The library as learning commons:Key to graduation and college

readiness?Fall 2014

2Concept used in museums and libraries

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What is a commons?Definition:

What is a Commons?

A set of resources maintained in the public sphere for the use and benefit of everyone

(from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

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What is a commons?

Commons– The Commons is a general term for shared

resources in which each stakeholder has an equal interest. Studies on the commons include the Information Commons with issues about Public Knowledge, the Public Domain, Open Science, and the free exchange of ideas -- all issues at the core of a direct democracy. [1]

– See also: The Commons FAQ

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What is a learning commons?

A learning commons must, therefore, in some sense be a place where a “set of [learning] resources [is] maintained in the public sphere for the use and benefit of everyone”

But what kind of resources? . . . and what kind of place?

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What is a Learning Commons, Anyway?

What is a Learning Commons?– “Koechlin, Rosenfeld and Loertscher define it as

“a learning “space” that is both physical and virtual – a place to experiment, practice, celebrate, learn, work and play. Gino Bondi, in his blog post Our Learning Commons: One “How To” for 21st Century Learning says that “It is a transformation that calls for physical, virtual and, pedagogical changes as well as a shift in mindset for all players.”• by Kelly Reierson and Lissa Davies

February 23, 2012 (2 Comments)

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What in the world is a Learning Commons?

– “A Learning Commons is a flexible and responsive approach to helping schools focus on learning collaboratively. It expands the learning experience, taking students and educators into virtual spaces beyond the walls of a school.”• Home > Teacher Librarians >

What is a Learning Commons

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https://sites.google.com/site/newprovidencelearningcommons/home

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http://www.da.org/learningcommons

http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/byrdlibrary

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http://vimeo.com/47494235

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http://prezi.com/irlblu5ezkjg/nnhs-library-learning-commons/

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http://www.togetherforlearning.ca/

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What’s so common about it?

http://www.schooltube.com/video/2a138405ea18f0630b05/The-Collaborative-Learning-Commons

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Partnership

http://sslalearningcommons.pbworks.com/f/LeadingtheWay.pdf

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http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7071.pdf

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http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7071.pdf

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http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7071.pdf

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http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7071.pdf

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http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7071.pdf

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http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7071.pdf

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A related concept

Information commons– Taking its roots from simpler

times when communities shared communal land, the Information Commons is the modern academic equivalent of a common space used for the processes of information gathering and social collaboration. It is where enlightenment meets interaction. Knowledge fosters education.• What is Information Commons? To us, it is Intuitive.

03//22//2011 //Steve PryorAdvertising blog for Paragon school furniture

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Five Benefits of the Information Commons

1. The Commons puts students at the center

2. The Commons is built with student involvement

3. The Commons is a welcoming, useful gathering place

4. The Commons makes connections

5. The Commons is a relevant, required space on campus

– A “Commons” Experience: Five Benefits of the Information CommonsSubmitted by Michael Stephens on November 17, 2008

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http://murraylib601.org/LMCtoLearningCommons.pdf

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An expanded concept

The School Learning Commons Knowledge Building Center – What is a Knowledge Building

Center?• A knowledge building center is an

online presence of a particular learning experience that accomplishes a number of things that a simple online directive assignment does not usually do.

Welcome to The SchoolLearning Commons

Knowledge Building Center Created by David Loertscher and

Carol Koechlinhttp://www.schoollearningcommons.info/

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A clearer definition What is a Knowledge Building Center?

– A Knowledge Building Center is a virtual and collaborative space where professors, teacher librarians, learning leaders, teacher technologists or other specialists are coaching learners in a project, problem, learning experience, learning community, etc.

They can be used with face to face instruction, blended learning, or totally online learning.• Knowledge Building Centers

Learning Commons Calgary 2012• Template is at:

https://sites.google.com/site/knowledgebuildingcenter/

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Knowledge comes to play Play as a motivator for learning

– Creating an educational system that will cultivate life-long learners calls for a novel approach. Reaching into the roots of human evolution, play--the historic medium of learning--emerges as a good fit in a world in constant flux.

– The learning commons provides an environment for activities that develop student intelligence. Through playful instructional design, learning commons promote inquiry and information seeking through which students’ inner resources are revealed and developed. In these ways and more, the learning commons is a playground for the mind where students discover and develop a love of learning that can last a lifetime.

• CROW, S., & ROBINS, J. (2012). Play in the Library. Teacher Librarian, 39(5), 36-43.

http://murraylib601.org/LibraryFlip.pdf

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A book by Loertscher, et al.

The New Learning Commons: Where Learners Win!– Originally published in 2008, the first

edition of this book proposed a complete rethinking of the school library and computer lab in a 21st century school. After four years, the concepts of the Learning Commons have gained momentum across North America and in Australia. This second edition is rich in the further development of the concept and its implementation and draws upon many schools that have developed their programs and recreated their physical space and turned their library websites into virtual learning commons.

• David V. Loertscher, Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan; ISBN: 978-1-933170-67-1; Hi Willow Research and Publishing; 2011

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The library as a digital hub

http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_26650054/central-york-middle-schools-library-becomes-digital-hub

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What is this?The Library & Learning HUB concept is not unique to Central York School District. It is an idea embraced by libraries and learning institutions throughout the world, including here in Pennsylvania, at The Pennsylvania State University.

http://int.cysd.k12.pa.us/howard/shared/LIBHUB/LIBRARYHUB.pdf

Collaboration is the key!