Infinite Learning: PLE

Infinite Learning: PLE

I became an Itinerant Teacher Librarian two years ago. There was no official onboarding, and I had to learn skills on the job through the kindness and support of my colleagues. I meet with my colleagues once a month for an all-day collaboration meeting, and we work on developing library lessons and programs as well as learn how to weed books, genrefy libraries, and curate new books for libraries. Last year, our district provided additional time for us to meet every Wednesday afternoon for an hour and a half. These meetings have been supportive and instrumental in helping me develop as a library professional and to learn all the ins and outs of what my Teacher Librarian job requires. What my colleagues could not teach me, I had to explore on my own through my graduate courses at SJSU, YouTube tutorials, librarian blog posts, and the help of a simple Google search. Attending the California State Library Association conferences over the last two years has also been instrumental in helping me develop as a library professional and has inspired me to create new programming for my students. What has been challenging is managing my graduate coursework with my on-the-job learning, children, family life, and limited time to rest and recharge. That is why I have always been a great proponent of learning through play and hands-on learning. When something is fun and interactive, it is more engaging and leaves a positive mark, instilling motivation to keep learning. Dr. Stephens relates a quote by Thomas Friedman that says, “Being adaptable in a flat world, knowing how to ‘learn how to learn,’ will be one of the most important assets any worker can have, because job churn will come faster, because innovation will happen faster, “ (Stephens, 2016). Through personal experience, I know that learning while having fun comes easier and is more memorable and motivating. 

Recently, I have had the opportunity to learn how to use a Bambu Lab 3D printer for a STEAM library program I began to develop for one of my library sites. I purchased a Bambu Lab P1S printer with an AMS so that the machine would change the filament colors instead of having to do this manually. I had to learn how to put the machine together, how to bind the printer, how to load the filament, how to find prints that work well to print, and how to remove prints from the print plate. This process was so much fun for me, and it motivated me to continue learning how to use this machine, as it was the first time I ever used a 3D printer. I loved using this printer so much that I purchased another printer, a  Bambu Lab A1 with an AMS system. Both printers are amazing, but each works a bit differently. As I continued using these machines to print ready-made prints found on Bambu Studio and the Bambu Handy mobile application, I started to learn how to manipulate and change existing prints (Bambu Lab, n.d.). Recently, I learned how to add words to an existing bookmark print on Bambu Studio. I then printed many of these bookmarks as a participation reward for the students who participated in my Battle of the Books program at all three sites I work at. I am now learning how to use Tinkercad so that I can teach students how to use this program to create their own unique prints. This whole process has been learning how to learn to use this new technology to see how it can be used to help my students learn. It reminded me of the “23 Mobile Applications” self-paced program for Library staff to explore as a means of understanding how patrons can use new technology to learn (Stephens, 2019). I purchased these two printers this past December to practice with at home. Once I was confident that I could use this to help my students learn, I purchased a Bambu Lab PS1 with an AMS system for one of my elementary sites and am in the process of ordering this same printer for another school library. This type of learning to help my students really motivates me to keep learning and improving my professional librarianship skills. 

This will be my last academic year as a graduate student at SJSU. While I am relieved I can see the light at the end of this learning journey, I am a little nervous about how I will continue learning about my profession when I complete my program. I am inspired by Dr. Michael Stephens’ lecture on Infinite Learning, where he shares a student’s Personal Learning Network graphic (Stephens, n.d.). It inspires me to think about my own PLE and what it will look like after I graduate. I have learned through taking this course that Blogging will be an important part of my journey. This is a new skill I have learned through two courses at SJSU that I previously did not believe I could do. Learning through play for me is essential. This is why I began developing a STEAM library program not just for my library students but also for myself. My PLE’s will be so much more meaningful if they are hands-on, collaborative, interactive, and fun. When they are, they help me develop more meaningful programming for my library students. 

References

Bambu Lab. (n.d.). Bambu Lab: Unleash your creativity with Bambu Lab 3D printers. https://bambulab.com/en-us 

Bambu Lab. (n.d.). Download apps. https://bambulab.com/en-us/download/app 

Bambu Lab. (n.d.). Bambu studio. https://bambulab.com/en-us/download/studio 

Stephens, M. (2016). The heart of librarianship: Attentive, positive, and purposeful change. ALA Editions.

Stephens, M. (2019). Wholehearted librarianship: Finding hope, inspiration, and balance. ALA Editions. 

Stephens, M. (2025). Hyperlinked Library Master Lectures 2025: Hyperlinked Library Power of Stories. [Class lecture]. Panopto, San José State University.

Stephens, M. (n.d.). The hyperlinked library: Professional learning. [Course lecture PDF]. San José State University. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1SSOSYQdhl4R_hXIzjMcYbsFSKp0v4J/view 

Stephens, M. (n.d.). YLibrary: Making the case for the library as space for infinite learning. [Course lecture PDF]. San José State University. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4zt1yliwb2ffzr8euix2p/YLibraryInfiniteLearning.pdf?rlkey=m0v6lkd43ufilkp5aktawhlpr&e=2&dl=0