Will it ever stop? Will the world of technology and it's capabilities with regards to communication ever implode or peter out? Likely not, and more likely, Web 5.0 tools and their applications will be emerging another generation or two down the road.
For me personally, trying to gain a stance, rickety as it is, with Web 2.0 tools has been a challenge. I'm old. And being old has it's own challenges, never mind introducing new-fangled gadgets with which to share learning, gain knowledge, talk to friends and store my pictures. I like books. I like the way they feel in my hand, the smell of the paper and how I can flip through the different sections to find the information I need. I like face to face contact. I like being able to read the expression on my friend's face when I pass on some exciting news. I like sitting next to my co-worker as we pour over an assignment to give our students. And I store my pictures in hard cover albums where I can look at them while sitting in my favorite, super comfy chair. I have no need to keep informed on the current status of all my friends. I don't really care to log in to a social network to find out that they may be tired from a long day at work. I already know that because I know my friends, what they do for a living and that they're usually tired from working anyway. And I know this because we get together a few times a month and really share some great conversation - face to face.
However . . .
. . . I have learned, and learned big, throughout these past three months and I can really see how what I have learned can be applied to schools, teaching and learning. I have collaborated on three different wikis. One was with a partner to create a wiki assignment and once we'd completed it, my partner and I agreed we had to share it with all the other librarians in our district because it was too valuable to let go as just an assignment. Socially constructing information took on new meaning to me when I realized that my partner and I were both sitting at our computers with big latttes on our desktops - actual desktops, not virtual desktops. I'm blogging right now. I listened to podcasts, watched videos, mostly on Youtube, embedded some videos onto my blog, accessed my e-learning course, a mashup, from more than one location, and have become a big fan of open source access, all as a means to build information. These are cool media, according to Trier, and I have, indeed, enjoyed a high rate of participation.
And now that I've become an expert (in my own mind), I can see how many of these tools can be used in the school setting. In the future, teachers may not be needed so much as a conduit of content so much as a facilitator, teaching students how to use the tools in order to build their own information. Students will be wired to others around the world, sharing, assimilating and synthesizing information to make it their own and spit it out as new. As educators, we'll need to learn how to evaluate their learning. Has the information been plagerized? Do we need to rewrite the rules on plagerism?
I'm definitly not in a rut in my job. I can begin to teach my students blogging and wiki programs and have them work together to complete assignments using these tools. I can teach them how to use tags to search for videos on a specific topic so they can construct new meaning. Learning about, and having the opportunity to use some of the Web 2.0 tools, has blown my teaching ability wide open and I look forward to the chance to share this knowledge with my students.
Web 3.0, I might not be ready for you just yet, but the future is coming faster than ever, and you won't be leaving me and my students behind if I have anything to say about it. Age is only a number and this old gal refuses to sit in her rocker unless there's a fully equipped and fully wired laptop on her knees with which to teach.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The DOAJ and Why We Need It
A key Web 2.0 concept says that information is shared with the purpose of interacting and building knowledge on the Web.
Just that statement, alone, tells me that open access journals are exactly what is needed to provide information to it's readers so that knowledge can be learned. I can only see the positives in having open access journals.
The Directory of Open Access Journals stemmed from a discussion, in 2002, that centered around the importance of the valuable knowledge available from scholarly journals. The members of the discussion panel wanted to create a comprehensive directory of all the journals that allow open access, and make it available to individuals, universities, libraries and research centers. Thus, the DOAJ was created and is operated by the Lund University Library in Sweden.
To be a member, one must pay a fee, different prices exist for different members - individuals, consortiums, organizations - and the costs create a financial base to allow continued development and the operation of the DOAJ. The directory is used world wide by authors to find journals to which they can submit their work, as well as by readers to find articles written by their collegues and for research purposes. In Canada, several universities are members, including the University of British Columbia Library and Simon Fraser University Library.
The DOAJ service allows it's members access to the free, full text scientific and scholarly journals. There are nearly 4000 journals and almost 265000 articles in the directory. It's goal is to increase the visibility and ease of use of journals, thereby increasing their usage overall as a means to information literacy.
I stand alongside Willinski of UBC in the belief that open access journals are a valuable item to help build knowledge.
The above information on the DOAJ and more can be found at http:www.doag.org/doaj?func=home
Just that statement, alone, tells me that open access journals are exactly what is needed to provide information to it's readers so that knowledge can be learned. I can only see the positives in having open access journals.
The Directory of Open Access Journals stemmed from a discussion, in 2002, that centered around the importance of the valuable knowledge available from scholarly journals. The members of the discussion panel wanted to create a comprehensive directory of all the journals that allow open access, and make it available to individuals, universities, libraries and research centers. Thus, the DOAJ was created and is operated by the Lund University Library in Sweden.
To be a member, one must pay a fee, different prices exist for different members - individuals, consortiums, organizations - and the costs create a financial base to allow continued development and the operation of the DOAJ. The directory is used world wide by authors to find journals to which they can submit their work, as well as by readers to find articles written by their collegues and for research purposes. In Canada, several universities are members, including the University of British Columbia Library and Simon Fraser University Library.
The DOAJ service allows it's members access to the free, full text scientific and scholarly journals. There are nearly 4000 journals and almost 265000 articles in the directory. It's goal is to increase the visibility and ease of use of journals, thereby increasing their usage overall as a means to information literacy.
I stand alongside Willinski of UBC in the belief that open access journals are a valuable item to help build knowledge.
The above information on the DOAJ and more can be found at http:www.doag.org/doaj?func=home
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Mashup = Mish Mash
The closest idea of what a mashup is to me, is a person taking an assortment of different materials - videos, text, maps, etc.- also known as a mish mash of materials, combine them together in a meaningful way regarding a specific topic and present them as a single source of information. If this is so, I wonder whether this blog accompanied by videos I've found on topics constitutes a mashup? And the vast amount of material available on the topic of teacher librarianship, combined with a curriculum, is mashed together to form this course, a mashup of it's own.
I believe mashups have always existed. Teachers have always collected a variety of forms of information and presented them as one single sourse in the classroom. I think we used the term 'collating' instead of mashup at the time.
