Welcome to In the Middle...

In a recent meeting with representatives from Apple, it was discussed how we expect students to power down during the school day.  We may have access to the internet and are able to produce word processed documents, but students are expected to to leave most of their 2.0 tools behind.  In a sense, we ask them to disconnect from their network while they're at school and learn within the context we provide them.  But what do they do the moment they leave our classrooms?  They power back up.  So what if we cut out the middle man?  What if we didn't ask them to disconnect and instead created learning experiences within their own context?  What would that look like? And how would that relate to the role of the library and the responsibilities of the media specialist?

As I work through the 23 Things project, I hope to answer these questions.  With each new "thing", I will try to address what this could look like in the middle school library.  And hopefully you can add your experiences and your insights to make this truly collaborative. It is my goal to use these tools in a way that will encourage myself, and others, to teach in a new context.