Just getting started – my “final” reflection

Well this is it folks…my “final” post in my Adventures in Web 2.0! It has been a fun journey that has barely felt like work (but don’t tell my professor!). I have sincerely enjoyed the challenge to not only understand and explore a variety of web 2.0 tools but also create them and consider them within my position as a teacher-librarian. I am so pleased with how much I have learned these past four months that I just cannot keep it a secret. So I have a four-fold plan:

1. Keep current in web 2.0 technologies
2. Spread the good news of web 2.0 with my colleagues
3. Integrate a new tool each month into my school library program
4. Develop some web 2.0 tools for my personal use

And just how will I do this? Here is a little more detail:

Keeping current:

I think keeping current is essential as I anticipate new web 2.0 tools will be developed and useful in the field of education as well as new ways to use the tools I learned about in this course. I have three ideas for keeping current on web 2.0 technologies. First of all, I am going to continue to follow the Women of Web 2.0 podcasts posted. I like the idea of listening to these podcasts while doing housework – kill two birds with one stone! I will give it a shot. Secondly, I am going to continue to build my RSS reader on Pageflakes and continue to check it on a regular basis. This is easy to do as my Pageflakes reader is set as my homepage for my internet browser. Thirdly, I am going to join a list serve. I am not sure which one yet and would love your opinions on which one you think would help keep me informed about new and improved web 2.0 tools. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Spreading the good news:

As I outlined in great detail in my post last week, I am planning on starting a “tech café” where I host teacher to teach and support them in learning new web 2.0 tools. Please check out my post from last week for more info on this!

Integrating monthly:

I set the goal of using a new web 2.0 tool each month starting in January in my school library program. This is a realistic goal that I think will allow me to make the tools useful and not overkill. I think the first step I will take is setting up a blog for our new Surrey Picture Books of the Year nominee unit. There are 10 picture books that I will read to the classes in the new year and after reading and discussing each one, students will work together to post their comments on our school library blog. To do this, I need to create a new blog dedicated to this project. I plan on using blogger for this and setting up a shelfari on the blog to showcase the 10 picture books we will read.

Revolutionize my social life!

One way I have not been able to use these web 2.0 tools yet is in my social life! I am really excited to integrate these technologies into my personal life as I think they will increase the amount of people I can be in communication with. I already have begun this on facebook but would like to expand my use of voicethreads, blogs, photosharing and videosharing, and even podcasting to send messages, be in conversation with and keep informed my out of town family and friends. My in town friends may also benefit from me using my facebook page more often and being able to send them information and messages in a variety of means.

I have had so many positive experiences this term in creating web 2.0 tools that I am excited to explore them further in the ways I have outlined above but also in my next endeavor in my masters program – the capping paper. This is a paper that is aimed to summarize a key learning from my masters program and I have chosen to write it on digital literacy. This topic spawned from my excitement of using web 2.0 tools and beginning to understand the importance of digital technologies our own work and the lives of our students and their future.

But in an attempt to keep it real here, I did have a few lowlights in this experience. I continue to find the sheer volume of tools, widgets, applications, etc. overwhelming. However, throughout this course I feel like I have developed strategies to overcome this feeling. I have become a more advanced searcher using google, University databases and other search engines. I have found it easier to learn from examples other people have used in their work, on their blogs, to see how the tools work before viewing an online tutorial or other informational source. For example, I regularly referred to the blog of a previous student in this course to see how she used a variety of tools and how she posted them. See Ronda’s TL blog at http://rondastlblog.blogspot.com/. I also found it helpful to view my current classmates’ blogs and read their posts that coincide with my learning. Although I did not often get a chance to leave comments for them, I learned a lot from them even after my blog posts had been put up.

Another lowlight during this course for me was the lack of time to implement these tools as I was learning them. I have been so enthusiastic about a variety of tools that at times I wish I could have implementing them into my teaching immediately. But instead, I have chosen to wait to the end of the course, after exploring all the tools, to be able to choose the correct tool for each learning situation and have the time to implement them to the best of my ability. So this is where I want to implement my four-fold plan and it is realistic in the next few months that I will have time to do so.

All in all – highly recommended experience! This course was practical, applicable to my situation and along the way I was supported with as much support from my colleagues and professor to be successful. If you get the chance to take such a course – go for it! This is only the beginning for me!

At the "Tech Cafe"...the relaxing way to approach web 2.0 exploration

As a teacher-librarian, I see myself as an educational leader whose role is to not only keep current in my practice but to support and facilitate this learning amongst my colleagues. To continue to pursue this goal in my position, I want to integrate the learning I have done in the past 4 months in this course in my own teaching but also work with and support my colleagues. I feel I have a responsibility to my students to assist teachers in my school to use web 2.0 tools. In his research, Larry Cuban found that "20% of teachers use information and communication technologies as part of their instruction" (Pletka, 2007, p.19). If I was able to find the same statistics in my school, my guess is that it would not be much different.

To support my colleagues in learning web 2.0 technologies and integrating them into their classrooms, I feel I need to do three things:

1. Model web 2.0 tools to my colleagues
2. Provide supportive hands-on learning experiences for my colleagues
3. Be available to support my colleagues while they integrate these tools

In the past three years at my school, the technology situation at my school has gone from good to great (but not terrific!). We have acquired two mobile laptop computer labs, one full stationary computer lab, at least one computer in each classroom and 9 brand new computers in the school library for student use – both Macs and PCs. We have internet access on all of these computers with minimal filtering. Access to hardware, software and the internet is in a plethora at my school. Rarely does a student or staff member go without technology when they need it. How great is that!

The barrier however, is the lack of experience students and teachers have with this access. Teachers in my school are keen and willing to use technology to teach but are still using very basic means to do so. It is not our computers, but teachers and students who need upgrading in the area of web 2.0. So this is where I can help!

As there are many ways that I can promote these tools, I am going to take the avenue of showing my colleagues how web 2.0 tools can help them meet our two school goals that focus on literacy and social responsibility. I will create a “Tech Cafe” where I will spend an hour to two hours once a month after school putting on a workshop focused on a new tool. Each "cafe" teachers will get to learn how to create, use and integrate the tool while enjoying a hot drink and tasty treat! I want it to be hands-on, applicable and something that will uplift and encourage not bog down and frustrate teachers. To provide this I will ensure I am able to support them not only with my understanding of the tools but also with my time during the "cafes" and as they integrate the tools in their teaching. I have collaborative time in my schedule where I can work with teachers on this.

I feel the very first tech cafe should start with Will Richardson's (2009) advice:

"Before you attempt to bring these technologies to your students, first be selfish about their use in your own learning practice. While there is no doubt my classes were in many ways profoundly changed by blogs and wikis and the like, the bigger truth is that transformation in my own personal learning practice is what informed my work with students. It wasn't until I fully understood how these technologies can facilitate global connections and conversations around my own passions, how they could help me create powerful learning networks and communities, that I was able to see what needed to change in terms of my curriculum and my teaching" (p.8).

