Reader Gargoyle

Reader Gargoyle
Originally uploaded by niznoz

While searching for some art for a first grade class, I came across this "Reader Gargoyle" that I think closes this Web 2.0 class with the message that reading and art do go together.

Chapter 9 Reflection

new schools

I agree with Marc Prensky"s (2001) statement, "digital native students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach." Today's educators need to use the same tools in the classrooms that the students use at home. A prime example of one of these tools is the cell phone. My teenager hasn't used the notebook type planner since it was required in sixth grade. He instead runs the risk daily of having his cell phone confiscated every time he keys in his assignments. The has also shown me photos of assignments that were written on the board. This digital native has taken the technology available to him and used it as his planner. All the information he needs is in his phone - which could be taken away from him because we as educators haven't accepted that it can be used for this purpose. This is just one tool that hasn't been embraced by the educational establishment. I have seen teens use YouTube and other Web tools just as effectively to make the world work for them. I'd love to see the students learning how to use their cell phone calenders more effectively.

I like to dream, along with the authors of this chapter that someday students and teachers will be able to choose from an endless supply of content and tools that address individual student's needs. That's differentiation! There is a huge gap between what is and what should be when it comes to technology integration in our schools. Unless professional development is effective, the change will be slow. Web based classes (like this one) taking place online with peer support

is a great way to start.

Week 9, Thing #23

Fair Use and Copyright is something that I talk about and people around me laugh off. Young students seem to understand fair use better than most adults. I enjoyed the Fair(y) Use Tale and will share it with anyone I can get to watch.

Creative Commons is something that I had never heard of. I liked the idea of Creative Commons being "created to save the world from failed sharing." This is a site to go to that easily allows others to use your work with the limitations you place on it.

Closing thoughts,

What a class. I have learned more about what's on the web since I signed up for this class than I ever thought imaginable. My head is swimming with ideas. Through the connection to other's ideas in the Raven About Web 2.0 Blog I have more to do than I can ever hope to accomplish. I have found out that there are Web 2.0 tools that I am comfortable with and other tools that I others that I want to explore further. 

I never would have completed the 23 things without the looming deadline for credit. Thank you, Ann, for making sure we were able to get continuing ed credit for this class. 

Week 9, Thing #22

eBooks and Audio eBooks. 

I have long desired to find out how to use eBooks for a truly selfish reason. I love to read and other things often go undone while I am lost in the latest title I am reading. If I could an find audio books site - free if possible - I could multitask without neglecting the world of books. 

I explored the Project Gutenberg website and browsed the human-read audio books. Although there is quite a list of books available, I was unable to download an entire book. I did listen to the beginning of several titles. I would love to find a tutorial on how to use this site. I'm sure membership is required to be able to download the free books.

The next site I looked at was LibriVox. This site includes directions on how to listen. Using the easy to follow directions I was able to download an entire audio book (The Treasury of Beatrix Potter) to my iTunes library. (I believe that I will be able to apply this new-found knowledge at the Project Gutenberg site.)

Week 9, Thing #21

Podcasts

I was unable to access either the Yahoo: What is a podcast tutorial link or  the podcast.net link. Blocked? Podcast Alley opened for me, so that Is where I started this exploration. I searched the education genre in Podcast Alley and found numerous interesting titles, but I was looking for podcasts done by students. The next exploration site I went to  was Podcasts for teachers, techpod. I learned that many podcasts are actually more like a radio show.I found a great quilting podcast to which  I may subscribe.

EPN, The Educational Podcast Network took me to student podcasts where I found many podcasts created for and by students. Techsavygirlz was my overall favorite site in all my exploration of podcasting. The site was simple to navigate and contained many examples of how many different types of curricular connections could be made using student podcasts. I will like to try a podcast something like the digital art portfolios found at this site.

While looking at what other scholars of Raven About Web 2.0 were discovering, I found posted from Youtube a video that is created by the same author as a Wiki YouTube video that I had posted earlier. This one is Podcasting in Plain English. (I wish I had found this at the beginning of my podcast exploration!)

