Howard's ISCI 761 Blog

  Since starting my librarian degree, I have been fascinated with makerspaces! I dived deep into learning about them, especially digital makerspaces, with my digital curation assignment and you can explore all the amazing resources I found here: Maker Space Curration One component of makerspaces that I have been particularly interested in is incorporating Legos. They are very versatile and well known to all ages of students with varying levels of building from Duplo Legos for little hands, regular Legos for older students, and even advances build sets for teenagers. An article in the School Library Journal by Karen Jensen titled “ MakerSpace:Legos! The one tool every makerspace needs! ” offers great insight into how Legos can be utilized in school spaces. The author also provides ideas on how to add to basic Legos to offer more creativity and challenges. Since Legos are so well known, they offer a safe and comfortable space for students to explore their creativity and then conn...

Cyberbullying, or bullying using technology, has become a prominent issue in today’s society due to large social media platforms that are at the finger tips of almost every person due to cellphones. This issue is especially prominent in children who use technology as a way to hide their identity and therefore say and do things they might not in person, especially when they see other people doing the same things online. I am always surprised how one instance of digital bullying spirals out of control due to mob mentality. WebMD describes mob mentality as occurring when “individuals are influenced by a larger group” (2021). Children are already susceptible to influence and peer pressure, so this idea of conforming to a group is easily caused by their desire to fit in or at least not draw unwanted attention to oneself. It is easier for a child to hide behind a screen and “bully” another child when they feel both anonymous and like they are doing the same thing all their friends are doin...

More and more it seems that people are only interested in quick visuals and fast information. This is especially true in the modern age of social media with popular applications such as TikTok and Snapchat that allow for short videos to be shared instantly. Students are especially prone to this mode of information sharing and one of my most popular social media platforms right now is Instagram. This application allows for sharing of information through visual means such as photographs and short videos called ‘reels’.  By using Instagram in the school library, especially at the middle and high school level, the librarian can engage with students in a way that is comfortable to them. Lucas John Jensen writes, “An important factor in quality instructional design is learning the characteristics of your learner group, and this principle holds true when integrating social media into online education.” His belief is echoed in through the vast number of instructional opportunities the libr...