On the heels of last week's American Library Association's Annual Conference and Exhibition, which focused on the immense changes going on in libraries and media centers across the country, the media center on the campus of Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy in Pontiac is itself undergoing a methodical transformation as it moves to a more digital environment.
Currently, the media center is donating, purging and removing many volumes of print material from its library as students today are much more likely to access research as well as general media through digital means. And Notre Dame administrators believe it's important to accommodate those needs.
Joanne Widmaier, NDPMA's registrar and academic technology coordinator says technology enables students to learn in ways not previously possible. “Effective integration of technology is achieved when students are able to select technology tools to help them obtain information in a timely manner, analyze and synthesize the information, and present it professionally," she said. "The technology should [and will] become an integral part of how the classroom and the media center functions. It will be as accessible as all other education tools.”
The effort is part of a growing movement around the country by educators to use digital technologies to create more opportunities for experiential, hands-on learning, based on new research about how young people learn today, according to Kids+Creativity, a collaborative network of people, projects, and organizations working together to remake learning in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. The goal, said K+C, is to harness the power of interest-driven learning coupled with digital media and create an environment that offers mentors and guidance to help students make connections between what they’re tinkering around with and what they learn in the classroom.
“Libraries aren’t a place to be silent anymore,” says Mary Beth Wiseman, director of technology for the Elizabeth Forward School District in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. “They’re now a place to get together and share ideas.”
She said that in addition to the many books available to high school students at the new EF media center, students can discuss a project with friends, check out laptops or digital video cameras, or spend time editing an original video project or new music piece using the centers various computers and software.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.