Connected Learning and the Future of Libraries

During the month of May, we were part of a collaboration between YALSA and the connectedlearning, tv team at the Digital Media and Learning Hub at UC Irvine. Through a series of webinars and online discussion, we explored how libraries can leverage digital and social media to become hubs of connected learning--learning that is interest driven, socially connected, and tied to school achievement and real-world opportunity. We are both part of the MacArthur Foundation Connected Learning Research Network, and have been investigating what young people need in their communities and learning institutions to access connected learning experiences. Our month-long engagement with the YALSA community was an opportunity for those of us involved in the research on connected learning to learn about how many libraries and librarians are already embodying the principles of connected learning, and how we might help more libraries adopt similar approaches. The month of webinars explored a series of questions that libraries need to address in order to support connected learning and effectively leverage digital and social media. (1) * How does access to technology (or lack thereof) in school and public libraries impact teens' learning? Our fellow Connected Learning Research Network member Craig Watkins led the discussion, lending his expertise in equity research to the conversation. Through the discussion the major points came down to the recognition that providing technology is not enough, support and guidance for using the technology also needs to be provided, and it's imperative to make sure that youth know that libraries are a place where they can just "be" and explore. * How can libraries effectively leverage social media for connected learning.: Nichole Pinkard, founder of the Digital Youth Network and featured guest of the webinar, summed up measuring the effective use of social media. "From a 'success' standpoint, we also have to understand how we're helping youth take home what they're developing and learning in libraries, and making those connections back to their schools, their communities." * How can we get library and IT administrators on board with social media? Danah Boyd, a senior researcher at Microsoft Research who studies youth and online privacy, argues that we need to shift the focus of the conversation away from technology and towards young people and learning: "It's not just about restricting or not restricting; it has to do with questioning the role of the librarian in helping young people navigate a lot of this material. When you go into a mode of just restriction, you don't end up building out the ways of having trust and respect, or being able to create a meaningful educational opportunity." * What are best practices for libraries to be part of connected learning? Buffy Hamilton, author of The Unquiet Librarian, stressed that librarians need to be connected learners themselves. "I think it's important to position ourselves as co-learners and try to diversify our own personal learning networks so that we can think a little bit more deeply." Throughout the month, we heard many descriptions of connected learning taking place in libraries and of the steps librarians could take to utilize what the connected learning framework has to offer. Libraries And Connected Learning Educators, youth, and experts in diverse settings can be part of supporting connected learning by locating their efforts within this broader ecosystem of learning, and actively supporting connections to and from their programs and spaces. Libraries, which have long been centers of community activity, are uniquely situated to become a nexus of connected learning because their mission centers on personalized and interest-driven learning. They are also a third space--not school and not home--which allows activities and practices to meld together. (2) As guides to online information and technical literacy, librarians are often already guides to connected learning. …