As a classroom teacher or teacher librarian, I wish the time was available for creativity and the production of mashups for our daily teaching. The collaboration between members of a group would be very valuable if a topic were given to students and each person was responsible for sourcing the best information they could find on the subject. Once the informtion was put together as one source, a mashup would be created.
I'll be watching in the near future to see how other educators are using mashups and looking for opportunities for consideration for my own students.
I believe mashups have always existed. Teachers have always collected a variety of forms of information and presented them as one single sourse in the classroom. I think we used the term 'collating' instead of mashup at the time.
As a classroom teacher or teacher librarian, I wish the time was available for creativity and the production of mashups for our daily teaching. The collaboration between members of a group would be very valuable if a topic were given to students and each person was responsible for sourcing the best information they could find on the subject. Once the informtion was put together as one source, a mashup would be created.
I'll be watching in the near future to see how other educators are using mashups and looking for opportunities for consideration for my own students.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Podcast Help
I spent some time online searching for more information to help neophytes, like myself, to be able to really understand the idea of podcasting. Being one who doesn't have a videocam, a microphone, or any friends with these instrauments, I'm unable to actually produce videos of podcasts, but I think it's important to understand the process and see their value in case the chance to participate arrives in the future.
Whether for personal or professional use, I consider a podcast like a convenient to-go meal. I've put in my order (food or RSS feed), someone else does the work, I pick it up when it's ready and then consume when most convenient to me. As an educator, I see real value for secondary and university aged students. Often, students are unable to be in class for a lesson, holidays, illness, family emergencies, etc., and if lessons/lectures were recorded as a podcast, there'd be no reason for the student to lose any learning time.
I think our world has a ways to go before before podcasts are mainstream in public education and I can see post secondary more likely to participate in this form of communicating knowledge if the professors are capable. However, one day, when more adults are more technologically competent, more students will have the opportunity to learn in this fashion.
Check out the Youtube videos I found to help explain podcasts,create a podcast and how teach learn yourself in order to teach your students how to podcast.
Whether for personal or professional use, I consider a podcast like a convenient to-go meal. I've put in my order (food or RSS feed), someone else does the work, I pick it up when it's ready and then consume when most convenient to me. As an educator, I see real value for secondary and university aged students. Often, students are unable to be in class for a lesson, holidays, illness, family emergencies, etc., and if lessons/lectures were recorded as a podcast, there'd be no reason for the student to lose any learning time.
I think our world has a ways to go before before podcasts are mainstream in public education and I can see post secondary more likely to participate in this form of communicating knowledge if the professors are capable. However, one day, when more adults are more technologically competent, more students will have the opportunity to learn in this fashion.
Check out the Youtube videos I found to help explain podcasts,create a podcast and how teach learn yourself in order to teach your students how to podcast.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Hot vs Cold Media
James Trier talks about hot and cold media in his article "Cool Engagements With Youtube: Part 1". Hot media is that which is low in participation and cool media is high in participation. Those phrases really help me to see the value of the web 2.0 tools and how integrating them into the curriculum, either in the classroom or the library, is so beneficial to students.
Kids can watch videos in class, they can word process for a project, they might email questions to a teacher regarding a problem in math, or they might look at pictures of a particular topic for art assignment inspiration by typing in the address to a web site. These are all examples of hot media - the student's participation is at a low level. They seek and they find. Then there doesn't seem to be much more to do.
If the students write wikis to collaborate with and learn from other classmates, create and share blogs with one another, listen to podcasts where ever and whenever is most convenient or create and download a video to Youtube as an assignment for a class, then the students would be partcicpating at a much higher level. It's as though they're participating in their learning, actively learning, as opposed to passively letting the information come to them.
With regards to the key concept - How do these concepts transform the traditional role of the library into a place which is characterized as an active learning lab? - having our students involved with web 2.0 tools as a means of learning does characterize the library as a place of active learning. With the help of the teacher librarian, other teachers can learn to use these tools and teach their own students the information literacy skills necessary, and do so in an innovative way. This all sesems very inspirational to me!
Kids can watch videos in class, they can word process for a project, they might email questions to a teacher regarding a problem in math, or they might look at pictures of a particular topic for art assignment inspiration by typing in the address to a web site. These are all examples of hot media - the student's participation is at a low level. They seek and they find. Then there doesn't seem to be much more to do.
If the students write wikis to collaborate with and learn from other classmates, create and share blogs with one another, listen to podcasts where ever and whenever is most convenient or create and download a video to Youtube as an assignment for a class, then the students would be partcicpating at a much higher level. It's as though they're participating in their learning, actively learning, as opposed to passively letting the information come to them.
With regards to the key concept - How do these concepts transform the traditional role of the library into a place which is characterized as an active learning lab? - having our students involved with web 2.0 tools as a means of learning does characterize the library as a place of active learning. With the help of the teacher librarian, other teachers can learn to use these tools and teach their own students the information literacy skills necessary, and do so in an innovative way. This all sesems very inspirational to me!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
SNSs
I have subscribed to a couple of social networking systems in the past, but don't feel the need to keep up with them for my own personal uses.
However, the Flickr photo sharing tool sounds like a great idea as a Library 2.0 tool. I can see students being able to take digital photos of objects and scenery that corresponds to a topic they're studying in almost any subject. These photos could be shared with other classmates or even e-pals from other schools, cities or somewhere else in the world, or for grandparents across the country. For example, in social studies, the grade four curriculum focuses on Canadian Aboriginal cultures. Students could shoot a series of artifacts, regalia, clothing, artwork, etc to share on Flickr as a photo essay. Being able to add comments to each picture is valuable for identification of the objects for the viewers.
How about a Mother's Day photo essay? What Mom wouldn't want to log onto their computer to recieve an invitation from their child to join Flickr to discover a gift from their child? Perhaps the photos are of all the favorite places Mom and child like to share their quality time, or a selection of gorgeous flowers if Mom is an avid gardener.
I know that in our district, rules surrounding privacy are very strict, so nicknames and no photos of student's faces would be allowed, but I can see how some students, regardless of grade, could shine in this kind of fine art. Perhaps a librarian could locally develop a course using Flickr and open it to the district's students.
