Sassy Stacks: A blog for school librarians

  When I reflect back upon this semester, it's difficult to narrow down one or even two big takeaways. I truly learned so much during each module of the course! Admittedly, at the beginning of this class, I was rather intimidated by all the new tech I would be expected to review and use successfully. I had no idea what to expect, seeing as I've never worked in a library before and have been out of the school system for quite some time. But this entire class as been a wonderful experience that has given me the confidence and know-how to embark on my new journey into librarianship.  As I look into the future and consider the all the things that I'm likely to utilize most often or I find most memorable about this class, the first things that pop into my head are Canva, tech evaluation models, and makerspaces. If I heard of or read any of these words before this class, I was not very familiar with what they are. But now... big difference.  Canva has quickly become one of my n...

Courtesy of Eduporium  https://www.eduporium.com/blog/eduporium-weekly-ar-and-vr-in-education/ In the last several years, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) has grown in popularity. What is AR and VR anyways? I must admit, I didn’t know the difference. According to Jan Snelling (2022), “Augmented reality (AR) layers and enhances reality. Think using your phone camera to translate a foreign language. Virtual reality (VR) creates its own reality that is disconnected form the real world.” This would be seeing a new space apart from the one you currently exist in with a device like a headset or phone. Now, it’s important to note that these tools are not inclusively to entertain users! We can harness the power of these technologies to create dynamic learning environments. Research findings indicate that “VR or AR…must be seen as valid additions to the toolkit that may be used by libraries to engage its audience” and “such tools encourage higher levels of information literacy” (Ma...