Minnesota Summit on Learning & Technology

Student Success in the Electronic Era: Why Schools Need Media Specialists Now More Than Ever

Kathy B. Enger

Northern Lights Library Network (NLLN)

Glenn Heinecke

Roseau

Keywords: Information Literacy, Digital Literacy, Library and Information Science Skills, Student Success, Media Specialists, Reading, Literacy

Abstract

It has been shown that students in schools with media specialists do significantly better on standardized tests that students in schools without certified media specialists. Media specialists are uniquely qualified to teach the information literacy skills that are needed in a knowledge-based economy. This presentation will be devoted to presenting research that used a grounded theory, qualitative approach to examine sixty-seven full-text scholarly articles in the literature of Library and Information Science on the terms, “Media Specialist” and “School Librarian” from 1997−2016, including 68 internet documents on the same topic from state education websites and district education websites totaling 2,240 pages of documents, to determine the skills media specialists impart to students. Charmaz (2014) recommends the use of documents as a source of data, particularly in developing grounded theory. Findings show that media specialists teach the following skills: Information Literacy, Digital Literacy, and Library and Information Science skills. Throughout the information literacy, digital literacy, and library and information science skills acquisition process, students are: analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating the information they find and use, higher order thinking skills (Bloom, 1956). Information literacy skills teach students to access knowledge through the scholarly work academics perform in journal articles, books, and reference materials. Students learn about plagiarism and evaluate the sources they find in terms of credibility, validity, bias, and accuracy. Media specialists teach along a spectrum of digital literacy skills, from developing usernames and passwords to creating multimedia presentations using digital resource. Most of all, media specialists teach reading, an essential component for student success. It has been widely shown that literacy levels improve as access to reading materials and literature increases.

Using qualitative grounded theory analysis, this study analyzed 2,240 pages of documents on media specialists in the library and information science literature to determine the skills media specialists impart to students. As media specialists in public schools have lost their positions, these skills, which focus on using information effectively, include information literacy, digital literacy, and library and information science, skills that are necessary for student success in the electronic era. In the process of learning how to access information and use knowledge effectively, students read, write, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. Students without access to information are at a disadvantage, creating a social and digital divide that schools can mitigate by employing media specialists. Results ground the model in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory.

Author Biography

Kathy B. Enger, Northern Lights Library Network (NLLN)

Dr. Kathy Brock Enger is Executive Director of Northern Lights Library Network (NLLN), where she has worked for six years. Prior to her service at NLLN, she worked as a professor in the education doctoral program at North Dakota State University (NDSU). She has over 30 years of experience in libraries and higher education. Minnesota is Dr. Enger's home state, where she is dedicated to serving it's citizens.