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.