Challenge Brainstorm Area:

Instructions:  Assign a table recorder. The editor should click on edit tab above befor any editing can happen. If the editor needs to establish an account, please do that. Record the ideas you hear around the table. Save the page between presenters.

Cathy Nelson's challenge:

SO WHAT? The big challenge here is HOW to get them on board--

1) Teachers using the tools--harnessing them for educational purposes

2) Getting students to use them ethically & responsibly, and

3) Getting the filter guards to crak the portals! 

Table 7: Model in our practice the ethical use of the tools. Provide parent education on the use of the tools. Unblock the tools so we can teach the ethical use. Communicate what we want to accomplish to get the community  "buy in" of the use of the tools.

Chrisopher Harris' challenge: Cloudy, with a chance of learning: How will school libraries interact with the cloud? As applications and services move online into an always connected space for working and interacting, how do our libraries respond? What applications and platforms can we best use?

We have to be willing to be risk takers and not be worried about failure. We create an environment that supports creativity, problem solving and skills for critically analyzing and creating information/content.

MaryFriend Shepherd's challenge: What is the single most useful online tool for helping students collaborate on school projects?  How can this tool be used to help students do things differently AND how can this tool be used to help students do different things?

Table 7: Work backwards from what you want the students to know and be able to do. The collaboration tool does not necessarily support collaboration but it is the learning task that is assigned to the students that will facilitate collaboration.

David Loertscher's challge. Instructions: pick one or several challenges below and put table ideas right under the particular element you are talking about.

Elements of the Virtual Learning Commons to Develop:Cathy Nelson's presentationCathy Nelson's presentation

• Turning assignments from classroom teacher dictates into conversations that include the teacher, students, specialists in the school, parents
• Building a reading community through virtual book/movie/other media discussion clubs including writing and utlizing social networking such as Facebook and Twitter, wikis, blogs, nings.
  • Table 7 - Doing a virtual book club reduces the scheduling challenge and the number of participants, participation can be unlimited, 24/7 available, all voices can be heard, use the State book awards to focus some of the discussions, create podcasts to review and post
• Encouraging the production of learner-created content whether for assignments or for fun and storing that content in a virtual school yearbook and museum. The center of fun and creativity.
• The center for school improvement or experimental learningcenter where trials, experiments, action research, professional learning communities are centered.
• A center for metacognitive reflection by both individuals and groups
• The use of various types of tools to create a learning commons nested in the cloud. For example: signing up for Google APS as a school; Netbives, Pageflakes, etc.
• Design as a method of capturing attention and collaboration; for example, perhaps there are multiple "main" pages as direct entry points for learners, classroom teachers, teacher librarians, etc. rather than trying to direct traffic all through one central page.
• Invitations to collaborate at every appropriate place
• Creating Knowledge Building Centers (idea from Deb Wallac) that are major collaborative pathfinders for learning units that are repeated in the school over and over. These knowledge centers might have links created by everyone, tools, data sets, sample units and their success over time, projects across the class/school/world, places to collaborate with experts; links to special collections at various libraries/museums/govt. agencies; student created tutorials/projects/interviews/data sets.
  • Global awareness Centers
  • Financial literacy centers
  • Health and wellness/obesity collaborative centers
  • Any other school wide effort to integrate themes into regular curricular efforts.
• Demonstration of what clients can expect from teacherlibrarians, teachertechnologiests and other specialists (idea from Deb Wallace, Harvard business School)
• Lots of collaborative tools for kids and teachers along with tutorials for their use. CollabTools
• The integration of ICT literacy along with information literacy into learning activities designed to boot achievement.