Whether we are ready or not, new
technology comes out faster than we can take and digest, but technology has become
an inseparable part in our every life. The Standards for the 21st-Century
Learner developed by the American Association of School Librarians (2007)
serves as a guide for all school libraries and school librarians to help our
students to grow into 21st-century learners. To be information
literate learnesr, the students need to be in a learning environment that
promotes lifelong learning with access to all that is available out there in
the world.
Technology has made almost
everything easier in our lives. The many advantages of technology has made it a
“must” in the education field. Having technology in education has become an
unnegotiable. Alice Armstrong’s article, Technology
in the Classroom: It’s Not a Matter of ‘If,’ but ‘When’ and ‘How,’ from the
Illinois School Board Journal (January 2014) has shared many statistics from
different sources on the usage of technology by young people in and out of the
school setting. A 2012 study conducted by Verizon showed that more than one
third of middle school students use smart phones or tablets to do homework, and
the study also revealed that there is a large gap between mobile technology use
at home and in school. President Obama proposed a National Education Technology
Plan in 2010 that suggested that “schools must develop and offer engaging and
empowering learning experiences for all learners (Armstrong, 2014)”. Our goal
as school librarians is to help teachers deliver instructions that put students
at the center and empower them to take control of their learning by providing
flexibility. The roles of school libraries and school librarians include shrinking
the digital divide to prepare all students and learners for their education and
future career especially in the area of technology.
According to Musawi’s Redefining Technology Role in Education
(2011), technology has three distinctive roles in education: the medium or
resource role, the management role, and the delivery role. The medium or
resource role of technology made the biggest impact on both teaching and learning
beyond our imagination. Technology’s role in being a medium or resource has
expanded the learning and also globalized resources for all learners, which
promotes the learners to become more independent. “Through technology role as a
medium/resource, [education] will become highly interactive, individualized,
flexible, and accessible (Musawi, 2011).”
Knowing the impact of technology on
learning, school librarians need to make sure they are up-to-date with the
latest educational resources. Even though a lot of the roles of school
libraries have been replaces by technology, school librarians still hold the
human touch with intelligence on the best resources for students in their
learning and career preparation. Students may turn to Google or other search engine on the Internet for answers, but school librarians hold the knowledge on the most appropriate sources for various topics and can help students lift the overwhelming feeling when faces with endless choices on their research.
Resource
American Association of School Librarians. 2007. Standards
for the 21st-Century Learners.
Armstrong, A. (2014). Technology in the classroom: It’s not
a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when’ and
‘how,’ Illinois School Board Journal, 39-46.
Musawi, A. (2011). Redefining technology role in education, Creative Education, 2(2), 130-135.
