nfortu-nately, the social model of the academic library underminescommunal spaces in three ways. First, library resources arefinite, and money spent creating new social spaces reduces themoney available for redeveloping communal spaces. Second,social spaces take up valuable library real estate, often at theexpense of communal spaces. Third, and most important,social spaces are incompatible with communal spaces, andcreating adequate separation between them is difficult.

Intellectual conversationwith library resource

Coffee and conversation,group study and garrulousness are valuable, but theseactivities can happen anywhere. The academic library isunique as a communal place for study and research.

Despite the increasing use of library resources off-site,people do still use academic libraries, and in increasingnumbers over the last ten years.

that the communallibrary will become an afterthought, a second-class citizen withlimited concern for either aesthetics or library staff support.

It is younger faculty, even withtheir greater reliance on electronic resources, who value theacademic library as a place for research and scholarship:Younger scholars were found to be far more likely than older scholars tomake statements reflecting the idea that the physical library is a uniqueplace that facilitates the kind of concentration necessary for doingserious scholarly work.37

Surprisingl

However, because nonlibrary functions do not meaningfullyincrease library use, and because the presence of quality studyspaces does, it would be more fruitful for academic librariesto devote their limited resources to improving and expandingcommunal study space.

The number of general-use seats in an improved library facility was notassociated with increased usage. However...the quality of user seatingand work surfaces is a factor significantly affecting postoccupancyusage.It would appear that comfortable seats, plus spacious, well-littable and carrel surfaces, are factors that have a positive impact onusage of an enhanced facility.

“usage increaseswere found in 93.3 percent of facilities devoted entirely tolibrary use.”31

Interestingly, however, theaddition of nonlibrary facilities appears to have a negative effecton library usage, or at least no positive effect:

eneral seatingfor individual study is analyzed only in terms of the presenceof wired or wireless access. Whether seating is for quiet studyor more social use is not specified.

Are they tobe relegated to an old-style computer lab without the benefit ofthe research services available in the social info commons?

reeman's argument is based on the implied (and proble-matic) premise that the traditional academic library has littlevalue as a physical place; that only by integrating print andelectronic resources can it remain relevant.

Exploring the details of these models,neither of which is mutually exclusive, is beyond the scope ofthis analysis. Instead, these approaches will be examined interms of their relationship to and impact on the communalacademic library. In addition, their effects on academic libraryuse will be discussed.

traditional reading room

peer pressure and the overall ambiance

While NCES figures show that gate counts are notfalling at academic libraries, they do show that the circulation ofprint materials is declining

act of reading is itself a social interactionbetween text and reader.

The trick for academic libraries is to create invitingcommunal spaces for study and research without falling intothe trap of making the library a social gathering place.

There must be places inacademic libraries for communal study.

One of the driving forces behind this movementhas been a pedagogical shift in higher education. Work in thesociology of knowledge suggests that knowledge is notproduced by solitary researchers working with librarycollections, but is a social process. Indeed, knowledge itselfis seen as socially constructed.3

the increasing use ofelectronic resources outside the library, the declining circula-tion of print materials, and falling gate counts.

Inaddition, it is not clear that social activities add value toacademic libraries, either in terms of the broader goal ofsupporting the research mission of universities or the narrowergoal of increasing library use.

Communal activity in academic libraries is a solitary activity: itis studious, contemplative, and quiet. Social activity is a groupactivity: it is sometimes studious, not always contemplative, andcertainly not quiet.

Whatthey come for and value is the“communal”experience of seeingand being seen by others, quietly engaged in the same serious,studious activity.

rooted in the idea that academic libraries are littlemore than storage facilities for printed materials.

“information commons.”

The increasing use of electronic resources off-campus hasresulted in both declining circulation of print materialsand reduced use of reference services in academiclibraries.

The Connecto

I don’t feel ugly anymore,” Dr. White said. “I feel like a normal guy.”

The hope is that by capturing these nerve signals and transmitting them to an artificial limb, thought can be turned into motion.

At Johns Hopkins University, researchers financed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have been working to create new prosthetics for soldiers with upper extremity amputations. Until recently, most of them wore only a basic hook.

But it is not cheap — about $70,000. While insurers will pay for basic protheses, they generally do not pay for high-end artificial limbs like these.

According to Dr. Herr, an amputee using the foot uses the same amount of energy while walking as someone with biological limbs — a first for a prosthesis.

The technology in the newer prosthetics is moving rapidly ahead. Dr. Herr, the M.I.T. professor, has founded a startup called iWalk devoted to making next-generation prosthetics.

Amputees’ families, who are understandably worried and confused, are rarely as enthusiastic about the drastic procedures, however. F

I could have a chance to get back to my life,” he said. “It just dawned on me — the technology is amazing, and I would be better off.”

But as the years went by, the discomfort grew worse. Arthritis attacked his fused joints, and while there had always been pain when he ran, he simply couldn’t tolerate the new sharp pangs.

something he said he “begged” his doctors to do. A

“The medical community is focused completely on salvaging limbs,” said Major Rozelle, 39. “There’s actually a disadvantage to having extra limb length, because you can’t fit correctly into prosthetic devices.”

And not just accepted: While the loss of a limb remains a medical trauma, many amputees have come to embrace their bionic enhancements.

Amputees “are realizing they can do everything that they did before,”

Bionic, or lifelike, prosthetics with custom skins, motors and microchips that replicate natural human motions are edging older models out of the market.

Occasionally this choice is made by someone with a missing hand or arm. But more common are amputations below the knee, which permit patients like Ms. Kornhauser to take advantage of robotic and fleshlike prosthetics.

