How This School Library Increased Student Use By 1,000 Percent

The Ontario Library Association published the document "Together for Learning" in 2010. It outlined the need for a change in school libraries to become an environment that reflects the needs of students and the wider community. The change was due to the advancement from a print based to a technology based society. The learning commons, as the library became known, was to transform how students and staff used the space which included participatory learning.

Participatory learning may look quite different in the learning commons than the classroom. The learning commons provides the space and resources for students to practice critical thinking, collaboration and design thinking skills, which then can be transferred to the classroom and beyond. The 30 minute scheduled class time for storytelling, exchanging books and silent reading becomes a time for exploration, collaboration and sharing innovative ideas.

"When I hear the term 'library' now, it is synonymous with books on shelves (all tidy and quiet). However, our learning commons, which also has books on shelves, is far from anything quiet. It is a place where exploration reigns; robots beep, collaboration is heard, and deep learning is embedded in student-led discoveries!"Darren Labrash, Grade 3 teacher, Ottawa Catholic School Board

Flexibility

To make a participatory learning environment in a learning commons possible, the first item that is needed is flexibility. A flexible space, furniture, schedule and even mindset of staff and students is essential when transforming the space. Naturally this may take a few years to accomplish but when completed the change is inspiring.

Flexibility in the space refers to the ability of your users to change the learning commons space according to their needs. Shelving on wheels, furniture with gliders, folding tables and benches all help when the space needs to transform for large groups and presentations. In the document (Leading learning: standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada), the standard: Designing learning environments to support participatory learning, first discusses the physical space to suit the needs of students. "Physical LLC spaces are flexible to facilitate spontaneous groupings.", (Canadian School Libraries, 19)

Small niches or collaboration zones intermixed with individual work areas allow staff and students to be separate from other groups using the same space. This not only helps with volume in the learning commons but also helps students focus on their own work and not be distracted by other groups.

Students and staff need to be able to use the learning commons according to their educational needs in a timely manner, not waiting for a week until their class rotation comes around. This means a free flow area where students come, work, exchange books, and collaborate anytime. A flexible schedule is especially hard for people to wrap their minds around. Generally explained a school learning commons can run like a public library, where everyone may come and go as needed. Self checkout is also a mandatory requirement for the transformation to be successful. When users are responsible for their own book exchange and scheduling management, they become empowered, responsible and take ownership of their educational needs. It also frees staff from sitting at a desk checking out books giving them time to teach and interact with students on a meaningful level.

Collaborative and Critical Thinking Skills

So now that everyone has access to the space, resources, technology needed for research, coding, collaborative and creative work, how do we encourage more than just free play? Free play is great when students are learning to use new technology. Once the basics have been learned though there needs to be a purpose to their creative work and room to grow in new concepts and skills.

Programming in the learning commons needs to evolve to reflect these experiences of creativity, innovation and hands-on learning by providing participatory learning. Many learning commons staff are finding it difficult in how to accomplish this task both with limited time and resources. As discussed earlier, a flexible schedule and self checkout will help free up time. As daunting as this sounds, stations or makerspace can be planned for the year. With makerspace, if there are eight challenges and a group rotates to a new challenge once a month then the logistics of arranging makerspace needs to happen only once a year. Each time a class visits the learning commons a new skill is discussed and modelled for the students to practice. Expectations are also posted for students to understand general behaviour needs to be followed. It is also necessary to give time for students to reflect on their experience in makerspace as a team. What were the difficulties? What would they change next time? What went well?

These skills are the focus of makerspace not the building, and coding. The ability to work effectively in a team is a valuable skill that needs to be practiced often for it to be ready to use when the students leave school. It is critical when students are exploring, testing and evaluating their designs that there is no interference especially from adults. If students are allowed to make mistakes, identify the problem and make adjustments on their own or in a team, then the process of design thinking will be established.

Makerspace challenges do not have to be costly for those schools who cannot afford to buy the latest in robotics. Challenges can be as simple as: using 20 sheets of paper to build a tower, create a habitat out of recycled material, build the three pigs a house on a fixed budget where recycled materials are assigned a value, do a survey of the class and put the results on the lego wall with a bar graph.

"Companies today are looking for students who can think on their own, collaborate with others, solve problems with unique ideas and understand the process of design. So how can schools and learning commons provide students with the opportunities they need to succeed in today's workforce? "

(Baker, Creating a 21st century learning commons with design thinking, 67)

With stations, students are free to choose an activity during their library learning commons time and may choose to continue work on their project in their own time. As with makerspace, stations are posted with specific challenges so students have direction in the beginning. As the year progresses, students become more comfortable with this process and start designing their own projects.

