Was great to be able to make it to library camp this time around with the education technology edition hosted at UBC.
Waterbear: Programming for the Fun of It
Dethe Elza @dethe
- a tool that can change your lives
- being able to program without knowing how to program
- waterbear! most robust creature on earth
- toolkit for making programming more accessible and fun. Visual language meant to help code
- writing code is a fundamental literacy
- blocks can be converted to any language
- other visual programming that have been successful: Scratch – but made for children, and limited, which works great
- waterbear gives you the whole internet and more: node servers, arduino, etc.
- come join and come aboard
Implementing Open Badges at UBC
Kate Chandler @OpenBadgesUBC
- co-op student from iSchool
- needed to do research on other badge systems
- vision is to put the learner into the driver’s seat (not just sit passively)
- gap in existing information structure that can be filled between job seeker and employer
- badge can provide information
- The Educational Ecosystem: difficulties of knowing what students want, what employers will recognize
- badges to complement existing system and enrich it
- system that works
* badges would continue to accumulate and see that learning doesn’t stop, learning obviously becomes a lifelong event
Raspberry Pi and Arduino are cool!
Scott Robarts @srobarts
- Raspberry Pi = single board computer, with ports, typically with Linux installed
- great way to teach about computers and programming
- MAC for example is a very closed system that you cannot open, but Raspberry Pi is completely visible
- great community for support, projects, etc.
- lots of additions e.g. touchscreens, keyboards, wifi, relay control
- Arduino: simpler system, microcontroller, programmable
- you could use a Raspberry Pi for simple terminal e.g. for OPAC
The DL on IL – Digital Literacy as Information Literacy
Erin Fields @emefie
- conversation about information and digital literacy, and its framework
- information literacy is being considered a subset of digital literacy, which creates a whole new complexity in how to teach
- been used a lot around education technology
- other types of literacy under digital literacy e.g. computer, network
- defined but never had a curriculum assigned to it
- to be literate, need to be able to apply skills across mediums/technologies
- example: using Google Docs needs soft skills, technical, etc.
- digital literacy is not about technology, but can be influenced
- really about competencies that
- framework is exciting but complicated
- looking at the standard that we have, there are many skills that are assumed in order to complete a task
- need to understand using operating system/browser, search interfaces, how they are different, etc.
- none of these skills are covered in workshops, because a lot of the digital literacy
- if we think of information literacy as part of the digital literacy framework, how does that change our instruction? how do we ensure students have the literacy skills to meet us at the point where we can start talking about the search?
Maker Spaces in Libraries
Maryann Kempthorn @maryakem
- libraries have a strong background in resources
- lots of technologies that flow through libraries
- many libraries are now struggling because many administrators are coming in and saying “we need a makerspace” or “we should have hacker space events”
- went to mini-makerfaire to get feedback from people, asking how libraries can support
- they don’t want us to buy a 3D printer, want more holistic programming, want more non-fiction content, more excited about engineering
- want access to people in the non-fiction area like we’ve done with authors in the fiction area
- follow #makerbrarianYVR to see all the feedback that was received