University of the Book: Reading, Libraries, and Inquiry

Learning

James W. Marcum, Ph.D.

August 2010

A different (millennial) generation

• Technologically savvy (natives)• Diverse; different learning styles• Visually engaged• Comfortable with multitasking• Learn by doing• Instinctively collaborative• Smartest generation?

• D. Tapscott, Grown Up Digital (2008)• Or…Dumbest generation?

• M. Bauerlein, The Dumbest Generation (2009)

DANGER: The Shallows

• Internet is rewiring our brain

• An “ecosystem of interruption technologies”

• A permanent state of distractedness and forgetfulness

• … a far-reaching effect on reading, writing, and language itself…– N. Carr, The Shallows (2010)

• So…what are we to do?

Start: greater emphasis on reading• Reading is the

essential skill upon which other intellectual powers depend – Jacques Barzun, (1991). Begin Here: The

Forgotten Conditions of Teaching and Learning. U Chicago Press, 20-27.

VALUE of Reading• Deep reading is the best

antidote for the distracted (shallow) minds being created by the internet

• Good books have provided the means to better understanding and perspective (… i.e. leadership) for generations

Challenge: Revive “reading”

• Free voluntary (extended) reading produces better–vocabulary– spelling– writing– with longer retention and– more and better reading in the

future.• …than formal instruction.

– S. Krashen, The Power of Reading, 2nd ed. 2004.

The Library College Idea

• Assumption: good book collections provide a rich “wherewithal” for learning

• Professional librarians can guide reading inquiry.

• This is not a new idea• Louis Shores. The Library-College.

Philadelphia: Drexel, 1966.• Marie Schuster. The Library-Centered

Approach to Learning. Palm Springs, CA: ETC, 1977.

Louis Shores’ “Case”

• Culmination of independent study movement

• Revolt against “lockstep” classes• Good reading compares with

classroom instruction for effect • Learning mode: match the

resource to the individual• Utilize the well selected and

‘presented’ books in the library

New ‘Learning’ Theories

• Multiple learning styles

• Self-directed learning

• Active learning

• Social learning

• Connectivism

New Education Practices• Beyond Lifelong

Learning– Undergraduate research– Inquiry learning– Problem-based learning– Discovery learning– Communities of Learning– Distance and Online

Learning

New Technologies Create Opportunities

• Internet/web-based information sharing and communication

• Learning management systems• Collaborative knowledge

building• Weblogs, wikis, social learning

tools• Mobility and miniaturization

(wireless, cell phones laptops, PDAs)

And New Learning Resources

• Learning Management Systems (Blackboard)

• Open academic content exchanges (Merlot, MIT’s OCW, etc.)

• Publisher databases, resources (Elsevier, Emerald, ACS, etc.)

• Social Learning (blogs, wikis, collaboration tools)

Consider: “Library Based, Learner-Centered Inquiry”

• Learner initiated reading & learning (individual OR group)

• Resource (book) based• Librarian guided• Specialist advised• Technology enabled

– Stakeholder engaging– Revenue generating

Key methodology:• Resource (research)-

based inquiry– Puts learner at the center of

the process– Uses clear objectives and a …– Rich learning environment

• Multiple, varied resources• Technology support• Individual or social learning

– Incorporating face-to-face knowledgeable guidance

And new methods:• Engaging, constructivist self-

identity development via autobiography

- Antikainen, Living in a Learning Society (1996)

• Guided Inquiry:– Rich learning environment– Intervention, at critical moment– Frequent feedback– Assessment– Connects learning to students’ “life,”

interests, goals, questions• C. Kuhlthau, et al. (2007) Guided Inquiry:

Learning in the 21st Century.

Discovery Learning

To break free of known facts (dogma) requires:

• Allowing for initiative and self-direction

• Encouraging work in teams• Questioning authority• Using constructivist, problem-

solving pedagogies• Considering alternative

examples and scenarios– Marcum, “From Information Center to

Discovery System” (2001)

And DIY Learning• Technology enabled• Open Content (MIT, 2001)

• Open University/Education

• Personal Learning Networks

• Ex: – School of Everything– Omniuniversity– Massive Open Course (CA)– College Unbound– Open Learning Initiative, etc.

• A. Kamenetz, DIY U (2010)

UNIVERSITY OF THE BOOK

• All of which sets the stage for a renewed emphasis on deep/extended reading (i.e. books)

• Grounded at the 25,000 public and academic libraries in the U.S.

• With librarians and others serving as F2F liaison/tutors between learners and networks of scholars and specialists

Facing the “post Web” world

• “Google: The Search Party is Over,” Fortune (Aug 16, 2010)

• “The Closing of the Digital Frontier,” The Atlantic (July 2010)

• “The Web is Dead,” Wired (Sept 2010)

* * *

– “How we use the web—and how it looks—is going to be completely different in five years than it is today” - Mike McCue, founder, Flipboard

• What do YOU think?