This course has exposed me to many new ideas which I am looking forward to sharing with students and colleagues. As the librarian, it is my job to collaborate with teachers to help deliver instructions, I am looking forward to sharing the technology I have learned in this course. At the end of the year I created two wikis to use with a social studies and science class. The experiences for the children were successful, especially the science wiki where students shared ideas and resources.
At the beginning of this coming school year, with the help of the ITT department, the library is going to host a technology fair to expose and in some cases reacquaint our staff with new and not so new technology that is available. I look forward to this and hope it helps me toward my goal of collaboration as a teacher librarian with my colleagues.
I will be receiving a tablet PC, while I do not fully understand its' capabilities I am looking forward to exploring what it can do and how it can be integrated.
Some other things I am working on are booktalks which are posted to my website using audacity, check them out at the following link Booktalks. I am going to recruit students to help me with this project this fall. Also, I am working on creating a blog which will be available through the library webpage for students and staff members to post their thoughts and ideas about books they are reading.
Hopefully, there will be more courses offered on-line, I found this course INFORMATIVE and ENJOYABLE!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Lesson 11 - School 2.0
Everyone is connected and seem to be engaged using technology. It is great that students are using technology to communicate with stakeholders throughout the community and the world. One question, what about the importance of the face to face teaching and relationships? Will they be lost?
The fact that all the stakeholders, especially the parents, were involved with School 2.0 struck me. As a new generation of students come into our schools, we must remember, many of the parents have grown up as "digital natives" and by speaking their "language" we can have them involved in our schools and most importantly their child's education. Maybe it will help make schools more accessible to those who feel "threatened" by them.
The plan is intriguing - instant feeback to parents and students, learning taking place in a wider community than just the town the student lives in, collaboration between all the stakeholders and putting technology into our students hands at a young age.
Hilton, has many of these pieces in place, how can we continue to keep up with the technology and insure it is being used to allow our students to become part of the digital world in a productive and rich learning environment?
Not to be a naysayer, but the digital divide keeps coming to mind, what about the students that are not in districts that can support a learning environment like this?
The fact that all the stakeholders, especially the parents, were involved with School 2.0 struck me. As a new generation of students come into our schools, we must remember, many of the parents have grown up as "digital natives" and by speaking their "language" we can have them involved in our schools and most importantly their child's education. Maybe it will help make schools more accessible to those who feel "threatened" by them.
The plan is intriguing - instant feeback to parents and students, learning taking place in a wider community than just the town the student lives in, collaboration between all the stakeholders and putting technology into our students hands at a young age.
Hilton, has many of these pieces in place, how can we continue to keep up with the technology and insure it is being used to allow our students to become part of the digital world in a productive and rich learning environment?
Not to be a naysayer, but the digital divide keeps coming to mind, what about the students that are not in districts that can support a learning environment like this?
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Lesson 10 - What struck me the most
Dr. Zhoa's podcosts really gave food for thought. Talk about a paradigm shift and changing the way we think, teach, evaulate and assess. I was struck at the idea of changing how we do things in education to meet the demands of today's digital world. The idea of connecting with teachers and students all over the world to work in a collaborative learning environment is intriguing.
Gaming as an instructional tool? I don't know enough about it but am currently reading a book about gaming called "Don't Bother Me Mom --I'm Learning" by Marc Prensky. It provides some interesting food for thought about gaming and how it could positively affect students in a learning environment. According to Mr. Prensky our kids are digital natives while we are digital immigrants - and when we try to teach them we have an accent :)
Like I have said before, there are so many different opportunities using technology in our classrooms. I always thought that it should be used to enhance what we are already doing - now I am thinking we need to look at the technology and find a way to use it to change how we have been doing business to meet the needs of our students and the world that they will living in.
Gaming as an instructional tool? I don't know enough about it but am currently reading a book about gaming called "Don't Bother Me Mom --I'm Learning" by Marc Prensky. It provides some interesting food for thought about gaming and how it could positively affect students in a learning environment. According to Mr. Prensky our kids are digital natives while we are digital immigrants - and when we try to teach them we have an accent :)
Like I have said before, there are so many different opportunities using technology in our classrooms. I always thought that it should be used to enhance what we are already doing - now I am thinking we need to look at the technology and find a way to use it to change how we have been doing business to meet the needs of our students and the world that they will living in.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Lesson 9 - new thoughts
Mr. Honeycutt's pod cast gave much food for thought about the use of technology and embracing it. I am first to admit that I am behind. Recently I started researching iPods and went to my niece and the students at MW for advice! I have chosen the iPod that I want now all I have to do is settle on the color. The idea of giving the students the tools and letting them run with it even if you aren't sure what to do is daunting but exciting.
After a discussion with a technolgy teacher, we came up with an idea, which we might try next year.
Class 1 does marketing research to determine what type of project to create that then can be sold for a fundraiser. Ideas could be wood baskets, napkin holders, mirrors, etc.
