Technology Training 101

The technology skills in my school are all over the place.  Skills vary from those teachers that can barely turn on and logon to their computers to those that try to “teach” the technology staff.  I am sure this is true with most schools, but this is my first year at this school and the gap in abilities seems to be greater than other places I have been.  I had a teacher come in the other day to ask for my help that was using copies of copies of tests that were actually typed on a TYPEWRITER!!!  AND, he was quite resistant when I asked if I could type them over for him and scan them as a PDF and email to him.  He had this frightened look on his face that I was about to take him to a strange place that he knew nothing about!  In the end he was happy but still reluctant to change.  On the other hand we have a department head that is so tech savvy (or wants to be and thinks he is) that his entire class is online-I’m not even sure he lectures in person-he may podcast himself!  Our county is extremely forward thinking when it comes to technology and opportunities for teachers, but none of it is mandatory and therefore some teachers stay in their own little world and do not change things from year to year at all.  We also have some teachers that know enough to be dangerous but genuinely want to know how to use new things and integrate technology into their curriculum.

Currently, almost all of our staff development in technology is provided by our county office.  Staff members have to sign-up to take the classes on the county website through PDExpress.  Some classes are offered after school and some are offered during the school day so you have to take professional leave to attend.  Some of the classes that are currently offered are:

-BYLD (Bring Your Learning Device): Tools of the Trade

-Adobe Pro

-Excel Workshop

-SmartBoard 101 & 102

-Moodle

-Web 2.0

-Promethean 101 & 102

-OAS (Online Assessment System)

-Google 101

-Digital Citizenship

Several others are offered as short courses that you can take on the same day such as Ipad, Blogging, Digital Storytelling, Movie Making, Tagxedo, Webquest, and Wiki 101.

As I said before, we are fortunate that we have the training available but I think that there should be some way to make more of it mandatory.  Sometimes people need a little push to try something new and if the district made more of it mandatory that just might be what some need. 

As media specialists we are not “required” to host any professional development but we certainly can if we want and that is something that we are working toward.  This being the first year for both of us, we are trying to get our feet wet before jumping all the way in!!  When we do get to that point, I would like to go the route of making podcasts or recordings so that teachers could utilize them when needed and on their own time schedule.  One of the drawbacks that I find with certain professional development classes is that they are drawn out in order to meet the requirements for a full-day.  I would like to do short ones that give a lot of information that can be accessed at any time by the teacher.  If it is in podcast form, even if there is a large amount of information, it can be stopped and started by the teacher as they go.  So, I suppose my main DON’T is:  Don’t waste teachers valuable time with activities and fluff just to get the hours!

The school that I work in just had a video distribution system installed. We are still learning the basics but we actually got to use it for the second time today. It is called Media Cast. I think this resource is GREAT. Our Media Specialist is still learning the basics on how to operate everything but we are learning together.

 

This Media Cast programs allows us to show videos that each class can view at the same time. This is very beneficial since most of the grade levels follow the same schedule.  We have 2 different channels so two videos can be played at one time. In the Media Center there is a daily signup sheet and you can sign up for the time and channel and the name of the educational video or reward video you would like to play.

 

Each teacher also has access to a discovery streaming account. We learned about how to use this in a professional development. This is a huge benefit to the classroom. It has a lot of resources such as video clips, clip arts, video extensions and much more. It is very user friendly and you can sort your search result based on age appropriateness.

 

At the school I used to teach out they did morning announcements through the video distribution system. The media specialist created a club of students that helped her do the announcements each morning. I really liked this idea because the kids had something to focus on. Sometimes I feel like my kindergarteners get lost when the verbal announcements are on.  After speaking with my Media Specialist she felt like she was going to implement a plan to get a morning announcement over Media Cast by the end of this year or for sure next year.

Video Distribution 101... and GPB

My school, Riverside Primary, does a daily morning announcements over our video distribution system.  The LMS coaches 4 students as anchors with a daily script for a month at a time, and each class gets to have 2 anchors at some point during the year.

My LMS gave me a tour today of the video distribution system. Apparently, the "big black box" is called a Head End Unit?  In the past, we had several cable channels available in our classroom, including PBS, ABC, Disney, and some others, but last year, the county apparently went to digital services, and our unit is analog, so they are not compatible, and now we get no channels.  And apparently the unit is very expensive to replace, but at some point, it will become too outdated (it already is) and have to be replaced. We usually only watch a few whole-school streamed events each year: Polar Express, an MLK video, and Dr Suess movies at his birthday event.

