Episode 4: Education: Old Normal No More

Libraries Lead!

March 17, 2021
45 Minutes
Dave Lankes & Mike Eisenberg

In this episode, Mike and Dave start with a brief exchange on the changing nature of work and the need to help low-wage earners find out about high demand jobs, requirements, and opportunities for getting access to quality training.

Mike & Dave then pick up the conversation about education in the evolving new normal from episode 3’s insights from Colet Bartow, Teaching and Learning Senior Manager in the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Colet raised such issues as the increased interest in homeschooling or perhaps moving to a blended or hybrid approach to schooling, as well as the continued challenges of the digital divide.

Mike laments that education is still stuck in a “19th Century, industrial model of mass-production education with cookie-cutter classrooms, fixed schedules, bells, and a one-size fits all curriculum. Do we really want to go back to this “old normal”? Dave sees a need to experiment, learn more about, and share best practices on how to use the emerging online technologies more effectively with libraries and librarians deeply involved.

Also highlighted (as an Awesome Library Thingy) is Barbara Fister’s essay (from Project Information Literacy) that was picked up by The Atlantic about librarians confronting the mis- and dis-information efforts of Q-Anon and other conspiracy theory promoters by expanding exposure to skills and knowledge concerning social media, inquiry, and how this whole “information thing” works.

References & Resources

Miller, Elizabeth. (March 1, 20215:00 AM ET) "For Some Black Students, Remote Learning Has Offered A Chance To Thrive," National Public Radio: All Things Considered. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/01/963282430/for-some-black-students-remote-learning-has-offered-a-chance-to-thrive

Fister, Barbara (Feb 18, 2021) “The Librarian War Against Qanon. As “Do the research” becomes a rallying cry for conspiracy theorists, classical information literacy is not enough. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2021/02/how-librarians-can-fight-qanon/618047/

Fister, Barbara (Feb 3, 2021) “Lizard People in the Library,” Project Information Literacy, Provocation Series. https://projectinfolit.org/pubs/provocation-series/essays/lizard-people-in-the-library.html

Credits
Yoni Yemini from ACE Chicago Events