Digital Footprint from the Teen's Perspective

I had the honor of facilitating a panel discussion by a few of our high school students on digital citizenship this past spring. This session was at the Texas Social Media Conference held at our local education service center. 

This group of students appeared on my radar one evening when their group, Texas Teens Teach, started following me on Twitter. After scheduling a meeting with these students, we met and discussed digital footprints, online presence, and what they wanted to accomplish. The students "fine-tuned" Twitter handles, worked on their website, and had some great discussions about goals for the group. Soon after, an opportunity presented itself for the students to discuss digital citizenship and digital footprints through the eyes of teens at the Texas Social Media conference. We submitted a proposal and made plans to attend once it was accepted. 

Through a panel discussion, students shared their journey and the lessons learned a long the way. With comments such as "Our Twitter feed tells a story" and "Followers are the new recommendation letter" showed that these teens definitely understand the impact of social media and how it can have a positive effect when used purposefully. Several of the students discussed how digital citizenship should be taught by teens and should be discussed in friend groups. Time was provided at the end for questions from the attendees, who ranged from educators to social media representatives from various organizations. 

While at the conference, the teens (many who already have LinkedIn accounts) networked with the keynote speaker, Dr. Marialice B.F.X. Curran, who talked with them at length about future opportunities and how they can grow their organization. In addition, one school leader invited the students to present to the students on their campus. The students were also interviewed by Fort Worth Today, which allowed them to reach an even broader audience.

Something to note is that these teens had established an organization (Texas Teens Teach) and had a plan on what they wanted to accomplish. This all happened without adults assigning a project or assisting in the process. What they needed was a little guidance and an opportunity to share their story. This was an AUTHENTIC learning experience that was RELEVANT to these learners. This was learning that was PERSONAL to these students. 

For more information about the group, check out their information below. 

Librarians as Future Ready Leaders

On June 24, 2016, Future Ready Schools added Librarians to their initiative with Future Ready Librarians. AASL & Follett are project collaborators and thought partners include Carolyn Foote and Joyce Valenza. Read Joyce's SLJ post about Launching Future Ready Librarians The framework will help librarians stay relevant and active in an evolving education system. 

This is an exciting announcement and something we have been working on in Weatherford ISD and definitely something we will use this summer as we map out a three-year plan for our district libraries. 

Future Ready Librarians recognizes that teacher-librarians can and should be at the forefront of changing education and can and should take on leadership roles on their campuses or within their districts. Many librarians are already supporting teachers as they integrate future ready skills into instruction, helping to create good digital citizens, creative thinkers and global collaborators. Many librarians are playing active roles in technology initiatives such as 1:1 rollouts or BYOD on campuses. Many librarians are just as active in technology organizations and conferences, as they are with librarian and literature conferences. With this initiative, these efforts will become more focused and more universal. This will become the norm among teacher-librarians and not the exception.

Looking at each area of focus, you can see the makerspaces we have added to many of our libraries fit right in. In Weatherford, several librarians have created coding clubs and Minecraft clubs, which encourage creating instead of just consuming. 

As you can see, a part of this is creating a learning environment that belongs to the students and staff on a campus, one that is flexible and has multiple uses. Designing collaborative spaces that support blended learning, genius hour, and technology integration should be something we prioritize when we think about our library space. The present day library should look and feel very different than libraries in the past. Schedules might need to be tweaked, purchases might need to be re-evaluated, and the way we have always done things might not be meeting the needs of today's learners. 

It is an exciting time to be a librarian and we should use the guiding questions as we think about our upcoming school year:

How can librarians and libraries support Future Ready schools?

How can librarians and libraries become more Future Ready?

What will you do this year to become more Future Ready?