After being introduced to new ICT resources through the 10 minutes of fame presentations and hearing peoples’ thought processes around ICT through their summative presentations, I am becoming more and more encouraged to improve ICT in my library and at my school. At the same time, I am also becoming more confused about where to start. That said, I will start small and try and keep organized by keeping track of all my ideas and creating a tentative schedule of when might be the best time to implement different ICT resources and ideas.
My “starting small” will be my future vision project, focused on inquiry. I am anxious and excited about starting the new “inquiry” pages for my library website. Although I am still doing my research on inquiry and what scholars have to say about it, at this point, I plan on naming my new pages: “What is Inquiry and why its important,” how to form those big questions, “Digital literacy/social media etiquette” and “Global Connections” These pages will definitely be a work in progress and I haven’t decided exactly what is going to go in each section. By the end of the week, I’m hoping to have a substantial foundation.
Although inquiry-based learning is being talked about as a way forward in education, what it actually feels like to implement inquiry into teaching and learning relationships is very different from traditional educational relationships and learning roles. The point of inquiry is to give students a chance to take ownership of their learning, but for this to happen, the educator has to trust the learning processes they are implementing. My sense is that these changes are going to be challenging to sustain, as teachers have to give some control and power to their students to guide their own learning. At the same time, teachers are still going to be held accountable for the quality of learning that is taking place. This is going to be an important area to provide support for teachers.