Digital Adaptive Tools for the School Library

    There are many software-based products that can read a website text and alt-text images audibly to the user. Some of these software options also magnify, tint, and otherwise enhance the text of a website for better access for those with vision impairment. I think that this type of adaptive technology resource would be a great addition to the school library.

    Referring to the universal design principle that we can create spaces that work for everyone, and that more access gained for some means better access for all (CAST, 2023), the idea of an easier to use online library catalog, website and databases makes sense. Making sure that the catalog and website can be seen and heard and used better helps students with known low or no vision, teachers with aging eyes, and students with undocumented vision loss or reading disabilities. And using universal design and/or accommodations for disabled students has a neutral or positive effect on all students (Hehir, 7)

    When visiting the New York and San Francisco Public Libraries' websites, I found that there are terminals at both sites that offer such adaptive technology. One refers to a product called ZoomText Magnifier/Reader by Freedom Scientific, and the other refers to MAGic screen magnification software, also by Freedom Scientific. According to their website, every public PC at all NYPL locations is equipped with JAWS screen reading software and MAGic software for enlarging the screen, changing colors and contrast, and screenreading. And while perusing the site, I realized that screenreaders can also potentially help those with reading disabilities find the information that they need.

    From the Freedom Scientific website, it appears that having a public license may have a ticket price of $900 - $2000, so it would not be an item for every school's budget. If the librarian had completed a survey of their patrons and knew it would be beneficial, I am sure there are grants available to acquire it. 

    With that in mind, there are a variety of free online screenreaders available. NVDA is free (donation optional) and accessible to everyone, and seems to be the industry standard for use on PCs.

    If the library computer or the student's device is an Apple product, you could use Apple VoiceOver. This is a great resource for teachers to remember for themselves and their students because it is inherent to the Apple suite, and useful for students' ever-present iphones. If you are on a mobile device (iphone, ipad, etc.), you just open Settings, then Accessibility, then you can choose VoiceOver, Zoom, Spoken Content, Audio Descriptors, and more.

    For those using Chromebooks or a Chrome browser, the extension ChromeVox is available, and for the price of $0 additional budget, it's not a bad option.

The State Library of Iowa Continuing Education put out a nice overview YouTube video on screenreaders and how to use them in the library.

Another great resource is this (non-exhaustive) compilation of database compatibility with screenreaders put out by Suffolk University.

Using screenreaders on library computers for OPAC or database usage is an easy way to incorporate universal design to make accessing information easier for everyone.

Resources

CAST, Inc. (2023). About universal design for learning https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl

Freedom Scientific. (2022). Products https://www.freedomscientific.com/Products/

NYPL  For Patrons with Print Disabilities or Visual Impairment https://www.nypl.org/accessibility/print-disabilities

State Library of Iowa Continuing Education. (2012, May 7). Screen readers in your library [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yLl26iP3ac

Suffolk University (Dec 16, 2022 )Screen Reading and Library Resources: A Guide for ADA Accessibility: Full list of Accessible Library Databases

Hehir, T. et al. (2016, August). A Summary of the Evidence on Inclusive Education [PowerPoint slides]. Professor of Practice in Learning Differences, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Tech Hardware and its Teaching Function in the School Library

    In the school media center, it is easy to dream of big ticket items like 3D printers and VR headsets as must-haves for our students to be able to be future-ready. And these examples of technology hardware would certainly add quite an impact to the lessons with which the students could engage. But perhaps we find ourselves at the helm of a less well-funded district library. We can still foster technology integration and prepare students for a digital age with a modest budget. Technology integration in the school should not be focused on the particular tech toy, but rather on how the tech can foster the curriculum. "...becoming effective technology leaders involves shifting the focus of our efforts from promoting technology tools and usage to supporting teachers in designing technology-enabled learning experiences." (Green, 42)
    The Technology Integration Matrix, or TIM, is a research-based teaching framework wherein the levels of technology integration are crossed with the characteristics of the learning environment.  The matrix can help teachers and observers be aware of their environments and could help them move themselves and their students into and through different technology modalities. The goal of using the matrix is not to get to a specific level or square. As Dr. James Welsh states in this very helpful introduction video, "...within the matrix, there is not a bad area to be or a good area to be; the matrix is a system of describing what you're seeing in the classroom." (FETC, 2021) The TIM can also help educators know where they might want to go in terms of professional development.