Week 9, Thing #20

I have been using TeacherTube since the district blocked   YouTube and the video that I used every year as an attention getter for a self portrait lesson. The new block was a surprise and disappointment for me, until I discovered TeacherTube.  The same video was available, and easier to use than YouTube in a classroom setting. I now go to TeacherTube first when looking for video clips to introduce new concepts or review past teaching. 

The video that I have posted here is one that I plan to use with grade level groups of teachers to introduce them to the idea of communicating and planning with wikis.

Week 8, Thing #19.1

Creating an Ebsco folder with Alaska's Digital Pipeline was a new experience for me. It wasn't long before I had added more articles than I need to to read later.   I decided to add the SLED toolbar to my computer because it is easy for me to neglect this useful tool available to me and my students because it isn't in front of me. I do find this site difficult to navigate. It does take time to locate specifics. With time and use I will become more familiar with how to best use it to meet the need of our school. It is loaded with information and it is easy to be distracted form the subject at hand.

I looked at the school interfaces and found that they each contained the following: facts for learning, search options, Novelist, and live homework help.  As the grade level of the interface increases more choices are offered.

The upcoming changes to the Ebsco Host flash video  include: a simplified search screen, breadcrumb trails, related results, a preview articles option with the ability to add articles directly from preview, and a search history tab. I am looking forward to these changes hope that these new options will make the site easier to navigate.

I did a Kid's Search powered by Ebsco Host. I was looking particularly for articles that have a relatively low reading level. I was disappointed to find the reading level (Lexile) listed in only a few of the articles I searched. 

After all the snow that I have shoveled this winter. I am definitely adding a snowthrower to the garage by next fall. With that in mind, under the small engine repair, I searched snowthrowers. This is a site that I will run to before I lift another shovel full of snow!

Week 8, Thing #19

I had heard of Library Thing but never taken the time to explore the site until today. I knew the minute that I clicked on the homepage that I was going to like this one. I enjoyed how there is humor in the text of this site. Little surprises that made me smile like, "Sign up. It's more fun than the tour." or "but where do I get the t-shirt?" (I did find out how to order the t-shirt.)

I can see using this site for my home library. I have a collection of my favorite and most used titles that I keep just to use in case the library copy is checked out when I need it. It will also be useful to add professional resources to my Library Thing. 

I chose to add the 3/4 Battle of the Books to my Library Thing library because it is that time of the year and I need to work with those titles in the next couple of weeks. It was easy to cut and paste the ISBN's  and add titles  to the library. It took me only a couple of minutes to add 17 titles. That was fast! It was also quick and easy to add the widget to my blog. I will also add this to our library home page. This is a fun and useful site AND it's easy to use. By far, my favorite so far and I have only explored the surface if it's capabilities.

Week 8, Thing #18

I explored Zoho Writer, and like the del.icio.us account that I set up earlier, this Web 2.0 tool can be used from any computer that I happen to be working on. Because my position is collaborative, there are times when I am working in a place that isn't my "home base" where my computer is located. I like the idea of using this site to share and save documents. I also explored the templates because I often want to create a quick document and formatting can be a challenge. There are other sources for documents with which I am more familiar so I don't think this will be  a site I add to my Web 2.0 tool box quite yet.

Week 7, Thing #17

I will definitely use a Teachertube video that I found on the Raven About Web 2.0 Curriculum Wiki to help explain the reasons to use a wiki in collaborative planning. Ann M's post of June, 2008 has a link to Wikis in Plain English. I plan to use this clip to help the teachers with whom I collaborate how important a wiki can be to successful collaboration. 

In addition to my library position, I also fill the role of an integration specialist. The goal of our staff is to integrate visual arts into what is happening in the classroom. The emphasis this year has been literature and science. I have found that although classroom  teachers welcome specialists into their classrooms, scheduling the time to plan is difficult to come by. I believe that creating a collaborative wiki for each group of teachers (specialists and special educators included) will result in better prepared teachers and a more successful integrated lesson for the students.

