YOUmedia at Rudy Lozano Branch

YOUmedia was expanded to the Rudy Lozano Branch to replicate the experience for middle school students similar to The Harold Washington Library for high school students.  Mentors, Librarians and other staff spend time at the branches of YOUmedia to enable programs and projects to be available at all YOUmedia locations.  Learn about Hugo and Diego to see what they are learning and creating who attends YOUmedia at Rudy Lozano.

Day 2 - YOUmedia at Harold Washington Public Library

We started the day in the YOUmedia area of the  Harold Washington Public Library with Adrienne Strock, YOUmedia Manager, and Matt Jenson, CyberNavigator.  YOUMedia spaces are in 5 branches of the Chicago Public Library system where their core philosophy is that "youth are best engaged when they are following their passions, collaborating with others, and being makers and doers, not passive consumers."  YOUmedia are spaces that are flexible and open with areas designed for students to "hang out, mess around, and geek out" based on the research and findings of Professor Mizuko Ito and colleagues after interviewing and observing 700+ youth.  Their findings are published in the book Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning.

In the Hanging Out area, we explored the stage that hosts Lyricist Loft each Wednesday evening that frequently sees 100 students, teen fiction books, furniture organized to promote conversation, a Playstation, audio books, and the digital tree of learning featuring YOUmedia students.  Adrienne shared that when the teen fiction books were brought down from the main fiction/literature room floors above, the circulation of these books increased 400%.  That is AMAZING!!!  Books were also seen as we moved into the other areas..  

  

We then moved into the Messing Around area where kids take their interests a little deeper than just talking about it.  Also in this area is the circulation desk where you will find many kids in discussion with the Librarians and CyberNavigators.  When talking with Matt about his role, he said his job is to get to know the kids, their interests, ideas, etc. and guide them to connect with others with similar interests, join workshops and/or projects, and find resources within the space and virtually.  This is the only space that has eight computers that are stationary.  Almost everything in the entire YOUmedia space is movable.  This enables groups to arrange seating as needed and much more.  Messing Around also has a Playstation with musical instruments, portable ping pong table, recording studio, more books, kid's work displayed everywhere, whiteboard of workshops being offered during the week, printer stations, scanner stations, and many places to gather together.  Digital cameras, laptops and other equipment are available for check out and use within the YOUmedia space.  Some equipment requires the kids to work with a mentor or staff in order to use it.  Adrienne stated that 18% of YOUmedia learners receive homework help while the remaining percent use the space for personal interest and expression.  YOUmedia was created in 2009 and the items that they have had to replace were laptops, tablets and the legs of the club chairs due to heavy use.

     

The last area is Geeking Out.  In this flexible space, kids sign up for workshops offered by Digital Youth Network Mentors and YOUmedia staff.  Workshops offered are: digital music production, digital video production, radio + podcasting, graphic design, spoken work - Lyricist Lab, and Library of Games.  Project Groups are: YOUmedia Records, YOUlit Magazine, Lyricist Loft: Open mic for Teens, Girl-illa Media, Library of Games, and The Change Society @ YOUmedia.  The best workshops/projects are those that kids can drop into and not have to attend multiple sessions in a time frame Matt stated.  During workshops, kids take their learning very deep by getting hands on learning with mentors in the industry with specific software, equipment, etc. where they create and publish their work.  Projects and workshops are created by the mentors and staff based on interest of students.  Some are labor intensive to create and run while others are not.  The team meets frequently to reflect on projects/workshops, redesign and/or design new projects/workshops.  Matt stressed that the most important feature of YOUmedia is building and maintaining relationships with the kids.

Mentors
Vivian Alvarez, Photography Mentor
Taylor Bayless, Librarian
Camellia Boyd, CyberNavigator
Marshall Caal, Librarian
Mike Hawkins, YOUmedia Coordinator / Lead Mentor
Matt Jensen, CyberNavigator
Jeff Lassahn, Video Mentor
Marcus Lumpkin, Library Associate
Julia Pyatetsky, Librarian
Adrienne Strock, YOUmedia Manager
Daniel Tamayo, CyberNavigator
Jami Thompson, CyberNavigator
Nigless Tognoni, Graphic Design Mentor
Also Vasquez, CyberNavigator

After the tour, we went back to the Innovation Lab to visit our new friend, Mark Andersen, to see how the opening of the lab went.  We were excited to see he had a full class and the level of interested everyone showed.