After giving my colleagues Will Richardson's advice, I am going to start by introducing social bookmarking to my colleagues. I feel by creating social bookmarking sites, I will draw on their already developed ability to use websites in their teaching by giving them a tool to organize these sites and share them with each other through the mail tool.

Secondly, I am going to introduce my colleagues to voice threads. Here is how I may introduce it….

After these initial steps, I will assess how the "tech cafe" model is working and decide if I will continue with it or tweak it to include more of my colleagues.

I anticipate my biggest problem is initially getting teachers to commit their time to coming to the “tech cafe” as like most teachers, their time is already in high demand. I plan on not only providing a hot drink and tasty treat as a tiny incentive to coming to the workshop but also keeping them short and sweet in that we do a lot in a short amount of time and then play some more in context of their teaching in my collaborative time.

Even if I can get one teacher on board at first, I know the interest will slowly spread when my colleague and I can showcase how we have used these tools with our students – maybe in a school wide assembly! What better advertising than having students showcase their learning through web 2.0 tools in front of the school and then allowing students and the teacher time to give their testimonies of how easy and fun it was to do!

Although I assume my colleagues will be most interested in working with the tools, creating them and applying them in their teaching, I will have available the following books in the library for them to borrow as well as links to the following websites to support them, give them ideas and provide them with theory and research on teaching with web 2.0 tools. I will also direct them to explore a variety of the blogs of my classmates in this course as they have worked hard exploring and examining these tools. They can access them through my blog or I can send them the links on their new delicious accounts!

Books & Articles:

Asselin, M., Doiron, R. (unknown) Towards a Transformative Pedagogy for School Libraries 2.0. Retrieved November 20, 2008 from http://asselindoiron.pbwiki.com/AERApaper

Burniske, R. (2008). Literacy in the digital age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Nelson, K. (2008). Teaching in the digital age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

North Vancouver School District (2007). Digital Expression. North Vancouver, BC: North Vancouver School District.

November, A. (2008). Web Literacy for Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Pletka, B. (2007). Educating the Net Generation: How to engage students in the 21st century. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press.

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Valenza, J., Rodoff, K. (2008). Information fluency. Retrieved November 20, 2008 from http://informationfluency.wikispaces.com/

Websites:

Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day @ http://janeknight.typepad.com/pick/2008/11/blurb.html

Learning 2.0 @ http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/

Mount Prospect Public Library Web 2.0 tutorials @ http://mppllearning2point0.pbwiki.com/

Tame the Web @ http://tametheweb.com/

Wonderful Web 2.0 Tools @ http://techitupwebtools.pbwiki.com/

Women of Web 2.0 @ http://www.edtechtalk.com/taxonomy/term/219

Blogs as a homebase on the read/write web – a home run!

The potential of the read/write web, as discussed by Richardson (2009), is truly epitomized in blogging. The read/write web is the ability of all users to be able to contribute to the content found on the web. “We are no longer limited to being independent readers or consumers of information…we can be collaborators in the creation of large storehouses of information (Richardson, 2009, p.2). Blogs are easy to create and use tools on the read/write web. David Warlick defines a blog as “a Web-publishing concept that enables anyone -- first graders, political pundits, homeless people, high school principals, presidential candidates -- to publish information on the Internet” (Warlick, para.4). Best of all, they are free online tools. These factors are part of the reason blogs epitomize the read/write web. We can also look to the nature of blogs in that they are self created, can be made available to chosen audiences, interactive through commenting, flexible to incorporate other web 2.0 tools (YouTube, Flickr, Voice Threads, etc.) and allow the creation of your personal voice. This provides a plethora of reasons why blogs can be your homebase on the read/write web.

Your homebase on the read/write web is the place that you create to explore, discuss, display, challenge or question your own learning and the learning of others. As I have done on this blog, it is a place where I have collected, recorded and displayed my learning as well as interacted with my fellow classmates about the learning topics and can continue to develop to further my learning. This is an on-going creation where I can read and write on the web to further my learning, reflect on it and contribute to the content on the web. It is my homebase for my adventures in learning about web 2.0!

Similarly, blogs can be used as a homebase for students, for teachers, classrooms and groups of students or teachers. A singular purpose can be chosen for a blog or it can evolve as the learner does. When used as a homebase, blogs can represent the learning that is occurring through showing the learning, supporting the learning or having the learning occur right on the blog! One way this can be done is in the interaction the blogger can have with those that access and comment on the blog.

The following chart outlines a few ways in which blogs can be used in education. I specifically like that it identifies activities for writing and reading as well those that can be involved in these areas (i.e. self, instructor, other students, rest of the net).

As a teacher-librarian, I can see that I could use blogs in the following ways with my students:

- As a means of communication between students, teachers, parents and other members of the education environment.

- As a means of assessment by allowing students to display their learning, self-evaluate, provide assessment information both for and of learning.

- As a medium for cooperative learning allowing student interaction with or without teacher direction and intervention.

- As a tool for reflection for students learning, ideas and exploration of learning topics.

- As individual students’ homebases for learning.

Don’t believe it? Check out how a Grade 5 class has used blogs to create a classroom community online by clicking here. http://www.pb5th.com/Polar_Bear_Fat/vb/ Many of the links are private (good idea when working with students!) but you can see that the teacher communicates information (i.e. field trips, homework, daily class activities), marks, class worksheets and forms, and birthdays of members. Students and parents who are members can also contribute to the blog too. This is evident through the statistics – 48, 314 blog posts from over 400 members! This truly is a community and a homebase for these Grade 5 students, teachers and parents.

As a teacher-librarian and colleague, I can see that I could use blogs in the following ways with my colleagues for professional development:

- Develop a blog for a particular purpose to share information with a group of colleagues who share the same interest. For example, connect with other teacher-librarians who have a literacy school goal and share how we support that school goal through the school library program on our blog. We can not only write posts and comment on each others postings, but share articles, videos and other professional information.

- Create a blog as a means of mentorship between myself and another teacher. For example, if another teacher-librarian is interested in developing their practice, we could set up a blog on which we communicate, mentor and guide each other in our area of common interest.

- Develop a blog on a topic that I am preparing a workshop on and introduce workshop participants to the blog as a means of furthering their learning and continuing the conversation of learning beyond the workshop.

- Create a blog for my own professional development on all topics in order to record my learning and explore it in greater detail. This could be a private blog for me to be very open and ‘messy’ in my learning.

By no means are these exhausted lists but ideas that came to mind after reading, research and reflection on blogs used in education.

What potential do you see for this tool? What to give blogging a try? I would recommend starting with blogger found at www.blogger.com In my experience with three different free blogging providers, this has been the easiest to set up, invite and access users and incorporate other forms of media onto my blog. Before creating your blog, be sure to decide on the purpose of your blog, how often you may use it, your audience, if your blog will be private or public and any specific conditions that would determine your blog set up for your purposes.

