Dynamic Learning Library

The Library As Dynamic Learning

Centre

James W. Marcum, Ph.D.

Fairleigh Dickinson [email protected]

[email protected]

OLA Super Conference OCULA SpotlightToronto 3 February 2005

http://library.fdu.edu/OCULA05.ppt

mailto:[email protected]

OLA Super Conference 2005



Brown bag lunch

session


OUTLINE

Academic library is besiegedA dead-end debateA new place for libraries?A strategy for the future


CHALLENGES:What Kind of Future?

Do Libraries

really need

books?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ee.columbia.edu/~uday/Site_Images/snowstorm/images/The%20University%20Library_jpg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ee.columbia.edu/~uday/Site_Images/snowstorm/pages/The%20University%20Library_jpg.htm&h=480&w=640&sz=75&tbnid=6OEeC2wQzn8J:&tbnh=101&tbnw=134&start=8&prev=/images?q=university+library&hl=en&lr=&sa=G


Tools for: Information access (Google); multi- media capabilities; e-mail; learning; simulations; online collaboration; weblogs; collaboration

Linking self-directed learning: the students are way ahead of the educators

Candy, Linking Learning (DEST 2004)

Connectivism (learning theory) George Siemens:

<http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm>


The Digital Library

A substantial collection of information resources that are digitized, organized, and made accessible through computer-online technologies

Much more powerful than traditional libraries (search engines over indexes); Can be searched for a phrase accessed globally copied without error.

(Academic) libraries will evolve into all-digital collections accessible from anywhere

University Business (Jan 2005): 46.


The Library as Place Symposium (Nov. 5, 2003)

“Be it resolved: within ten years academic … libraries will have outlived their need for physical space”

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rlg.org/img/jneal.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rlg.org/boardbio.html&h=267&w=200&sz=24&tbnid=3bUFJBgjhdEJ:&tbnh=106&tbnw=80&start=9&prev=/images?q=james+neal&hl=en&lr=&sa=G


ALTERNATIVE MODELS

CURRENTLY IN PLAY

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY-WEB

Educational system; Fashionable, open, self legacy generating

STRENGTH

CONTROL Curriculum & politics Commercial-entrepreneurial

Disciplines, tradition Expense; access; technical expertise; unstable

LIMITATION

PROBLEM Link to learning is Vendor-centered; fragmented; assumed lack of standards

THEORY Representational, Constructivist; connectivist information transfer

LIBRARY Support (reference Digital Library ROLES and instruction) (increasingly virtual)

FORMAT Print - media Digital (some print)

PLACE? Place Space


“Either or” vs. “Both and”

The PRINT VS. DIGITAL dichotomy and debate raises real possibilities of library marginalization.

Is there an alternative? Let’s look at fundamental purposes in quest

of an alternative role for libraries that we can promote intellectually, realistically, and “politically”


Let’s Reframe The Argument

In deeper purpose the basic values of preservation of and access to information is to enable learning and research

We traditionally have pursued that purpose by supporting the curriculum, the teaching of the faculty and student learning.


The Current Transformation

The transformation of the education enterprise from a reliance on teaching to a focus on learning opens a window of opportunity for academic libraries


Getting Beyond Instruction

Authority figure

Passive learning

Faculty-focused

Discipline-determined

Context-free

Grades as purpose


Information Processing and TRANSFER Paradigm: Assumptions

COGNITION: Mind works like a computer COMMUNICATION as signal INSTRUCTION as method CONTENT TRANSFER as purpose INFORMATION ACCUMULATION as goal;

more is better (i.e. more intelligence)


Anomalies in the IP Paradigm(select)

Information Knowledge

Inappropriate identification of mental and computer logic (consider the role of emotion in human logic)

Information today is dynamic, co-created; not linear; a process (not a ‘thing”)

- Marcum, “Rethinking Information Literacy” (2002)


Knowledge & intelligence yes; But Learning?

Accumulated information (knowledge and IQ) matters, but how the individual uses their abilities is even more important, and we don’t know very much about that.

We know little about changes in knowledge, interest and strategic ability that students should manifest …

From Ackerman, Learning and Individual Differences (APA, 1999).


That Black box!