Class 2 creates a design with materials that are available in the classroom. They draw specs and determines the price to be set
Class 3 produces the project.
This is just a rough plan that is in the beginning stages. Any thoughts?
After a discussion with a technolgy teacher, we came up with an idea, which we might try next year.
Class 1 does marketing research to determine what type of project to create that then can be sold for a fundraiser. Ideas could be wood baskets, napkin holders, mirrors, etc.
Class 2 creates a design with materials that are available in the classroom. They draw specs and determines the price to be set
Class 3 produces the project.
This is just a rough plan that is in the beginning stages. Any thoughts?
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Assignment 2 - Reflection
So much technology so little time. Wow, there are so many tools out there to use. Currently, I am putting together a wiki for a science projecty that two of our 7th grade science teachers are doing. My goal is to have the requirements of the assignment and links for the students to use on the wiki. Then the students can add their thoughts and any useful information that they have found to the wiki. http://sciencemisconceptions.pbwiki.com/
A blog was created by me for the Young Adult Literature staff development that I facilitate at Merton Williams. The blog was used so participants could share their thoughts and ideas about what they have read. This also helped participants when they were unable to come to a class because of meetings, etc. I am currently considering creating a course for the summer which would allow partipants to keep on reading and discussing books over the summer.
It would be interesting to develop a way to use a wiki or a blog to make the library a more integral part in the students career at Merton Williams. I am thinking a book review wiki or blog to give students a voice about what they have read.
A blog was created by me for the Young Adult Literature staff development that I facilitate at Merton Williams. The blog was used so participants could share their thoughts and ideas about what they have read. This also helped participants when they were unable to come to a class because of meetings, etc. I am currently considering creating a course for the summer which would allow partipants to keep on reading and discussing books over the summer.
It would be interesting to develop a way to use a wiki or a blog to make the library a more integral part in the students career at Merton Williams. I am thinking a book review wiki or blog to give students a voice about what they have read.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Lesson 6 - Wikis
Wikis offer a great vehicle for collaboration amongst a group of students. What a great opportunity it is for students to share their work, self edit and learn from one another. The thought of students wanting to go back to add and edit their work without us telling them to is fantastic.
The links Lori provided gave me a better grasp of how a wiki can be used in the classroom. While some clearly showed the collaborative nature of a wiki, I felt a few just looked like a website with links.
Currently, I am contemplating creating a wiki in conjuction with two science teachers based on science misconceptions. The students are going to look at a misconception they have, research it to determine the truth about the topic. I'm thinking a wiki would provide a great tool for students to share their ideas to help them clarify their thinking about the topic they are researching. It would also provide the students an opportunity to share their thoughts with students outside their teams that are studying the same thing. Wouldn't that help create a sense of school community?
The links Lori provided gave me a better grasp of how a wiki can be used in the classroom. While some clearly showed the collaborative nature of a wiki, I felt a few just looked like a website with links.
Currently, I am contemplating creating a wiki in conjuction with two science teachers based on science misconceptions. The students are going to look at a misconception they have, research it to determine the truth about the topic. I'm thinking a wiki would provide a great tool for students to share their ideas to help them clarify their thinking about the topic they are researching. It would also provide the students an opportunity to share their thoughts with students outside their teams that are studying the same thing. Wouldn't that help create a sense of school community?
Friday, May 18, 2007
Lesson 5 - Free videos
After exploring the sites I have been pondering what could be done with the free videos that are available. To be honest, my first reaction to U Tube was "Oh, My!" this is coming from a person that considers herself as pretty liberal when it comes to the content of the books that are in the Middle School library. Then I realized maybe I am looking in the wrong place (what does that say about me :) After globally looking at the sites, I found that there were some videos that would be worth showing to students, especially newsclips of things that are happening now. The nature of the content of the commercial sites, along with the reliability of the videos (because they are put up live immediately by anyone) would make me hesitate having students searching them to find info independently, especially the little guys. That being said, it might be fun to watch a homemade video on a subect and compare it to a reliable source to see the difference.
I like the idea of Next Vista being educational, free and vetted. While the quality of some of the videos were not the best I suppose they could come in handy if a student misses a lesson and one is found that would teach the info in a way that would work for you and the student. Or why not just tape your lesson and add it on for everyone's use?
While the sites were easy to navigate, sometimes it took a long time to download the video (I was using Roadrunner) and the quality wasn't always the best for sound and clarity.
I am interested to find out how others would or have used them in their instruction - or if they would even bother to use them.
I like the idea of Next Vista being educational, free and vetted. While the quality of some of the videos were not the best I suppose they could come in handy if a student misses a lesson and one is found that would teach the info in a way that would work for you and the student. Or why not just tape your lesson and add it on for everyone's use?
While the sites were easy to navigate, sometimes it took a long time to download the video (I was using Roadrunner) and the quality wasn't always the best for sound and clarity.
I am interested to find out how others would or have used them in their instruction - or if they would even bother to use them.
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