David says, “Google Wave is a collaborative, instant messaging service which began in a preview (alpha) edition in 2009. Google Wave may change the very face of virtual reference. This group is for libraries/librarians and others who wish to connect with one another outside of Wave and share ideas, projects and tools about and for Wave”.

And he’s already started 3 great discussions: Google Wave Resources, Books about Google Wave, and Are you Waving?

Stop on by the new group or browse other WebJunction Groups.

WebJunction’s StoryTubes group has been following the project over the years but we were so pleased to see StoryTubes win the well-deserved PLA Polaris Innovation in Technology John Iliff Award in 2009. Alan Harkness, chair of the PLA award jury said that the StoryTubes project was chosen for the prize because it “captured the essence of using technology in an innovative way to tie back into a core business function of public libraries: sharing the joy of reading.”

“The StoryTubes project gave local kids a means to use technology they were interested in to talk about stories. The way that this project brought the community together to vote on the videos the children made was quite original and easily replicated in libraries everywhere.”

Project participants have more than doubled across the nation each year as more young people and educators are discovering the creative magic of matching kids’ love of reading with their interest in technology.

Visit the StoryTubes site to hear how the project has impacted reading efforts in schools and libraries around the country and then download materials to promote in your own community. And be sure to join the WebJunction group if you’re a StoryTubes librarian!

“We are at an inflection point in online education,” said Philip R. Regier, the dean of Arizona State University’s Online and Extended Campus program.

The Department of Education’s meta-analysis of studies (see full report) between 1996 and 2008 compare online with in-person learning looking at the tested performance of students. The studies showed that “blended” instruction (combining elements of online and face-to-face instruction) was better than both face to face instruction or instruction conducted wholly online, but additionally that instruction conducted wholly on line was more effective than face to face instruction only.

As a parent of elementary school-aged kids, I’m of course hopeful that this research will impact some of the decisions made by funders and policy makers, especially in light of all the work going into broadband and technology stimulus work. And too, I hope that we can do a better job training our teachers, parents and of course librarians to support the learning needs and methods of all.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how proud I am to see the study confirms some of the findings in research published way back in March 2007 by my WebJunction colleagues in the Blended Learning Guide. And also worthy of WJ gold stars is the forward thinking revealed in the resources posted in the new Group: Social Learning for Staff Development. Here’s to the days ahead, beyond the “inflection point” of online learning!

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Michael Porter and I gave a presentation on Social Learning for Staff Development where we explored the concepts of serendipitous, targeted serendipity and designed learning using social networking tools.

Humans are social animals and are most engaged in learning when there is social interaction. So how could we present on a topic like this without expanding the presentation environment to allow for social learning about social learning? Even though we had the constraints of a linear lecture-type setup, we asked the participants to break up into groups, take up pen and post-it and start brainstorming  challenges and ideas about how they could integrate social networking tools into their staff development programs.

I had intended to bring the groups back together to share what they had each come up with, but the room was so abuzz with social learning energy that I didn’t want to interrupt. So, I started a group on WebJunction to keep the ideas flowing. The notes from the ALA brainstorm are incorporated there as a launch pad for carrying on the conversation.

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And with UAE in the group spotlight, what better time to share some exciting news about WebJunction staffer, Zola Maddison. She has accepted an offer to serve as the Coordinator of the Learning Enhancement Center at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. While all in the WebJunction family, members, partners and staff, will miss her greatly, we’re excited for this new chapter in Zola’s career and we know that she’ll remain an active member on the site! Zola has this to share:

As many of you know, I’ve been interested in global libraries for a long time. While I can’t remember a time I didn’t have the travel bug, I think this cross-section of interests really grew from my experiences as a foreign exchange student in Indonesia during Suharto’s regime. That was where I first saw information access as a means of political power (and if you’re ever having a hard time falling asleep, you can read my article on the topic). While I was in “library school,” I concurrently completed a certificate in International Development, Policy and Management. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work with libraries across the US, Canada, South Africa and Guatemala.

I am incredibly excited about this opportunity, but am equally sad to leave my WebJunction family. I hope you’ll keep me connected through WebJunction (zmaddison).

Zola joined WebJunction about two years ago as a Special Projects Coordinator and quickly moved into her current role as a Partner Services Consultant. She has been working with our State Library partners since November 2007 has led efforts to showcase our partners as thought leaders in the e-learning and online community space.

Throughout her time here, Zola’s interest in working with international libraries has also been apparent as she presented at the IFLA conference in South Africa, received sponsorship for the ALA Emerging Leaders program from the International Relations Round Table, and onboarded WebJunction’s first international partner, BC Libraries.

If you’re attending ALA, be sure to stop and congratulate her, and know that we won’t let her stray far from the WebJunction fold! I’ve already got her on my list of prospective webinar presenters…I see a session on international librarianship coming soon!

I’d like to also take the opportunity to welcome to the WJ fold the brand new WebJunction-British Columbia community, the first WebJunction learning community created for libraries outside the United States!

Come share your green strategies with this new group, browse other WJ Groups, and also welcome our British Columbia colleagues!

See more about groups on WebJunction or dive in and join the 40+ members of the the WordPress for Librarians group.

• Do you have WordPress training materials to share? Add your documents to augment Laura’s
• Do you want to know how and what WordPress can do for your library’s web presence? Join in the discussions or start your own!

If you are interested in taking charge of your own group on WebJunction, (like Laura has!), we can help you customize your group and grant you permission to design and moderate what goes on there. If you have an idea for a custom “supergroup” contact Jennifer Peterson on WebJunction.

While grants have explicit start and end dates, the work we do at TechSoup to support libraries does not. TechSoup’s MaintainIT Project was funded by a 3-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that ended last month. It’s hard to believe that three years have passed, but March 31 just came and went, because nothing really changed for us behind the scenes of MaintainIT. And nothing much will, really…We’re continuing to support libraries and we’ll continue to share stories from libraries, so please stay in touch.

And we here at WebJunction would like to invite you to join the celebration as we honor the over 400 Cookbook contributors, share lessons learned from the project, and to let you know that the Cookbooks are alive and well on WebJunction. In addition to all three MaintainIT Cookbooks, WebJunction is home to the Cookbook Contributors Group, the collaborative group who uses and updates the Cookbooks.

You’re encouraged to join the group if you’re responsible for buying, supporting or maintaining your library’s technology, so you can continue to share your experiences, solutions and challenges with others. And we’re excited to provide a number of ways for folks to update and build upon the Cookbooks over time.

Please join tomorrow’s virtual celebration, where you’ll get top technology tips from library technology experts, hear what MaintainIT Project staff learned from their many conversations and library travels around the country, and learn more about how you can keep the Cookbook community alive on WebJunction.

In these tough times, there’s little more important than recognizing the efforts of so many people committed to sustaining strong and relevant technologies in our libraries, who have taken the time to share their experience and expertise so that all libraries might benefit. Here’s to all who have stopped “reinventing the wheel”!

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