We have 4 school studio inputs, 2 of which are connected to VCRs and two are connected to VCR/DVD combos.  We user to have a mixer, which allowed quick at a button switching between computer images, the 2 video cameras, and the DVD, but it was destroyed in a lightning storm, and was expensive, and has not been replaced, so now switching between different media is a little more awkward.  That is the extent of our news room.
 
As I said, we used to have PBS on our system, but no more.  Some classroom teachers routinely use United Streaming (Discovery Education), though a lot of the material is a little over the heads of our primary kiddos....

How Can Social Media Work For You?

Social Media Networking has become a phenomenon that is hard to avoid.  Whether through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, My Space, Pinterest, or Linked In, social networking is quickly becoming a daily way to communicate with others.  Social media networking is a trend that has grown exponentially over the past few years with people of all ages using these resources.   More than just a platform for entertainment, media specialist and educators around the world are tapping into this research to promote learning.  If you are thinking social media networking is just what your school needs to promote new books, programs, or events, there are several steps that may need to happen before you can get started.

The first step to consider is your school’s internet filtering.  Some schools have the filter set to the highest restricted level and most (if not all) social media programs will not be able to be accessed from school.  Contact your school technology liaison to find out how you can get your site approved for use at school.  Some restrictions may apply to the ages of the students using the site, teacher guidance, and permission from parents.  Once your site is approved remember to reinforce safe internet uses through programs and modeling.  Even though many students may already be using some of the social networking tools out there, we want to model and promote safe ways to use these sites.  Below is a great article with listings of websites for promoting safe internet use:

School Library Journal - Secure Social Networking

Schools are using social media for different reasons and with each reason; a different site might be used for promoting books than for discussion on math problem solving questions.  Depending on the needs of your school or media program, you may want to research a few different sites before you commit to the most popular one.  Below are some links to the more popular social media sites with suggestions for each:

Facebook and My Big Campus – (Middle to High School for Facebook/Elementary for My Big Campus) Great tool for promoting special events, new books, guest speakers, and club or committee information. 

Twitter – (Middle to High School) – Unique way to keep students involved in the happenings at the media center (new books, book talks, literary fact of the day).

Instagram – (Middle, High School or Teacher Resource) Post pictures of new books, changes in the media center, book clubs.

My Space – (High School) Involve music education with history and information of musicians.

Pinterest– Teacher Resource) Pin ideas for activities that meet standards.

And as always keep in mind ways to tie in our standards with each social media platform.  As our standards make the shift into Common Core, I am finding the big thing in common between the new standards is the requirement and emphasis placed on students explaining their thinking.    Continue to think about what sites promote discussion and collaboration as ways to help students not only explain their own thinking, but have opportunities to compare with other’s ideas.

References:
Junion-Metz, Gail. (2008). Secure social networking.  Retrieved October 20, 2012, from the School Library Journal site: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6574015.html?industryid=47060

Wieman, Roy. (n.d.). Social networking goes to school (image). Retrieved October 20, 2012, from
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/06/16/03networking.h03.html

Social Networking and School Library Media Centers

Social networking technologies have many positive uses in schools and libraries. They provide a great platform for teens to share what they are learning, ask questions or to work on a project together online.  Social networks allow teens to receive feedback from librarians, teachers, peers, parents, and others.

Teachers and media specialists have to work hard to integrate positive uses of social networking into their classrooms, programs, and services. By integrating social networking technologies into educational environments, students have the unique opportunity to learn from adults how to be safe and smart when using online social networks. They also learn a valuable life skill, as these social networking technologies are tools for communication that are widely used in colleges and in the workplace.

Social networking has become an essential tool in the classroom and the media center, however some teachers know about them but do not know how to use them.  As media specialists it is our “duty” to show them!  When I think about social networks I immediately think of Facebook and Twitter but there are so many others. 

The first that comes to mind is Edmodo.  Edmodo provides teachers and students a secure place to connect and collaborate, share content and educational applications, and access homework, grades, class discussions and notifications.  It is basically a Facebook page for your classroom.  Students love it and respond very well.  Also, they almost feel like they are “getting away with something” because they have been blocked from things for so long. 

Cel.ly.com is a platform of tools that helps the teacher with classroom communication.  The teacher creates “cells” that connect students.  The cells can be study groups, teams, for field trips, for polling, reminders, interactive walls, feedback, notes, and class news.  It turns your classroom into a private communication network. 

Wiggio.com is a free online toolkit that teachers can use to help students work in groups. You can host virtual meetings and conference calls, make to do lists, send messages, poll groups, manage events and more.

