Take-Aways: The Freebies of Exploratory Learning

So..Phase 2 of LIBE 477 is coming to an end. This means it's time to reflect on what I've learned over the past several weeks, and what I'll take away, what will stick with me....

I thoroughly enjoyed all the discussions from classmates on promoting reading culture within their school sites (or in the DL world). I now have some new ideas to add to my own repertoire.

I was amazed to find out just how much there is in terms of completely free online pro-d: from MOOCs, to self-paced courses, to webinars. As aside note, when attending the BCTLA Chapter Councillor meeting after the conference, I learned about a fabulous program of our association's: BCTLA Webinars in a series of four per year, for a $20 fee, plus free access to anybody to the archived sessions. Information about this year's series will be sent out via Chapter Councillors soon. The archives can be found here and/or here on the Youtube channel.

Furthermore, the number of amazing TL blogs with how-tos, and YouTube how-tos are an incredible resource in my own as-needed pro-d around Teacher-Librarianship.

Being "forced" to look into all of this stuff has been very beneficial.

Those online pro-d sources will become a sort of  Personal Learning Network--a PLN that goes beyond just attending Chilliwack Teacher-Librarian Association meetings every couple of months. Also, getting back into using Twitter and having a small group through this class to follow, having a small number of blogs to follow, and making connections to other Chapter Councillors will be the start of an ever-increasing PLN.

I was really impressed when researching and reading blog posts about world libraries, with how many different innovative groups and ways there were of bringing both text and digital libraries to people and remote communities throughout the developing world.

However, I think my biggest "take away" from this section of the course has been engaging my curiosity about just what is being done closer to home, here in Canada, about increasing library access to remote communities, and especially to our chronically under-served Aboriginal communities. I think that looking into this is going to become a bit of a mid-to-long-term goal. As I've said in comments on other blog posts from this course this week, we've all heard about deplorable infrastructure conditions on reserves, about water that is completely polluted, and so on, but I know from talking to at least one teacher who worked in northern Saskatchewan for 11 years that library resources there were almost nonexistent.

The study referenced by Jen Maclean in her blog post, Libraries in Developing Nations, will be a great starting point for me to branch out from: Aboriginal Peoples and Access to Reading Materials. I have a feeling we could direct much more attention and fundraising toward supporting access to Library resources (print and digital) within areas of our own country instead of only trying to fix problems outside our borders.

References

Bctf.ca,. 'BCTLA: Professional Development For Teacher-Librarians'. N.p., 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Maclean, Jennifer. 'LIBE 477B Inquiry Blog #4: Libraries In Developing Nations'. Adventures of a Teacher-Librarian 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

National Reading Campaign,. Aboriginal Peoples And Access To Reading Materials. Osweken, ON: Stonepath Research Group, 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

YouTube,. 'BC Teacher-Librarians' Association'. N.p., 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Putting The Whole World Library in His/Her Hands: Mobile Access to Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural Books (and so much more)

This week's topic has two components: the idea of world libraries, and
the idea of using mobile devices with world libraries.
As usual, these broad topics could take us in multiple directions. So, I will set some semantic parameters around what I mean to discuss and focus upon in using those terms.

For "world libraries," I will look at a few virtual digital libraries of books/learning resources that could potentially be accessed by anyone, anywhere, anytime--especially to those in developing countries (or remote areas of the developed world) where access to physical libraries and their resources is less likely. Also, I will look at such Internet/Cloud library collections that are purposefully attempting to be multi-lingual or multicultural in order to be more relevant to more people throughout the world.

In terms of using "mobile devices" to access these world libraries, I'll look at the potential of using the various portable smartphones and tablets (and even latest generation laptops) as a way of carrying a whole library in your pocket, purse, backpack, etc. It is one thing to make virtual world libraries exist, but it is another very different thing to ensure that people have the devices and connectivity to the Internet/Cloud to actually use them; so, I'll take a look at those issues as well.

The first attempt to create a world library online that I remember hearing about was
Project Gutenberg. It was, as I recall, named after the Gutenberg printing press because it was trying to emulate the explosion of access to the printed word that that invention created. I think that originally the Gutenberg project was attempting to put all of the copyright-free classics of the Western canon online for equitable access to all people; it quickly developed into a portal to find materials in many different languages. It now includes a mobile site which would greatly increase its usability by mobile device users throughout the world (most of whom do not have/use desktop computers--more on these cell users later). It is free; thus, it is a true world library resource accessible to all.