Facebook has value to a teacher librarian if there are school library groups one could join, however, I have yet to come up with a terrific reason why we'd use Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc with our students. I'm not convinced that the students would stick to the classroom guidelines on it's use and the security and privacy settings aren't private enough for this district.
In time, I think social networking will become for commonly used in the library and classrroom settings. Once more teachers use the services and more activities are developed that can be justified as curriculum basesd, more students will be using SNS with education in mind.
However, the Flickr photo sharing tool sounds like a great idea as a Library 2.0 tool. I can see students being able to take digital photos of objects and scenery that corresponds to a topic they're studying in almost any subject. These photos could be shared with other classmates or even e-pals from other schools, cities or somewhere else in the world, or for grandparents across the country. For example, in social studies, the grade four curriculum focuses on Canadian Aboriginal cultures. Students could shoot a series of artifacts, regalia, clothing, artwork, etc to share on Flickr as a photo essay. Being able to add comments to each picture is valuable for identification of the objects for the viewers.
How about a Mother's Day photo essay? What Mom wouldn't want to log onto their computer to recieve an invitation from their child to join Flickr to discover a gift from their child? Perhaps the photos are of all the favorite places Mom and child like to share their quality time, or a selection of gorgeous flowers if Mom is an avid gardener.
I know that in our district, rules surrounding privacy are very strict, so nicknames and no photos of student's faces would be allowed, but I can see how some students, regardless of grade, could shine in this kind of fine art. Perhaps a librarian could locally develop a course using Flickr and open it to the district's students.
Facebook has value to a teacher librarian if there are school library groups one could join, however, I have yet to come up with a terrific reason why we'd use Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc with our students. I'm not convinced that the students would stick to the classroom guidelines on it's use and the security and privacy settings aren't private enough for this district.
In time, I think social networking will become for commonly used in the library and classrroom settings. Once more teachers use the services and more activities are developed that can be justified as curriculum basesd, more students will be using SNS with education in mind.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Thanks for the Comments
Two classmates, Sherrie and Christina, each responded to the Wang and Hsua article my parner and I reviewed and brought up some valuable points to consider.
Sherrie discussed the fact that Wang and Hsua did their research on university students and that, generally, most students that age have top notch reading and writing abilities as well as good technology skills. However, there are many elementary and secondary students who struggle with reading and writing and Sherrie pointed out that these exhaustive activities make blogging a very difficult, if not unmanageable reality for them. What student, who already hates writing because they can't seem to find the right words, would want all their inadequecies on display for all viewers to see? And would you want to have to read all those blogs if reading was a killer in the first place?
Sherrie did suggest having someone else scribe for the struggling writers and shared the name Odigio, which speaks the words of the blog aloud, for people who have Google blog accounts.
Christina gave me an Aha! moment when she very succinctly wrote that blogging is a terrific way for students to incorporate the thoughts and ideas of others into their own learning and that it becomes more meaningful than traditional group work or one-to-one peer editing. I can see that reading the blogs of 25 other classmates on the same topic is very similar to reading the discussion posting of my classmates in this course. I don't learn from every posting and I don't learn the same thing as another person reading the same information. We all come with different knowledge and experiences so one blog will educate one person alot more than another person.
Having the opportunity to review a professional piece of writing, present it to our classmates and then discuss it is a valuable learning experience as new points of interest pop up that wouldn't have been discovered had it only been a one way publishing of the review. A social constructivist environment for sure!
Sherrie discussed the fact that Wang and Hsua did their research on university students and that, generally, most students that age have top notch reading and writing abilities as well as good technology skills. However, there are many elementary and secondary students who struggle with reading and writing and Sherrie pointed out that these exhaustive activities make blogging a very difficult, if not unmanageable reality for them. What student, who already hates writing because they can't seem to find the right words, would want all their inadequecies on display for all viewers to see? And would you want to have to read all those blogs if reading was a killer in the first place?
Sherrie did suggest having someone else scribe for the struggling writers and shared the name Odigio, which speaks the words of the blog aloud, for people who have Google blog accounts.
Christina gave me an Aha! moment when she very succinctly wrote that blogging is a terrific way for students to incorporate the thoughts and ideas of others into their own learning and that it becomes more meaningful than traditional group work or one-to-one peer editing. I can see that reading the blogs of 25 other classmates on the same topic is very similar to reading the discussion posting of my classmates in this course. I don't learn from every posting and I don't learn the same thing as another person reading the same information. We all come with different knowledge and experiences so one blog will educate one person alot more than another person.
Having the opportunity to review a professional piece of writing, present it to our classmates and then discuss it is a valuable learning experience as new points of interest pop up that wouldn't have been discovered had it only been a one way publishing of the review. A social constructivist environment for sure!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Valuable Resources
After reading a post by my classmate, Maria, I am reminded of the value of the internet as a powerful tool for up-to-date information. She reiterated Michael Gorman's opinions about books and library services being the way a library is supposed to operate. By checking in with Wikipedia, Maria unearthed some very strong comments about him being a traditionalist with regards to what a library is, and a conservativist when it comes to the use of technology as a tool for research.
This leads me to think about Wikipedia. Not everyone thinks it's a reliable source because it is citizen created. So in this case, is the information the gospel truth or is it to be taken with a grain of salt? Here's where we'd need to have our students research the topic more extensively to determine the truthfulness and completeness of the Wikipedia information.
After reaading the Wikipedia comments on Maria's post, I wonder how a person with this traditional and conservative attitude could be the Dean of Library Services at a university. To what extent does the curriculum for Library Sciences spread at that university? I wonder if they have courses on teaching students how to use Web 2.0 tools to take their information technology skills forward. Now that Michael Gorman is retired, I wonder if that university will change it's curriculum?
Reading my classmates' posts helps me to reach beyond my own mind, globalizing my thinking to extend my knowledge further. I appreciate Maria's comments as they made me think of the value of Wikipedia and the power of the internet as a resouce.
This leads me to think about Wikipedia. Not everyone thinks it's a reliable source because it is citizen created. So in this case, is the information the gospel truth or is it to be taken with a grain of salt? Here's where we'd need to have our students research the topic more extensively to determine the truthfulness and completeness of the Wikipedia information.