Week 7, Thing #16

The Wiki is a Web 2.0 tool that I have used. This past summer I attended the Librarian Leadership Academy (hosted by the Alaska Association of School Librarians) in Anchorage and their wiki was how this group of librarians communicated both during the week in Anchorage and after the academy as all finished up the work needed to earn the continuing education credits through UAA. Wikis were new to me then and I was so impressed by the organizers because they included all the latest technology.  I've now had a couple of other opportunities to be involved with wikis but I feel that I'm just beginning to understand what a useful tool the wiki can be in a school setting. They can be set up by the classroom teacher to allow students to create written work and to comment on other's work. Wikis can be used as a communication forum for a school staff.  I am most excited about using a wiki as a communication took for a group of teachers working toward a common goal. Because I regularly collaborate with classroom teachers to integrate literacy and the visual arts, my newest Web 2.0 goal is to set up grade level collaboration wikis and help all team members learn to use this tool to aid in communication.

Week 6, Thing #15

Web 2.0 The Future of Libraries

I had a totally different definition of Library 2.0 before I read the suggested articles than I did after completing the readings. I truly thought that Library 2.0 was the integration of modern technology into the current library setting. I still thought of the library as that “go to place” where the information was housed and all that was needed to make the library a 2.0 library were a few more computers with high speed internet.  I now see library 2.0 as a more of a center of outreach to users that uses the newest Web 2.0 tools to enhance library services for it’s users, wherever they may be.

What does this mean for me, as a school librarian? Michael Stephens, author of Into a New World of Librarianship helps clarify the role of a 2.0 librarian as the guide for helping library users find information, gather knowledge, and create content. Stephens lists the most important traits of Librarian 2.0 as:

• Librarian 2.0 plans for their users
• Librarian 2.0 embraces Web 2.0 tools
• Librarian 2.0 controls technolust
• Librarian 2.0 makes good, yet fast decisions
• Librarian 2.0 is a trendspotter
• Librarian 2.0 gets content
• Librarian 2.0 listens to staff and users when planning and allows staff time to play

Wikipedia’s definition of Library 2.0 seems to go hand in hand with Stephens’ definition. (Perhaps it is Stephens’ definition.) “The Library 2.0 model will ultimately replace traditional, one-directional service offerings that have characterized libraries for centuries. New Web 2.0 technologies have led to a new generation of library service. The active and empowered library user is a significant component of Library 2.0. With information and ideas flowing in both directions – from the library to the user and from the user to the library – library services have the ability to evolve and improve on a constant and rapid basis. The user is participant, co-creator, builder and consultant – whether the product is virtual or physical.” 

It’s not all about Web 2.0 tools, but using those tools along with the outreach which strives to meet the users needs that makes one a 2.0 Librarian in a 2.0 library.

Week 6, Thing #14

Technorati I watched the videocast Technorati tour, explored the top blogs, and searched the most popular technorati blogs in several categories. I've added a photo of the most popular book of the last 48 hours. I also searched the most popular results by Technorati members for School Library Learning 2.0. I found 270 blog posts, 35 blogs and 27 results tagged School Library Learning 2.o. 

I found Technorati to be confusing and difficult to navigate. Perhaps I am more comfortable with other sites and need only to spend a bit more time with this one, but I found that it didn't lead me to explore further. Other "Things" I have completed for this Web 2.0 class have taken me further. This one I just wanted to get done. I wonder if I am missing something or using Technorati incorrectly. 

Week 6, Thing #13

Tagging and Del.icio.us. I immediately saw how del.icio.us could help me manage my bookmarks. I recently received a new computer for my library position. I am struggling with this upgrade mainly because the new computer involved switching from a PC to a Mac. I knew how to navigate my bookmarks on the PC. I have yet to transfer my favorites to the new computer. Now, how to do it easily has dropped into my lap.  I created a del.icio.us account and cleaned up all the bookmarks that I have on this computer. I will now go to the other two computers that I work on at home and at school and put all my bookmarks in one convenient and easily accessible location.

