Chapter 1: Setting Objectives

In a learning community, it is important for both educators and students to set goals and objectives that establish a "direction for learning." Just the act of setting goals and following steps to realize them provides a valuable life skill. Technology offers educators many tools to facilitate the setting of goals and objectives.
One of these tools are Word Processing Applications. Creating a document electronically (as opposed to manually) allows it to be disseminated electronically via e-mail, a website, etc. In the classroom and library, learning contracts, classroom/library policies, and classroom/library procedures can be made accessible to both parents and teachers on the web or through e-mail. This is a valuable option because most educators realize that most hard copies of important documents have a way of getting lost or misplaced between the school and the home. I also like that word processing applications give educators the option of creating a standard document template (such as a learning contract or KWL chart) that can be saved on the school server for students to access, modify, and save as a new document for the teacher to access. This helpful feature can also be used in the library. A template for book reviews, library expectations, feedback, etc. can be placed on the server for students to complete and e-mail or post for the librarian.
A second technology tool that can be utilized for the setting of goals and objectives are Data Collection Tools. This particular tool particularly speaks to me as a librarian because an ever-present goal of mine is for our school collection to provide quality literature that is appealing to my students. Surveys, such as those available on Survey Monkey (the survey website that I am personally most familiar with) can be valuable tools for me to assess the student needs and wants of my collection. I could set up a survey that students take on their library day that collects data regarding aspects of literature that they are interested in--things like genre, current events, social topics, etc. On the other end of the spectrum, data collection tools like surveys could be created to help students identify the types of literature that they may be interested in. One of the challenges of my position is to inspire a love of reading; I sincerely believe that students who don't like to read just haven't been matched up with the right book. Data collection tools can help me assess the interests of my students and allow me to make that perfect match.