After reaading the Wikipedia comments on Maria's post, I wonder how a person with this traditional and conservative attitude could be the Dean of Library Services at a university. To what extent does the curriculum for Library Sciences spread at that university? I wonder if they have courses on teaching students how to use Web 2.0 tools to take their information technology skills forward. Now that Michael Gorman is retired, I wonder if that university will change it's curriculum?
Reading my classmates' posts helps me to reach beyond my own mind, globalizing my thinking to extend my knowledge further. I appreciate Maria's comments as they made me think of the value of Wikipedia and the power of the internet as a resouce.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Useful Blog and Wiki Sites
Before moving into lesson 8 on social networking, I want to share some useful blog and wiki sites I surfed while engaging in the first 7 lessons. With the help of these sites, I was able to create a google doc and then cut and paste it to this blog for the first posting, create a blog with a partner for an assignment concerning blogging in the classroom to expand on in-class discussions, create a wiki to use with my ste-sister and funeral home representative to write our Dad's obituary and create a wiki with my partner for another assignment for this course. The other blog can be accessed at http://www.gayle-corinne.blogspot.com/ . The obituary wiki, as I shared in the last post isn't open for viewing to the public and the parner/assignment wiki isn't quite ready for the big reveal, but when it is, I'll share that address.
Here are some useful blog and wiki sites:
Here are some useful blog and wiki sites:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnplofSs_ty
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wIkZyisbeo
- http://www.teachingtips.com/blog/2008/07/21/50-useful-blogging-tools-for-teachers
- http://www.blog-tutorials.com/
- http://www.blogspot.com/
- http://www.thoughts.com/
- http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/blogging-for-beginners-2/
- http://www.pbwiki.com/
- http://www.wetpaint.com/
- http://www.wikispaces.com
- http://www.myfreewiki.net/
- http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers
- http://www.writingwiki.org/default.aspx.WritingWiki%20Tutorials.html
Browse through any of the sites to find how-to's, tips-on and ideas for your own blog or wiki.
Monday, February 16, 2009
In Memory of Dad
My Dad passed away yesterday. It's very odd, but even at almost 50 years old, I feel like an orphan. I wonder if I actually qualify, or if there's a cut-off age that, when your parents are gone, you're too old to be considered an orphan.
But before he left, I worked on lesson 6 and initially decided to write about what I learned from the different readings surrounding wikis. However, because I needed to correspond with my step-sister who lives four hours away and, between the two of us, write an obituary, I decided to start a wiki. It was incredibly easy! I found Wetpaint on the web, followed their directions to create a username and password, and began to write. Once I completed what I thought I could add, I invited my step-sister and the funeral home representative. Both accepted their invitations, I allowed them to be able to administer (I think that's the word used?) and once we all agreed to the contents and added a picture, the funeral home was able to take the information to make memory cards and send the obituary to the newspapers in which we wanted it entered.
I know this wiki has nothing to do with teacher-teacher or teacher-student collaboration, but it served a valuable purpose and was exactly the technology I needed to collaborate and finalize a piece of writing at this time. The availability of the wiki for collaboration at a sad time as this was invaluable. My step-sister and I were both able to reflect for the time we truely needed to create a memory that did justice to our Dad, not to mention edit each other's work (and both of us being teachers, you can bet we were looking for mistakes from one another!).
I don't feel comfortable sharing our memory of Dad wiki with others, but I'm glad the timely topic was presented and I was able to take advantage of it.
But before he left, I worked on lesson 6 and initially decided to write about what I learned from the different readings surrounding wikis. However, because I needed to correspond with my step-sister who lives four hours away and, between the two of us, write an obituary, I decided to start a wiki. It was incredibly easy! I found Wetpaint on the web, followed their directions to create a username and password, and began to write. Once I completed what I thought I could add, I invited my step-sister and the funeral home representative. Both accepted their invitations, I allowed them to be able to administer (I think that's the word used?) and once we all agreed to the contents and added a picture, the funeral home was able to take the information to make memory cards and send the obituary to the newspapers in which we wanted it entered.
I know this wiki has nothing to do with teacher-teacher or teacher-student collaboration, but it served a valuable purpose and was exactly the technology I needed to collaborate and finalize a piece of writing at this time. The availability of the wiki for collaboration at a sad time as this was invaluable. My step-sister and I were both able to reflect for the time we truely needed to create a memory that did justice to our Dad, not to mention edit each other's work (and both of us being teachers, you can bet we were looking for mistakes from one another!).
I don't feel comfortable sharing our memory of Dad wiki with others, but I'm glad the timely topic was presented and I was able to take advantage of it.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Marketing TL's
It seems that in many school districts across BC, TL's are being sidelined by any random body that can read to children or help them exchanged books. In many cases I've witnessed, this body belongs to the Vice Principal as they are easy to pull from the library when needed for administration issues, to cover the Principal when s/he leaves the school or whatever other job the VP has in their seemingly 'catch-all' job description. This needs to change if TL's want their position to stay alive and they only way for that to happen is if they begin to market themselves and become known for what they can do to support their schools.
TL's can support not only the students, but also the teachers. If the teachers don't know what the TL is able to do, then teachers certainly aren't going to ask for their help. Working in collaboration with classroom teachers to team teach units so the teacher has only half the unit to prep, teach and mark seems like a real plus from my point of view. Why don't more teachers take advantage of this? Perhaps they don't know it can happen.
TL's can take leadership roles with professional development committees. They can lead a ProD tech day that will show teachers how to set up wikis or blogs to use with their classroom, or show the teachers what wikis or blogs the TL already has online that can be useful in the classroom from the teacher's perspective.
In some instances, staff are willing to eat lunch in a workshop environment and this is where TL's can display their wares, so to speak. A 40 minute workshop is more than enough time to show one Web 2.0 tool. A good example is creating a wiki with websites related to a specific theme or subject unit that would help teachers access more up-to-date information to make their student's learning more meaningful. Most teachers I know would listen and watch, take down the address to the wiki and sign on at another time, like in the evening, to take advantage of the new information . . . if only they knew!
With lots of self advocating, taking a leadership role among the staff, bending the ear of Admin and informing staff about studies that prove student learning increases more in schools with full time TL's compared to those without, is a good beginning to keep the position of the teacher librarian from disappearing from our schools.