What does it take to make a Library Media Page

A school library web page is that is created to help students, parents, teachers, and administrators informed and connected digitally to the media center.

Creating a school library web page may seem like a challenging task for some. According to Warlick the first question you should ask yourself is “why?”. After you have answered this question you should have a goal in mind. When creating a school library web page you should keep your goal front and center while designing. Walbert says to make sure that you think of your webpage as an extension on your physical media center. Also make sure that you have a target audience in mind. You want this website to help you do your job, your target audience is who will help you do your job.

Next you should being researching. Take some time to explorer other school web pages and find what you like and what you don’t like about it. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Talk to other media specialists and ask how they got started and what worked for them. You might even want to send out a quick survey to the teachers and maybe the students in your school to see what they would like in a school media page.

Tips on what you may want to include on your page

Some things that you may want to include are:

·       Online catalogs

·       Reference resources

·       Curriculum connections

·       Literacy connections

·       General information such as hours and policies of your LMC

·       Links to other areas of your school

·       Recommended reading list

·       Study skills

·       Curriculum map or Pacing guide

·       Check out the link to this article for a complete checklist

Do’s and Don’ts

Dos

·       Use friendly layout

·       Use fonts and colors that are easy on the eyes

·       Keep it simple

·       Indent content

·       Use bullets

·       Add graphics when appropriate

·       Advertise your site: put on newsletters, school website, business cards, etc. 

Don’ts

·       Don’t overcrowd or overwhelm

·       Don’t have everything on one page- use tabs at the top or along the left hand side

·       Don’t make it difficult to find what you are looking for

·       Don’t make it a book….

Sources:

Baumbach, D., Brewer, S., Renfroe, M.   (2004, September). What should be on a school library

webpage?. Retrieved from http://motherofgeeks.com/SLMC website article.pdf

Walbert, D. (n.d.). Best practices in school library website design. Retrieved from

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/969

Warlick, D. (2005, January/February). Building website that work for your media center. Retrieved from

http://medt7477fall2012.weebly.com/uploads/7/5/8/9/7589068/warlick_lmc_websites.pdf

Wikis L.Carnes

Wikis in education. I think that wikis have the potential to be very useful for group work. Since they allow all members to be able to access and publish information to the internet, everyone else in the group can see changes immediately. In a professional setting this is a useful tool. I worry about using this tool in the classroom with students though. I think that it would be labor intensive to monitor the postings and ensure that all content was appropriate all of the time, since the wikis can be updated anytime day or night. I think that wikis have a more useful application in the area of professional development. For example, if a committee was working on new goals for the school or a new school improvement plan, they would be well served by a wiki where they could post their ideas and make changes as well as communicate with one another online.

Wiki is Terrific-y

The term Wiki is apparently a Hawaiian word that means quick.     Walt Cunningham of Microsoft coined the term after the bus there called the Wiki-Wiki.  It's on the web, it's quick (and easy), it's a WIKI!

So, my first experience with Wiki was in Dr. Cooper's MEDT 7474.  Was this anyone else's first time?  I like the collaboration inherent in Wikis and  I love trying out new technologies in instruction, So now, I wish I didn't work with first graders, who by and large and read and type very well.  I guess I can use wikis more from a professional collaboration standpoint, in fact, I just today received a link to a teacher's wiki full of great first grade resources.

I was wondering about the editing rights to wikis.  In our courses, you have to be a member of the wiki to access and edit, but based on my readings, many wikis are for a whole community of users, and so the individual invite is not really possible.  The openness of the wiki experience means users have to have some guidelines about, hopefully, some common sense about what they write, post, and delete.  (We have a T-Drive at school, which is the share drive.  It's amazing how many professionals still don't know the difference between SAVE and SAVE AS...but I digress.)

The article "Wiki's in a K12 Classroom" listed 12 ideas for using wikis, of which my favorite 3 were the elementary reader's circle, collaboration between teachers, and the student portfolio.  (I wonder if the portfolio online would provide students an easy way to plagiarize??  What could be done to prevent this?)  We have already seen in our coursework the fabulous way that a wiki can grow from a blank nothingness to a thriving page full of contributions.  It's amazing.

I loved my team member, Nikki's link to YouTube "Wiki's In Plain English".  "All you need is these two buttons: Edit and Save."  I thought I would add to the fun with my own little YouTube, also appropriate after this week's Presidential Debate.  In this ficticious debate between Kennedy and Nixon, the two debate the merits of Wikis vs. Blogs.  Hilarious, and very true. Both positions also tie in nicely with our debate on internet filtering.