Recipe Pour in information … (3 X per week @ 50 min.)

and more information (read a textbook)

Let marinate, bake Taste / test: is it done? (lasts a lifetime

and appropriate for any occasion)


Looking into Learning

Participative Constructive Student-oriented Socially constructed Contextual Professors as

facilitators


Student Characteristics:A Different Generation Technologically savvy Diverse; different learning styles Visually engaged Comfortable with multitasking Learn by doing Consider technology indispensable Find many courses “irrelevant” and out of

date Tapscott, Growing Up Digital (1998).


LEARNING ...

Not an (assumed) byproduct of instruction and information processing and transfer ... but the heart and purpose of the enterprise


Learning: definition

Learning is engagement that changes perception, belief, or behavior


Components of Learning

CONTENT PROCESS Knowledge Lecture - breadth Reading - depth Writing Data Discussion Disciplines Activity

Traditional focus: 1st Content. 2nd: Process.


Broader View of Learning

CONTENT TRAITS PROCESSES Knowledge Self concept Lecture - breadth Interests Reading - depth Personality

Writing Data Learning Style Discussion Disciplines Emotions

Activity

Abilities P. Ackerman, “Traits and Knowledge,” in Learning and

Individual Differences (APA, 1999) R. Sternberg, Triarchic Mind (Viking 1988)



Dynamic Learning

Engaged and reflective participation in a life-discovery process that builds new knowledge and enhances (changes) the skills and competence appropriate to the given personal, social, and technical context of importance to the learner.

- Marcum, After the Information Age.


“Education” cannot do it…

Education is locked into the information-transfer paradigm “Cover the content” Disciplinary / epistemic cultures Taught the way it was “learned”

And it is politicized and centralized Requiring accountable “efficiency” Needing experimentation and adaptation


Can the Library do it? Resource - based learning Beyond information centres to centres of

learning Beyond information literacy to multiple

literacies to competence Accelerate learning

With collaborative/dynamic learning environments Creating spaces for discovery and knowledge

creation Decentralized and more “contextualizable”


RECONFIGURING THE LIBRARY: From

Information / Resource Center Information: collection, access, and

preservation (“just in case”) Support for instruction Faculty-focused Technology for information access “just

in time”


RECONFIGURING THE LIBRARY: To

Information Center Information:

collection, access, and preservation (“just in case”)

Support for Instruction

Faculty-focused Technology for

Access

Learner-focused Multi-media

collections Technologies of

access & collaboration

Competence building Research & discovery


Not the whole banana….

K-12 K-20

But “intervene” at that point of moving beyond information transfer to competence building


A Lesson from Business Training

FINDING: Formal learning methods

have a negative or inverse relationship

to competence

Ted Cocheu, Altus Learning Systems, 11/17/04 “Optimizing Formal and Informal Learning Methods to Achieve Highest ROI”


HighestRoK

Return on “Learning”Investment

Competence

Val

ue t

o Le

arne

rs a

ndR

etur

n on

Kno

wle

dge

Point of Diminishing Returns on Formal

Point of IncreasingReturns on Informal

Learning Maturity

Low High

High

“The Line”

Formal Learning Methods

Informal Learning Methods


Why Negative Relationship?

Less competent workers / learners benefit most from formal or structured learning methods They lack basic skills and cognitive background needed to

assimilate new knowledge. Learning goal: baseline understanding.

More competent workers / learners benefit most from informal learning methods They have the foundation skills and cognitive framework

needed to assimilate new knowledge. Learning goal: update and build on their expertise as things change.



Library as Learning Environment? The Challenge

NOT a teaching environment Can we create an environment where the

learner, when they choose to engage, can understand their own learning styles, know their competencies, and experiment with various

methods technologies, and strategies of learning

in order to better engage their learning abilities?


Parameter I: Information, Knowledge, and Learning are Social … and Contextual

Useful information today is as much social (co-created; set in rich networks) as it is tangible, a commodity… consequently, the requisite skill is collaboration within a social context

Brown & Duguid, Social Life of Information

Informal learning is more prominent and common than generally acknowledged

Diversity enhances creative problem solving Learning communities are ideal environment

Lave and Wenger, Situated Learning (1991)


Parameter II: Bridging the School-“Real World” Divide

It is a challenging workplace in which our university graduates must somehow manage with heightened accountability, weakened authority, and more teamwork to get the job done. - Evers, Bases of Competence, xi

Information Literacy / Workplace competence Both personal and social skills Technological, functional in specific work Social engagement, context Experience in practice (not just theory)

Hull, Changing Work, Changing Workers (SUNY, 1997)


