The Learnal

In the early sixties there was a new movement in education whose principles embodied creativity, collaboration, authenticity, individualism, and openness. Walls and doors were dramatically removed from classrooms so students could communicate with peers of all ages and share resources across the building. Teaching was tailored to individual students as they frequently pursued their own learning interests, worked in the community, and collaborated with peers on self directed learning projects. Teachers shifted their roles from learning directors to learning mentors and spent more time working with students individually and in small groups. This movement was call the “Open Classroom.” Sadly, the open classroom faded away and as standards-based curriculum and high-stakes testing have taken the forefront, one wonders if there is any hope for the principles the open classroom embodied. I believe there is.

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Can today’s small town libraries keep up to date with today’s increasingly tech savvy patrons? Bill Gates seems to think so. I recently had the opportunity to attend the Gates foundation funded Rural Librarians Conference in the beautifully cherry-blossomed town of Traverse City, Michigan. This was the final conference among the 50 states that brought together hundreds of rural librarians to share, brainstorm, discuss and workshop there way into updating their libraries to version 2.0.

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