Media MashUp is an IMLS funded project (Grant LG-07-08-0113i) to help libraries build capacity to offer computer-based programs for youth that help foster 21st Century literacy skills. Twenty first Century literacy skills include traditional literacy skills like reading and writing, but also encompass collaborative problem solving, and computer-based skills. As such, libraries and other institutions that help foster a literate public need to adapt to this new reality. While the public audience for this grant is the youth who participate in the Media MashUp programs at these libraries, this
Twenty-four Learning Labs in libraries and museums across the country are engaging America’s youth in learning settings where they gain skills and following their passions. A new publication, Learning Labs in Libraries and Museums: Transformative Spaces for Teens, describes these innovative teen spaces. The report details the research behind the labs, the practices that support meaningful learning, and the impacts of a movement that grew with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and its private partner, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. STAR Library Education Network (STAR_Net) is a national program led by the Space Science Institute’s National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL). STAR stands for Science-Technology Activities and Resources (www.starnetlibraries.org). Core partners include the American Library Association, Lunar and Planetary Institute, and the National Girls Collaborative Project. Other partners include the National Academy of Engineering, Engineers Without Borders-USA, IEEE-USA, the National Renewable Energy Lab, American Geophysical
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SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/National Center for Interactive LearningPaul Dusenbery
This paper provides a brief overview of the ideas and principles underlying the connected learning movement, highlighting examples of how libraries are boosting 21st-century learning and promoting community development by partnering with a range of organisations and individuals to incorporate connected opportunities into their programmes. The connected learning movement supports interest-driven, peer-supported, and academically oriented learning for youth by promoting the core values of equity, participation, and social connection. By connecting formal and informal learning organisations with
In recent years, many technological interventions have surfaced, such as virtual worlds, games, and digital labs, that aspire to link young people's interest in media technology and social networks to learning about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) areas. Despite the tremendous interest surrounding young people and STEM education, the role of school libraries in these initiatives is rarely examined. In this article, we outline a sociocultural approach to explore how school library programs can play a critical role in STEM education and articulate the need for research that
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Mega SubramaniamJune AhnKenneth FleischmannAllison Druin
The article focuses on the establishment of the YOUMedia Network at Saint Public Library in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The digital learning laboratory operates within the guidelines of Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out (HOMAGO) which provides teenagers access to technology and art such as sewing machines, makerspace, and recording studios. The library partnered with Parks and Recreation Department, Saint Paul Neighborhood Network and the Science Museum of Minnesota's Youth Science Center.
Educational makerspaces (EM) and maker education (ME) have the potential to revolutionize the way we approach teaching and learning. The maker movement in education is built upon the foundation of constructionism, which is the philosophy of hands-on learning through building things. Constructionism, in turn, is the application of constructivist learning principles to a hands-on learning environment. Thus maker education is a branch of constructivist philosophy that views learning as a highly personal endeavor requiring the student, rather than the teacher, to initiate the learning process. In
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R. Steven KurtiDebby KurtiLaura Fleming
This guide grew out of the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Museums and Libraries Engaging America’s Youth initiative and draws on the wide body of research and knowledge from the fields of youth development and informal learning, as well as from the rich experience of museum and library professionals and volunteers. The specific goals of the initiative are: to examine what works, to share best practices to encourage effective programming to build bridges with policy makers.
The purpose of this toolkit is to provide library professionals and library workers who work with and for tweens and teens with materials and resources for professional development, outreach, collections, and programs to successfully integrate Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) into programs and services.
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Young Adult Library Services Association (YASLA)Erica Compton
Public libraries are uniquely poised to provide meaningful opportunities for teens to learn and grow outside of school—if they listen to what teens want and need. This article presents finding from the Boston Public Library's implementation of new teen spaces and programs.
This article explores the partnership between the Baltimore County 4-H program and the Baltimore County Public Library, which forged a partnership to offer structured experiential programming opportunities to meet the afterschool needs of youth who visit their local library. Their experience suggests that libraries and youth development organizations can fruitfully collaborate to create sustainable quality afterschool programming.
FUSE is a new kind of interest-driven learning experience being developed by researchers at Northwestern University with the goal of engaging pre-teens and teens in science, technology, engineering, arts/design, and mathematics (STEAM) topics while fostering the development of important 21st century skills including adaptive problem solving, creativity, self-directed learning, persistence, and grit. FUSE is now offered in-school, after-school, and on the weekends at 23 different locations in the greater Chicago area. Through FUSE, teens can "hang out, mess around and geek out" with the FUSE set of challenges, the core activities in our Studios. Each challenge uses a leveling up model from gaming and is carefully designed to engage teens in different STEAM topics and skills sets. FUSE currently has 21 challenges in areas such as robotics, electronics, biotechnology, graphic design, Android app development, 3D printing and more. New challenges are always in development. FUSE Challenges can be tackled individually or in groups. Professional scientists, engineers, advanced undergraduates, and graduate students are available as mentors and provide a real-world connection to the concepts learned and practiced through the challenges. All challenges result in digital media artifacts that are shared online for peer review, remixing, expert judging, and collaboration. We designed the FUSE program to appeal to the interests of all young people, especially those youth who are not interested in or don't think of themselves as "good at" math and science in school. FUSE challenges provide a new way to explore science, technology, engineering, arts and design, and math in a fun and relaxed way. FUSE is based on many years of research in the learning sciences by faculty in School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University.