Possible stations:

Tinkercad - Create a medal to give to someone who is doing awesome things in our school. Create a tool to help students keep their focus while reading.

Micro:bit - Code the Micro:bit to display their first and last name with a 3 second delay between. Code the Micro:bit to play rock, paper, scissors and keep track of the results.

Sora - Find and listen to an audiobook, Find and open an e--book.

WeVideo - Create a weather forecast and change the background using green screening.

Create a anti-bullying video and change the background using green screening.

Read - Read a book of your choice.

Google Slides - Create a slideshow enticing someone to read a book of your choice.

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Students created chess pieces in Tinkercad to print with the 3D printer. The pieces fit over ozobots that were then coded so the pieces played chess by themselves. This activity was entirely student driven and initiated.

"I find that our learning commons is very spacious and everything is very organized. I like all the flexible comfortable seating and we can work in this space anytime we want easily. I like that we don't just sit for 15 minutes for silent reading, we have other stations to practice green screening, 3d printing and looking at books online. These stations allow me opportunities to learn how to collaborate and be more creative with my mindset. Our learning commons works because it allows me the freedom to work on projects according to my needs."

Grade 6 student, Ottawa Catholic School Board

In the article "How a school library increased its student use by 1,000 percent", the author describes how all these changes in space and participatory learning changed how the library was used by students. It didn't decrease the usage or made the library obsolete but dramatically increased students using the space and learning skills for the future. I have found the same results in my learning commons after the transformation. The space is so busy with everyone working on collaboration, learning new skills and yes still book exchange that I am sought out by principals to help change their schools to this new model.

Life Skills

"A recent study from the University of Illinois showed that ten years after graduation, people who had honed their teamwork skills while still in high school had significantly higher earnings than classmates who had failed to do so. In fact the mastery of collaboration skills correlated more closely to annual income than standardized test scores."

(Harvey, 10)

It is important to remember that as staff within the education field, we are working for the students. It is our job to provide the resources, space and skills needed for our students to excel in life when they move on to higher education and the workforce. This means in today's society all staff need to be on the leading edge of technology. Frequent professional development is necessary to keep abreast of all the new and innovative ideas and technology that is now (and will be) available. Students are great at this task of keeping up with technology and also a great resource for those who need some tips and new ideas. It is then our job as educators to harness the students' enthusiasm for technology into learning, sharing ideas and evolving as 21st century students. Flexibility, collaboration, critical thinking and design thinking are all life skills that are being asked for our students to understand and demonstrate in today's workforce. This can be accomplished through participatory learning environments in today's school learning commons.

"Our Learning Commons has become a place where children come to be challenged, engaged and learn through a myriad of opportunities. There are multiple entry points, for the varied learners, and multiple learning styles. Students enter this place filled with various materials, a wonderful collection of books, open-ended building materials, technology such as B-bots, Chromebooks, ipads, coding tools, math tools, to name a few. Children are active participants in constructing their understanding of concepts and skills. They learn to collaborate, problem solve and think critically about ideas that they are excited to pursue, not simply meeting the Ministry Expectations. The old school library model, simply does not meet the needs of the 21st century learner."

Elizabeth Silva Cinanni, Grade 1 Teacher

Ottawa Catholic School Board

Resources

Baker, Patricia. The role of the school library in the 21st century. <https://patriciabaker8.wixsite.com/mysite/single-post/2019/11/12/The-Role-of-the-School-Library-in-the-21st-Century> accessed November 2019.

Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. <https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-1428-6_1903>

accessed November 2019.

"How a school library increased its student use by 1,000 percent",

<https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/school-library/>, accessed November 2019.

Canadian School Libraries. 2018. Leading learning: standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. < http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca> accessed November 2019.

Loertscher, David V. & Koechlin, Carol. Coteaching and the learning commons: building a participatory school culture. Canadian School Libraries Research Archive, October 18. 2017.

<http://researcharchive.canadianschoollibraries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/TMC4_2016_Loertscher_Koechlin.pdf> accessed November 2019.

Osland, Louise, Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz7PA5cm_N8>. accessed July 2018.

Ontario Library Association, 2010. Together for learning: school libraries and the emergence of the learning commons. Print.