TL's can support not only the students, but also the teachers. If the teachers don't know what the TL is able to do, then teachers certainly aren't going to ask for their help. Working in collaboration with classroom teachers to team teach units so the teacher has only half the unit to prep, teach and mark seems like a real plus from my point of view. Why don't more teachers take advantage of this? Perhaps they don't know it can happen.
TL's can take leadership roles with professional development committees. They can lead a ProD tech day that will show teachers how to set up wikis or blogs to use with their classroom, or show the teachers what wikis or blogs the TL already has online that can be useful in the classroom from the teacher's perspective.
In some instances, staff are willing to eat lunch in a workshop environment and this is where TL's can display their wares, so to speak. A 40 minute workshop is more than enough time to show one Web 2.0 tool. A good example is creating a wiki with websites related to a specific theme or subject unit that would help teachers access more up-to-date information to make their student's learning more meaningful. Most teachers I know would listen and watch, take down the address to the wiki and sign on at another time, like in the evening, to take advantage of the new information . . . if only they knew!
With lots of self advocating, taking a leadership role among the staff, bending the ear of Admin and informing staff about studies that prove student learning increases more in schools with full time TL's compared to those without, is a good beginning to keep the position of the teacher librarian from disappearing from our schools.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Whyapedia?
The more I read and learn about citizen-based knowlege sites like Wikipedia, the more I wonder why in the world people have the need to express their thoughts, ideas and knowleged so publically.
I see how this vast and public sharing of knowledge can be a learning experience; these social constructivist environments are democratizing information because anyone can, and many do, write for Wikipedia or create their own wiki for private or public devouring. Personally, I've never used Wikipedia, created a wiki or read anyone else's wiki. If I want information, I turn to what I've always thought of as more authoritative sources.
However, I've become convinced of a few ways that Wikipedia can be useful in the classroom. Once a class has completed a unit or research project, they could read Wikipedia submissions on the same topic and evaluate that knowledge based on what they already know. Students could be directed to edit the topics with their knowledge, learning the importance of evaluating credible information. Wikipedia can be used as the initial source of information to get a general feel for a topic and possible ideas or ideas to branch out to before moving further into more traditionally credible academic sources.
Wikis can be used in the classroom by teachers who write their own submissions for students to edit and expand on with information they've learned. Students can create their own wikis as book and movie reviews. Study wikis can be outlined by teachers for students to fill in with information they've learned on a subject. All students can edit and submit what they've learned to create a large study guide from which all students can benefit. A class can collect recipes related to a culture they're studying and create a wiki for private or public viewing. If public, more submissions could be collected from people all over the world, even those within that particular culture. What a socially constructed environment that would be!
Yes, Wikipedia and wikis don't seem to have the extensive verification of knowlege, and citations available for readers to check the knowledge, but they still have a value that cannot be ignored. If teachers brought this tool into the classroom, their digitally-aged students would improve their writing and revision skills simply because of the time spent using this tool, could learn the valuable information literacy skill of evaluation, as well as, become more engaged in their learning. The vision of students fully engaged on the computer as they create, edit, evaluate and write is far more appealing than seeing them slumped in their seats copying notes from the overhead projector.
I see how this vast and public sharing of knowledge can be a learning experience; these social constructivist environments are democratizing information because anyone can, and many do, write for Wikipedia or create their own wiki for private or public devouring. Personally, I've never used Wikipedia, created a wiki or read anyone else's wiki. If I want information, I turn to what I've always thought of as more authoritative sources.
However, I've become convinced of a few ways that Wikipedia can be useful in the classroom. Once a class has completed a unit or research project, they could read Wikipedia submissions on the same topic and evaluate that knowledge based on what they already know. Students could be directed to edit the topics with their knowledge, learning the importance of evaluating credible information. Wikipedia can be used as the initial source of information to get a general feel for a topic and possible ideas or ideas to branch out to before moving further into more traditionally credible academic sources.
Wikis can be used in the classroom by teachers who write their own submissions for students to edit and expand on with information they've learned. Students can create their own wikis as book and movie reviews. Study wikis can be outlined by teachers for students to fill in with information they've learned on a subject. All students can edit and submit what they've learned to create a large study guide from which all students can benefit. A class can collect recipes related to a culture they're studying and create a wiki for private or public viewing. If public, more submissions could be collected from people all over the world, even those within that particular culture. What a socially constructed environment that would be!
Yes, Wikipedia and wikis don't seem to have the extensive verification of knowlege, and citations available for readers to check the knowledge, but they still have a value that cannot be ignored. If teachers brought this tool into the classroom, their digitally-aged students would improve their writing and revision skills simply because of the time spent using this tool, could learn the valuable information literacy skill of evaluation, as well as, become more engaged in their learning. The vision of students fully engaged on the computer as they create, edit, evaluate and write is far more appealing than seeing them slumped in their seats copying notes from the overhead projector.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Blogging Safety
Since I've never set up a blog for anyone other than myself, I hadn't thought out all the safety measures that would need to be in place. In consideration of setting up a class blog, Christina commented that she's had her students use historical names instead of their own, which I think is a great idea. I hadn't got as far as how to work in conjuction with the privacy issue that is so strongly enforced in our district. None of our students names or photos are allowed in print in any form without the written consent of the parents. However, with 'pretend' names, and having the students chose them to corrolate to a current theme or unit of study, allows for the blogs to exist and all will remain safe.
Thank you, Christina, (if that's your real name!) for the great idea that is now great forethought for me.
Thank you, Christina, (if that's your real name!) for the great idea that is now great forethought for me.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Poof!
LIBE 477B
Electronic Learning Portfolio
January 7, 2009
I got an email earlier this week about some trouble that was had trying to upload this course onto the Vista site and that it should be ready for next week. I took that as nothing would be on the site. However, tonight I decided to check it out and there were the beginning lessons, the assignments and profiles available. I looked through all that was available and saw that one of the assignments was to create an electronic learning portfolio and that we need to make entries at least twice a week. Yikes!!! So this is my first entry. Done before bed on the first day I open the site.
What did I learn: Depending on your perception, the course may or may not have started already!
