School librarians shine as Connected Educators in October

For Immediate Release
Tue, 09/16/2014

Contact:

Jennifer Habley

Manager, Web Communications

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

312-280-4383

jhabley@ala.org

CHICAGO — This October 2014, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) joins more than 300 major education organizations in celebrating Connected Educator Month (CEM). Originally developed by the U.S. Department of Education in 2012, CEM offers diverse and engaging activities to educators at all levels, with the ultimate goal of sparking collaboration and innovation. AASL has been a participating partner in the CEM initiative since its inception.

Members of the school library profession are highly encouraged to participate in CEM events and promotion. AASL’s program guidelines, Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs, describes the vital role that school librarians play in being both a ‘connected educator’ and assisting other educators in areas such as developing personal learning networks, bringing innovative technologies into education and facilitating the use open education resources.

To facilitate participation, the CEM 2014 website hosts a multitude of tools including a CEM starter kit containing helpful links and videos; a supporter toolkit containing a collection of graphics, language and other promotional tools; an online edConnectr to connect educators with similar colleagues; and online communities, blogs and a calendar of events. School librarians should use the Twitter hashtag #CE14 when sharing their connected educator expertise and are encouraged to sign up for the CEM newsletter to receive updates about the initiative.

The goals of Connected Educator Month include increasing educators’ proficiency with social media, deepening and sustain learning through those tools, helping schools integrate connected learning into their professional development efforts, and supporting innovation in the field.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.