“Now
Serving…an Appealing Menu of Digital Literacy Tools and Resources” written by
Mary Lou Caron O’Connor is the Knowledge Quest article I explored from the
May/June 2019 edition. O’Connor uses the
menu “to support student work towards the [AASL] Competencies” (O’Connor, 2019,
p.18). She goes on to say, “These tools
and resources are learner-determined “ingredients” that will be blended
together for a hearty “meal” featuring a balance of tastes, textures, colors, and
temperatures” (O’Connor, 2019, p.18).
It’s very apparent that “Providing learners with a menu of options
encourages students to make choices and [helps] drive their own learning”
(O’Connor, 2019, p.19).
One of the many AASL (American Association
of School Librarians) Competencies developed through the students’ use of these
digital literacy tools and resources to think, create, share and grow is
“Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by: Engaging in inquiry-based
processes for personal growth” (2022). The
corresponding ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) Standards
comes from the Knowledge Constructor 3d. strand: “Students build knowledge by
actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and
theories and pursuing answers and solutions” and the Creative Communicator 6c.
strand: “Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating
or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or
simulations” (2022).
In
comparing these particular AASL standards to the ISTE standards here, there are
several similarities. Using Inquiry-based
learning to satisfy personal curiosity is very similar to being allowed to
actively explore issues and problems.
Having questions and wonderings and being allowed to explore them is
what inquiry-based learning is all about.
Students are able to satisfy their personal curiosities by being given
the power to choose “what, where, and how they want to create, share, and
reflect on their learning creations” (O’Connor, 2019, p.20). The personal growth that is found at the end
of this particular AASL standard is comparable to being able to communicate
complex ideas clearly and effectively.
If one can create something to express what they have learned that
equates to communicating his/her personal growth.
One
of the differences I noticed between the two standards is that just because
students are satisfying their personal curiosity through inquiry-based
processes doesn’t necessarily mean that they are exploring real-world issues
and problems. For example, they may just
be really interested in learning about unicorns or Batman.
The
AASL standards and the ISTE standards work well hand in hand. While the AASL standards are based more on
what to teach for the domains of think, create, share, and grow, the ISTE
standards is the vehicle to get there through the use of technology. The ISTE standards are broken down into sections
covering students as empowered learners, digital citizens, knowledge constructors,
innovative designers, computational thinkers, creative communicators and global
collaborators. The ISTE standards then
go on to break down how educators, education leaders, and coaches fit into
facilitating those roles. Each person
has a role to play in ensuring students are ready for the technological world
we live in today. Sometimes when I think
about bringing technology into the library at my school that only serves
4k-second grade students, I am overwhelmed because I’m not certain how to
manage relaying such abstract ideas. I
hope with the knowledge I learn from this course and working together with our
computer lab teacher, I will come away with a plethora of ideas and ways to
incorporate the ISTE standards while still covering the AASL standards. The Knowledge Quest article, “Now Serving…an
Appealing Menu of Digital Literacy Tools and Resources” gave me great ideas for
a starting place.
References
Crosswalks, National School Library Standards. (2022, April 28).
https://standards.aasl.org/project/crosswalks/
O’Connor, M. L. C. (2019, May/June). Now serving an appealing menu
of digital literacy tools and resources. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 17-
21.
Oh, yes! I can see how it's hard to figure out ways to integrate the ISTE standards with littles! BUT, we know that our youngest students are coming to us with a lot of digital knowledge they would not have had in the past. One thing that I think is hard is making sure you have that balance of technology and making sure they have fine motor skills of holding pencils, crayons, using scissors, etc. So much of what they come to us with is learning via technology. Good thinking.
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