Blogging as the epitome of the read/write web can be used in numerous ways based on your design and purpose. With an authentic audience to write for and the ownership in which the blogger will develop over their space on the web, blogging will help you achieve your educational goals whether they are for your professional development or for your students learning. Blogs as a homebase for learning will surely be parallel to hitting a home run!

References:

Blog uses in education. Retrieved on November 17, 2008 from http://www.edtechpost.ca/gems/matrix2.gif

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Warlick, D. Retrieved November 19, 2009 from http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml

Keeping up with the "Joneses" with RSS Feeds

As a professional educator, I feel it is my responsibility to be continually searching for opportunities to learn new ideas, theories, pedagogies and ways to improve my practice. This week as I focused on exploring RSS feeds I realized that they are a tool that can help me in this endeavor. .

What is RSS? Chris Harris explains it very well. “RSS, which stands for something so geeky that even geeks can't remember what it is supposed to mean, is a tool that allows you to subscribe to a site's feed. What that means is that anytime new information is published to that website, it will automatically be collected and sent to you. The RSS feed won't bug you unless there is new information, which helps you avoid overload. Even better, you access your RSS feeds through an RSS reader, which means you only have to go to a single site for all of your updates!”

As many professionals and experts in my field are creating and constantly updating websites, blogs, wikis, nings and other web 2.0 communication tools, I can use a RSS aggregator such as Pageflakes, Google Reader or Bloglines to efficiently follow their newest ideas in education. I personally use Pageflakes as my homepage as it allows me to not only follow my RSS feeds through the Reader function or on my pages, it also is a place where I can connect all my web 2.0 tools (i.e. blog, wikis, flickr, podcasts, delicious bookmarks and keep a to-do list all at one spot. I also love Pageflakes because it allows me to create more than one page. For example, I have a homepage, a personal page and a professional page. As I use my facebook account for personal use, my facebook feed is on my personal page. In terms of RSS feeds, I like the Pageflakes reader because it allows me to choose the format in which I view the feeds. I can read summaries or entire entries that have been updates. So depending on the time I have, I can switch between these functions to ensure I am able to continue to follow my RSS feeds.

Below is a screenshot of my professional Pageflakes page that includes RSS feed from my favourite sites. I have chosen a few feeds to keep on my professional page in case I do not have time in a day to get to the Reader. Also below is a screenshot of my Reader in Pageflakes which I am currently working on personalizing by selecting and adding sites I want to follow on a regular basis.

Professional Page on Pageflakes

RSS Reader Page on Pageflakes

Not only are RSS feeds a fabulous professional development tool, they can also be useful in the classroom setting for teaching and learning! Speaking of RSS feeds, Will Richardson notes they can “add to your knowledge base, help you communicate, and make your teaching better” (2009, p.77).

If your students are using blogs as learning tools, they will be able to create RSS feeds right on their blogs using widgets. They can subscribe to their classmates blogs as well as sites they are interested in, led to by their teacher or feel will assist in their learning journey.

Students who are not using blogs can use readers such as Pageflakes, Google Reader or Bloglines to manage, organize and read their RSS feeds. Teachers can choose to limit the sites in which students follow keeping their readers for school use only or allow students to completely personalize their readers for school use as well as personal use.

Whether using RSS feeds and blog aggregators for your professional development or with your students, I think it is important to develop a list of criteria for the sites that you follow. Each time you come across a site you think you may want to follow, before adding it to your RSS feeds on your reader, evaluate the site based on your criteria to ensure it is a site that is worth your time each day to read. This can be done personally, with a group of colleagues or with a class of students and ensures that you are spending your time only reading what is truly important to your goals for following sites through RSS feeds.

One of the ways I am very excited to use RSS feeds in the elementary school library setting, is by adding a link to a Reader such as Pageflakes that is set up for students, staff and parents to use as an addition to our collection! I will start by creating a Pageflakes account for my school, creating a page for students, one for staff and one for parents and add RSS feeds to each page as it would support the work and learning of each group. After the initial set up, I could teach students how to access the Pageflakes page and read the RSS feeds. To inform the staff and parents, I would hold after school information sessions individually for each group to show they how to access their Pageflakes page, read the RSS feeds, show them the potential for their students or children and teach them how to add sites they feel would benefit their group. As an extension of the physical library, this can be a school community presence on the web that would allow all members of my school community to “keep up with the Joneses” in the field of education.

References:

Harris, C. (2007). Digital reshift. School Library Journal. Retrieved Nov. 9, 2008 from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/840000284/post/510007651.html?q=rss

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Teacher to Teacher Social Networking Communities - even interact with experts!

After having a facebook account for over a year, I have come to realize that it is truly a great tool to use to keep in touch with people that you may not do so otherwise. For example, I am currently planning my 10 year high school reunion and found 48 of the 66 people I graduated with on facebook and got in touch with another 11 of my fellow graduates through siblings or friends on facebook who they are in touch with. Of the 66 of us who graduated together, only 7 of them are out of my "reach" on facebook. That is amazing to me.

As a teacher, this is also a little frightening. I am using my facebook account to be in touch with friends, family and other acquaintances who can write comments on my wall, send me messages, tag me in videos or photos they have loaded on to their facebook pages. This being said...I do NOT want my students being able to access that information. I do not think I have anything to hide but do not think it is professional for students to be a part of my personal life in such as way. Luckily, facebook allows you to set up your own privacy settings so that I can restrict who sees my wall, my photos, my comments, my messages...my anything on facebook. I know there are some teachers who have students as their friends on facebook but I personally believe, when facebook is being used to conduct personal social networking, students should not be included in this forum. I believe it is a breach of professional conduct on the part of the teacher.

One way I do see facebook being used in the educational setting is forming groups with other teachers on a topic of interest to support and learn from each other. A group can be set up by anyone who has a facebook account and can be private (invite only) or public (all welcome) to facebook users. The group has its own space where the administrator (person who set up the group) has the option to include a discussion space, a wall to post comments on, a photo sharing space, website sharing space and other collaborative features.

I am currently a part of a group called Librarians and Web 2.0 that was created and is administrated by a Graduate of the same Masters program I am in - Karen Lindsay. There are 191 people in this public group who interact on a discussion board and through wall comments as well as sharing YouTube and Teacher Tube Videos and other resources that are of interest to group members. My favourite feature provided by facebook on group pages is the links to "related groups". This gives you information about other groups with common interests that you can join as well.

It has been a positive experience to be a part of this group and through this experience see how groups can be created on any topic as a professional collaborative tool. I can see that in my teaching, I would explore creating a group as a means to collaborative with other teachers who are already on facebook. If I was working on a unit or specified project or initiative with teachers who had facebook accounts, I could see a closed group (or private group) would give us a space to share and support each other when time permits.

