Ken Roberts - The Future of Libraries

I really enjoyed Ken Roberts talk on The Future of Libraries.

Writers Block

Can anyone else relate to this?

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A visit to the Tutor Collaborative Learning Centre

I visited the Tutor Collaborative Learning Centre at Trinity Grammar last Friday. An old friend Colin Potts, who used to be Deputy Head and was on the planning Committee for the new building.

My relationship with Trinity Grammar is a long one, it was my first teaching job out of Uni 20 years ago! Colin took a gamble on me and hired me to teach a Year 11 class.

I taught in a lab without internet access (because there was no such thing as affordable internet access at this time). So the students were not distracted by the interwebs, and every morning and every night we switched on the internet computer, downloaded and uploaded emails. 20 years later, kids have non-stop access and this building reflects the growing needs of those students.

The space, even though many who use and work in it regard it as a library, had many positive attributes that you might look at if you are building new learning space.

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Future of Libraries: 7 Questions Librarians Need to Answer

My earliest memory of a Library involves a calm space where I could go to quietly read, reflect or study.

But in the last few years, the idea of the Library as a quiet reflective space has been dirtied by educators claiming that this makes the Library old fashioned and outdated. They want the Library/Information Commons/Information Resource Centre to be dynamic, loud, colourful. It should be a happening place that sparks interest and encourages questioning. 

But once you have that question, what do you do?

Data Visualisations: World as 100 people

I love my data visualisations and this one is a new take on the 'world as 100 people'.

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Here are some more links to resources about population:

Encouraging students to read for the Premier's Reading Challenge

We all know that reading benefits the “whole person”. It makes you confident in your reading, comprehension and also in your writing. It is a trans-disciplinary skill and every curriculum area at St. Michael’s benefits from our students being involved and active readers.

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Here are 10 ideas that you can try to support your students who have signed up for the 2014 Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Top 5 things you can do to re-connect

This week online, a number of families and community groups are documenting celebrations of “Screen Free week”. The ability of technology to permeate into every aspect of our lives is increasing as the access and ability to navigate this world becomes easier.

But for the people who are engaging in this initiative, the idea of taking a break from technology is not a new one. The Jewish custom of celebrating Shabbat every Friday to Saturday night is one example of how communities switch off technology and value the connections with their families and friends. They conscientiously make an effort to re-connect.

When Gary Turk's spoken word film “Look Up” went viral, it highlighted the disruptive habits that have formed in our technology rich society. The need for external affirmation of our actions, in the form of “likes”, has taken over our lives in a short amount of time. Groups of people abandoning the the interpersonal ability to show gratitude throughout their day.

Steampunk inspiration

I am thinking that this video might just be a point of inspiration for a Steampunk Write Club session.

"Eye of the Storm" by Lovett

What do you think? a bit dark?

Relationship between science fiction and user interfaces

A fascinating presentation (15 minutes) on the relationship between science fiction and user interfaces by Chris Noessel.

When I started to use computers, there was no mouse and everything was keyboard controlled. The Control Key was the most important one on the keyboard. Our user interfaces have evolved so intuitively at the moment that a 3 year old can use it! We connect user interfaces with operating systems; Windows, MacOX.

The history of operating systems is interesting, with the first graphical user interface being the Macintosh operating system that Apple released in 1984.

Book Pillows

I've been thinking a lot about how to make the library more inviting for students, aren't these book pillows gorgeous!
 

 

from Thinkgeek