Loertscher's three spaces

In an ISTE SIGMS SecondLife presentation, school library icon, David Loertscher talked last evening about students needing three kinds of "information spaces." As he shared an excerpt (another source) from his upcoming book, In Command: Kids and Teens Build and Manage Their Own Information Spaces. Hi Willow Research & Publishing, 2007.

Loertscher's premise is neatly stated:

Suppose we turn the tables and accept the notion that the student should be in command of their own information spaces on the computing devices they have access to. And that our role as LMTs is to help students build the kind of information space that will benefit their needs rather than say to them, “You need to use the information space as we have designed it for you.” Such a switch in perspective challenges us to have a whole new view of the digital world.

He further suggests we should help students design these types of spaces: 

• Personal Information Space: Here we construct the tools, the information sources, our school or work assignments, our calendars to keep us on track, and the personal safeguards needed to function well.
• Group or Collaborative Information Space: The advent of Web 2.0 technologies allows for collaborative communication, collaborative construction, and collaborative presentation spaces.
• Outer Space: The third world on our desktop is the ability to interact with and pull from the totality of the Internet, whether open or invisible.

This is an interesting way at organizing how we all manage our "information spaces." We've talked about student
portals" in our district and we've given kids access to personal desktops and storage through Profile servers. This seems to be the next logical step.

On a side note, David Loertcher has remained a constant source of inspiration and ideas in the field of school librarianship through out my career. He's an amazing guy...

Comments

[Tom Hoffman]

Until the legal standards and professional practices for filtering, archiving communications in and out of schools, and the liabilities around students posting information about themselves and chatting in a context connected to school are straightened out, this is all pretty much a waste of breath.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Tom,

Well, that would be a very, very long wait.

My approach is more that if something has educational value, is not explicitly illegal and we use due diligence in making kids safe, we ought to give it a try. Better to ask forgiveness than permission?

Important point and thanks for raising it,

Doug

[Jane Hyde]

Thank you, Doug, for reporting on this talk. I went to SL on Monday, for the first time, to try to get used to it so that I could hear Loertscher on Tuesday, but (the old learning curve again) althought I spent an hour in SL, on ISTE Island, trying to move my avatar about and even fly, it was very confusing and took a lot of time, and I eventually got stranded out in the beyond and had no idea how to get back to the island. So I wasn't ready to attend a presentation and therefore thank you for the report.

(And I'm jsut not sure about this avatar virtual world stuff -- beyond Solitaire and pre-graphic Zork I haven't had any computer game experience and may be too old to bother to learn to fly.... )

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Jane,

You are not alone in feeling awkward in SL. I've used it a bit and still feel clumsy and tense while there. It also helps to have a good high speed Internet connection which I don't have at home.

Don't give up. Give it a little time. One thing you might do is set a known location (ISTE Island or something) as home. If you get lost, which is easy to do, you can always "go home."

This isn't really a game so one nice thing is that there is no pressure to compete!

All the very best,

Doug

[Robert Eiffert]

I think Loertscher really is talking about interactive research / thinking / reflection space - In the real world, we can already create our digital spaces for all aspects.

Most CMS provide for student and teacher personal and group/collaborative spaces, though I don't think students are routinely provided their personal space

I think there can be a fairly seamless transition from personal / project to group space

Outer space is available through most school systems, at least in terms of educational use, through filtered access.

I think this triptych concept, in terms of adoption, is in a similar frame to when teachers weren't allowing online sources, then only online versions of print, then only prescribed ones; once CMS are more universally adopted (and probably for collaborative work beyond school walls) and more accessible, student personal space will become more important.

Essentially we're really looking at digital portfolios in process , rather than as completed works.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Robert,

I suspect we will continue to see the growth of Content Management Systems for this and other uses. I am not sure that the CMS for schools is all-Google, all-the-time as Loertscher suggests.

I like your idea of this as being a "digital portfolio in process." Joyce Valenza has recently written about why students should blog their research process - a similar concept, I think.

All the best,

Doug