I explored the del.icio.us Hotlist, Tags, Popular, and To Watch tabs on the homepage. I went to the Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher. Since I didn't see Twitter as one of our 23 Things in Raven About Web 2.0, I spent some time exploring this web application. I was particularly interested in Moochfly where classroom libraries can be set up and tracked. I also explored Top 100 Librarian Tweeters.

I see using del.icio.us at school to set up individual teacher accounts with bookmarks specific to a topic, unit, or project that a class is working on.

Week 5, Thing #12

Voicethread has become my newest web based account.  I reviewed the youtube tutorials and explored the newest additions to voice threads. It was hard for me to pull myself away from exploring the threads. I watched numerous voicethreads and was particularly interested in items created by or commented on by teachers. Because I am always looking for ways to highlight and display student visual art, I spent a great deal of time looking at Voicethread student art exhibits with students talking about their work. I was thrilled to see student work with student voice added. Students were also able to directly annotate (doodle) their work. This lead me to Voicethreads for education, ed.voicethread. I wanted to know how they did it! I was thrilled to see the educational side of voicethreads. There are so many ways to use voicethreads in the classroom: interactice discussion, annotated images, tutorials, digital storytelling, and other creative student work. I then looked into ed.voicethread pricing because I was curious if managing a classroom (or several classes) of student work was realistic AND affordable. I think this is something I'd like to explore further before I ask for permission to use voicethreads at school since this is another site blocked by my district. 

Week 5, Thing # 11

It is nice to find the "best sites" in Web 2.0 Awards. There is so much to sort through, it is a time saver to be able to go to a site like this for other sites recommended by category. I browsed through quite a few sites but looked in depth at the sites in the Visual Arts category. Colorblender is a site to "match and create cool palettes easily." While I found it intriguing to look at all the color combinations created by users of this site, I can't think of any reason to use this site in the elementary school setting. Perhaps I will revisit when I am ready to redecorate the living room. The number 2 site in the Visual Arts category  was Swivel where "data entry is entertaining and artistic." This site could be used to create data maps, charts and graphs with an artistic flair. I can see teachers and students using Swivel to create and showcase work in a variety of curricular areas, particularly math.  The third site in the Visual Arts category is VisualComplexity which "specializes in the visualization of complex networks, or data turned art." There are hundreds of projects to view with data being displayed is so many creative ways. I would like to use this site for some it's mapping opportunities. I also think that this site will help students to see that items we use every day (like maps) are also creative works of art.

Week 5, Thing # 10

My creation
Originally uploaded by susanlibrary2art

I really like this Badge Maker in Big Huge Labs. I can see using it in the elementary schools in many applications: name tags for students on those first days of school, identifying staff, highlighting student art with creative and descriptive writing, and many other creative ways. I was able to save this image to my iphoto library and create a contact sheet ready for printing. But I am unable to print until I get back to school next week.

Week 4, Thing #8 and #9

Blogs were totally new to me. I did ask for help from a colleague familiar with blogs for assistance. In bloglines I clicked areas of interest to me and choose several blogs to explore. Linking blogline blogs to my page was of particular interest. RSS updated shared when new information is posted on these blogs. Sending out e-mails to me so I don't have to monitor these blogs for updated information.

Week 3, Thing #6

Big HugeTwo Hearts
Originally uploaded by susanlibrary2art

I hope to use Flickr's Big Huge Lab to organize and highlight student visual art projects by grade level. Art trading cards is part of an ongoing third grade project this year.

Week 3, Thing #5

Is Your Imagination of God Starved? VerseVisions Art; Isaiah 40:26
Originally uploaded by MarkLawrenceGallery.com

After taking a break from exploring Flickr, I found that adding an image to my blog was so simple. I really liked the floaty feeling of this piece of art.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Chapter 7 Reflection

online safety and security

• It is frightening to think how the anonymity of the Internet has opened our students to the dangers of all types of online predators. 
  
