Week 4 Reflection: Interview with Chris Harris

In comparison to Prensky's article last week, this week's reading was a much more realistic and balanced look at the growing phenomenon of technology in the education system. Michael Stephens' interview with Chris Harris on how libraries are changing digitally was a fair and understandable approach to the shift we see happening before our very eyes.

A part of this interview that stood out for me was when Harris said that "the role of the school librarian in ten years will be to serve as a guide through the chaos of information" (Harris 2006). This may be because partially jobs and job descriptions are a huge issue at the moment considering that a possible twenty percent of VSB teachers will be laid off this coming fall, including myself. It may also partially be because at lunch last week, I told my friends that I was doing my TL diploma. One friend, who teaches secondary school, laughed and said, "What do librarians even do anymore?" But most of all, this quote stood out at me because it shows how much technology will continue to change: this is just the beginning. Since internet really 'began' in 1995, the changes in how we teach and learn have been overwhelming. This change is only going to continue, just as dramatically, as we move ahead.

Another part of this interview that resonated with me was Harris's tone of encouragement. How should those who feel left behind get started? Simply to "play" (Harris 2006). To "experiment" (Harris 2006). This course has taught me to be really true - I feel like I've learned so much just by fiddling with, toying with and playing with Web 2.0 tools. Who knew that these tools were here the whole time, ready to be learned?

This interview also brings up the issue of how we are planning on dealing with this digital re-shift, for example, how we anticipate using blogs, problems with blogs, etcetera (as per our discussion board this week). For my personal use now, I'd really like to use this shift as a way of establishing a connection for parents. As an online teacher, for example, I know how 'in the dark' parents can be sometimes. Some parents don't even know that their child has signed up for my course (they are hence very surprised when I call home)! A lot of parents don't know how to access their child's account, so they don't know how to see what and how their kids are doing. I wonder if I could do a type of blog for parents, so that parents can learn and understand how to see what their children are doing.

For future use, when I get to a library (one can hope), I love the idea of a BookBlog, as Harris mentioned in the interview. At the moment, most online courses, including mine, have discussion boards, which is something similar. A BookBlog, however, would invite the write-ups to be more in-depth, and perhaps not so brief and conversation-like.

Reference:
Stephens, M. (2006). The digitally re-shifted school librarian: A conversation with Christopher Harris. Retrieved December 22, 2008 from http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/02/the-digitally-re-shifted-school-library-a-conversation-with-christopher-harris.html