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Definition:
What is a commons?
What is a Commons?
A set of resources maintained in the public
sphere for the use and benefit of everyone
(from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)
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What is a commons?
Commons
– The Commons is a general term for shared
resources in which each stakeholder has an
equal interest. Studies on the commons include
the Information Commons with issues about
Public Knowledge, the Public Domain, Open
Science, and the free exchange of ideas -- all
issues at the core of a direct democracy. [1]
– See also: The Commons FAQ
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What is a learning commons?
A learning commons must,
therefore, in some sense be a
place where a “set of
[learning] resources [is]
maintained in the public
sphere for the use and benefit
of everyone”
But what kind of resources?
. . . and what kind of place?
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What is a Learning Commons,
Anyway?
What is a Learning Commons?
– “Koechlin, Rosenfeld and Loertscher define it as
“a learning “space” that is both physical and
virtual – a place to experiment, practice,
celebrate, learn, work and play. Gino Bondi, in
his blog post Our Learning Commons: One
“How To” for 21st Century Learning says that
“It is a transformation that calls for physical,
virtual and, pedagogical changes as well as a
shift in mindset for all players.”
• by Kelly Reierson and Lissa Davies
February 23, 2012 (2 Comments)
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What in the world is a Learning
Commons?
– “A Learning Commons is a flexible
and responsive approach to helping
schools focus on learning
collaboratively. It expands the learning
experience, taking students and
educators into virtual spaces beyond
the walls of a school.”
• Home > Teacher Librarians > What is a
Learning Commons
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A related concept
Information commons
– Taking its roots from simpler
times when communities shared
communal land, the
Information Commons is the
modern academic equivalent of
a common space used for the processes of
information gathering and social collaboration.
It is where enlightenment meets interaction.
Knowledge fosters education.
• What is Information Commons? To us, it is Intuitive.
03//22//2011 //Steve Pryor
Advertising blog for Paragon school furniture
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Five Benefits of the Information Commons
1. The Commons puts students at the center
2. The Commons is built with student involvement
3. The Commons is a welcoming, useful gathering
place
4. The Commons makes connections
5. The Commons is a relevant, required space on
campus
– A “Commons” Experience:
Five Benefits of the Information
Commons
Submitted by Michael Stephens on November 17, 2008
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An expanded concept
The School Learning
Commons Knowledge
Building Center
– What is a Knowledge Building
Center?
• A knowledge building center is an
online presence of a particular
learning experience that
accomplishes a number of things
that a simple online directive
assignment does not usually do.
Welcome to The School
Learning Commons
Knowledge Building Center
Created by David Loertscher and
Carol Koechlin
http://www.schoollearningcommons.info/
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A clearer definition
What is a Knowledge Building Center?
– A Knowledge Building Center is a virtual and
collaborative space where professors, teacher
librarians, learning leaders, teacher technologists or
other specialists are coaching learners in a project,
problem, learning experience, learning community, etc.
They can be used with face to face instruction, blended
learning, or totally online learning.
• Knowledge Building Centers
Learning Commons Calgary 2012
• Template is at:
https://sites.google.com/site/knowledgebuildingcenter/
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Knowledge comes to play
Play as a motivator for learning
– Creating an educational system that will cultivate life-long
learners calls for a novel approach. Reaching into the roots
of human evolution, play--the historic medium of learning--
emerges as a good fit in a world in constant flux.
– The learning commons provides an environment for
activities that develop student intelligence. Through playful
instructional design, learning commons promote inquiry and
information seeking through which students’ inner resources
are revealed and developed. In these ways and more, the
learning commons is a playground for the mind where
students discover and develop a love of learning that can last
a lifetime.
• CROW, S., & ROBINS, J. (2012). Play in the Library. Teacher
Librarian, 39(5), 36-43.
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A book by Loertscher, et al.
The New Learning Commons:
Where Learners Win!
– Originally published in 2008, the first
edition of this book proposed a complete
rethinking of the school library and
computer lab in a 21st century school.
After four years, the concepts of the
Learning Commons have gained
momentum across North America and in
Australia. This second edition is rich in the further development of
the concept and its implementation and draws upon many schools
that have developed their programs and recreated their physical
space and turned their library websites into virtual learning
commons.
• David V. Loertscher, Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan;
ISBN: 978-1-933170-67-1; Hi Willow Research and Publishing; 2011
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The library as a digital hub
http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_26650054/central-york-middle-schools-
library-becomes-digital-hub
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What is this?
The Library & Learning HUB concept is not unique to Central
York School District. It is an idea embraced by libraries and
learning institutions throughout the world, including here in
Pennsylvania, at The Pennsylvania State University.
http://int.cysd.k12.pa.us/howard/shared/LIBHUB/
LIBRARYHUB.pdf