• It is amazing to think that many students think that just because they can download something from the net that it is OK for them to do so. 
  
• I have certainly had my share of frustrations when I am unable to access a certain site available while I planned at home only to find it blocked when I tried to access it at school.
  

Since reading Chapter 7, online safety and security, I now have a clearer understanding of the items listed above. Internet sites are not blocked just to frustrate teachers who have planned fabulous technology integrated lessons. Our students are being protected form online predators. Kids are being taught about fair use, acceptable use, and the ethics involved in using downloadable files by teachers who may not fully understand copyright laws. There are solutions to those great tools that are blocked. There are great sites  designed for teachers with the classroom in mind: David Warlick's Class Blogmeister and Elgg a blog, e-portfolio, and learning space site. But we all need more training to be effective users and teachers of web tools. I believe that most teachers can and will be able to teach online safety and security if they are themselves taught safety and security in the context of the Web 2.0 tools that they will be using with their classes.

Chapter 5 Reflection

professional development

Since I ended my reflection of Chapter 1 with the statement, "I need more training," I thought reading Chapter 5 on professional development would be a good idea.

Before reading this chapter, I didn't realize that so much research had been done on the effectiveness of teacher trainings. I also didn't realize that research supports the feelings that I have had about some of my trainings.  "Brief classes or workshops without ongoing support seem to create few substantive changes." (pg 101) 

I agree with the authors that most teachers still feel uncomfortable using technology in their teaching. In my experience, getting the projector to work to show a DVD  is a major feat. Using Web 2.0 tools as teaching tools is just beyond the realm of comprehension of most teachers. We've got a long way to go. I will share this book (Web 2.0 new tools, new schools) and the way this class was presented with my administrator who is a  supporter of technology integration.

This class has been one of the most effective and useful professional development courses that I have ever taken, I am full of ideas and I have a blog full of colleagues to support me when I have questions. I believe our facilitators have, "taken a page from their own book" when it came to the Web 2.0 training we received in this course. 

Encouraging Participation: Chapter 5, Pages 105-106

• Create an Environment of Trust
• Eliminate Confusion
• Make learning interactive
• Share what is being done on a regular basis
• Constructive feedback from facilitator

I hope to see more classes offered on Web 2.0 tools presented in this format.

Chapter 1 Reflection

new world, new web, new skills

Technology is changing faster than we can keep up. My favorite Web Tools are updated just when I had figured out how to make them work for me. I have spoken with IT support in India and granted remote access to my computer so problems can be fixed. These are  the clearest examples that I can think of to demonstrate the idea of a connected and collaborative world.

I couldn't help but think about my own children (with a bit of fear in my heart) as I read this chapter. My oldest will be heading off to college this fall. I'm afraid that he has fallen in the cracks of the new web. He is a great user of these web tools socially, but he has never been taught how to use them to creatively and effectively collaborate. I will surely encourage him to take college level classes in web 2.0 applications. Is it too late for him? I hope the opportunities exist. When he enters the workforce, will he be prepared? I am more hopeful for his younger siblings. There are more opportunities still in front of them, but web based classes are still electives. Most teachers are not incorporating Web 2.o tools effectively. These tools are not being provided and these kids are not being prepared for the new challenges of international connectedness. 

I feel that since I am now one of the teachers "leading the charge" of 21st Century Skills and the necessity of teaching our students Web 2.0 skills,  I need more training.  

Week 1, Thing #2

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners: After procrastinating for weeks about getting started on this class, I have decided that my biggest challenge as a lifelong learner may be #1 Setting Goals - beginning with the end in mind and #2 View Problems as Challenges. The problem with getting started was (and still is) lack of time. If I had started by setting the goal of spending 2 hours working on this class 2 times a week and making that part of my weekly schedule I'm sure that I would have been further along with this class by now. So now that the challenge has been met and the goal set, I'm ready to get to work. 

My main goal in signing up for this class was #6 - Using Technology to My Advantage.