E-Learning and Online Teaching

Superstar teacher librarian Joyce Valenza is this year's winner of the Edublog Lifetime Achievement Award for her tremendous contribution to the world of ed tech.

There were 40 nominees for the Edublog Lifetime Achievement Award, and a librarian won. What does that say about how others view the profession?

It's about time—not for me—but for the school library profession. I think it says two things. One, that our teacher librarian colleagues have a real voice in the ed tech field—one that's loud enough to be heard outside the libraryverse. It says that we are connecting, not only with partners in our buildings, but with partners in the other communities of practice—classroom teachers across disciplines and grade levels, administrators, academics, librarians in other library situations, across geography. We now mingle effectively face-to-face and online. Our ideas cross-pollinate. We are a force at ISTE [International Society for Technology in Education conference] and BLC [Building Learning Communities conference] and at edcamps and at unconferences, at webinars, and on Twitter and through our blogs. Two, within our own profession, we are now an effective tribe. We have leadership. We have forums. We share with each other, we mentor each other. We can mobilize for action quickly. To be completely honest, I know I had some very kind teacher librarian colleagues advocating for me on Twitter and on their blogs.