January 10, 2009
Now I’m beginning to get what Web 2 tools are and I can say that I have been using some of them. I had a Facebook account for quite a while. It was set up initially to keep in contact with a couple of friends who live overseas. This past summer, I felt annoyed more than anything about the number of ‘friends’ requests I was receiving from former students and, along with a few other reasons, made the decision to enable the page. I can’t say there have been a lot of people wondering where I am. I’d rather have the actual face time, than Facebook time.
Now, as a means to communication for this course, I believe that it may be valuable, so I’m going to try to make a new account. I have a gmail account and wonder whether that address would work.
Other Web 2 tools I’ve used – Flickr to share photos with long distance friends and family
· Blogs as an assignment for two other courses I’ve taken in the TL diploma program
· Google – maps to find something in particular, Google Earth to see real images of particular places on earth, and general enquiries on the net
· MSN – to instantly message long distance people
I haven’t had reason to use YouTube for myself but have clicked on the link someone else sent me to see something they thought was great and, for the most part, I thought those things were pretty lame.
While many of the Web 2 tools may be valuable in some environment or another, I’m not convinced that they’re all necessary. In particular, MSN and Facebook can be overused by people who should try using their face-to-face social skills instead of their keyboarding skills. Just my opinion on observations I’ve made, but I do feel strongly about reducing the amount of time spent on the computer unnecessarily.
January 15, 2009
Try setting up a Google Doc?
Okay.
Since I already have a gmail from another course, I decided to try setting up a google doc, so began by googling ‘google doc’ and there it was – a You-Tube link! And it was very helpful! It’s called You-Tube – Google Docs in Plain English and the site is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6lHTEA It explains how the doc can be securely shared by only those you decide upon and that you can work on one doc together, never having to recreate several copies and filling the email(gmail) with unnecessary multiple copies of documents.
It seemed streamlined so I tried it. Very Simple! I’m going to try to upload (if that’s the correct term) this word doc onto my google doc.
January 17,2009
Cool, it worked! And now I can continue using this format for my learning portfolio until I have another format for the assignment. I wonder if this is an acceptable format?
One of the problems I have with the explosion of technical tools is how to learn how to use them and then how to apply them to my life or in the classroom. Until today, I'd heard of Podcsts before, but have never actually known what they are (still don't really) until Nancy M. commented that she bought herself an IPod and now listes to podcasts often. Okay - I get the connection. Podcasts are broadcasts you listen to on your IPod. But I still have questions. How do you know where to find these podcasts? I don't have an IPod so am unfamiliar with their features and have know idea how a podcast could be accessed? Does one push buttons similar to a Blackberry, or is it more like dialling a radio station on the sterior?
With the overwhelming number of Web 2 tools, I find it a struggle to gather enough interest to learn to use one new to me and it takes that much more energy to figure out how to apply it to my classroom. And being a grade four teacher, what tools are reasonable for students that age to learn to use?
My hope is that by the end of this course, I have a handle on using two or three Web 2 tools I don't use at this point and that I have one or two to legitimately use in the classroom for my students.
January 21, 2009
Well, I'm really irked by the article by Prensky. He seems to believe that the future won't hold any jobs other than those in the high tech field. He makes comments about teaching basic knowledge of program concepts instead of the multiplication tables, teaching the ability to think logically and to estimate instead of how to complete a division algorithm and suggests that there won't be a need to learn cursive writing because students should be learning how to be creative and meaningful with multimedia.
Yes, I agree logical thinking, the ability to estimate and using multimedia as a way to present some endevours is important and worthy, but not at the exclusion of basic skills. He comments that change won't need to be counted out to customers, even if the equipment breaks down because there will be some other cell phone dohickey that will do the job. How arrogant to believe that basic counting skills will be redundant in the face of technology!
Prensky must work in the field of high-tech himself, or at an imcredibly high level of whatever it is he does and needs to look at the reality of school curriculum, government IRP's and how often they are revisited, the lack of funding and the outdatedness of technology resources in schools, the fact that not all parents can actually provide laptops and cell phones to their children and he also needs to review the plethora of jobs in the world that use only some technology and that these jobs won't likely get left behind if they aren't employing people that can create meaningfully in multimedia.
I don't agree with Prensky's message. Yes, students should learn the basic concepts of the programs they'll use most often, they should learn how to keyboard, and of course using logic is important, but not at the exclusion of basic reading, writing and math skills.
January 25, 2009
Now that I've had a few days to think about Prensky's article relating to the value of Web 2 knowledge and skills, I can more clearly see the message he was trying to purvay and I do agree to the value of this knowledge and these skills in the education system.
I've always pushed my students to think logically, to use resources beyond the usual to find information and to reach out past their comfort level to move into a new realm of knowledge. At the same time, my students are likely much more computer savvy than I would say I am. They've grown up in the computer world and don't have the fear of it like I do. Only when presented with a must-do situation do I usually wade into the technology world. I don't use the computer much with my students other than to do a little bit of google research, and learn some word processing and keyboarding skills. Yes, it's very important to teach our students the fundamental skills necessary to use these programs and I also think it's vital to teach discrimination skills so they can use their time efficiently to find the information they want to find. I think it's important to teach them about the value of Wikipedia, how to use keywords to search and how to do an advanced search. Whether it's finding information for a school project of trying to find the address to the closest pizza joint when in an unfamiliar city by using online yellow pages and a mapquest, kids will turn to the computer sooner than the big thick phone book in the cupboard or a set of encyclopedias on the shelf in the library, so, as the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
However, I think cursive writing and learning the multiplication tables are invaluable tools because not everyone will have an electronic devise to, for example, write a grocery list when looking in the cupboard or fridge and then using their estimation skills when determining whether buying bulk really is as cost effective for them or not. I think Prensky is writing from the point of view of people who are firmly attached to their laptops, PDA's, Blackberry's, etc., and I'm from close to the other end of the spectrum where I most often forget to turn on my cell phone, don't own a laptop, PDA, Blackberry or much else electronic. I'm from the "I know I should more often and I try to for the sake of my students" camp.
