Creating a Culture of Trust

I am happy to report that the glorious iPads have arrived!  There has been great excitement among both students and staff.  While the students seem anxious to get their hands on the devices, the teachers, it seems are very interested in how I plan to police the use of the ipads.  Will students be able to sign them out?  Are they allowed to take pictures? Surf the Internet? Use the iPads at lunch or after school? Can they take them out of the library?  It seemed to me that for many the question was not "What CAN students do with the new tools?" but rather "how will you ensure that they CANNOT."  Pamela Colburn Harland pleads for librarians to TRUST YOUR USERS.  As she notes in her book The Learning Commons: Seven Simple Steps to Transform Your Library, "you purchase the materials for your users, so give up a little more control and trust them with access" (55).  I believe that it is our primary goal to provide access to a wide range of materials and services housed in our communal spaces.  Those resources may be in text form, but in our ever-more digitized age, we must make accessible a wide variety of resources and this includes the technological ones.  Of couse when the first few classes came to the Learning Commons to use the iPads, I took care to ensure that the devices would not be abused.  I have put in place certain restrictions to avoid giving myself the policing job while students explore the possibilities that this new learning tool can offer.  I also imparted upon them the hard work I have put into shifting towards the new library model.

Our first lesson was using the app iPoe with a Grade 11 English class.  It animates some of Edgar Allen Poe's most famous poetry.

Students were asked to remain in the Learning Commons, but were able to find a cozy spot to read their chosen poem.  As there were some accompanying questions, many opted to use the tables and chairs. 

I also wanted some feedback from the students on their experience using the devices.  Part of establishing the culture of trust, is also trusting your patron's opinions.  I wanted to hear from the students what they like and what they found lacking in the experience.  In this way, my hope is that the students will have greater ownership over not only the iPads, but over the space itself. 

Here is what the grade 11s had to say:  For many, they found that the app itself did not really offer anything new to their reading.  Many complained that they would have preferred to simply read from a book.  However, they did report that they enjoying having the opportunity to use the iPads and felt pretty honoured to be the first in the school to try them out.

Student Feedback: