7.20.2009
7.19.2009
Multimedia Class Summary
I feel this class has prepared me to be more of a 21st Century Librarian. Before I talk about the tools I’ve found especially helpful, I want to mention the confidence I’ve gained in using some of the technology resources we’ve experimented with. At first it felt a little overwhelming (not always a bad thing, by the way) learning about so many different multimedia tools. But now, I’m realizing a major take away point--it’s important to feel comfortable trying out all sorts of multimedia resources. Playing around with tools like Windows Movie Maker, Voicethread, Audacity, Podcasting, and Picassa was helpful because it made me realize that if I messed up, it wasn’t the end of the world, and in messing up, I would probably learn something I wasn’t even trying to learn. Although many students are digital natives and remarkably comfortable with being uncomfortable when it comes to new technology, a good portion are not. As I work to incorporate tools like Audacity, Evernote, and Voicethread into my teaching, I’ll need to remember that. Both classroom teachers and students need ample time for practice, and a reminder that floundering a bit is a part of learning.
Using a bunch of tools at once has also forced me to come up with my own system of organizing resources. For me, Evernote was a great way to keep track of all the different websites and programs we used. Google Reader was another organizational tool that made it easier to keep track of blogs I am following and the newest posts on those blogs. I think Google Reader will be what I use to continue tracking and contributing to my personal learning network. Currently, I plan to follow Joyce Valence and Will Richardson. Both of them seem so active and knowledgable about the Read-Write web. I’ve been keeping track of Joyce Valenza’s tweets and in the short time I’ve been following her, I’ve gotten some great ideas. Also, I thought both Richardson’s blog and book gave great suggestions for how web 2.0 tools can enhance the curriculum. In addition, our own cohort members and Kristin have provided great ideas and help, and I consider them an important part of my personal learning network.
Some of the tools we’ve learned about I will use immediately in the fall in collaboration with classroom teachers. I’m excited to use Wordle with our psychology, natural resources, and animal science classes, who come to the library on a weekly basis to find relevant articles using the AEA Databases. Students who have just exited the ELL program are often enrolled in the latter two classes, and copying and pasting the text to a Wordle maker will help students recognize important concepts. Students in World History class do layered curriculum projects for each unit. One option for students is reading a related fiction or nonfiction book and writing a response on it. This year, I’m going to work with the World History teacher to encourage students to complete a Voicethread that can be shared with other students. I think they will enjoy this option. So many of our teachers require powerpoints for presentations, and students seem pretty bored with it. I think students will be excited about this new presentation tool. It’s terrific that students are able to comment on each other’s presentations—this really establishes a learning community. In all of our English classes, students are required to read at least one SSR book, in addition to class texts, and after reading they create some sort of presentation or project. I’d like to work with at least one of the English teachers on teaching students how to use Movie Maker or Voicethread for book projects.
For my own Library Skills class, I’m excited to show students how they can “train information” to come to them using Diigo and RSS feeds. The sticky note and highlighting feature of Diigo lets students “talk back to the text” which encourages active and critical reading. I also like how students can use the search feature to see what others researching the same topic have found. In our multimedia class, Kristin stressed the importance of having one email account to register all of our new multimedia tools to. I’m going to do the same thing with my library skills class—all students will set up a gmail account, and establish a common username/password for the tools that we learn. In both Library Skills and collaboration with other teachers, students use the AEA Online Databases consistently. The databases they use the most are WorldBook Online, EBSCOhost, Student Researcher, and SIRS. However, students don’t often use the Clipart database or AP Image database. I’d like to work on encouraging students to use these databases more by incorporating them into new and exciting projects. Personally, I hadn’t used Atomic Learning very much, and I found it to be beneficial in this class.
Overall, I’m enthusiastic about incorporating multimedia tools into my teaching and work with other teachers and students. I’m also eager to learn how others in my Personal Learning Network are doing that as well.
Using a bunch of tools at once has also forced me to come up with my own system of organizing resources. For me, Evernote was a great way to keep track of all the different websites and programs we used. Google Reader was another organizational tool that made it easier to keep track of blogs I am following and the newest posts on those blogs. I think Google Reader will be what I use to continue tracking and contributing to my personal learning network. Currently, I plan to follow Joyce Valence and Will Richardson. Both of them seem so active and knowledgable about the Read-Write web. I’ve been keeping track of Joyce Valenza’s tweets and in the short time I’ve been following her, I’ve gotten some great ideas. Also, I thought both Richardson’s blog and book gave great suggestions for how web 2.0 tools can enhance the curriculum. In addition, our own cohort members and Kristin have provided great ideas and help, and I consider them an important part of my personal learning network.
