Blog Post 2: Handheld Devices

Jill Peerey's 2013 article in Library Media Connection ends with the quote, "Our students are ready.  Are you?" (p. 37).  This was one of the key points of the article, and it is in reference to the idea of iPads and other handheld devices making their way into our schools.  While many educators may fear the introduction these devices due to unfamiliarity or worry that they will cause distractions, Peery and her school district in Wight, Virginia openly embraced the technological revolution as a way to extend learning, provide a meaningful collaborative experience, and allow students to practice skills that would be necessary in college and the real world.  Along the way, Peery noted that their technology-friendly attitude helped to grab student attention and get them involved in their own learning.  Peery's vision of a technology-rich and technology-friendly library is exactly the type of environment I plan to create in my own library.

In addition to the inevitability of handheld devices infiltrating the schools, a second key point that Peery brings up is the immense power of using handheld devices alongside QR codes.  As the main focus of her article, QR codes were shown to be incredibly versatile in an educational setting.  For example, Peery posted announcements throughout the building that featured QR codes linking students to information about upcoming library events.  She featured books in the library by hanging QR codes on the shelf that took students to trailers or author interviews.  When English teachers brought their students in to check out copies of Hamlet, she passed out a QR code with each book; the code linked students to another student's summary of the play.  In addition to all of these interesting uses, QR codes also allowed classrooms to be "flipped;" teachers provided QR codes to students as homework, and when they were scanned, the QR codes took students to a video lecture that they watched and annotated for homework.  Coming into class the next day, the students were free to discuss the lecture and then collaborate on a group project in class.  This is something I never thought about before but would definitely recommend to teachers in my building!

A final major point that comes through the article is the concept of technology encouraging and enhancing literacy.  Because of their ability to use the iPads throughout the school, students were able to connect with ebooks through several different apps, learn about new books through secret scans, and even have their pictures taken and published while reading throughout the school.  All of these activities allowed students the intrinsic motivation that technology often provides while at the same time reinforcing the importance of literacy.  Reading also became a more social activity through the use of the iPads, and Peery describes the results as so positive that "literacy abounds at Smithfield High School with the help of cooperating teachers and students" (p. 36).

As a librarian, I would embrace the idea of handheld devices in my library as well as in the classrooms and hope that I have as supportive of a staff and student body as Peery describes.  While it is currently not a reality in my school district, I believe that we will one day (in the not too distant future) have funding for each student to have an iPad or some similar technology, and the possibilities are endless once that is the case.  I can see me hosting a mentoring program for students to help one another with technology issues related to their new iPads, similar to the Isle21 Mentor Station that Peery described in her article.  What a powerful way to have students advocate for themselves, become experts in something outside of the core curriculum, and share their thoughts and ideas with an authentic audience!  The idea of becoming a technology mentor is definitely in line with 21st century skills that students will need in the real world.  I also would immediately put several of the QR code ideas mentioned in the article into use: printing QR codes as advertisements for library events, announcing new books via QR codes hung in the hallways, and engaging students in making "book trailers" for popular books in the library and then linking students to the videos via QR codes on the inside covers of the books.  I believe that this idea gets at the concept of giving students an authentic audience while also encouraging other students to read, and that is a very powerful combination!  I would also institute a ebook lending library, something my school district doesn't currently have but would benefit immensely from; many of my current students have asked me about this already, and having handheld devices in place, I see no barrier to giving my students access to so many more options for reading.  Finally, these devices would also be powerful ways to engage in professional development and collaboration with teachers in my building; I envision myself endlessly becoming acquainted with new apps and tools that could be used with handheld devices, and by sharing these ideas with my colleagues, I could prove myself to be a powerful source of information.  The possibilities with handheld devices are endless, but they are possibilities that I am so excited to explore.

References:

Peerey, J. (2013). IPADS, QR CODES, THE BIG 15, AND SCREENCAST-O-MATIC: 
     IT'S ALL HAPPENING IN A LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER. Library Media 
     Connection, 32(3), 34-37.