Digital learning environments: Creating opportunities for teacher librarian leadership

Access

Throughout the data collection, analysis and assessment for this report, I was pleased to confirm that my school is making positive progress towards a digital learning environment with increased access to mobile and cloud computing (UNESCO, 2013, p. 1-41). The strong support of the school board, and recent purchase of more devices will support students and staff to develop the competencies required for the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2016a) and Australian professional standards for teachers (AITSL, 2011). In my role as teacher librarian working primarily with K-3 students, I wish to take a leading role in ensuring students develop the skills and attitudes required to access online platforms and digital tools for content creation and collaboration with peers (Holland, 2013; Light, 2012, p. 18-20; Lindsay, 2016a).

Collaboration and communication

As a specialist staff member without timetabled collaborative planning opportunities, I often feel somewhat isolated from my colleagues, as described in Section Two of the report. Recently, I have sought to establish a professional learning network (PLN) with two classroom teacher colleagues from the ICT working group. These colleagues are enthusiastic, engaged and talented beginning educators; working with them is incredibly motivating and inspiring, and has increased my sense of collaborative connection. As I teach their classes weekly, I have purposeful opportunities to discuss ways to contribute additional information and digital perspectives to existing units of inquiry. We largely communicate informally during recess and lunch breaks or via Twitter and Google Docs. Coincidentally, the growth of this PLN has coincided with our selection to be part of an Apple Educator program at our school, so it will be exciting to see what happens next.

Leadership and strategic vision

Engagement in this subject; particularly Assignment Three has strengthened my resolve to advocate more assertively to be acknowledged as an information and technology leader within my school (Cornwell, 2018a; Cornwell, 2018b). As described in Section Two of this report, the teacher librarian is not currently a member of the executive leadership team, limiting my capacity to contribute relevant knowledge, skills and perspectives to the strategic growth of the school (Cox, 2018b). Furthermore, given the problematic nature of the combined ICT Coordinator/ Deputy Principal: Student Welfare role, there is an opportunity re-assess existing staffing resources and role descriptions to better utilise my teacher librarian expertise to develop the digital learning environment of the school (Freeland Fisher, 2018).

Staff capacity, attitudes and professional learning

The intensive and steep learning curve of this subject has given me a renewed empathy for colleagues who lack confidence in using ICT to enhance their teaching practise and professional workflows, as described in Section Two of my report. At times throughout this subject, I have felt overwhelmed with the range of digital tools available to me and wondered how I can best utilise them for teaching, learning or personal use. I browsed many of the tools recommended, established accounts, and engaged with a small number in addition to my existing repertoire, such as Diigo, Canva, YouTube, and Twitter (Cox, 2018a). However, like my colleagues, I felt a conflict between my desire to embrace the new, and the comfort of existing methods when faced with administrative pressures, and deadlines.

My own experiences indicate that one can become blinkered to the possibilities during busy times, and revert inward, rather than seeking to embrace new ways of working. In the dynamic; and often frantic school context, it is essential that staff feel encouraged and supported to re-evaluate, to experiment, to grow in their use of ICT within the digital learning environment (Lindsay & Davis, 2013, p. 186-187). This ensures each layer of skill, positive perception, and pedagogy is established before adding the next layer of professional growth. Whilst formal professional learning workshops can be excellent, my view is that staff capacity in a digital learning environments is best built through the sustainable, and supportive construct of peer coaching and mentoring within professional learning communities (Lindsay, 2016b).

References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2016a). Australian Curriculum, Version 8.3. Retrieved from ACARA website: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/about-the-australian-curriculum/

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2011). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from AITSL website: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/apst-resources/australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf

Cornwell, G. (2018a, 11 May). RE: Module 6.1: Developing policies that support a DLE [online discussion post]. Retrieved from CSU Interact2 website.

Cornwell, G. (2018b, 11 May). RE: Module 6.2: Influencing the broader agenda [online discussion post]. Retrieved from CSU Interact2 website.

Cox, E. (2018a, April 20). Digital citizenship and collaboration: A reflection. In Ms Cox: Librarian [blog]. Retrieved from website: https://mscoxlibrarian.wixsite.com/portfolio/single-post/2018/04/20/Digital-Citizenship-and-Collaboration-A-reflection

Cox, E. (2018b, April 20). Implementing a digital learning environment. In Ms Cox: Librarian [blog]. Retrieved from website: https://mscoxlibrarian.wixsite.com/portfolio/single-post/2018/05/28/Implementing-a-digital-learning-environment

Freeland Fisher, J (2018, 22 February). 3 ways to harness digital for personalised learning success: Points for school leaders today. In Clayton Christensen Institute [blog]. Retrieved from blog webpage: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/3-ways-harness-digital-personalized-learning-success/

Holland, B. (2013, June 18). Introducing social media to elementary students. In Edutopia [blog]. Retrieved from Edutopia website: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/introducing-social-media-lower-elementary-beth-holland

Light, D. (2012). Principles for web 2.0 success: 10 ways to build vibrant learning communities. In Learning and leading with technology, June/July. Retrieved from Informit database, CSU Library.

Lindsay, J. (2016a, 15 June). Global education: Supporting collaborative teaching and learning. In Pearson Education [blog]. Retrieved from Pearson Education website: https://www.pearsoned.com/education-blog/global-education-collaborative-teaching/

Lindsay, J. (2016b, 22 June). Global education: Leading pedagogical change in a flat world. In Pearson Education [blog]. Retrieved from Pearson Education website: https://www.pearsoned.com/education-blog/global-education-leading-pedagogical/

Lindsay, J. & Davis, V. (2013). Flattening classroom, engaging minds: Move to global collaboration one step at a time. Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ.