1. Anatomy
of an
iCentre
Lyn Hay
Charles Sturt University
Treasure Mountain Research Retreat #19
‘The Learner in the Learning Commons’
November 13-14, 2013, Hartford, Connecticut

2. Building a sustainable future
for school libraries
 examination of issues,
concerns and potentials of
school library futures
 need to build capacity for a
sustainable future where
school libraries become key
learning centres of
information, inquiry,
innovation, immersion and
instructional excellence
(Hay, 2010a; 2010b; Hay & Todd, 2010)

3. iCentre
 information-technology-learning hub
 high-end multimedia production facility
 technology engine of a networked school +
learning innovation engine
 large, flexible learning space based on fluid
design principles
 layout will look different on a daily basis
the form it takes reflects the function

4. iCentre
 technical-admin aspects of technology are
secondary to learning agenda
 information, technology, curriculum & elearning staff are ‘blended’
 convergence allows strategic conversations
“I see an iCentre as an opportunity for
collaboration...not only for students, but
for the power -leaders (silo managers) to
work together.”

5. “Imagine an
activity
and we
will make
a space
for it”
http://edu.blogs.com/.a/6a00d83451f00f69e20133f4d06221970b-popup
High School TL
(Hay & Todd 2010, 2A.5)

6. Do you want
 pedagogy to fuse the work of
information, technology &
learning specialists across the
curriculum?
 key information, technology &
learning leaders within a school
combine to consolidate their
efforts?
 strengthen the connection
between home and school, and
harness mobile connectivity?
iCentre @ Broulee Primary School
http://www.broulee-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/iCentre.html

7. Do you want
 to build capacity in
your staff to use digital
technologies
to differentiate learning?
A differentiated curriculum offers a variety of entry points
for students who differ in abilities, knowledge and skills...
teachers offer different approaches to what students learn
(content), how students learn (process) and how students
demonstrate what they have learned (product).
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/policies/gats/programs/differentiate/index.htm

8. Do you want
 to support teachers in effectively leading
learning using 1:1 computing or BYOD?
 to provide timely,
responsive
information,
technological &
technical support to
staff & students?
 to support the
development of
personal learning
environments?

9. Do you want
 assist teachers in
effectively resourcing the
new curriculum
 assist students in developing
their personal technology
toolkit
critical & creative inquiry
 open classrooms to
curiosity & imagination
inquiry
initiative & entrepreneurship
 design learning for
connectedness & networking
making
agility & adaptability
inventing & making

10. Form
Function
Brand
Chiara iCentre:
more than just
a library
Maureen Twomey, iCentre Coordinator, Assisi Catholic
College, Upper Coomera, QLD
PLC’s 1 degree bar. Permission to use photo by Gary Green

11. iCentre is more than a label
 iCentre requires a re-engineering of ‘what
we do’ – it’s more than libraries & labs
 iCentre brand = a dynamic, responsive, fluid
‘instructional zone’ within & beyond the school
 a learning centre of information, inquiry, innovation,
immersion & instructional intervention
 supports connectivity & collaboration, critical
engagement & creativity, construction &
consolidation
“The iCentre brand provides powerful vision,
concepts and terminology to take to stakeholders”

12. iCentre includes
 a qualified team of information, technology and
learning experts
 strategic and operational functionality driven by
an integrated team approach
 provides programs and services to support 21st
century learners
 relevant, flexible, 24/7, customised services in
school, at home, ‘learning on the run’
 pedagogy is central to all decision-making, policy
and practice
 customised support for students, teachers,
administrators, parents

13. iCentre team
 resources the curriculum which reflects
multi-format nature of our world
 supports inquiry learning, immersive learning
experiences , knowledge construction
 works with teachers to design curriculum units
that reconcile multiple literacies
 supports transfer and consolidation of literacies
across the curriculum
 supports teachers to take risks as learning and
technology innovators
 provides ‘nuts & bolts’ technical support

14. iCentre team
 provides learning design to support change in
pedagogical practice
 leads in the development, implementation &
evaluation of a cross-curricula digital citizenship
program
 provides information leadership in terms of
informed policy development that supports
technology access and instruction, rather than a
‘banning before thinking’ approach
 manages the school’s research program through
evidence-based practice, action research, datadriven policy, sustainability

15. Lessons learned

16. Partnerships, not buildings
 library staff find ICT staff in the same facility very
convenient
 library and ICT staff begin to upskill each other in
their respective areas
 this has empowered both roles to work more
efficiently and effectively
 conversations and partnerships develop to the point
where ICT and library services start to blend –
synergistic teaming
“The great benefit to teachers and students is that the
iCentre has now become a one -shop shop for all their
information, technology and learning needs”

17. People, not profiles
 targeted projects bring people & expertise
together: digital textbooks, ebooks/audio books,
learning management system, iDevices, BYOB
(teaching/learning in the cloud)
 professional learning programs for teachers, e.g.,
Techie Brekky, Quick Shot, Coaching Clinics
 students as digital learning mentors
“Having the technical and library teams working
together on these projects provided really good fuel
to bring us together and quite happily accept the
concept of becoming an iCentre team”
“I observed a comfortable blending of roles”

18. By design vs by accident
“I was in a school that had not developed silos
because it was a new school. I have worked in a
very traditional school ... where to change
something is like turning the Titanic.
But here I was in this magic place where there were
no established traditions, no established culture.
Watching something happen with IT and library,
and then reading an article that confirmed what I
was observing and gave me the ability to articulate
that in a very professional way to my principal.
Wow!”

19. By design vs by accident
 One principal asked for Curriculum Coordinator to
be accommodated in the iCentre due to lack of
staffroom accommodation, “and it was like. This is
an interesting accident!”
 “We are on a learning
journey with regard to
pedagogy and
technology, but this
building has given us
many more options to
explore…”

20. Principal needs to support the
principle of an iCentre
“You used the term ‘brave’, school need to be brave
to converge of facilities, technologies, people and
resources, to develop an iCentre. Our principal was
brave!”
Fortnightly formal meeting with all library, ICT and
curriculum leadership with the school principal.
“She could see the positives that were coming out of
the blending of staff... So then it was the principal
who began to expect and demand that we work
as a team, and set up the culture in the school that
the iCentre was where it was all going to happen.”

21. Digital normalisation is “when the digital technology that is
already used naturally 24/7/365 outside the school walls is
also used in all facets of the school’s operations” (Lee, 2013)
The Taxonomy identifies 24 areas within the schools where
there is clear evidence of ongoing evolution, covering the
likes of the school’s educational vision, the operational
mindset, the leadership of the principal, the empowerment
of staff and students, pedagogy, home–school
collaboration, technology support and school resourcing.
Go to http://www.schoolevolutionarystages.net

22. iCentre as a sign of digital
normalisation
“You’ll have noted that as schools move along the evolutionary
continuum they become ever more integrated and the silo
functions disappear.
Tellingly, a number of the pathfinder schools interviewed had
adopted the iCentre approach advocated by Hay (2012) and
in all those situations that iCentre was playing both a lead
and integral role in the school’s evolution. That model
clearly fitted those schools’ situation.”
What one can safely say is that the way forward in ever more
integrated school ecologies, that are virtually daily
undergoing some kind of transformation, is to ensure the
‘libraries’ evolution is integral to the school’s holistic
development.”
(Lee, 2013)

23. http://studentslearn.wordpress.com/about/about-icentres/

24. Anatomy
of an
iCentre
Lyn Hay
Charles Sturt University
Treasure Mountain Research Retreat #19
‘The Learner in the Learning Commons’
November 13-14, 2013, Hartford, Connecticut