In his interview with PC Magazine, Chris Anderson discusses the type of community that facebook provides. "As history has shown, a new network will always come along and supersede an existing one: Friendster begets MySpace begets Facebook begets whatever comes next. We don't need another giant social-network site. The world needs an infinite number of micro social networks about specific issues." I believe this can be accomplished in the group function of facebook. Anderson goes on to discuss true communities. "Social-networking tools are appealing and certainly addictive to some, but true communities have a purpose, a passion." When you join a facebook group, you do so because you are motivated by passion and a common purpose. In this way facebook can be a valuable tool, setting up professional communities.

The most fantastic potential of facebook is for teachers to get in touch with experts and learn from them! They may not be registered as our "friends" on facebook, but if experts are on facebook, they most likely are a part of groups or administrate groups that hold their personal passion where they share their knowledge.

Meredith Farkas notes this potential in her article What Friends are for. "When I first started using Twitter and Facebook, I didn't see their potential as professional development tools. One day, though, I examined my list of friends on Facebook, and realized I was looking at an online Rolodex full of experts. I saw experts on podcasting, library catalogs, engineering resources, web design, and much more. Here was this network of smart people who were likely ready and willing to share their knowledge. All I had to do is message them in Facebook".

Even with my reservations with using facebook in the field of education with students, I do think it is a tool that has great potential for teachers and educational colleagues to share and support in common goals and interests in education.

I think I am heading off to hunt for some experts! I will let you know if I find any!

References:
The Micro Threat to Facebook :Social-networking tools are appealing and certainly addictive to some, but true communities have a purpose, a passion. (2008) PC Magazine, 27(11), p.1-2. Retrieved November 7, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals database. (Document ID: 1554705091).

Farkas, M. (2008). What Friends Are For. American Libraries, 39(1/2), 36. Retrieved November 7, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals database. (Document ID: 1408972291).

Need for reform...digital reform

This video just makes me want to act today, tonight, tomorrow on promoting web 2.0 tools, teaching digital literacies and changing the way in which I teach and interact with students. This is a MUST see!

Building Oral Language through Voice Threads

Check out my very first voice thread and please feel free to add a comment!



Well I think that voice threads have become my new favourite web 2.0 tool! They are super fun, easy, free and incorporate photo and video sharing, emailing and social networking. I was worried about being able to create a voice thread at first because I did not have a microphone on my computer and had never recorded my voice using a computer. Turns out...it's not so hard! I found a site at www.voicethread.com, bought a $12 computer microphone, plugged it in to my computer and followed the steps (only three of them!) to create my very first voice thread! Before this I did explore the voice thread website (click here to check it out) and watched different tutorials on how to create an account and a voice thread. Click on the Monster Voice Thread link below to view a fabulous example of how children can use voice thread.

Monster Voice Thread

Once you have an account on voicethread.com you can invite your family, friends, classmates, teachers or whoever you may seek as your audience to set up an account as well. All you need is an email address to do so. Once you have an audience and have created a voice thread you can share the voice thread with any of those people! It is too easy!

After doing this only once, I have a ton of ideas of how I will use this tool in the educational setting.

1. The grade 4 science class I currently teach is studying a weather unit. To conclude the unit and put into practice the types of weather and weather measuring instruments they have explored, I am going to assign them an assignment that requires them to create a weather broadcast similar to what they would see on the evening news. Instead of performing their broadcast to the class, they can now create a voice thread (including pictures or video) of the weather they are predicting for "tomorrow". All classmates can set up a voicethread account and then comment on each others predictions - again extending their learning.

2. In the new year, during my library unit on parts of a story, students can create voice threads that represent each part of a story. They can work in groups to create their own story on a voice thread, include pictures they have created as the visual component and encourage written and oral responses through viewing each others stories.

3. I am currently planning a collaborative unit with three grade 7 teachers around a leveled novel study. Three groups will be formed and books that have a movie created after them will be chosen. After a group has finished a book, they will watch the movie and then I will guide them in a comparison activity to summarize their learning. Voice threads will be a perfect tool for them as it is simple to learn to do, students can display and explore their learning through displaying parts of the movie or book or their own re-creation of them while adding their own voice to the project. They can then view what they classmates have created and extend their learning through comments.

Many of my other ideas support the development of oral language. As a form of literacy, this piece is often not a focus but using voice thread not only incorporates reading and writing skills but it focuses on oral language skills. Even students who feel inhibited to speak in front of a group can do so through the use of voice threads. I believe even young students, as young as Kindergarten, could create a voice thread and with the guidance of a teacher, it can turn into a self esteem building, oral language development and learning enhancing experience. If you are not sure about children as young as 5 using voice threads, click here for an example of how it has been! I love this example of how teachers can use voice threads as a teaching tool!

Naturally there are barriers to using this tool as an educational tool such as access to sufficient hardware, internet connection and a teacher with enough knowledge of the tool to create meaningful activities for its use. Fortunately in my teaching situation hardware and internet connection are not a barrier. I see my role as the Teacher-Librarian in the school to promote such tools through after school 'workshops', collaborative teaching and planning, district wide workshops, small group instruction, library class instruction and different demonstration opportunities. For example, maybe in the next staff meeting I will give my monthly library report through the medium of a voice thread. I could show my voice thread on the projector for all teachers to see and show them how easy it is to create one (in the 5 minutes I am given we could create a voice thread in the meeting!). I will also provide the opportunity for staff to stay after the meeting to set up their own account and further explore this tool.

Not convinced?

Check out these explanations from four teachers who listed voicethreads in their top 10 tools to use in the classroom:

"A VoiceThread is an online media album that allows people to make comments, either audio or text, and share them with anyone they wish. A VoiceThread allows an entire group’s story to be told and collected in one place." Andreas Büsing

"VoiceThread allows you to easily create an online slide-show with narration from one or multiple voices, which is then hosted on the site. Another great educational tool." Larry Ferlazzo
" Promotes asynchronous discussion about posted subjects. This utility leapfrogs all other applications because of its inclusiveness and simplicity. One a photo, video, graphic or document is posted, visitors can comment on it by recording audio files or entering text. You can even phone your comments to the site. Can make graphic notations on the item of discussion while talking. Tough to describe, it’s a MUST SEE to BELIEVE." Leigh Zeitz

"is a Web 2.0 hosted service that takes slide-type presentations to a whole new level. It is easy to create presentations with either audio or video support tracks. VoiceThread makes it possible to record “live annotations” while recording a presentation. The end result is a streaming presentation that greatly improves instructor presence. VoiceThread creates a warmer teaching-learning experience." Rick Lillie

Found at http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Top100Tools/voicethread.html

Other educators like this tool so much they are building wikis and contributing to them to promote the tool in our school setting. Check out the wiki built and maintained by Colette Cassinelli by clicking here. This is a great wiki because not only does it give you support for using voice threads, it also uses voice thread as a tool to discuss with other educators how they use the tool in their teaching! You have to be a part of this!

In short, voicethread is easy, free, collaborative, promotes many literacies and can be a powerful learning and teaching tool! Enjoy this fabulous tool!

Wikipedia building faith in mankind

The success of wikipedia boosts my faith in mankind. Ten years ago, who would have thought that a website would be developed called a ‘wiki’ where anyone in the world in any language can assist in developing an online encyclopedia that professionals, experts and the average Joe all go to learn about our world and its happenings. This wiki, collaboratively built by people all over the world in all walks of life and areas of interest and expertise, has become “the poster child for the collaborative construction of knowledge and truth that the new, interactive Web facilitates” (Richardson, 2009, p.57). This is amazing! A webpage built by people for the people is becoming a definite source in recording history, knowledge and truth known to the people who created it! But is this the view educators have of wikipedia? Do they trust humankind to be responsible editors of this resource and record of our world? Richardson (2009) notes that, “the consensus among educators seems to be to tell students to use Wikipedia as a starting point for their work, but not as a sole resource” (p.60).

I am sorry to hear that educators as so skeptical of such an amazing resource. Do I think all information on wikipedia is accurate, current or the best out there? Not at all. But it is a fantastic representation of the information our students are going to be engaging in and exploring in their childhood and adult lives as the internet and web 2.0 tools such as wikis continue to develop and be a part of our everyday lives.

World-wide created wikis, such as Wikipedia, is not the only type of wiki out there. McPherson (2006) distinguishes between classroom-based wikis and public wikis. Class-room based wikis, as the title suggests, are created and used by students and teachers in the classroom while pubic wikis are open to the public to review, read and edit.

Wikis are the epitome of the read/write web. They are user-friendly to create, maintain and develop and all for all users to contribute to the goal of the wiki. This is why I believe classroom-based wikis are a valuable educational tool.

So for us educators who do favor wikipedia and the use of wikis in our classroom as learning tools, how can this tool be integrated into the curriculum to provide authentic and engaging learning experiences for our students? Here are some of my ideas for how I can use wikis in the school library where I work:

1. Set up a wiki entitled ‘Latimer’s Likings’ where students can submit book reviews and collaboratively build a page for each book they want to promote in the school library. The wiki can be linked in our Virtual School Library where students go to access library information and our online catalogue. Library users can refer to the wiki at their leisure at home or in the school library when selecting their next book.
2. One of our school goals is literacy and a district developed reading program has been presented in our school. A team of 12 teachers works together, under my co-facilitation, to implement this program. As a leader in this initiative, I can set up a wiki where all team members can post their lessons and ideas on how they are and could integrate the program into their classroom lessons and units. Teachers can refer to the wiki to get new ideas, add and edit other teachers’ ideas. Specifically, once a teacher has created an initial posting, other teachers can add their own ideas and name resources to support the lesson. The team, which does not have a lot of time to meet together, can work together when it suits our personal schedules.
3. In my district, a new program promoting picture books entitled ‘Surrey Picture Book of the Year’ is a contest run in all elementary schools to choose from a list of 10 nominated picture books a winner! In January, I will spend two months reading each book to my library classes (K-4) and developing a wiki that all students can access, edit and contribute to create a review of each book. At the end of discussing and exploring each book on the wiki, classes will read and comment on each others wikis to engage in discussion as to which book our class is going to vote for to become the winner.
4. I would also like to explore using wikis as a way of differentiating instruction for students who have written output issues. A program called Dragons Naturally Speaking which allows students to wear a headset with microphone, speak into the headset their ideas and learning and the words are typed onto the computer program open. I can create a wiki for teachers who have students using this program where their work can be posted and edited by themselves, their teacher and other students who may be working with them.

These are 4 examples of the many ways I can see wikis being used in my teaching situation and look forward to the new ideas that I will have once exploring these avenues. I am confident that these wikis will promote excitement for how the tool can be used to support teaching and learning. The hope is that this introduction to wikis in my school will open communication lines between me and other teachers to discuss and brainstorm new ideas for using wikis in the classroom – both classroom-based and public wikis.

Now that I have ideas, I need to find the wiki provider that will work best. I have experience with both wikispaces and more recently pbwiki. I am personally fond of pbwiki as I find it easier to create, edit and format pages. On pbwiki it is also easy to embed YouTube videos and upload documents to link and add to your wiki. I am presently working on co-developing a pbwiki for a e-presentation for a curriculum development course I am currently taking. It is on the topic of Teacher as Change Agent. As the wiki is public, you can view it out by clicking here. I am also working on another wiki as a communication tool between myself, my colleagues and my adviser who are working on a literature review. This is a private wiki and cannot be viewed unless you are a registered user - sorry!

In the exploration of wikis with my students, I hope that students and teachers will learn to appreciate the potential of mankind through such a collaborative tool. If they are still not convinced, maybe viewing the following Teacher Tube video about the blog and wiki experiences of the students at Te Amawutu Intermediate School will persuade them!

References

McPherson, K. (2006). Wikis and literacy development. Teacher Librarian, 34(1), 67-69,66. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals database. (Document ID: 1135118251).

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Virtual School Libraries - The Gateway to the Information Superhighway

My Virtual School Library (VSL) for the Latimer Road School Community.
Explore it by clicking here.

I have been inspired to look at Virtual School Libraries in a new way after reading and reflecting on the book entitled "The Virtual School Library: Gateway to the Information Superhighway" edited by Carol Kahltahu. The way I see it, as a gateway to the information superhighway, a virtual school library can be the begin point of all library programming, information literacy lessons, online information searchers and other educational initiatives and at the same time organize a plethora of useful tools and sites that enhance teaching and learning.

In the elementary school setting, a VSL has the potential to organize web content, support classroom curriculum, motivate recreational reading, inform parents in how they can support their children, bring educators together to collaborate on lessons and other teaching initiatives and many other initiatives. In short, a VSL can be the go-to place for members of a school community. The teacher-librarian who creates and maintains the VSL has the opportunity to impact the school community by being in tune with the needs and desires of the teachers, administrators, students and parents.

When I created my virtual school library (or VSL) for Latimer Road I began by reviewing many VSLs that were already functioning. I was most inspired by Joyce Valenza's well developed, thorough, and curriculum supporting VSL for her high school library. View her site by clicking here. I especially love how colourful and fun her homepage is. I think it is inviting, exciting and still well organized and useful.

It took me over 100 hours (I really did keep track of this - it is not an exaggeration) to create and tweak my VSL last fall. Why did I do this? So people in my school community would use it to assist in their teaching and learning and to assist in creating a school culture of community. I am proud of my work but a year later recognize that there are changes that I need to make in order for it to be an even more useful tool. Some of these ideas come from exploring new sites this past week and some come from the observations and experiences I have had this past year using my VSL with students, staff and parents.

From using the site this past year, the greatest lesson I have learned is that no one is going to use your VSL unless they are directed to it and taught how it can be useful to them. This goes for all my focus audiences...students, teachers, support staff, parents, administrators and other TLs in my district. You can make all these people aware of the VSL but they will not use it unless they are motivated in some way to do so. In learning this, I have make the VSL the homepage on all library and computer lab computers and have taught students how to access the school library catalogue through this page. In this teaching, I have also informally highlighted the monthly contests held on the VSL, the "See What We've Done"page, "Latimer's Top 10 Picks" page, and other fun pages that students may be motivated to visit for fun.

Also for students, I have integrated the learning pages (i.e. research process and lessons, homework tips, studying tips, database and website links) into lessons that are taught during library classes as well as collaboratively taught units and lessons. What I have not done yet but plan on doing soon is incorporating some of the web 2.0 tools I have learned about in my masters course this term to make the lessons and information pages on the website more interactive and user-friendly. For example, I would like to include YouTube videos on writing a bibliography instead of just a link to a website that will help in its creation. I would also like to create a blog on the page that lists our school top 10 book check outs (or picks) to allow students to comment on the books as they have checked them out or ask questions to other students if they want to check them out.

For teachers, I promoted the site at first in a staff meeting and then offered an after school workshop on how to use the VSL to support learning and the teaching profession. It was a time of personal exploration for the teachers and the provided me with very valuable feedback and new ideas of how we as a school community could use the site.

To inform the parents of the VSL, I advertised the URL and some of the pages and tools they would find useful in our school newsletter. Also on meet the teacher night and open house, I had computers in the hallway outside the library displaying the VSL and encouraged students to show their parents the pages they like to visit.

This week as I explored VSL's I came across new sites that inspired me to make changes to my existing VSL. I found a site that lists a ton of VSLs to view in the state of Connecticut - not all of them are exemplars, but some have great ideas. Check it out by clicking here.

Here are some ideas that I have after reviewing these sites:
1. The VSL for Barbara Bush Elementary School in Mesa, AZ includes a photo gallery of pictures of events, activities, assemblies, visitors, students and staff. I can imagine that after an event at the school, students are visiting this page to review pictures posted. This personal touch motivates students and parents to go to the VSL and look through the pages. I feel this idea will attract more users to my VSL. Even thought I had this idea before of posting photos and write ups of library events, in order for my VSL to be the superhighway it could be, it need to include school wide events - even if they do not originate or take place in the library. So I will re-name my "Upcoming Library Events" page to "Photo Gallery" and include this feature to attract more users.
2. The SSES VSL includes links to classroom projects as well as sites to visit by each grade! The Calvin Leete VSL has a similar idea with each grade having their own virtual school library that is a page of links. I love the idea of organizing sites to visit by grade as opposed to subject. Right now on my page "sites for students" I have the curriculum subjects listed with links to websites and brief write ups of them. I think it would again make it more personal and useful to organize these sites by grade to match the curriculum and interest/reading level.
3. The Pine Point VSL includes a link to the teacher-librarian's (or librarian's) blog. The blog is full of links to sites, podcasts, pictures and even includes a contest called 'mystery photos'. It looks like students leave comments on the blog as to where they think the mystery photos were taken. It is obvious the instructions to the contest were given by the librarian which shows there is education being done to use the VSL.
4. At the Mclurg VSL, there is a link to a page that includes community links. What I love about this idea for my school community is that our location is on the border of two cities (Surrey and Langley) and therefore does not have a recreation or community center nearby. I think a community links page, could outline and encourage community events, recreation centers locations and other school community events all on one page. After all, school libraries being the 'heart of the school' can also be the 'heart of the community'!

The common learning theme for me this week to turn my VSL into the 'Gateway to the information superhighway' is to personalize the site further and continue educating students, staff and parents on using the various pages. In order to maintain and keep current my VSL, I may seek out a few of my interested library monitors and train them on updating specific pages. This would promote users and ownership of the VSL - another way of personalizing the site.

The Gateway to the Information Superhighway (my VSL) does not need widening but rather re-painting and possibly garbage pick up and clean up. I am still very proud of my work but am looking forward to hearing your comments on how you think I can increase the traffic on this highway. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Creating a podcast: The not so scary ghost story.

Sitting in my new house, in my new office looking out into a glowing moon, I reflect on the not so scary process of creating a podcast, a process I was chalking up to be the equivalent of seeing a ghost - - SCARY!

The process in actuality was in fact a cinch! I began by using garage band to try out creating a new podcast and when that went well, I sat down to explore podcasts that were already created (I love Women of Web 2.0 by the way! Check it out if you haven't already by clicking here), reviewed literature on how podcasts can help in the teaching and learning process and brainstormed ways in which I would use podcasts in my teaching positions. After doing this, I worked on recording my first podcast. I kept losing my train of thought so decided to write a script to keep my ideas and thoughts clear. After recording my script and doing some editing, I found royalty free music to add to my recording and then synced it and sent it in MP3 format to iTunes. Once in iTunes I renamed my podcast as I knew I would be publishing it to a site with the possibility of it being explored by the public. The site I chose to publish it on is podOmatic. It was a quick and easy upload after a quick and easy sign up. Once published to podOmatic, I got confirmation in my email that it was public and then was able to share it on my blog and tag it for the public to find. I am excited to see if anyone listens to it! I can retrieve usage statistics at any time from my account on podOmatic. It is available for account holders on podOmatic as well as any visitors to my blog.

After an initial hesitation to create a podcast in exploration for my masters course and having this success, I have no hesitation to use it as a teaching and learning tool in my teaching position as a Teacher-Librarian, Grade 4 science and PE teacher and early literacy program coordinator. Check out my podcast (see earlier blog post below) for my ideas on how I will use podcasting in education as an archiving tool for teaching and learning.

I think as my first adventure in using podcasts in my teaching situation I am going to record myself retelling a ghost story to share with my students on Halloween when they visit the library in a few weeks in their costumes. I can add haunting music and set the mood by decorating the library and turning the lights to dim. If their reactions are positive, I will venture into having each class write and record their own ghost stories on podcasts and post them on our virtual school library for all to enjoy...seeing as creating a podcast is not as scary as a ghost story!

Podcasting as an Archiving Tool

Hi everyone, check out my very first podcast that outlines the literature I read about podcasting, my thoughts about the tool and my ideas of how podcasting can be used in education, specifically as a archiving tool for teaching and learning. Let me know what you think by adding your comments.

Click this link to check it out:
Podcasting as a archiving tool

References for podcast:

Fontichiaro, K. (2007). Podcasting 101. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 23(7), 22-23. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals database. (Document ID: 1216422211).