Parameter III: A Visual Ecology / Telematic Embrace

We live in a visual ecology, a comprehensive and continuous participatory event, a universe of action, and a world of knowledge and learning rather than information transfer

- Marcum, “Beyond Visual Culture” portal (2002)

An interactive network of individuals and institutions linking minds and knowledge into interactive systems of intelligence, perceptions, and authentic behavioral contexts and encounters

- Ascott, Telematic Embrace (U. Cal., 2003)


Parameter IV:Discovery Learning

To break free of known facts (dogma) requires: Allowing for initiative and self-direction Encouraging work in teams Questioning authority Using constructivist, problem-solving

pedagogies Considering alternative examples, scenarios

Marcum, “From Information Center to Discovery System”


Social + Situated + Visual + Discovery =

Cyber-Competence (?)

The technology-based interactive skills and practices required to find and utilize information in multiple formats and varied contexts to solve problems foster knowledge discovery and creation, encourage knowledge sharing, and enhance organizational effectiveness

for a competitive global and networked environment. - Marcum, After the Information Age: A Dynamic Learning Manifesto


CURRENT LEARNING MODELS Instructional Technological

Educational system; legacy Curriculum & politics Disciplines, tradition Assume link/learning Representational, information transfer Information, support, place

Fashionable, open, self generating

Commercial-entrepren’l Cost (support); access Vendor-centered Constructivist,

participatory Digital, increasingly

virtual space


DYNAMIC-DISCOVERY (LIBRARY) MODEL

CONTROL Parent institution

LIMITATION Support / preservation mindset

PROBLEM Requires partnerships with learning designers & evaluators

L’RNING THEORY Constructivist / Inquiry / Connectivist

LIBRARY ROLE Providing learning environments

PLACE? Both place and space

STRENGTH Resources; methods; organized;information literacy-competency


Building Learning Systems:Step 1: Learning Profiles

Not content-focused, but learner / context focus Biography / life history Competencies

Language, math, information literacy, etc. Ability profiles (multi-dimensional scaling) - Davis et al.*

Personality & skills; traits & adaptability – Mathews* Learner profiles in social context - Alexander*

*In Ackerman et al. Learning and Individual Differences.

All are temporal, develop over time.


Illustration:Biography and Learning

(In)Formal, individualized learning Alheit (2002) The ‘Double Face’ of Lifelong Learning.

Engaging, constructivist self-identity development

Antikainen, (1996) Living in a Learning Society.

Differentiated, diverse, in a social context Voltz (2003) Personalized Contextual Instruction.

Leads to self-understanding, self-confidence Dultz (1999) Designing a Learning Curriculum


Step 2: Accommodate Learning Styles

Individual differences Ackerman, Learning and Individual Differences

(1999) Multiple intelligences

Gardner, Frames of Mind (Basic, 1983) Thinking styles, triarchic mind

Sternberg, Thinking Styles (1998) “One mind at a time”

Levine, A Mind at a Time (2002)


Illustration: Select Learning Strategies

GOAL PEDAGOGY Develop a skill: Behavioral Cognition: Presentations, explanations Inquiry: Critique, create,

dialogue Mental models: Case studies; problems Effective teamwork Group dynamics

Virtual reality: Scenarios,simulations Holistic: Mentoring;experiential

Davis & Davis, Effective Training Strategies (1999)


Steps 3-5: Develop Learning Systems

Utilize technology Access and utilize resources

(books, instructors, practitioners) Promote collaboration, groups

apprentice, situated, peripheral participation Lave & Wenger, Situated Learning (Cambridge, 1991)


Step 6: Assess and Track

To what extent … What type … When did … How effective was … … the in

perception belief behavior?


Let’s talk about it . . .

Jim [email protected]

http://library.fdu.edu/OCULA05.ppt



Making Learning Visible

Quandary: accountability vs. the invisibility of accomplished teaching

Collaborative projects Carnegie Knowledge Media Lab Visible Knowledge Project (Georgetown U)

To bridge disciplinary / pedagogical / technological practices

Hatch, et al. Building Knowledge for Teaching and Learning,” Change (Sept 04).


Another Model: New Roles for Libraries

Library as Publisher Popular journalism / “take back the news”

http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/blogger/blogger.html Jay Rosen’s PressThink

http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/

On Demand academic publishing Bennett, S. JIT Academic Monographs. JEP 1. Available:

http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/04-01/bennett.html

http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/blogger/blogger.html

http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/04-01/bennett.html