Please share with students who might have an interest:
LIS 490ST – variable credit course (2 or 4 UG or GR hours)
Friday
9:00-12:30
Room 52 LISB
Instructor: Martin Wolske
Registration Info: Email instructor mwolske@illinois.edu for permission and information
COURSE DESCRIPTION
LIS490ST, Community Informatics Studio (CI Studio), uses studio-based learning methods to bring together students, instructors, professionals from related fields, and community members in a collaborative environment to address a real world problem. For the fall semester, we will be collaborating with Kenwood elementary school in Champaign. (Students who have an alternate project in mind are encouraged to touch base with me — I am very willing to explore how it might also work for this fall.) This past year teachers took part in professional development offered through the University of Illinois Math, Science, and Technology Education community of practice. They are very interested in exploring ways to better incorporate technology into their curriculum, but within a broader vision of technology, literacy, and community that is integrated into the school’s core philosophy. This is an exciting time of visioning for teachers and administrators, since at the end of the 2013-2014 school calendar they will be temporarily relocating to a different school while Kenwood is remodeled.
This fall, the CI Studio students will work with Kenwood administrators, teachers, the school librarian, and students to consider how technology could better be incorporated into the space and curriculum of the school to support the philosophy of technology, literacy, and community. The goal is to both inform immediate programming within the school, and also near-term development of the new school space and longer term programming. We will be learning from the many existing conversations already happening at the school. At the same time, CI Studio students will be bringing their own expertise to bear in the conversation. Weekly readings and class discussion will be used to further inform the discussions.
While the project is certainly highly germane to those specializing in school/K-12 librarianship OR education, the projects will highlight principles that can be applied across a range of children and teen programming wherever they may occur. Throughout, we will also explore core concepts of effective community engagement, the impact of technology in society, and how each can propagate or be used to counter system injustice that transcends specific projects.