As I was researching on the topic of Wikis, I found a wiki from a Rutgers program, 
Why Wiki? Why Not? 
It focuses on using a wiki in libraries as a dialogue between patrons and media specialists.The best page in their wiki was the Do's and Don'ts page.

Here are my favorite Do and Don't
"DON'T allow the wiki to be just an extension of your homepage! If the library staff are the only ones participating, you might as well have a static webpage. The crucial difference about a wiki is its collaborative nature and its ability to foster a sense of community. Stimulate conversation and interaction between patrons and staff, and among the patrons."

"DO define goals. Don't implement a wiki just because everyone else is doing it. Have a specific purpose (or two) in mind, such as creating a community events clearinghouse, creating a space for library patrons' voices to be heard on issues of interest, creating a forum for interaction centered around user interests (book clubs, sports teams, etc.). Above all, the patrons have to find the end result to be useful and engaging."
"DO recognize that different patrons have different needs. Seniors and teens will have different interests, so divide the wiki accordingly. Creating "mini-wikis" within your main wiki allows you to create communities for all of your demographics."

Well, folks, that's what I learned about Wikis.  (And now I know why Wikipedia is so successful, and yet can be so questionable!)

Feel free to write me back!


Why Wiki? Why Not? Retrieved from http://eden.rutgers.edu/~dmatturr/550/finalproject/finalprojectindex.html

The Wonderful World of Wikis

You have to see this video on wikis :)

 

Using web 2.0 tools are now more accessible and necessary for media specialists than ever before.  Web tools are powerful technologies that create endless teaching opportunities for the 21^st century learner.  One tool that has grown in popularity most recently is a wiki.  Wikis are websites that can be edited and saved by anyone with a computer and internet access.  They provide a common space for collaboration and connections.  Wikis are used for a wide variety of reasons.  From a massive online encyclopedia, to a space for vacation plans, wikis provide the ultimate experience in collaboration without having to deal with fancy programs or training.  The term wiki comes from the Hawaiian word used for referring to something that is quick (2005).  These quick and easy sites were originally created to help users post, share, and edit information “on the fly” (2005).  Being a multi-user blog with capabilities to upload images, videos, and links, this technology has coined itself the collaboration-king among web 2.0 tools.

Sounds like a bit too much collaboration for you?  If the thought of your hard work being changed or even deleted by a stranger makes your stomach turn, you’re not alone.  Many users feel that a wiki offers a great opportunity to collaborate; however, boundaries are often necessary when sharing work on the web.  This is why many wiki sites have an option to create authorizations to be group members.  Group members are then the only ones who can edit the site.  This creates more structure to those editing the wiki.  Another drawback is creating a wiki site may involve more initial time and skill (and even more so if group members will be used and invited).  The site might require an IT admin or techy-guru (we all know them at our schools!) to help with the start-up.  Once a wiki is created, using it is essential!  Many wikis become dead space if users are not actively changing or updating information.  Some users choose to have a moderator to monitor the site and encourage participation.

Wikis are great tools for anyone to use, but its popularity seems to have migrated towards being used by educators and media specialists.  Media centers can use a wiki site for any collaborative effort for both students and teachers.  Wikis offer the ability to upload images, embed videos and links, and (my favorite!) embed outside sources like a Glogster.  Media specialists can use a wiki to promote book talks and group research, create and share book trailers for new titles, feature special events within the school, and even provide a space for students to share and use pathfinders.  Instead of holding an in-service meeting at the school, media specialists can create a wiki to share information and encourage feedback and interactions from teachers.  As our standards grow closer alike with the creation of the Common Core standards, teachers could greatly benefit from using a wiki to share lesson plans, unit studies, and pathfinders. 

As I researched and visited several wikis, one site stuck out above the rest and made me realize how useful a wiki can be for collaborative efforts!  Below is a link to the site Webtools4u2use. 

Webtools4u2use

This wiki was created for school library specialists by two media specialists in Florida.  The site was created to encourage media specialists to share definitions and examples of web 2.0 tools.  Though you have to be a member to edit the site (which you can apply), it serves as an invaluable tool for educators to use and share ideas to promote the 21^st century standards.