    That five characteristics of the learning environment are active, collaborative, constructive, authentic and goal-directed. The five levels of technology integration are entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion and transformation. All 25 squares are appropriate places to be in a classroom, as long as they are intentional and meeting the needs of the student, teacher and district.
    So putting all of these ideas together and knowing that we as teacher-librarians want to foster 21st century learning skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity, I wanted to find an easily accessible piece of technology hardware that could act as a gateway to further technology integration. Enter the humble microphone and headset. When paired with the ubiquitous digital learning device such as a Chromebook, laptop or smartphone, the media center can become a place where students can move from passive learning to digital content creators. My recommendation would be a two-way microphone for multiple users, and headphones.
    Teacher's use of microphones in the classroom has been studied many times over for its benefits for harnessing the attention of the students and promoting learning. (Millett, 2008) Microphone amplification of teacher's voice also helps English Language Learners, students with ADHD, and benefits students with hearing loss that is not documented. Use of a microphone in the classroom is a great example of entry level technology use for active (passive) learning.
    Another great use of microphones and headsets would be for teachers to have emerging readers record themselves reading. The readers can practice their skills and teachers can check in on progress without the students risking embarrassment in front of their peers. On the same level of technology integration would be high school public speakers or debate team members recording themselves and playing their work back for practice. These are good examples of active adoption of technology tool for active learning.
    Moving into collaborative learning, the students can use microphones and a recording app to become information digesters. I can envision a social studies or English language arts class reading or watching some news, current event or other story. Then the students can take on different roles of the story to create a new product. This could be a news report or a live report of events, or a new story altogether. This sort of activity would display an adaptation level of technology use with collaborative learning.
    At the middle school or high school level, librarian teachers can use microphones and headsets to incorporate podcast creation into their curriculum. If you need some inspiration for how to create podcasts with students, you can read this story (NPR, 2021) about how four teachers co-taught and fostered a culture of creation. Those middle school teachers were inspired by the annual NPR Podcast Challenge that on its own page includes detailed directions for teachers and students on the nuts and bolts of podcast creation (NPR, 2023).
    Going one step further on podcasts in the classroom, The New York Times also holds the Student Podcast Contest. (NPR, 2023) They have outlined an entire lesson plan that includes storytelling, researching, interviewing, editing, and producing. "While technology integration implies increased and indiscriminate technology use by teachers and students, technology enabled learning 'places the primary emphasis where it needs to be: on the content-based pedagogy of teachers’ lessons followed by a consideration of all the tools teachers might use to implement it, in order to effect student learning' (Brantley-Dias and Ertmer 2013, 120)." (Green, 42)

    One teacher's thoughts on how collaborative podcast creation shows off the authentic transformation level of technology integration are, "...for the most part, you should give teens control. In our podcast, the students created the name (Booklings Chat), the intro music using their own instruments, and recorded the intro and outro. They also made their own artwork to use as promotion for the podcast." (Maxwell, 2022) 

    The teacher/librarian in another school who wrote up her experiences with having microphones and headsets available is quoted as saying, "The hope is that this (audio) studio will be a resource for both students and faculty to showcase their work." (Little, 2019) This level of technology integration would be in the transformative level and goal-directed transformation of learning. 

Resources

Future of Education Technology Conference [Florida Center for Instructional Technology         conference presentation]. (2021, February 8). Introduction to the Technology Integration      Matrix - Dr. James Welsh [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/REByCgv1eyE

Gay, A. (2020, March 5). 8 creative uses for classroom headphones. Learning Headphones. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://learningheadphones.com/blogs/school-headphone-blog/8-creative-uses-for-classroom-headphones

Green, L. (2014). Through the looking glass. Knowledge Quest, 43(1), 36-43.

Hicks, J., Winnick, L., & Gonchar, M. (2018, April 19). Project audio: Teaching students         how to produce their own podcasts. The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2023,      from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/learning/lesson-plans/project-audio-                    teaching-students-how-to-produce-their-own-podcasts.html?smid=url-share

Little, H.B. (2019, September 9). Podcast and Video Studio in the School Library.                      Knowledge Quest. https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/podcast-and-video-studio-in-the-             school-library/

Maxwell, L. (2022, September 13). How to create a School Library Podcast. BOOK RIOT.       Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://bookriot.com/how-to-create-a-school-library-podcast/

Millett, P. (2008, September). Sound field amplification research                                     study.  https://audioenhancement.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sound-field-amplification-research-summary-2.pdf

NPR. (2021, October 24). The superstar teachers of our student podcast challenge. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/24/1047336743/the-superstar-teachers-of-our-student-podcast-challenge

NPR. (2023, January 6). Starting your podcast: A guide for students. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/662070097/starting-your-podcast-a-guide-for-students

NPR. (2023, January 6). The fifth annual NPR Student Podcast Challenge is open for                     entries! https://www.npr.org/2022/12/14/1141665744/student-podcast-challenge-                contest-npr-2023

Blogshare: Using Library of Congress Primary Sources in the Classroom

 

Hi there Middle School Social Studies folks! This post is (mostly) for you. I have been thinking a lot about a quote I read, "School librarians must rethink their own existing workflows for curating resources, updating online spaces, and designing instruction." (Boyer, 2016) This led me to brainstorm ways for us to collaborate here and online with your students. I want to share new (and new to me) digital and technological resources that will aid you and me in teaching in this evolved classroom. So I will be rolling out websites and apps as I discover them. Please let me know if there is something specific you are looking for.

If you find yourself itching to include primary sources in your lessons, I have found a great resource for you. It's called Case Maker. There are 20 pre-made online challenges for your class already created, or you can create your own challenge using Library of Congress primary source documents.

Subjects range from Brown v. Board of Education to What are the Limits of the President's Power? There are so many interesting topics from which to choose:

Students have to work through a challenge question by examining primary sources such as newspaper articles, videos, and political cartoons and saving evidence to their casebooks. When they’re done, their work can be directly presented from the website or used as reference material for an offline assignment, like a paper or debate.

"With the ever increasing incorporation of technology tools in schools, the role of school librarians added technology integrationist to the role of information specialist." (Wine, 209) With this said, I always want to keep my doors open to any technology-based solutions to your teaching issues. Even having the students down for a lesson on finding and examining primary sources using the Library of Congress database of information would be great. Let's set something up together soon!

Best,

Jen

References:

Boyer, B. (2016). Meet your learners where they are: virtualizing the school library. Internet@Schools, 23(1), 4+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A440057567/AONE?u=nysl_ca_dmvacces&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=73a967ca

Wine, L. (2016). School librarians as technology leaders: An evolution in practice. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science. 57(2), 207-220.