3:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Community-led librarians listen to the community in order to discover what they want from the library. But what does this mean for technology? From learning to use a mouse to designing a robot, community technology needs can be varied. What if your community doesn’t know what technology is available to them or its potential? How do you leverage community partnerships to make technology resources available to everyone? Archibald talks about how to discover the needs in your community, connect people to technology covertly, and change how we see and do technology in the library world. Denver PL staff discuss its Community Technology Center, which teaches 50–60 tech classes a month on everything from moving a mouse to beginning with JavaScript. They share what they’ve learned about teaching technology effectively during the last several years. Using their web development classes as a focus, they talk about the development and implementation of the library’s current web development class track (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WordPress) and compare it with our programs teaching web development to teenagers, includ- ing a 2-week DevCamp for teens held this past summer. They discuss how they approach teaching teens and adults differently, ways to tailor the same material to different demographics, and how class selection, lesson plan development, and evaluation process work. Put their technology teaching tips to work right away in your community.
