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Student Learning Outcome 3

The student applies and values user education principles in the teaching of information literacy.
Teaching and instruction are invaluable aspects of librarianship. Whether it’s troubleshooting computer programs on the ref floor, or training with new technology in a makerspace, or presenting databases and other electronic resources during orientation, or teaching a curriculum class, all librarians instruct in some way. This is why understanding the need for literacy such as computer, technological, information, research, health, media, etc. is important to information professionals. As progressive advances are made in the area of information and technology, there will be a need for the user to keep up with continuous enhancements and for the public to not only have access to information, but to have understanding as well.
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Literacy is a dynamic landscape where development has to advance and change with it. Everyone learns and retains information in different ways, which means literacy can’t be limited. My Emerging Technologies class explored how there are tools that exist to foster literacy in ways that are creative and fun like programming and app development. New literacies are needed for advancements and the growing investments in science and technology. Libraries and information institutes have to recognize their place in supporting literacy in the community in order to foster its development and growth.  
 
Artifact 1: Literacy Taught Through Creative Software
Programming and learning how to program have become huge interests in our technologically advanced society. Scratch, developed by MIT Media Lab, is a great site where children (or any level beginner) can learn the basics of block coding and programming. I was introduced to this tool through my Emerging Technologies class and started interacting with programming through a 10 Block Challenge. Using only 10 predetermined blocks, we were asked to create something with Scratch. The challenge was to use each one of the 10 blocks at least once and they could repeat so long as each block is used in the script.   
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Becoming more familiar with programming, I used this tool to create a Scratch program that reflected elementary school level spelling literacy. Using North Carolina standards for language arts, I developed a game that is meant to help students learn through unscrambling spelling words. The intention of my program was to engage the user’s mind outside of the usual pattern of memorizing spelling words. After using Scratch, I’ve realized how approachable programming can be, especially when set up to the block level. In this project, I tackled technology literacy for myself while supplying a program for spelling literacy for my target user.
 
Artifact 2: Literacy App/MIT App Inventor
Apps have become an vital part of most everyone’s lives by providing convenience for things one might not even know they needed to be convenient. In that respect, apps also influence learning and how people learn. MIT App Inventor is an interface for creating and testing apps. My Emerging Technologies professor provided tutorials on this tool and it’s companion program aiStarter. As an app user, we all take for granted what goes into developing and programming something that can have immeasurable scripts and codes. The product at the end must be polished, but it takes trials and testing to get that point as well as an understanding of how to best use programming to create the end product.
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I used the MIT App Inventor to make an application focused on literacy and language arts standards for k-12 students. The aspect I used for my app was a quiz on homophones. For me, working with the App Inventor was a lesson in media literacy, using the Spatial Contiguity Principle in the layout of the program. I wanted a very clean, uniformed look for my app. This proved to be interesting in the scope of utilizing the space whether it was filled with content or an empty component to create white space. For the user, the quiz I developed is meant to encompass English language literacy. My audience was elementary school level students, targeted to the third grade. The design and layout had to appeal to the user and be accessible to the user. Keeping in mind reading levels and visual acuity at that age shaped the design of my application. I found that utilizing tools like this to create a learning experience connected me to the user.
 
Artifact 3: Computational Thinking as Literacy
There are many types of literacy while more and more are being discovered as curriculums are being updated and antiquated educational standards are being evaluated. A group discussion was posted in my Emerging Technologies class about an article focusing on Computational Thinking as a new literacy and how public libraries try to develop programs around this concept. A point that the article brought up was how to define computational thinking. Regardless of how it’s defined, there is a need for programs and services focused on this way of learning. 
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My response showcased how libraries serve as an asset for development outside of the school curriculum. Schools have tried to teach within the scope of computational thinking, but were unsuccessful. Libraries can bridge that literacy gap based on their user’s needs and their information resources. It’s also important to think how libraries can foster literacy through resources like free access to technology and the internet. There are people who don’t have these services readily available, but the library is the place for that and can promote learning and literacy. It’s easy to take for granted access to the internet or the ability to purchase books for learning and leisure. The article for this discussion brought to light how libraries not just bring information to their community, but they shape the information and delivery for their community.
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