QR code for Project Gutenberg mobile site

Another valuable world library is The International Children's Digital Library.
This is an amazing multi-lingual and multicultural collection. Its focus on children's literature makes it extremely valuable for use in school classrooms throughout the world. The link I provided above is one level below the home page: its "simple search" shows how quickly and easily students/teachers can find books by length, age level, category, and so on; notice that the search and results language can be changed in two locations toward the top right. The ICDL is free; thus, it is a true world library resource accessible to all.

There are many organizations out there working to bring digital books to students in under-served developing parts of the world. Library For All is one of them. As their mission statement says:

"Library For All is a nonprofit organization that has built a digital library platform to address the lack of access to quality educational materials in developing countries. Our mission is to make knowledge accessible to every person on the planet, allowing individuals the opportunity to learn, dream, and aspire to lift themselves out of poverty." 

Their cloud-based collection of books comes from multiple publishing partners and features home-language resources; the collections they make available are purposely designed to be used in lower bandwidth environments and allow for off-line use; while they don't supply mobile devices, they do analyze what devices are available in the areas they go to so that they can adapt their platform to fit the population's equipment. All of these features make them a valuable world library resource.



Now, it is great that various world library projects are up and running, but how are people going to access them? 

Mobile devices are seen as a great equalizer in terms of putting learning resources in hands quickly and easily as these--and many, many other--news articles, blogs, etc. have touted in recent years...

Cell Phones Could Help Millions in Developing Countries to Read
in Time online, and
Cell Phones Ignite a 'Reading Revolution' in Poor Countries
online on The Verge.




However, the Pew Research Center on Global Attitudes and Trends published a much more thorough examination of which types of mobile devices were used, how many of them existed, for what purposes they were used, and whether or not they were able to access the Internet/Apps/Cloud/etc in various countries throughout the developing world:

Internet Seen as a Positive Influence on Education...

The charts contained in the study above definitely provide some reality checks in terms of connectivity issues in various countries.

[Both charts above and below from study linked above and cited in References below]

We simply need more free wifi available everywhere to truly give people equitable access to world libraries, increased literacy skills, and open learning opportunities. I did find it heartening that on page three, part way down, between 10-15% of respondents in most countries said that they had used their mobile devices to access online classes. Yet, there is still a significant issue in terms of cell phones becoming commonplace, but the more useful and interactive smartphones (and tablets) remaining uncommon and unaffordable in developing nations.

Luckily, there are people and organizations constantly working on ways to increase equity of access to mobile devices and the free wifi connections needed to make them functional and useful. Below are just a few ways that these issues are attempting to be addressed.

Innovative ways to deliver wifi Internet to where it doesn't exist:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ProjectLoon (for various videos including the one below)

The BRCK is kind of like a backup generator for creating share-able wifi hotspots in underserved and remote areas. It is very portable and very durable, and for a cost of $250, I think it would be affordable for aid organizations or government ministries to purchase to support people. 

BRCK homepage.

BRCK TEDtalk video below

And, to conclude, Mozilla has been spending the last few years trying to develop 

a very affordable $25 smartphone that they would deliberately market to developing countries. Although their motivation is most certainly to make big money by selling to unsaturated markets, the cheap price will also help people around the world get in on accessing a wealth of digital knowledge.

With all of these efforts discussed in my blog today, we may very soon see a time when all people around the globe have an affordable world library in their pockets that is powered by freely-provided or affordably-purchased wifi connections. Fingers crossed...

References

BRCK. 'BRCK: Rugged, Portable Wifi Hotspot & Battery Extender'. N.p., 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Google: Project Loon. Project Loon: Scaling Up. April 17, 2015. Web: YouTube. 27 Oct. 2015.

H., Victor. 'Mozilla Signs A Deal To Make The World’S Cheapest Smartphone: $25 Firefox OS Device With 3.5” Screen And HTML5 Apps'. Phone Arena. Feb. 23, 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

International Children's Digital Library. 'Simple Search'. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Library For All. 'Homepage'. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. 'Internet Seen As Positive Influence On Education But Negative On Morality In Emerging And Developing Nations'. March 19, 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Project Gutenberg. 'Online Book Catalogue—Overview'. 2003–2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Rayman, Noah. 'Cell Phones Could Help Millions In Developing Countries To Read'. TIME.com.April 23, 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

TEDtalk and BRCK. Tedtalk: Meet BRCK: Internet Access Built For Africa. June, 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Toor, Amar. 'Cellphones Ignite A 'Reading Revolution' In Poor Countries'. The Verge. April 23, 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Wauters, Stephanie. 'Smart-Phone (Icon)'. Noun Project. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.