FEATURED FRIEND:
DR. SUSAN BANNON

Dr. Bannon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology at Auburn University. She received her Ph.D. from Louisiana State Unversity and holds an M.E. and B.S. from Auburn University. Her area of expertise is School Library/Media Technology. She is also Director of the College of Education's Learning Resource Center.

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I met with Dr. Bannon to talk about her experience, philosophy, and years working in education and working with technology. Below are some highlights from our conversation, with a link to the complete interview. 

Your area of specialty is School Library/Media Technology. Can you explain a little about what that is?
How long have you been at AU, in EFLT, in the LRC?
What are some of the changes you have seen since you took over as director of LRC? 
What do you think has been your biggest accomplishment as director?
How have you incorporated your expertise/facility to accommodate distance learning, and where do you see that going in the future?
What are your plans for the future?

Excerpts from a conversation with Susan Bannon :

I was always fascinated by how a teacher could plan the learning and incorporate new technology as opposed to just standing in front of the room saying...this is myosis, this is stage 1, stage 2...etc. But designing learning so that they, on their own, could learn about myosis and they could then show it to me. 

It was not until college and I read John Dewey and realized here's a philosopher that I can believe in. Learning was hands on. Students being involved in the learning, to me, makes sense - especially in science. I remember writing papers on my philosophy - statements about why I believe what I believe - and some of those beliefs follow me through to today.

The whole premise was that the learner was the most important person in the classroom. It's not the teacher, it's the learner. He was the first to tell me, "you will be a facilitator, not a sage on the stage." To me, that was revolutionary because you didn't hear that in the 60s. Usually, you would graduate and they'd give you textbooks and say to follow the textbooks...you will be the sage on the stage. And I rebelled. Because I had seen the other side.

It's communicating, it's the message that has to be delivered, and it's how to say what you want to say in a few words.

That's what I liked about my experience [at LSU]. Not only did I get the hands-on, but they had me reading, and we would discuss it. They would say now why do you think you did this? What was the effect? Is that the best way to do it? Could we have done it better? Always did a planning, we did implementation, and then we did evaluation. Not only did they teach it, but they practiced it.

I remember teaching computer skills to students and saying...the future of computers will be that you will buy programs, or you'll buy the computer that will already have programs on it and you won't have to program. But right now, you have to program.

We cannot teach you all the technology that you will need to know. You're going to have to adapt and and change. And every time there's a new technology, you're going to have to learn how to use it for educational purposes. And while I have fun with things, I'm always interested in how to use things for educational purposes,

I'm fascinated enough by what technology can do - the potential of it - that I'm willing to investigate it and how it's applied.

I still think there's a place for professionals such as librarians, because we have, in our background, been trained to not only to find information, but trained to know if the information answered our question. And that is what is important for the future. I hear people say we don't need school libraries - you've got the internet. But you're going to need a professional to help students learn to become information literate. 

Partnership has been very present in my entire career because - going back to Dr. Schell's advice - a facilitator has that partner attitude. I was never happy working in the library by myself. I always wanted teachers to be involved in what they're teaching and what their students are learning. 

There has been a big change in the way things work here (LRC) - and I don't take credit for it myself because I have wonderful staff - who catch the drift of where we want to go and they also want to go there. I guess the biggest change would be that I opened up the center and made it student oriented. I welcome students.

read the complete interview >>>
dbrowning
june2005

Dr. Bannon can be reached here:
bannosh@auburn.edu
3402 Haley Center
(334) 844-4291

 

Library Media & Technology at Auburn University The profession of School Library Media Specialists is an ever-changing, dynamic field. School Library Media Specialists enable students to learn and teachers to teach. They are teachers whose domain is the whole school, leaders who help administrators plan for and implement new technologies, and partners with teachers in planning to integrate information literacy skills and media -- whether print, video, or the Internet -- into the curriculum. School Library Media Specialists are information providers for students, teachers, administrators, and the community. They provide a place where students can explore their world through books, videos, computers, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet and help children become information literate by teaching the, how to find, organize, interpret, and disseminate information. They help connect classes with field-based resources, both local and in distant parts of the globe. Most of all, School Library Media Specialists work with teachers to create life-long readers and learners.