Some of the tools we’ve learned about I will use immediately in the fall in collaboration with classroom teachers. I’m excited to use Wordle with our psychology, natural resources, and animal science classes, who come to the library on a weekly basis to find relevant articles using the AEA Databases. Students who have just exited the ELL program are often enrolled in the latter two classes, and copying and pasting the text to a Wordle maker will help students recognize important concepts. Students in World History class do layered curriculum projects for each unit. One option for students is reading a related fiction or nonfiction book and writing a response on it. This year, I’m going to work with the World History teacher to encourage students to complete a Voicethread that can be shared with other students. I think they will enjoy this option. So many of our teachers require powerpoints for presentations, and students seem pretty bored with it. I think students will be excited about this new presentation tool. It’s terrific that students are able to comment on each other’s presentations—this really establishes a learning community. In all of our English classes, students are required to read at least one SSR book, in addition to class texts, and after reading they create some sort of presentation or project. I’d like to work with at least one of the English teachers on teaching students how to use Movie Maker or Voicethread for book projects.
For my own Library Skills class, I’m excited to show students how they can “train information” to come to them using Diigo and RSS feeds. The sticky note and highlighting feature of Diigo lets students “talk back to the text” which encourages active and critical reading. I also like how students can use the search feature to see what others researching the same topic have found. In our multimedia class, Kristin stressed the importance of having one email account to register all of our new multimedia tools to. I’m going to do the same thing with my library skills class—all students will set up a gmail account, and establish a common username/password for the tools that we learn. In both Library Skills and collaboration with other teachers, students use the AEA Online Databases consistently. The databases they use the most are WorldBook Online, EBSCOhost, Student Researcher, and SIRS. However, students don’t often use the Clipart database or AP Image database. I’d like to work on encouraging students to use these databases more by incorporating them into new and exciting projects. Personally, I hadn’t used Atomic Learning very much, and I found it to be beneficial in this class.
Overall, I’m enthusiastic about incorporating multimedia tools into my teaching and work with other teachers and students. I’m also eager to learn how others in my Personal Learning Network are doing that as well.
7.18.2009
7.14.2009
7.10.2009
Warlick Chapter 3
I used to tutor a family from Seoul. One time over dinner, the father, Hyangwook mentioned that there were about 35 four-year universities in Seoul alone. I remarked that this seemed like a large number. Hyangwook explained that because Korea didn’t have many natural resources from the earth, their natural resource was producing citizens who were extremely knowledgable and educated. According to Warlick, information is the raw material with which people will work in the Information Age. I think this will become a worldwide “export,” as demonstrating information and technology literacy becomes more and more of a priority.
One of Warlick’s suggestions for students at the end of Chapter 3 is “when appropriate, ask your teacher how a real scientist does this, or a real historian, health worker, politician, or mathematician.” I think this is so important, and probably something schools don’t do nearly enough of. With the technologies we have available now, experts don’t necessarily need to come to schools to speak with students. They might have a skype conference call where they can showcase the technology they use in their jobs to students right from their work environment. This sort of tool would allow students to individually explore careers of interest and report back to their teachers and classmates.
One of Warlick’s suggestions for students at the end of Chapter 3 is “when appropriate, ask your teacher how a real scientist does this, or a real historian, health worker, politician, or mathematician.” I think this is so important, and probably something schools don’t do nearly enough of. With the technologies we have available now, experts don’t necessarily need to come to schools to speak with students. They might have a skype conference call where they can showcase the technology they use in their jobs to students right from their work environment. This sort of tool would allow students to individually explore careers of interest and report back to their teachers and classmates.