Approximately two million people in the United States are living with amputations, according to the Amputee Coalition, a national advocacy group. But as artificial limbs are infused with increasingly sophisticated technology, many amputees are making a once-unthinkable choice. Instead of doing everything possible to preserve and live with whatever is left of their limbs, some are opting to amputate more extensively to regain something more akin to normal function.

Five years ago, on a muggy August morning in Hicksville, N.Y., Ann Kornhauser was out walking her golden retriever when bones in her left foot suddenly cracked. Ms. Kornhauser, then in her late 50s, soon learned why: doctors discovered a rare tumor in her foot. They amputated half of it.The prosthetic foot she received afterward left her in constant pain; she often cried in her car after trips to the grocery store because she dreaded carrying the bags into the house. Her prosthetist offered a solution. Artificial limbs had greatly improved, he said, and she could benefit from one of the new high-tech models — but it would fit only if her left leg was amputated below the knee.The idea of losing the rest of her leg, which was healthy enough, seemed preposterous and frightening. But after two years of discomfort, Ms. Kornhauser decided to do it.

engagement and application

interdisciplinary or integrated curricula;

he nature and frequency of student contact with peers and faculty members;

student involvement in the academic and nonacademic systems;

While the assessment of teaching might include evaluation of student learning outcomes, it is often limited to the assessment of student satisfaction with courses or peer observation of teaching performance, neither of which directly addresses learning.

assessment of learning space must take into account the fact that learning and instruction are no longer confined to the classroom.

First, it must be clear whether assessment focuses on teaching or learning.

Data can then be used to establish a set of principles or guidelines to inform learning space development,

But how do we know when a learning space enhances learning? We need assessment data to answer this question.

hopefully we can start to value the possibility of making school environments more like out-of-school environments in terms of the kinds of activities and the kinds of informal, interactional assessments that take place in those settings.

The one thing you never want to do, and this is a critical finding from social psychology, is offer an incentive in situations where people might be inherently motivated to do something, because as soon as you offer an incentive, you suggest an incentive is needed.

ideo documentation, data mining methods of video archives, embedded assessment in learning games

Ethnography can be used to demonstrate how a type of learning environment or system works, what kinds of outcomes follow from participation.

is an essential function of social interaction.

he more that we have a monoculture of learning, the less chance we have of producing creative, innovative, capable thinkers

There is a movement among some who are involved in the informal or after-school space who feel we need to standardize ways to measure learning outcomes, while others fear this is another version of school encroaching on the out-of-school or after-school space

behaviorist paradigm

has been about sequestering students apart from a situation of learning and resources that would allow them to apply those resources to a problem. The intent has been to isolate and identify stuff in the head that stands apart from the world,

It’s up to you to decide what learning processes fit best in your organization.

Informal learning typically comes into practice when the material is “nice to know”, but not necessarily essential.

intention

nformal learning can complement and reinforce the learnings acquired in formal and non-formal education, but it can also contradict it. For instance, one can learn in school curriculum that the capitalist system is a great contribution to humanity, and learn through informal ways that such system is detrimental to humanity. Likewise, one can be socialized by the surrounding community into a bigot, and learn virtues of tolerance in the public school. Moreover, one can go to a school and be aware that through the formal curriculum she or he is learning A (e.g. math), without being aware that through the hidden curriculum she or he is learning B (e.g. homophobia).

Socialization (also referred to as tacit learning) refers to the internalization of values, attitudes, behaviors, skills, etc. that occur during everyday life. Not only we have no a priori intention of acquiring them, but we are not aware that we learned something.

Incidental learning refers to learning experiences that occur when the learner did not have any previous intention of learning something out of that experience, but after the experience she or he becomes aware that some learning has taken place. Thus, it is unintentional but conscious.

Self-directed learning refers to 'learning projects' undertaken by individuals (alone or as part of a group) without the assistance of an 'educator' (teacher, instructor, facilitator), but it can include the presence of a 'resource person' who does not regard herself or himself as an educator. It is both intentional and conscious. It is intentional because the individual has the purpose of learning something even before the learning process begins, and it is conscious, in

two main categories (intentionality and consciousness), it is possible to develop a taxonomy which identifies three forms (or types) of informal learning: self-directed learning, incidental learning and socialization (

internal forms,

t is also pertinent to note that we are saying 'outside the curricula of educational institutions' and not 'outside educational institutions', because informal learning can also take place inside formal and non-formal educational institutions.

Non-formal education refers to all organized educational programs that take place outside the formal school system, and are usually short-term and voluntary

Under this conceptualization, adult basic education programs that follow the prescribed curriculum and employ certified teachers can also be understood as part of formal education, although some people prefer to call them 'paraformal' (in the sense that they are in between the realm of the formal and the non-formal systems).

hierarchical system

propaedeutic

occurs outside the curriculum of formal and non-formal educational institutions and programs.

Street educators

Education is a conscious activity; learning isn’t necessarily.

A useful starting point is the notion of distributed cognition that gained some currency in the early 1990s. Much of the experimentation and theorizing concerning cognitive processes and development has treated cognition as being ‘possessed and residing in the heads of individuals’ (Salomon 1993: xii). Those interested in distributed cognition have looked to the tools and social relations ‘outside’ people’s heads. They are not only ‘sources of stimulation and guidance but are actually vehicles of thought… It is not just the “person-solo” who learns, but the “person-plus”, the whole system of interrelated factors’ (ibid.: xiii). People think in relationship with others and use various tools. Different cognitions will emerge in different situations.

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