Great!  How do I get started you ask?  Although there are TONS, literally, TONS of amazing web tools available, wikis are one that cannot be touched when it comes to collaboration.  Wikis take collaboration to a new level with online interactions and sharing work.  After all, as educators, aren’t we constantly “borrowing” each other’s work anyway?   Why not provide a space to say, “Here, use this!  And better yet, improve it as you see fit for the next person!”?  There are endless ways wikis can help media specialists as we journey toward creating opportunities for sharing and connecting to better serve our faculties and students.  The first step is to begin searching wikis already available and find one that fits your school’s need.  You will probably find wikis online that you were ready to create.  Once you find the wikis available, remember your school’s need(s) and focus in on those.  If you’re feeling confident, create one for your school to share lesson plans or unit studies.  However you decide to use wikis, remember that collaboration is key!  If people are not interacting with the wiki, it’s not serving its purpose.  Good luck and happy wikiing!

References:

Leelefever. (2007). Wikis in plain English (video).  Retrieved October 4, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

 

7 things you should know about wikis. (2005, July). Retrieved October 2, 2012, from Educause website: http://www.educause.edu/eli

Wikis

What is a wiki?  I remember, not very long ago at all, I had no idea what a wiki was-and I thought of myself as pretty tech savvy!  As a person out in the “other” working world, not education, I had never been exposed to a wiki and what they could do.  However, I did know what Wikipedia was, and that you could not use it as a source for a paper!!  I seriously did not put the two together for a long while and was embarrassed when I finally figured it out.  The light bulb totally went off above my head…”students you can’t use Wikipedia because the information may not be correct and anyone can go in and change it!”  How many times had I said that or heard that and not realized truly what I was saying.  Wiki’s can be described in many ways but the one that works for me is: the simplest collaborative content manager that could possibly work.  Wiki’s are designed to allow people to create and edit web pages without having to know how to write computer code.  School library media specialists report that they are using wikis to:

-Learn about wikis and web design

-Teach about wikis and web design

-Provide reference materials

-Teach students about wikis

-Teach about "authority" in web and reference materials

-Teach about copyright and/or Creative Commons licensing

-Compare and contrast Wikipedia with other information sources

-Help students understand how reference materials are created

I do believe that wikis have many uses, but in my personal opinion I am not a fan.  I do not favor the idea that anyone can go in and change/add content.  I would prefer to have a webpage and either a blog or a drop box that students can submit work and ideas.  Also, in the past, I have not had extremely good experiences with wikis-depending on which wiki platform is used, of course.  I find them to be full of steps, complicated, and not always in working order.  Another downside, according to Educase,is that it represents the collective perspective of the group that uses it and over time the values, perspectives, and opinions of its users cn become embedded in the wiki.  Finally, if you use a wiki as your school media center’s website, you need to constantly monitor for inappropriate information, language, spam, and posts.  In conclusion, I find wikis to be useful in a school library media center, but they also have many downsides.

Pressley, L. (2010). Wikis for libraries. New York: Neal-Schuman.

7 things you shold know about wikis. (2005, July). Retrieved October 2, 2012, from Educause website: http://www.educause.edu/eli

Podcasting in classrooms and Media Center

Podcasting, booktalks……What does all this mean?

 

Podcasting is an audio file that can be recorded on a computer, or other device and is later shared with other people.  The term podcast derived from Ipods and a broadcast. Podcasting can be just a recording of a voice or it can be spruced up with the music or sound effects over the narration. You can record a podcast using programs such as audacity or Garage Bands.

 

A book talk is a short review to kids excited about the book. It also can be used as an assessment after the students have read the book. Often times they will get excited about the book after you have completed a book talk but then later they will forget.

 

If you combine the podcast and book talk together you can have something that can be used over and over again as well as be referred back to  if the student forgets. Again this would create a great assessment tool for the kids to actually create a podcast book talk after they have completed an assignment and use web 2.0 tools in the classroom as well as the media center

 

There are many other ways in which a podcast can be used in the media center. It could be used to give directions on how to locate specific books in the media center. If a kid needs a reminder they can jump over to the Ipods and play the podcast on how to locate a book or how to access certain files in the media center.

 

One of my favorite uses of the podcast would be to spread news about what is happening in the library. Maybe there is a special presentation on Christmas books or the book fair is coming. This would be a great way to present that information to the students.

 

Podcasting is also a great way to help students who struggle when writing down the information that they have learned. I have come across many students who can just not produce the information on paper but can tell me all about it. This would be a great resource for those students.

 

There are so many great uses for podcasting in the school and in the media center. It is very simple and students as well as teachers will pick up on it right away. It may even help the students retain the different information due to a different approach of learning.

Trying to see original posts for Team 2...and make sure I can make an original post.  I have already made my reply posts to other teams.