Social Media Buzz: AASL in Reno

Joyce Valenza gets a rush every time she attends the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) national conference. “It’s an opportunity to cross pollinate with young librarians,” she says.

The teacher-librarian at Springfield Township High School in Erdenheim, PA, Valenza (pictured below center, with AASL President Sara Kelly Johns and school librarian Rocco Staino) led her own session at this year’s AASL, held October 25–27 in Reno, NV. Entitled “Information Fluency Meets Web 2.0,” the program addressed digital media in middle and high schools. Other technology programs also drew crowds at AASL, including a workshop on social media.

Indeed, the idea of social networking as an educational tool seems to be gaining traction. According to a recent report by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) and research firm Grunwald Associates, nearly 60 percent of students polled said they use social networking sites to discuss “education topics.” Yet, 98 percent of school districts use software to block what they deem inappropriate sites, with 52 percent of districts specifically blocking social networking sites in K–12 schools, according to the survey, which was presented at NSBA’s October T+L Conference in Nashville, TN.

“[Conference goers] talked about what schools are doing around social networking, whether it’s blocked or if they’re making it available,” says NSBA spokesperson Barbara Hunter. “At the conference, social networking was the biggest thing.”