Instruction Bridges

The 12th Annual Information Literacy Summit, hosted at Moraine Valley Community College and John A Logan College in April, focused on "Bridging the Gap: Knowledge Creation, Information Literacy, and the Role of Technology in Education." Nicholas Burbules gave the keynote presentation on "Digital Literacy in a Ubiquitous Learning Environment." According to Burbules, ubiquitious learning involves "continuous access to information that is not separated from the flow of activities" and "learning that is related to immediate need." Basically, students can (and should be able to) use their mobile devices anywhere to find the information that meets their needs at that moment. This requires us, as librarians, to create bridges of easy access to quality information for those mobile devices. (How many of our databases and e-books are truly mobile friendly right now with no hoops to jump through?) We must anticipate when students are likely to need that information and provide assistance in a quick and easy to use manner. How might this bridge from the library to the invisible student look? Like the help screen on an app? Like a voice activated interactive game? Like a mini app store students can use to download free how-to videos? Like advertisements that display while using one library tool or accessing the library home page? What else do you envision for this bridge? Other sessions at the Summit called attendees to examine the strength of other types of bridges, such as bridges between instruction librarians and faculty, between the library and online students, between secondary and post-secondary education institutions, and between a technology like the iPad and a student who needs accessibility accommodations. Carrying on the theme of the 2013 Information Literacy Summit, let's begin building (or strengthening) the bridges across our widest gaps by utilizing technology and enabling the library to play a significant role in ubiquitous learning.