January 27, 2009
After reading Wanye H.'s response to Taking care of Teachers, I was struck by just how important workplace relationships truely are. Wayne commented that the TL in his school will help if he's asked, but doesn't do more than that, where collaboration is concerned. In light of the learning outcomes for lesson 3, this teacher certainly isn't shilfting his priorities to transform the library from it's traditional roll to become an active learning environment. If this teacher were to develop strong relationships with other teachers and really advocate for the library and his roll as teacher of Web 2.0 tools, he could be piquing the interest of teachers who would take advantage of the opportunity to learn new ways to incorporate technology into the curriculum.
Lesson three in the course content comments on the value of a supportive principal. Indeed, without your principal as a primary advocate, your library won't operate as you want. And if you want to collaborate with teachers, teach teachers Web 2.0 skills in order that they may use these skills as a means to deliver their curriculum, and be seem as a leader in your field, you need the support of your principal. Writing policies and procedures for the operation of the library can only take a new direction if the principal is behind it.
I heard a comment on a CBC readio program recently that said that Web 2.0 is more about two way communiction than the traditional one way street of consumers using the net to ind information. That comment helped put what Web 2.0 represents into perspective for me. It helps me to see that instead of finishing with the computer once the research is complete, tools exist such as blogs, wikis, skype and Youtube, to mention a few, with which to deliver the knowlegde gained from the research. I'm looking forward to learning more about these tools as this course progresses.
Feb 1, 2009
Well thank goodness! Initially I created a google doc as my learning portfolio place but realized the limitations compared to a blog, so I cut and paste what I previously wrote to this space and am grateful it worked!
After reading Wang and Hsua's Reflections on Using Blogs to Expand In-class Discussions, I was so excited about the possibility of me actually using a blog in my classroom. This article made sense to me. It's probably the first article I've read that I feel is relevant and useful in the immediate future. Up to this point I haven't understood the term social Constructivism and this article helped me with that as well as spoke about many ways in which a blog can be used in the school environment.
So, now I know that social constructivism is a theory that says knowledge is gained through social interaction and that this interaction helps to scaffold learning to take knowledge to a higher level. To me, that's like a really great book club discussion. After reading the book, let's say, a non-fiction on the topic of Greek mythology and learning about lots of gods and goddessses, one would learn even more from what others have to say in the discussion (with wine and goodies, of course) afterward. The use of this environment as an online learning space has many advantages, according to Wang and Hsua.
Briefly, the following are my favorite ideas of how to blog in the classroom:
Electronic Learning Portfolio
January 7, 2009
I got an email earlier this week about some trouble that was had trying to upload this course onto the Vista site and that it should be ready for next week. I took that as nothing would be on the site. However, tonight I decided to check it out and there were the beginning lessons, the assignments and profiles available. I looked through all that was available and saw that one of the assignments was to create an electronic learning portfolio and that we need to make entries at least twice a week. Yikes!!! So this is my first entry. Done before bed on the first day I open the site.
What did I learn: Depending on your perception, the course may or may not have started already!
January 10, 2009
Now I’m beginning to get what Web 2 tools are and I can say that I have been using some of them. I had a Facebook account for quite a while. It was set up initially to keep in contact with a couple of friends who live overseas. This past summer, I felt annoyed more than anything about the number of ‘friends’ requests I was receiving from former students and, along with a few other reasons, made the decision to enable the page. I can’t say there have been a lot of people wondering where I am. I’d rather have the actual face time, than Facebook time.
Now, as a means to communication for this course, I believe that it may be valuable, so I’m going to try to make a new account. I have a gmail account and wonder whether that address would work.
Other Web 2 tools I’ve used – Flickr to share photos with long distance friends and family
· Blogs as an assignment for two other courses I’ve taken in the TL diploma program
· Google – maps to find something in particular, Google Earth to see real images of particular places on earth, and general enquiries on the net
· MSN – to instantly message long distance people
I haven’t had reason to use YouTube for myself but have clicked on the link someone else sent me to see something they thought was great and, for the most part, I thought those things were pretty lame.
While many of the Web 2 tools may be valuable in some environment or another, I’m not convinced that they’re all necessary. In particular, MSN and Facebook can be overused by people who should try using their face-to-face social skills instead of their keyboarding skills. Just my opinion on observations I’ve made, but I do feel strongly about reducing the amount of time spent on the computer unnecessarily.
January 15, 2009
Try setting up a Google Doc?
Okay.
Since I already have a gmail from another course, I decided to try setting up a google doc, so began by googling ‘google doc’ and there it was – a You-Tube link! And it was very helpful! It’s called You-Tube – Google Docs in Plain English and the site is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6lHTEA It explains how the doc can be securely shared by only those you decide upon and that you can work on one doc together, never having to recreate several copies and filling the email(gmail) with unnecessary multiple copies of documents.
It seemed streamlined so I tried it. Very Simple! I’m going to try to upload (if that’s the correct term) this word doc onto my google doc.
January 17,2009
Cool, it worked! And now I can continue using this format for my learning portfolio until I have another format for the assignment. I wonder if this is an acceptable format?
One of the problems I have with the explosion of technical tools is how to learn how to use them and then how to apply them to my life or in the classroom. Until today, I'd heard of Podcsts before, but have never actually known what they are (still don't really) until Nancy M. commented that she bought herself an IPod and now listes to podcasts often. Okay - I get the connection. Podcasts are broadcasts you listen to on your IPod. But I still have questions. How do you know where to find these podcasts? I don't have an IPod so am unfamiliar with their features and have know idea how a podcast could be accessed? Does one push buttons similar to a Blackberry, or is it more like dialling a radio station on the sterior?
With the overwhelming number of Web 2 tools, I find it a struggle to gather enough interest to learn to use one new to me and it takes that much more energy to figure out how to apply it to my classroom. And being a grade four teacher, what tools are reasonable for students that age to learn to use?
My hope is that by the end of this course, I have a handle on using two or three Web 2 tools I don't use at this point and that I have one or two to legitimately use in the classroom for my students.
January 21, 2009
Well, I'm really irked by the article by Prensky. He seems to believe that the future won't hold any jobs other than those in the high tech field. He makes comments about teaching basic knowledge of program concepts instead of the multiplication tables, teaching the ability to think logically and to estimate instead of how to complete a division algorithm and suggests that there won't be a need to learn cursive writing because students should be learning how to be creative and meaningful with multimedia.
