I’m happy to share some exciting recent news.  First, an article I co-authored with colleagues (Dr. Subramaniam, Dr. Fleischmann, and Dr. Druin) here at the iSchool was just recently accepted to The Library Quarterly.  In it, we outline a framework to think about how school library settings can be ideal places to promote science, technology, engineering, and math learning.  We think there is particular promise to think about school libraries as hybrid spaces, where students can link their everyday interests to STEM ideas.  We also see great promise in school librarians as technology-integrators and leaders for media-enhanced learning.  [see publications]

Second, this work sets the stage for a recent NSF grant we received to explore how to use science-fiction based storytelling, social network sites, and school libraries to pique student interests in STEM and help them identify as potential scientists.  We’re still getting things started, but I’m excited to share more as we go.  At the moment, I’m quite inspired by Brian David Johnson’s idea of Science Fiction Prototyping. [more on the project page].