The document discusses the changing role of academic libraries from places focused on information access and instructional support to dynamic learning centers. It argues that libraries should become learner-focused spaces that facilitate discovery learning through the use of technologies, collaborative projects, and informal learning methods. The goal is to help students build competencies and skills through an engaged, participatory process of knowledge creation rather than the traditional information transfer model of education. The library's role would shift from supporting the curriculum to supporting the learner at different stages of competence.

1. The Library As Dynamic Learning Centre James W. Marcum, Ph.D. Fairleigh Dickinson University marcum@fdu.edu marcumjw9@aol.com OLA Super Conference OCULA Spotlight Toronto 3 February 2005 http://library.fdu.edu/OCULA05.ppt

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5. OLA Super Conference 2005 OUTLINE Academic library is besieged A dead-end debate A new place for libraries? A strategy for the future

6. OLA Super Conference 2005 CHALLENGES:What Kind of Future? Do Libraries really need books? Internet Fiscal Crisis Everything's On the Web!

7. OLA Super Conference 2005 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 Technological Alternative

8. OLA Super Conference 2005 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.

9. OLA Super Conference 2005 The Library as PlaceSymposium (Nov. 5, 2003) “Be it resolved: within ten years academic … libraries will have outlived their need for physical space”

10. OLA Super Conference 2005 ALTERNATIVE MODELS CURRENTLY IN PLAY INSTRUCTIONALTECHNOLOGY-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

11. OLA Super Conference 2005 “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”

12. OLA Super Conference 2005 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.

13. OLA Super Conference 2005 The Current Transformation The transformation of the education enterprise from a reliance on teaching to a focus on learningopens a window of opportunity for academic libraries

14. OLA Super Conference 2005 Getting Beyond Instruction Authority figure Passive learning Faculty-focused Discipline-determined Context-free Grades as purpose

15. OLA Super Conference 2005 Information Processing and TRANSFER Paradigm: Assumptions COGNITION: Mind works like a computer COMMUNICATIONas signal INSTRUCTION as method CONTENT TRANSFER as purpose INFORMATION ACCUMULATIONas goal; more is better (i.e. more intelligence)

16. OLA Super Conference 2005 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)

17. OLA Super Conference 2005 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).

18. OLA Super Conference 2005 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) Magic Knowledge

19. OLA Super Conference 2005 Looking into Learning Participative Constructive Student-oriented Socially constructed Contextual Professors as facilitators

20. OLA Super Conference 2005 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).

21. OLA Super Conference 2005 LEARNING ... Not an (assumed) byproduct of instruction and information processing and transfer ... but the heart and purpose of the enterprise

22. OLA Super Conference 2005 Learning: definition Learning is engagement that changes perception, belief, or behavior

23. OLA Super Conference 2005 Components of Learning CONTENTPROCESSKnowledge Lecture - breadth Reading - depth Writing Data Discussion Disciplines Activity Traditional focus: 1st Content. 2nd: Process.

24. OLA Super Conference 2005 Broader View of Learning CONTENTTRAITSPROCESSESKnowledge Self concept Lecture - breadth Interests Reading - depth Personality Writing Data Learning StyleDiscussion Disciplines Emotions Activity Abilities P. Ackerman, “Traits and Knowledge,” in Learning and Individual Differences (APA, 1999) R. Sternberg, Triarchic Mind (Viking 1988)

25. OLA Super Conference 2005 A Learning Ecology Process Traits Content Context

26. OLA Super Conference 2005 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.

27. OLA Super Conference 2005 “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

28. OLA Super Conference 2005 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”

29. OLA Super Conference 2005 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”

30. OLA Super Conference 2005 RECONFIGURING THE LIBRARY: To Learner-focused Multi-media collections Technologies of access & collaboration Competence building Research & discovery Information Center Information: collection, access, and preservation (“just in case”) Support for Instruction Faculty-focused Technology for Access

31. OLA Super Conference 2005 Not the whole banana…. K-12 K-20 But “intervene” at that point of moving beyond information transfer to competence building

32. OLA Super Conference 2005 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”

33. OLA Super Conference 2005 HighestRoK “The Line” Return on “Learning”Investment Formal Learning Methods InformalLearning Methods High Point of DiminishingReturns on Formal Point of IncreasingReturns on Informal Value to Learners andReturn on Knowledge Learning Maturity Competence Low High

34. OLA Super Conference 2005 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.

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36. OLA Super Conference 2005 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?

37. OLA Super Conference 2005 Parameter I: Information, Knowledge, and Learning are Social … and Contextual Useful information today is as muchsocial(co-created; set in rich networks) as it is tangible, a commodity… consequently, the requisite skill iscollaborationwithin asocial context Brown & Duguid, Social Life of Information Informal learning is more prominent and common than generally acknowledged Diversity enhances creative problem solving Learningcommunitiesare ideal environment Lave and Wenger, Situated Learning (1991)

38. OLA Super Conference 2005 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)

39. OLA Super Conference 2005 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)

40. OLA Super Conference 2005 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”

41. OLA Super Conference 2005 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

42. OLA Super Conference 2005 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

43. OLA Super Conference 2005 DYNAMIC-DISCOVERY (LIBRARY) MODEL STRENGTH Resources; methods; organized; information literacy-competency CONTROLParent institution LIMITATIONSupport / preservation mindset PROBLEM Requires partnerships with learning designers & evaluators L’RNING THEORY Constructivist / Inquiry / Connectivist LIBRARYROLE Providing learning environments PLACE? Both place and space

44. OLA Super Conference 2005 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.

45. OLA Super Conference 2005 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

46. OLA Super Conference 2005 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)

47. OLA Super Conference 2005 Illustration: Select Learning Strategies GOALPEDAGOGY 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)

48. OLA Super Conference 2005 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)

49. OLA Super Conference 2005 Step 6: Assess and Track To what extent … What type … When did … How effective was … … the in perception belief behavior? Change Change

50. OLA Super Conference 2005 Let’s talk about it . . . Jim Marcum marcum@fdu.edu http://library.fdu.edu/OCULA05.ppt

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52. OLA Super Conference 2005 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).

53. OLA Super Conference 2005 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