Later, we spent time back at the hotel sharing, discussion, getting ideas, making plans, etc. based on what we have learned.  We also began reading and discussion other articles to further our understanding and discussions about Learning Commons, Maker Space, and libraries in the 21st Century.  The articles are: Raising the Bar, Engaging Staff and Students in a Culture of Participation by Sue Kowalski; Playful, Students at Creekview High School Discuss Participatory Learning by Buffy Hamilton; Makerspaces Take Libraries by Storm by Tracey Wong; Participatory Culture in the School Library by Buffy Hamilton and Ernie Cox; Opening the Space, Making the School Library a Site of Participatory Culture by Andy Plemmons; The Transliterate Learner by Gail Bush; The Power of Podcasting by Melissa Purcell; Reinventing Ourselves in the Digital Age by Joanne K. Hammond and Chris Barnabei; Ditching Dewey by Kristie Miller; and Looking at Common Core Performance Tasks for K-12 School Library Programs by Peggy Milam Creighton.  

Our Google Drive folder is getting a workout with all the information and collaboration we are adding.  We ended the day with a great dinner and conversation of the thoughts and ideas each have to implement what we are learning in our libraries.

First Day in Chicago

What an amazing first day of our Fund for Teachers Professional Development trip we have had.  The day started when everyone gathered at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport at 4:45 AM.  Landing was a little rough and in true Southwest fashion they joked about how the flight was sponsored by a chiropractor.  The adventure continued with navigating Midway Airport and the "L" to the downtown Loop.  It was a beautiful day in Chicago which enabled us to explore the the loop area to get a lay of the land.  We visited Millennium Park with Rachel playing in the Crown Fountain, everyone taking pictures of "The Bean"/Cloud Gate, practicing riding the rails, a quick (not so quick) visit to the Harold Washington Public Library, dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant, and research/discussion back at the hotel.

During our trip to the Harold Washington Public Library, we asked about the Innovation Lab which is set to open on Monday.  We were fortunate to ask Mark Andersen, Division Chief of the Business, Science and Technology Division about the lab.  The lab is already booked through July 21 so we could not take part in a class, but Mark took us to the lab and shared their reasons for creating, staffing, how the equipment works and answered any other questions we had.  Thank you Mark for your time!

After a wonderful dinner, we gathering back at the hotel to research and discuss YouMedia which we will be touring tomorrow.  Everyone worked to summarize parts of the toolkit, ask questions and discuss/share ideas in a common Google Docs document.  The work lasted for 3 hours with great conversation and ideas already starting to flow.  It is amazing what can be accomplished and planned when you are given the time.  Thank you Fund for Teachers!

Fund for Teachers trip to Chicago

Fund for Teachers trip to Chicago, a set on Flickr.

The Beginning

Welcome to From Shh to Showtime.

This blog will follow the journey of four media specialists and one technology specialist to analyze the use of YouMedia programs and Learning Commons’ models in Chicago-area libraries to redesign how students work with space, time, resources and community mentors in order to explore, create and publish using new media.  Project funded by Fund for Teachers 2013.

There are several questions we will explore through this fellowship. How are students learning with a variety of new media and what is its impact on the classroom and school community? How are schools and media centers creating learning experiences/opportunities with students that fully engage them? What are examples of fully integrated collaboration across disciplines and how are they best developed? What are successful experiences, projects, etc. for both elementary and secondary students that develop and feature student work publicly?

The model of information services provided to a community guides learning, research, interaction with information, and creation of new knowledge that takes place every day.

The world in which our children are growing up is changing quickly. Our previous information service models no longer meet the needs of our information-savvy students or of our country’s employers who are looking for a workforce who can ask questions, find answers in the flood of information now available, collaborate together to use that information, and design products using their new ideas and knowledge. Checking out books, saying “Shhhhhh,” scheduling fixed class times, and stamping due dates no longer fit the bill - nor do the newer collaborative library services models fully provide what our children and businesses need. Our students need flexible spaces to explore, to immerse themselves in topics and technologies that interest them and that are necessary for their learning, and to effectively work together to design and publish products that showcase their work as seen within the YouMedia and Learning Commons models. They need community mentors to share encouragement, expertise, and knowledge as our students explore new opportunities and possibilities. They need Media Information Specialists who are able to facilitate the spaces, information, technologies, and community resources necessary for this type of dynamic learning and product creation to take place. The MacArthur Foundation and Digital You Network have produced many article, resources, etc. exploring the benefits of YouMedia centers in the Chicago area that have made us aware of these new possibilities. The Ontario School Library Association has also developed a Learning Commons model that we believe works in conjunction with the YouMedia model. Learning Commons’ key role is developing flexible spaces that support strong collaborations among all members of the school learning and working in new ways and with new media.

The YouMedia and Learning Commons models demonstrated in a handful of innovative public and school libraries around our nation are leading the way in the redesign of how libraries serve our young people. We are travelling to these facilities, observe the types of learning taking place, ask questions about how to create and facilitate the necessary infrastructure for this new model, and to bring it back to our own community to develop common learning spaces for all students and disciplines.