Gordon, A.M. (2007). SOUND OFF! The Possibilities of Podcasting. Book Links, 17(1), 16-18. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals database. (Document ID: 1351032481).

Rozema, R. (2007). The Book Report, Version 2.0: Podcasting on Young Adult Novels. English Journal, 97(1), 31-36. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals database. (Document ID: 1358287161).

The Buzz. (2007). School Library Journal, 53(7), 22. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals database. (Document ID: 1299789091).

Mastercard should pick this one up...it's del.icio.us!

Account set up - Free and Easy
Toolbar set up - Free and Easy
Bookmark transferring - Free and Easy
Tagging and Editing tags - Free and Easy
Adding friends to my network - Free and Easy
Subscribing to tags - Free and Easy
Sending my favourite bookmarks to my network friends - Free and Easy
Opportunities for collaboration - Priceless!

From the very beginning, using del.icio.us, the social bookmarking site, as a tool to organize information I find relevant, interesting or necessary has been free and easy. When I first starting using del.icio.us I wondered what was so social about it. After some exploring I discovered the network feature, the subscribing feature and the inbox feature. Each of these features allows the user to share and acquire bookmarks from other users in different ways. I think it is these features that provide potential for social bookmarking to benefit education. The more I explore the site, the more potential I see using it as a collaborative tool in the school setting. Here are some of the ideas I have thought of for my unique situation as a teacher-librarian in an elementary school...

1. Setting up an account for the library that all students would have access to. The username and password would be easy to remember and sites would support the learning we are doing in the school library and in the classroom. Teachers could set up their own sites, and send me sites they would like their students to be able to access. I would tag them with their classroom teachers name (i.e. Mrs.Smith's_Class or Grade3_Science) so teachers could direct their students on where to find the sites necessary for their learning.

2. Setting up an account for a specific classroom that would share sites that were relevant to each topic they were exploring in the classroom. I would work collaboratively with the teacher and students to become proficient in using the site teaching them how to tag and keep their delicious site organized.

3. Setting up an account for teacher only use that would include bookmarks that support the professional growth of teachers and other professionals in the school. This would require some set up on my part, an inservice or staff meeting presentation to get teachers hooked, follow up support training where other features of del.icio.us could be shared (i.e. networking, sending bookmarks to each other) and frequent organization of tags. I think it would be easiest for one person to 'regulate' the tags and all the users mark the new bookmarks they add to the site with previously developed tags. If a tag needs to be added, the 'regulator' would add it or suggest another preexisting tag that would suit the site being added. I think this is necessary for the tags to not get in the way of organizing the sites saved.

4. An alternative to setting up a site that all teachers have access to would be to hold an inservice for teachers to learn to set up their own del.icio.us sites and teach them how to add each other as network friends and how to share sites through subscription or through their inbox. I personally think this would be a better alternative than #3 because it eliminates the need for a 'regulator' as well it holds more potential for teachers to use the site as it is their own. A collaborative site may fizzle out as teachers feel it is not their own to use and cannot add their personal bookmarks to it. If students have regular access to the internet at school and at home, I think this would be a better alternative to idea #2 for students as well because it will also keep students accountable to the sites they are adding to their own del.icio.us site and encourage them to use it on a more personal level as well as an educational level. It would also enable privacy of personal bookmarks as teachers or students could send their bookmarks through the inbox or get their students to subscribe to a particular tag (i.e. grade7_art) so anything the teacher gives that tag can be sent to the student.

5. As it is free and so easy, I could also see myself setting up a site for a specific project or even a school goal. For example, if working on a research project on sea turtles with a grade 4 class for science, I could set up a del.icio.us site just for this project to acquire and make available sites for the students and teachers working on this project with me. It could be a go to place! Or I could set up a account that would support our school literacy goal for teachers, students, parents and administrators to use. Any interested groups would be granted access to find sites that would support our school goal in a variety of ways (i.e. home activities for parents, lessons for teachers, research for administrators, teachers or parents, literacy game sites for kids). This would require sessions for any user groups to learn how to access the site and use it to its potential.

I really feel that del.icio.us can be used in any collaborative or personal situation to organize information on the web.

To be honest, I did not explore any other social bookmarking sites (i.e. diigo) because del.icio.us was so easy and efficient that I spent my time exploring it and beginning to use it for myself and as a collaborative tool instead of setting up another account. I do not doubt that other sites would be comparable, but I think when you find a good thing that is working, stick with it!

I have however been exploring shelfari as a social bookmarking tool where I can add the books I have read and the books I want to read. I added one to my blog when I initially set it up but did not see this as more than a place to showcase the books I liked or want to read. This past week I have explored this site more and see that I can add friends to my network and view their shelves. I can even join a bookclub! The last two years have not left me time to participate in a traditional bookclub but I am excited that I can join a club for a time to discuss a book I have already read to just discuss that book! That is thrilling! When you finish a great book and just have to share it with someone and no one you know has read it...this is a perfect outlet for the gushing! I look forward to getting involved in this feature.

When using social bookmarking tools in the educational setting, I think it is important to remember that "the more organized your bookmarks are, the more valuable they will be to you" (Warlick, p.112). This pertains to us personally but we also need to remember this when working with our colleagues and students. We need to remember that each social bookmarking site needs to be organized in a way that suits the user(s). My way of using del.icio.us may not work for others. For sure, different people will place different tags on the same site so it truly needs to be a collaboratively planned, implemented and used tool.

As Richardson (2009) outlines, social bookmarking tools can change the way we work by using networks to tap into collaborative relationships. To take advantage of this "priceless" tool we need to view it as one that will not only organize information for us, but one that will allow us to work smarter not harder through collaborating with our colleagues and students.

References:

Warlick, D.F. (2005). Raw materials for the mind: A teachers guide to digital literacy. Raleigh, NC: The Landmark Project.

Richardson, W. (2009) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

You Tube & Teacher Tube are Advertising Crazy! But still very cool.

Did you know it is possible to make 1.65 billion dollars in 1 year and 7 months? I was amazed to read the wikipedia entry about YouTube that says the three creators of YouTube did just that. Now I was thinking, why would Google pay so much money for this free service? The answer is simple, they saw the potential to make a killing on advertising!

Further on in the wikipedia entry we learn that an ad on the home page of YouTube costs...drum roll please...$175,000 PER DAY! Two days would pay off my mortgage!

I am very impressed with the ease of finding videos (i.e. took me 6 minutes tonight to find a suitable video to show my Grade 4s about the water cycle) but I am not impressed with the amount of advertising I see all over each page I visit! It is distracting and annoying. I cannot imagine showing my students a YouTube video in class with all the ads flashing and running down the page. I did however discover that if you click the small red square in the bottom right hand corner of the video you can watch the video in full screen. This would eliminate the advertising when viewing as a class.

