How do you keep up with the latest educational trends?Do you read and subscribe to print or online journals? Do you attend conferences or workshops? Are you working on an advanced degree or are you enrolled in college courses? Are you part of a professional learning community? Perhaps you subscribe to listservs like LM_NET or read this Big6 eNewsletter. To remain current, effective educators read, listen and collaborate with others. Research shows that “teachers learn best by studying, doing, and reflecting; by collaborating with other teachers; by looking closely at students and their work; and by sharing what they see.” (Darling-Hammond, 1999). Effective professional development is the key to transform teaching and learning, and, ultimately, to better meet the needs of all learners.

About the “23 Things”

A new professional development model has grown out of the desire to teach about the importance of Web 2.0 tools for use in libraries. (And, at the same time, the 23 Things model unintentionally illustrates and applies the Big6 principles). The program, known as “23 Things” began when Helene Blowers, Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (North Carolina), developed a way to help her library staff learn about the new Web 2.0 tools.

Helene designed the first 23 Things that, she says, “focuses on encouraging self-discovery and having staff take responsibility for their own progress.” (School Library Journal, March 2007). She initiated “Learning 2.0” which her library staff explored in August 2006. Since then, more than 100 iterations of the 23 Things have been developed. One of the latest iterations is “School Library Learning 2.0” developed as an initiative of the California School Library Association. CSLA members Connie Williams, Jackie Siminitus, Jamie Boston and I tweaked the 23 Things to add a school library flavor to the experience.The professional development model that has grown from this format combines the “studying, doing and reflecting” for teachers discussed by Darling-Hammond with the principles of Web 2.0 – sharable, collaborative, personal and customizable. Participants move through a series of 23 self-improvement or professional development activities at their own pace, spending as much time as they would like on each activity. Generally, each program is voluntary but some come with some extrinsic rewards such as certificates, gift certificates, iPods or computers. Ultimately, it is the intrinsic rewards that each person experienced – both personally and professionally – that cause one to incorporate the Web 2.0 into the library.The School Library Learning 2.0 (or SLL2.0) program ran from June to September, 2007. Participants volunteered to participate and spent anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours on an activity, depending on their level of interest in the activity. The success of the program has been measured both by the number of participants and the reflections on the participant blogs. There were a total of 188 participants – 124 participants in California and another 64 people from outside of California. There were 10 participants who earned professional development units from Fresno Pacific University.

Responses From Participants

Comments from participant blogs also reveal the learning that occurred:“My favorite exercise was blogging, certainly. I think I had dismissed the idea that I would ever have need for a blog, so this was groundbreaking. It was great that the blog became the vehicle for responding to all our “Things,” or learning experiences.”“The conversation, AH HA, that in a nut shell is the essence of blogging. What I want my students who contribute to the blogs at school to experience is the “Wow” moment when someone responds to their writing. The whole point of blogging is not just the writing, not just the reading, but must include the responding.”“Library 2.0 refers to a model of library service that, like Web 2.0 on the internet, is flexible and open to change, constantly updated and reevaluated, and relies on user feedback in the design and implementation of effective new services.”“I liked the self-paced learning aspect of the program and I felt the amount of what we had to learn for the summer was doable and allowed for flexibility.”“My favorite discovery was a way to promote books and have an interactive conversation about books through my library website.””Although not a web native, I do now feel like I am a naturalized citizen, no longer an alien!”

In the Big6 Framework

The success of the program is partly due to the structure of each activity or “thing”. Retrospectively, the Big6 stages are incorporated into each activity. Each activity includes: A) a task; B) resources (information seeking strategies and location and access); C) discovery activities chosen by the participant (use of information); D) creates some type of product (synthesis), and E) reflection – blogging about the activity (evaluation).

Do the 23 Things!

As an outgrowth of SLL2.0, “Classroom Learning 2.0” has been developed specifically for classroom teachers. Join us in this Web 2.0 journey and become part of either School Library Learning 2.0 or Classroom Learning 2.0!

Links:

Darling-Hammond, Linda. “Teacher Learning That Supports Student Learning,” http://drupal.glef.org/node/478.“Steal this Idea.” School Library Journal. March 2007. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6423431.html.Learning 2.0 – http://plcmcl2-about.blogspot.com/2006/05/list-of-libraries-others-doing-learning.html.School Library Learning 2.0 and bloggers – http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com/index.htmlClassroom Learning 2.0 –http://classroomlearning2.blogspot.com/