Tools4Tech

Just as pen, paper, scissors, glue, crayons, construction paper, typewriter and watercolors were some of the tools many of us used to produce reports and share what we were learning, blogs, wikis, photo sharing sites, podcasts and other new online resources are the tools of today's students. And just as we had to learn to cut, to color, to use cursive writing, our students must learn how to use these new tools. That means we must use them and teach to use them effectively as well. If school library media programs are to be relevant to today's students, we must embrace these new digital tools--hopefully, leading the way as we have in other areas of technology in the past.

Now take a look at the new [|ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards for Students] (2007), [|ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards for Techers] (2008), and the [|Framework for 21st Century Learning]. Hopefully, you'll begin to see how these tools are integral to helping students meet or exceed these (and other) standards. Learn to use these tools and teach your students and teachers how to use them when appropriate. You'll help change the way they learn.