Warlick Chapter 1
After reading Warlick’s imagined scenario for 2015, I realized that his guesses for what collaboration and education will look like seemed entirely plausible. Perhaps it is because he is only projecting a few years out, but his “tablet” concept sounds like something both students and teachers will be using (and soon) as a way to improve efficiency and cut down on paper use. A big focus of Warlick’s scenario is collaboration between teachers and librarians and students themselves. During the ICC leadership training sessions, we have watched Edutopia videos that show students engaged in Quadrant 4 learning. Though students have clearly defined roles and responsbilities, so much of it centers around collaboration and teamwork. I think Warlick’s vision of work tables and open space in the library will be necessary to support these changes in educational pedagogy.
I appreciated Warlick’s mention of making sure one of the hypothetical student groups had “storyboarded” their idea. It seems as though Warlick is saying that although technological tools will enhance the way we teach, teachers and librarians will not only focus on end product, but as now, value process and deliberate thinking as well.
I appreciated Warlick’s mention of making sure one of the hypothetical student groups had “storyboarded” their idea. It seems as though Warlick is saying that although technological tools will enhance the way we teach, teachers and librarians will not only focus on end product, but as now, value process and deliberate thinking as well.
Response to "Classroom Audio Podcasting" by Wes Fryer
In this online article, Fryer describes the benefits of using Podcasting in the classroom. In my opinion, one of his most compelling arguments is that it:
"can provide a virtual 'window' into schools, permitting a variety of interested stakeholders to gain an in-depth understanding of the issues students are studying, the new things they are learning, and the evidences of learning (student projects) they are creating as a result of their work both at home and at school."
The ICC is requiring all teachers to be accountable for ensuring that all students are receiving a quality education, complete with skills they will need in the 21st Century. In some of our earlier library classes, we've talked about the importance of performative statements in our field--it's crucial that we let other teachers, administration, and community members the sorts of skills we are teaching directly and indirectly in the library. Using podcasting with students would be an excellent way to make what we do explicit. It would also demonstrate collaboration between the school librarian and the classroom teacher.
Fryer mentions that podcasting is a bit more secure, in terms of internet safety. Students' voices are heard, but they don't have to display their photos, or reveal their names. From a safety standpoint, that makes podcasting an appealing option. I think it's important for parents to know what kinds of technology students are using at school, not only to get their permission, but to show what kinds of skills we are teaching students.
Another argument Fryer makes is that podcasting is a "no frills" technology, unlike imovie, where students can adjust camera angles, colors, etc. For me, it certainly doesn't feel "no frills" yet! Because I'm so new at this, it feels a little complicated! But I know with practice, I will feel confident teaching students who don't have experience with podcasting--and chances are, their learning speed will be much faster than mine!
"can provide a virtual 'window' into schools, permitting a variety of interested stakeholders to gain an in-depth understanding of the issues students are studying, the new things they are learning, and the evidences of learning (student projects) they are creating as a result of their work both at home and at school."
The ICC is requiring all teachers to be accountable for ensuring that all students are receiving a quality education, complete with skills they will need in the 21st Century. In some of our earlier library classes, we've talked about the importance of performative statements in our field--it's crucial that we let other teachers, administration, and community members the sorts of skills we are teaching directly and indirectly in the library. Using podcasting with students would be an excellent way to make what we do explicit. It would also demonstrate collaboration between the school librarian and the classroom teacher.
Fryer mentions that podcasting is a bit more secure, in terms of internet safety. Students' voices are heard, but they don't have to display their photos, or reveal their names. From a safety standpoint, that makes podcasting an appealing option. I think it's important for parents to know what kinds of technology students are using at school, not only to get their permission, but to show what kinds of skills we are teaching students.
Another argument Fryer makes is that podcasting is a "no frills" technology, unlike imovie, where students can adjust camera angles, colors, etc. For me, it certainly doesn't feel "no frills" yet! Because I'm so new at this, it feels a little complicated! But I know with practice, I will feel confident teaching students who don't have experience with podcasting--and chances are, their learning speed will be much faster than mine!
Image Discussion
One thing I've been thinking about as I watched the webinar and read the Abilock article is the importance of giving students the opportunity to be producers in terms of visual information literacy. There are so many examples we can show students about how photos and images can be manipulated to reflect a "version of the truth". This lesson becomes even more meaningful when students are given the opportunity to use photo editing tools to experience this firsthand. I liked the assignment idea on the Digital Photos Webinar where students use editing tools to manipulate a photo in an inconspicuous way, and then have classmates guess at which image is the original.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