Yes, I agree logical thinking, the ability to estimate and using multimedia as a way to present some endevours is important and worthy, but not at the exclusion of basic skills. He comments that change won't need to be counted out to customers, even if the equipment breaks down because there will be some other cell phone dohickey that will do the job. How arrogant to believe that basic counting skills will be redundant in the face of technology!
Prensky must work in the field of high-tech himself, or at an imcredibly high level of whatever it is he does and needs to look at the reality of school curriculum, government IRP's and how often they are revisited, the lack of funding and the outdatedness of technology resources in schools, the fact that not all parents can actually provide laptops and cell phones to their children and he also needs to review the plethora of jobs in the world that use only some technology and that these jobs won't likely get left behind if they aren't employing people that can create meaningfully in multimedia.
I don't agree with Prensky's message. Yes, students should learn the basic concepts of the programs they'll use most often, they should learn how to keyboard, and of course using logic is important, but not at the exclusion of basic reading, writing and math skills.
January 25, 2009
Now that I've had a few days to think about Prensky's article relating to the value of Web 2 knowledge and skills, I can more clearly see the message he was trying to purvay and I do agree to the value of this knowledge and these skills in the education system.
I've always pushed my students to think logically, to use resources beyond the usual to find information and to reach out past their comfort level to move into a new realm of knowledge. At the same time, my students are likely much more computer savvy than I would say I am. They've grown up in the computer world and don't have the fear of it like I do. Only when presented with a must-do situation do I usually wade into the technology world. I don't use the computer much with my students other than to do a little bit of google research, and learn some word processing and keyboarding skills. Yes, it's very important to teach our students the fundamental skills necessary to use these programs and I also think it's vital to teach discrimination skills so they can use their time efficiently to find the information they want to find. I think it's important to teach them about the value of Wikipedia, how to use keywords to search and how to do an advanced search. Whether it's finding information for a school project of trying to find the address to the closest pizza joint when in an unfamiliar city by using online yellow pages and a mapquest, kids will turn to the computer sooner than the big thick phone book in the cupboard or a set of encyclopedias on the shelf in the library, so, as the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
However, I think cursive writing and learning the multiplication tables are invaluable tools because not everyone will have an electronic devise to, for example, write a grocery list when looking in the cupboard or fridge and then using their estimation skills when determining whether buying bulk really is as cost effective for them or not. I think Prensky is writing from the point of view of people who are firmly attached to their laptops, PDA's, Blackberry's, etc., and I'm from close to the other end of the spectrum where I most often forget to turn on my cell phone, don't own a laptop, PDA, Blackberry or much else electronic. I'm from the "I know I should more often and I try to for the sake of my students" camp.
January 27, 2009
After reading Wanye H.'s response to Taking care of Teachers, I was struck by just how important workplace relationships truely are. Wayne commented that the TL in his school will help if he's asked, but doesn't do more than that, where collaboration is concerned. In light of the learning outcomes for lesson 3, this teacher certainly isn't shilfting his priorities to transform the library from it's traditional roll to become an active learning environment. If this teacher were to develop strong relationships with other teachers and really advocate for the library and his roll as teacher of Web 2.0 tools, he could be piquing the interest of teachers who would take advantage of the opportunity to learn new ways to incorporate technology into the curriculum.
Lesson three in the course content comments on the value of a supportive principal. Indeed, without your principal as a primary advocate, your library won't operate as you want. And if you want to collaborate with teachers, teach teachers Web 2.0 skills in order that they may use these skills as a means to deliver their curriculum, and be seem as a leader in your field, you need the support of your principal. Writing policies and procedures for the operation of the library can only take a new direction if the principal is behind it.
I heard a comment on a CBC readio program recently that said that Web 2.0 is more about two way communiction than the traditional one way street of consumers using the net to ind information. That comment helped put what Web 2.0 represents into perspective for me. It helps me to see that instead of finishing with the computer once the research is complete, tools exist such as blogs, wikis, skype and Youtube, to mention a few, with which to deliver the knowlegde gained from the research. I'm looking forward to learning more about these tools as this course progresses.
Feb 1, 2009
Well thank goodness! Initially I created a google doc as my learning portfolio place but realized the limitations compared to a blog, so I cut and paste what I previously wrote to this space and am grateful it worked!
After reading Wang and Hsua's Reflections on Using Blogs to Expand In-class Discussions, I was so excited about the possibility of me actually using a blog in my classroom. This article made sense to me. It's probably the first article I've read that I feel is relevant and useful in the immediate future. Up to this point I haven't understood the term social Constructivism and this article helped me with that as well as spoke about many ways in which a blog can be used in the school environment.
So, now I know that social constructivism is a theory that says knowledge is gained through social interaction and that this interaction helps to scaffold learning to take knowledge to a higher level. To me, that's like a really great book club discussion. After reading the book, let's say, a non-fiction on the topic of Greek mythology and learning about lots of gods and goddessses, one would learn even more from what others have to say in the discussion (with wine and goodies, of course) afterward. The use of this environment as an online learning space has many advantages, according to Wang and Hsua.
Briefly, the following are my favorite ideas of how to blog in the classroom:
- set up pen pals with another class - in the same town, province or across the world
- write interactive/partner stories
- peer edit writing assignments
- create debate topics and the two sides for online debates
- student reflections after completing a class project
- create a library or classroom book recommendation tag (I thnk that's the correct way to use the term, but am not exactly sure - just taking a risk!)
- have students write their lit circle discussions as blogs
- all the above can become learning environments for any student writing or reading the blogs - creating a social constructivist environment
The article makes a great case for blogs being an equalizer. No one can monopolize a conversation, shy people won't feel pressured to speak in front of others who may be somewhat intimidating, and a person can take the time they need to construct their thoughts , put them into writing and know that they have been able to truely express their ideas - all before hitting the 'publish post' button.
This article is definitely relevent and useable for me. I learned alot about reasons to blog, how blogging can enhance classroom discussions and I now understand from a learners point of view advantages of blogging over some face-to-face environments. For me, personally, face-to-face is a far more interesting and enjoyable method of learning, but I now see the beauty and importance of using blogs in the classroom.
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