You Can’t Just say, ‘Here’s a Computer.’ You Can’t Just Say, ‘Here’s Cheap Internet,’You’ve Got to Teach a Man to Fish.

Every time I talk about transliteracy I mention this problem.

Providing access to highspeed broadband is only the first step.You have to think about the cost of hardware, the learning curve to use the hardware effectively.  After that is learning how to navigate the internet.  It’s not intuitive, there is no instruction manual and there is no formal training.

It is great that there is a national broadband plan but it does next to nothing to address the issues related the access and training once high speed is availabe.

So I love this quote from Waz: Top gadgets encourage broadband adoption

“You can’t just say, ‘Here’s a computer.’ You can’t just say, ‘Here’s cheap Internet,'” he said. “You’ve got to teach a man to fish.”

Read More:

• FCC’s Broadband Action Agenda Fails to Address Training and Education
• Librarians Play a Vital Role in 21st Century Literacies
• Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy Warns of “Second Class Citizens” in the Digital Age
• International Briefing on the U.S. National Broadband Plan
• Study: How The American Public Benefits from Internet and Computer Access at Public Libraries
• FCC Proposes Digital Literacy Corps
• Digital Literacy Skills Essential to Closing Broadband Gap #knightcomm

Register for the Cyber Summit on 21st Century Readiness

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is having a FREE cyber summit on 21st Century Readiness!

September 20, 2010, 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: 21st Century Learning – Why, What, and How with Bernie Trilling, co-author of 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times.

September 21, 2010, 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn with James Bellanca, P21 president Ken Kay. author/consultant Bob Pearlman, and author/consultant Robin Fogarty.

September 22, 2010, 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century School District with moderator Bob Pearlman, Mary Jo Conery, Assistant Superintendent for 21st Century Skills for the Catalina Foothills School District (CFSD), Tucson, AZ, and CFSD teachers.

September 23, 2010, 10:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: 21st Century Knowledge and Skills in Teacher Preparation with Valerie Greenhill and Sharon Robinson

September 23, 2010, 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: Project Based Learning In Action! with Dennis Kowalski, Ed.D. and director of the Greater Cleveland Educational Development Center (moderator); Sandranette Sellers, Program Coordinator GCEDC, CSU, former English teacher, and school administrator; Nevin Jenkins, math teacher, Warensville Heights High School, adjunct professor, Cuy Community College; Patrick Geshke, English teacher, Parma High School; Joanne Ritschel, math teacher, Rocky River High School.

September 24, 2010, 10:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern

• Educators, Technology and 21st Century Skills: Dispelling Five Myths with Dr. MaryFriend Shepard, Coordinator, Ph.D. in Education, Educational Technology, The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, Walden University.

September 27, 2010, 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar:  Core Subjects and 21st Century Readiness with Ken Kay, President of P21; Michael Blakeslee, MENC; Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri; Bret Lovejoy, ACTFL: Zipporah Miller, NSTA.

September 28, 2010, 10:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: Engaging 21st Century Skills in the Middle with Leslie Preddy, AASL 2010 National School Library Media Program of the Year winner and 2010 Indiana Teacher of the Year Finalist.

September 28, 2010, 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: 21st Century Skills are Elementary with Carl Harvey, AASL president-elect, and Melissa Johnston, doctoral student at Florida State University.

September 29, 2010, 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: Models for 21st Century Education with Barbara Chow, Hewlett Foundation; Ken Kay, P21; Monica Martinez, New Tech Schools; Cheryl Carrier, Ford PAS; Andrew Rothstein, NAF; Bob Lenz, Envision: Beth Brock, IB; Scott Hartl, Expeditionary Learning.

October 1, 2010, 1:00 PM Pacific/4:00 PM Eastern

• Webinar: Best Practices from P21 States with Helen Soule, P21 Director of State Partnerships; June Atkinson, State Superintendent, North Carolina; Kevin Fangman, Director, Iowa Department of Education; Terry Holiday, Commissioner of Education, Kentucky.

On October 5, 2010, stay tuned throughout the day for live webcasts of Plenary Sessions from the National Summit on 21st Century Readiness in Washington, D.C.

Get Your Libraries and Transliteracy Swag!

Yes we’ve opened our very own Cafepress store for Libraries and Transliteracy Swag!  You can get just about anything from coffee cups, totebags (come on you can never have enough totebags) to baseball caps. I ordered a totebag and a coffee cup and you can see the photos on Flickr. We’d love to see pictures of your swag in action, unless of course you are one of the truly adventurous 🙂

All proceeds from sales go to furthering libraries and transliteracy efforts, not into our pockets.

Information is Always Evolving

[tweetmeme source=”Strng_Dichotomy” only_single=false]

The video below was made in 2007, the same year the term Transliteracy was coined by Production and Research in Transliteracy (PART).  It was created by Dr. Michael Wesch to show the way we find, house, and share information was changing.

Now in 2010, the video and its content are still relevant  This video really shows how the transliterate individual can do so much with the access to information we now have.  In addition to this, the video shows a clear need to educate people on how to transverse this now limitless sea of information. I think that this is where Participatory Librarianship and Transliteracy go hand in hand.  We need to understand how to help or patrons, students, friends, family, and colleagues become cognizant and comfortable with the tools they will need to communicate and collaborate with others.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

[tweetmeme source=”librarianbyday” only_single=false]

I was reminded via Stephen Abram’s post Framework for 21st Century Learning about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. I have a great list of resources that I plan to share and I forget which ones I haven’t and haven’t done. I could have sworn I’d blogged this but searching for it proves futile.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is

… a national  organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. As the United States continues to compete in a global  economy that demands innovation, P21 and its members provide tools and resources to help the U.S. education system keep up by fusing the three Rs and four Cs (critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation). While leading districts and schools are already doing this, P21 advocates for local, state and federal policies that support this approach for every school. Learn more about the Partnership and the Framework for 21st Century Learning.

The site is full of great tools like

• Curriculum and Instruction: A 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide A guide for state leaders, policymakers and/or district and school leaders with assessment tactics and examples to assist in statewide 21st century skills initiatives.
• Assessment: A 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide A guide for state leaders, policymakers and/or district and school leaders with assessment tactics and examples to assist in statewide 21st century skills initiatives.
• Standards: A 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide A guide for state leaders, policymakers and/or district and school leaders with assessment tactics and examples to assist in statewide 21st century skills initiatives.
• Professional Development: A 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide A guide for state leaders, policymakers and/or district and school leaders with assessment tactics and examples to assist in statewide 21st century skills initiatives.
• Learning Environments: A 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide – A guide for state leaders, policymakers and/or district and school leaders with assessment tactics and examples to assist in statewide 21st century skills initiatives.
• Principles and Recommendations for 21st Century Readiness for Every Child A Guide to the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act