SLS 3/8 - Bookish Byte from O²CM

The era of blind faith in big data must end
Data skeptic Cathy O’Neil uncovers the dark secrets of big data, showing how our "objective" algorithms could in fact reinforce human bias.
Ethics in the Digital World by Dr. Kristen Mattson
Earlier in the week I attended a session with the author of Ethics in the Digital World. She shared several student centers that you may be interested in using with your students. There is value in equipping our students with the skills of tech ethicists and this work can be seen as an extension of our digital citizenship and media literacy efforts. It can (and should) happen cross-curricularly.
About her book:
Get the knowledge and resources you need to guide students through the tough questions that reside in the gray areas of humans’ relationship with the gadgets, apps and tools that permeate our lives. More and more, people are waking up to the notion that the technology we hold in our hands each day is not a neutral tool that individual users control. The facade has been cracking for years amid accusations of election interference, with the public being introduced to the complexities of hacking, the concept of bot accounts, the larger threat of information warfare, and more.
School.ai
Get students using ChatGPT powered experiences with Spaces. Choose from their growing library of spaces, or create your own with custom instructions. Spaces allow you to launch safe GPT-powered experiences, tailored for each students’ needs.
What do AI chatbots really mean for students and cheating?
The launch of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots has triggered an alarm for many educators, who worry about students using the technology to cheat by passing its writing off as their own. But two Stanford researchers say that concern is misdirected, based on their ongoing research into cheating among U.S. high school students before and after the release of ChatGPT.
“There’s been a ton of media coverage about AI making it easier and more likely for students to cheat,” said Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE). “But we haven’t seen that bear out in our data so far. And we know from our research that when students do cheat, it’s typically for reasons that have very little to do with their access to technology.” Read more...
SuperLibrarian Nominations OPEN
Awards & Author Event: May 10, 2024
Do you know a librarian who is amazing? Are they innovative, creative, and are a true leader? Nominate them for the CNYSLibs Super Librarian Award.
Past Winners can be viewed here: https://sites.google.com/view/cnyslibs/super-librarian-awards
Due: March 8th
📚The Book Nook
The End of Average How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness
by Todd Rose
Are you above average? Is your child an A student? Is your employee an introvert or an extrovert? Every day we are measured against the yardstick of averages, judged according to how closely we come to it or how far we deviate from it. The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average—like GPAs, personality test results, and performance review ratings—reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we don't even question it. That assumption, says Harvard's Todd Rose, is spectacularly—and scientifically—wrong. In The End of Average, Rose, a rising star in the new field of the science of the individual shows that no one is average. Not you. Not your kids. Not your employees. This isn't hollow sloganeering—it's a mathematical fact with enormous practical consequences. But while we know people learn and develop in distinctive ways, these unique patterns of behaviors are lost in our schools and businesses which have been designed around the mythical "average person." This average-size-fits-all model ignores our differences and fails at recognizing talent. It's time to change it.
April 1 - Book Study: The End of Average
📆 Upcoming Events
In Person Professional Learning
- Mar 13 - Donalyn Miller: Joy of Reading
- Mar 27 - Communication Coordinator Mtg
- Apr 10 - Social Media and News Literacy Intersect: TikTok, X, and Beyond
- Apr 29 - The Power of Play: Board Games in Education
- Apr 30 - Echoes and Reflections Antisemitism: Understanding and Combating this Hatred Today
- May 7 - Picture This! Inclusive Literature
- Jun 18 - Guaranteed & Viable Secondary Level (Link coming soon)
- Mar 4 - Book Study: The Sum of Us (eBook included)
- Mar 14 - 8:30am Virtual Community of Practice (Add to Calendar)
- Mar 19 - 3pm Virtual Community of Practice (Add to Calendar)
- Mar 19 - 4pm News Literacy 101
- Mar 26 - 4pm STEM Connections to News Literacy
- April 1 - Inspire, Create, Share: BookCreator
- April 1 - Book Study: The End of Average
- Apr 8 - Google 101
- Apr 2 - 4pm Building Future Leaders with News Literacy
- Apr 9 - 4pm AI, Credibility, and Conspiratorial Thinking
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📢 The SLS Team 📢
Coordinator of School Library Systems
Heather Turner - School Librarian
Paul Morrell - Systems Librarian
Andrea Viscusi - Media & Online
Bryan Acee - Automation & Interlibrary Loan
Bill Burke - Purchasing
Best way to contact: O2CM Help Desk