Another feature I like about YouTube is that it is available in 12 languages! This has great implications for teachers and teacher librarians who are working with ESL students. Wouldn't it be great to find a video in a students first language (i.e. French, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese) that would help them learn to measure angles for math or explain the life cycle of frogs for science? In the library, I could see using this tool to help students learn a variety of information literacy skills, library procedures and motive their recreational reading too!

Also from the wikipedia entry, I learned that YouTube has a 'Canadian edition'. Click here if you haven't see this yet. I love that there is Canadian content videos. I will definitely be making use of this site more than the US version.

I also really like the contests that are posted under community. I could see students being very motivated to create videos to submit to contests. Teachers would check out a contest that would match their curriculum goals (i.e. pollution awareness) and assign their students a group project of submitting a video to the contest "Calling All Earthkeepers". Students could watch already submitted videos, explore the topic, create the video and submit it. Talk about a genuine audience!

In saying this, even thought YouTube has rules about the content of videos, it would be essential that any video shown to a class is watched in its entirety by the teacher who is showing it. No surprise endings wanted! Teachers asking their students to use this tool for publishing would need to discuss safety (i.e. no names or other personal info), acquire parent permission and again watch the entirety of any video students are posting.

Despite the potential risks, I see great potential of YouTube as a teachers' resource as well as a tool that can be used to display and develop students learning. I only wish I was in school when YouTube was around...oh wait...I am!

YouTube is a fabulous contribution to the read/write web in a watch/create way.
Andrea

Need a reason to laugh outloud??

If you need a laugh, you have to watch this super cute video!

Click on the hyperlink below to go to this YouTube video and watch "Charlie Bit my Finger - Again!"

Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!

Shift Happens

As I become slowly more familiar with these web 2.0 tools, I am really feeling the pressure to make a "shift happen" in my teaching to support the needs of 21st century learners. This video is a statistical reason why we need to make this shift happen. After viewing, please post your comment. Think on these questions...

Do you think the laptop project in Africa is a good idea? Why or why not?

How can we use such videos to encourage a shift in our professional practice?

Do you buy what this video is selling?

Dreaming of...

There is a chill in the air today here in Langley and it makes me dream of heading skiing again!

Here is a photo from the trip my husband and I took to Big White last year with my sister and her husband.

Andrea

Click here to head to my flickr account for more!

You know what happens when you assume?

To be honest, when I first thought about photosharing I considered it to be an “old” technology! I thought, putting pictures on the internet is no big deal and there really cannot be much educational value to being able to see other people’s pictures on the internet. This is definitely not going to be a web 2.0 tool that I need to use personally or in my teaching. But just to be sure I wasn’t overlooking anything I decided to create a Flickr account and check it out. Turns out, I was…..

….WRONG!

In this case, I am happy to admit it too! (Just ask my husband, this doesn’t happen often!). After getting familiar with Flickr, I started to upload my pictures, adding tags to them, sharing them with a few new friends I found and started to come up with ideas for how this could be used in education.

Besides the very cool suggestions by Richardson (2009), connecting with people around the world, start online discussions by posting comments on pictures, labeling student made models or projects, borrowing pictures from others on Flickr and adding them to your tags, photo field trips or using pictures for digital storytelling, I have come up with a few of my own. Think of the implications this tool can have on the high school year book committee! Students can create their own captions to the pictures they are in to then be published in the yearbook. What about students publishing pictures of their own artwork for exposure?

As a teacher-librarian I am an organization maniac….here is a tool that will allow me to organize my pictures! I can already see that I will be carrying my digital camera around a lot more as I will take pictures that relate to what I am teaching, upload them onto my Flickr account and show them to my students allowing them to post comments. For example, I am beginning to plan a collaborative unit on weather for the grade 4 classes in my school. I was wondering where I was going to come up with a way to show them real technologies that are used to measure weather. Well…digital field trip here we come! I can also snap pictures of the different clouds that I see in the next two weeks and have students use the smart board to categorize them when we learn about cloud types and how we can use them to predict the weather.

What I like most about Flickr is the ability to tag photos. This tool in itself provides a plethora of opportunities for you to share pictures with others, borrow pictures from others and organize your own pictures in a useful way in no time. There are many other easy to use features that draw me to this tool including the organization tools, the ability to have contacts or friends on your account to share your photos with, the ability to put your contacts or friends into groups to share on mass and the every interesting ability to look at publicly shared photos from around the world. Today for instance, I found the spot on Flickr where you can see the most interesting photos posted in the last 7 days and they are gorgeous…frame-able! If I were a visual arts teacher, this tool would be my new best friend.

I did check out Picasa as well. I signed up for an account to check it out and did not find it near as easy to navigate or as quick to upload the pictures. In the short time I spent on Picassa I did not get near as far as the same time spent on Flickr.

With a cup of tea, I am now going to enjoy ‘traveling the world by photosharing on Flickr’. Won’t you join me?

Andrea

Richarson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ready, Set....Go!

Welcome to the written documentary of my exploration of web 2.0 tools. My name is Andrea and I am very excited to embark on this journey because I am quickly seeing the potential of this first tool (blogging) in the education setting. I can just imagine students in constant conversation about the books they are reading from the library, sharing their ideas of how the library could be improved, exploring their views on a topic they mutually researched or challenging each other to think further about their recent classroom debate. This social learning tool not only will benefit me in providing a place where I can list and reflect on this experience, but also give me the confidence to use these tools in my teaching position. During the exploration of these tools, I am expecting to have both success and failure and am thrilled that I get to document it here! I plan on using this ‘diary’ of my journey to reflect on my feelings and experiences to better understand what my students may be going through when I integrate this into my school library program. But so far, this is easy! (I can already see myself regretting this comment---knock on wood!). I even know what a widget is and I have one! Check out my “shelfari” and click on “get your own shelf” to add one to your blog.

I think when using blogs in the educational setting, there are two very important criterions to consider when choosing a Blog publishing tool. It is these same two criterions that I used to choose my blog publishing tool for this assignment. The first is, it is easy to do. The second is, I have support to use it.

I had good advice from a former student of this class that had success using Blogger for this particular assignment. However, before committing to Blogger, I did check out Wordpress and Blogspot but in the end, I liked the layout of the Blogger examples I had seen and knew that I had someone to ask if I need help using Blogger. This security makes me feel like I can just give everything a try and have some fun with it without stressing about not being able to complete my assignments. I think our students need this same assurance when using these tools. They need to know they can give it a shot and have support in order to be successful.

I look forward to exploring the potential of this blog tool as an educational medium for learning. As Will Richardson (2009) conveys, technology will truly transform every aspect of education. Being a teaching-librarian, I believe it is a part of my job to be a leader in the field of education implementing practices that support the 21^st century learner. This exploration of web 2.0 tools is the beginning of my learning as well as the beginning of providing this support for my students.

Richarson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.