderfully adept in playing certain MMORPGs but who are also illiterate and thus cannot be said to be computer literate--at least if you believe that literacy is a fundamental part of successful computer use.

When I think about trying to use Web 2.0 in my job, I've been considering mostly how things will help me professionally and how I can connect with colleagues and obtain/share ideas.

I know I need to think more about how to connect kids with computers, and I hope that will also give me ideas about how to connect kids with reading (whether via the computer or through books).

MEDIA MOVER!

I just took a quiz at the Pew Internet & American Life Project website called "What Kind of Tech User are You?"

The result:
"You are a Media Mover...you have a wide range of online and mobile habits, and you are bound to find or create an information nugget, such as a digital photo, and pass it on. These social exchanges are central to your use of information and communication technology. Cyberspace, as a path to personal productivity or an outlet for creativity, is less important to you."

Yes, I do like to move media around. I love shelving books (too bad it's not part of my job). But, yes, in my experience, cyberspace is not a place for making things; it's a place for making connections.

What about you?
http://www.pewinternet.org/Participate/What-Kind-of-Tech-User-Are-You.aspx

HYPE CYCLE & CULTURE MAKING

Below is a link to an article from American Libraries magazine that references the "Hype Cycle" in regards to new technologies. The hype cycle, as you might imagine, is the process of getting past both the initial hype and the ensuing disillusionment of an innovation to understanding how to use it and making it work on a longer term. The article notes that "a concept rarely performs to expectations. What matters is how you learn from yourself and others in order to improve your own implementation experience. Instead of taking a new application and running with it blindly, we can create a layered perspective on how and why it suits our local needs:
- Utility—First understand a product’s technical foundation.
- Application—Then, examine how it is hyped, adopted, adapted, and rejected.
- Insight—Finally, implement with a critical understanding of its capabilities and caveats."

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/dispatches-field/hope-hype-and-voip-riding-library-technology-cycle

I think I'll keep those three points of perspective in mind when using and writing about technology for this project. I also like to go through Andy Crouch's questions from his book Culture Making. (http://www.culture-making.com/)
- What does X assume about the world?
- What does X assume about the way the world should be?
- What does X make possible?
- What does X make impossible (or at least a lot more difficult)?
- What new culture is created in response to X?

HELLO WORLD!

Hello world!

Here are two things I want the world to know right away:

1. I'm a dual-career woman: I work as a full-time children's librarian in Los Angeles and I am also a homemaker. Wendell Berry is one of my heroes (though the shout-out is ironic because he eschews computers and most modern technology); I love his essay about the household as an economy. I also love both my jobs... most days.

2. I am leaving for a week's vacation in 1 hour and 18 minutes so I've got to do my homework for http://21thingsforkidlibs.blogspot.com/ very quickly and probably very incompletely! That means no time for jokes and probably no time for deep thoughts. If you want to laugh, I'll include a link to a funny Youtube video below, and if you want deep thoughts, try Wendell Berry. In print.

I am of that generation which can't remember ever NOT having a computer at home, even if said computer was an Apple II clone with a monochrome monitor, and (not to brag) but I was one of the first users of Facebook since it started at my alma mater. Yep, been a part since day 8, baby! That said, I'm not particularly familiar with many more Web 2.0 technologies and I'm looking forward to learning a lot this summer. I do most of my Web browsing on the reference desk at the quiet neighborhood library where I work, although at home I happily log into http://www.ravelry.com/ (I'm learning to knit). Ravelry's an exemplary online community, and during my vacation from vacation this week, I hope to delineate some of the reasons I think it's great--how it works well and gives me hope that the Web isn't all junk. So does http://www.freerice.com/

But as far as using Web 2.0 at my job, I have only gone so far as to start browsing Youtube for good preschool storytime songs. I love singing at storytime (and the kids don't seem to mind too much) but I didn't grow up listening to Raffi songs (remember, I was busy "playing the computer"!) so I sometimes need a quick source to find a tune. I also browse to find songs to use with some of our varied themes. Most recently, I was doing a toy storytime. Here's what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3__t7HT9tdI

Stuff like that not only changes my job, it changed my life! And it will change yours if you take a look.