This year (finally!) every high school student in my district received a computing device. In planning and advocating for this program, I did not call it a “1:1” plan. The device was not the point. I didn’t really care if our selection task force settled on laptops, iPads, Chromebooks, or Etch-A-Sketches. For me, the device was simply a means to enable 24/7 access to those resources that are important for students’ learning success.

My biggest fear in any technology implementation has always been that the equipment will not be used or will not be effectively used. Interactive whiteboards are too often used just as projection screens, tablets are too often used just as gaming devices, and too often computers are simply expensive typewriters or testing machines.

What I did not want to happen once all students had personal devices in their hot little hands, was for their parents to ask, "How did you use your device in school today?” and have the student answer, "We didn't" or "We only used it in English class" or "I just used it to text my buddy sitting next to me." This is not how a lot of parents and community members want their tax dollars spent.

As technology and curriculum teams began planning, we knew that students already had access to a number of online tools: the student portal to our student information system; access to online communication and productivity tools through GoogleApps; and online textbooks, ebooks, and full-text databases. But these resources were not used in all classes and each existed as separate, unorganized resources. So adopting and implementing a Learning Management System (LMS) became a critical factor in the success of our 1:1 plan.

Our district was far from the first to adopt an LMS either. More than half of all classrooms nationwide have LMS functionality (Remis 2015). Common LMS brands include the open source Moodle, Desire2Learn, Canvas, and Schoology. GoogleClassroom has some of the functionality of a full LMS. Simply defined, an LMS is a tool that organizes instructional materials. Links to reading or visual resources can be provided; online discussions can be held; assignments can be shared; and assessments can be created and deployed. Functionality varies to a degree by system chosen, but every LMS begins as an empty bucket into which content needs to be added by the teacher.

The Role of the Resource Curator

So what is the role of the librarian in the successful use of an LMS? To place our role in context, forgive me a short trip down memory lane...

As a school librarian in the 1970s, teachers often asked me to pull books, locate magazine articles, and find filmstrips that could be used by students to support independent research on curricular topics. Since "plate tectonics" was already covered by the seventh grade science textbook, these resources were considered supplementary. As was my position as a librarian.

Now in the 2010s, digital resources have spurred the coinage of a new term—curation—for a librarian’s similar role. Today, instead of pulling books and locating articles, the school librarian locates eBooks, online articles, games and activities, classroom lessons and units, digital tools, and other materials of importance to teachers and students. And our role becomes important instead of supplementary.

With the emergence of the LMS replacing textbooks and worksheets and paper quizzes as the primary means of providing materials to students, the librarian's role as "focused curator" presents a very real opportunity to become indispensable. While the modern school librarian has happily adopted the role of "digital curator" of print and digital resources organized as pathfinders, webpages, or pinboards, the LMS can provide genuine curricular focus to digital resource curation—and help create second order change in instructional opportunities for our students.

Our district wants the LMS to do more than simply be a digital version of standard resources and practices. Using the SAMR model developed by Ruben Puentedura (2015), we have identified three primary areas in which student access to digital resourceswill expand teaching and learning opportunities. Defining resources and activities in the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, or Redefinition categories helps teachers and librarians plan for increasingly powerful uses of the LMS.

The Provision of Reading and Viewing Materials (Consumption).

At the Substitution level, the LMS replaces textbooks and paper copies of common teaching materials and handouts like objectives, syllabi, worksheets, communications, activities, and tests. Linking to multimedia materials begins to take the use of the LMS to the Augmentation level. Modification is achieved by providing differentiation through linking to reading materials at a variety of difficulties and providing culturally relevant materials and activities. Finally, using the LMS to enable self-paced instruction guided by formative assessment and to “flip the classroom” by asking students to view video lessons outside of class then do homework in the class with teacher assistance will lead to Redefinition of the instructional process.

Providing clear and easy access to reading and viewing materials that support learning objectives tied to state standards is the modern equivalent to pulling those library books for special projects and units from the last century. The LMS used in this way becomes a more powerful instructional tool than the textbook alone by providing:

• Reading materials on a single topic but on different reading levels.
• Informational materials in a variety of formats, including video.
• Links to powerful interactive websites and applications.
• Materials reflecting students’ cultures and cultural values.

This ability to correlate materials to student abilities, learning preferences, and personal interests, and to provide links to materials with differing points of view overcomes the built in blandness and irrelevance of the mass-produced textbook and engages far more students, especially those who may not fit the definition of the "average" student.

Yet it is a huge challenge for classroom teachers to replace the textbook with LMS courses. Along with learning the operation of the devices students use to access the LMS, the functions and features of the LMS itself, re-organizing course content by state standards, and writing learner outcomes, the location, creation, and evaluation of digital material can be both frustrating and time-consuming. Teachers will require assistance in populating units of instruction with high quality instructional materials. And the librarian by training, knowledge, and experience is well-equipped to provide that help.

Providing Tools for Creation (Productivity)

Teachers who only ask students to use their devices to word process and create text-only slide shows operate at the Substitution level when in the student productivity category. Having students first use non-original graphics and sounds that support their communication efforts, then asking for the creation and use of original graphics and audio that are critical components to the message, move technology use into the Augmentation and Modification levels. Using combinations of images, sound, and movement that convey the primary message and the creation of original video productions can be considered Redefinition-type activities in the student productivity category.

The LMS can be used in conjunction with not just text and number processing tools like word processors and spreadsheets, but with graphic editing and video generation tools as well. Links to these tools as well as links to student-created projects help students stay organized and provide a means of publication and peer-review. Helping staff and student learn powerful graphic and video editing tools—and some design principles—can be an important role for the librarian.

Providing Tools for Student Collaboration (Communication)

When student work is distributed, collected, and returned electronically via a shared folder or as an email attachment, the digital workflow is simply a Substitute for analog activity. Collaboration is Augmented when students do peer editing and review using shared documents in a program like GoogleDocs. But when students form virtual study groups using social networking tools (Modification) and when students participate in work groups from classes in other schools, including those from other cultures (Redefinition), classrooms begin to utilize the full power of students having personal technologies.

Most LMS products allow for person-to-person communication, group discussions, and peer sharing of materials. The librarian can certainly help teachers and students understand not only the mechanics of these tools, but also the power in them. Haven’t students been using our physical facilities for collaborative work for a long time? As the gurus of digital citizenship, librarians can also help instill an understanding of appropriate, as well as effective, uses of digital communication systems.

“What Did You Do with Your Device Today?”

Having a defined pathway and examples of increasingly sophisticated uses of technology in the classroom allows us to plan the necessary PD and articulate the “look-fors” when doing classroom observations.

Focusing on teaching and learning objectives rather than on the physical technologies themselves will result in some great answers when parents ask “How did you use your computer in school today?” Our goal is that students will be saying:

• I edited a video explaining a science concept.
• I took a quiz that showed I could advance to the next unit.
• I collaborated with a student in Spain on a project.
• I read an article that was written at my ability level.

And my librarian helped me with all these tasks!

Librarians, do you see an indispensable role for yourself as your school rolls out its LMS?

Works Cited:

Puentedura, Ruben. “SAMR: A Brief Introduction.” Ruben R. Puentedura’s blog, October 14, 2015. http://hippasus.com/blog/archives/227 (accessed December 21, 2016).

Remis, Katie Kilfoyle. “LMS Enhances K12 Instruction.” District Administration, June 2015. https://www.districtadministration.com/article/lms-enhances-instruction (accessed December 21, 2016).