Can't Believe I Did It!

Well here I am, writing a final blog entry.  I cannot believe it!  When I began this course, I thought I was going to learn a lot but I had not idea just how much!  I was exposed to so much technology that has real world application value for when I become a School Library Media Specialist.  At times, I was frustrated with not being able to do it all right away, but with time, a deep breath and helpful instruction, I was able to prevail and now I have 2 websites, a blog and a voki to prove it! 
Being a school librarian today means something totally different that what it meant 20- even 10 years ago.  Ways of accessing information has changed and books are in the process of changing as we speak.  We are no longer guarders of books, we are facilitators to learning and information exploration.  As someone who grew up with a card catalog, how could I possibly know what is available today without taking a class like this.  I truly feel like this class is one of the most valuable classes in the program.  It is a real life application of how to incorporate necessary technologies into our School Library Media Programs.  I had no idea what a Voki was before this class, but since then, my mind has been racing with thoughts of how to use these in lessons!  In the beginning of this class I was thinking one dimensionally, "How can I use these technologies when I teach?"  But as I got more familiar with the class and the technologies, I had a change of thought, "How can students use these technologies?"  The technologies available can be used by students, even young elementary students to allow them to access, share and teach classmates about what they are learning.  Education has jumped leaps and bounds because of the sharing that is now possible! 
I will be a much better teacher-librarian now that I have taken this class.  A spark for technology was light within me and I will keep exploring avenues to learn more.  Thanks to my new twitter account and the people I follow, I will always be up to date with new information and other pieces of my PLN will keep  me abreast of changing thoughts and technologies.  My connectedness with total strangers will make me a better teacher-librarian.....that blows my mind!! What a World!
While the road to this standpoint was rocky and I think I actually threw my laptop to the floor once or twice, the fact is that technology is here and I know can and do embrace it.  I will keep up with twitter and I will definitely blog when I have a media center.  I hear by declare that I will always be the Lovely Librarian and I will update this blog with news and information as I get it.  Hopefully, the break in posts will not be long and I will find myself a brand new school librarian soon!  Thanks for the journey....I enjoyed it and am better because of it!

Day 4

Today we started off getting familiar with Glogster.  This is such a wonderful program! It is very user friendly and super interactive.  I think with younger students, it is ideal for a school librarian to make the glogsters for them to use.  Easy to follow and direct.  However, since this program is so user friendly, I would say from grade 4 on, the students can make their own and it can be an essential tool in student to student teaching.  I think that all of the technology tools we have learned about in 629 so far are a great motivators for students to do their best work since they know it will be published.
As well as learning how technology is a great tool for student publishing, we also had a guest speaker today, Ms. Parisi.  Ms Parisi spoke to us about UDL (Universal Design Learning).  I must say I was blown away by what Ms. Parisi is able to do daily in her classroom to differentiate learning for all of her students.  I would love to visit her classroom in action to see all of this technology at work.  I would also like to sit down with her and pick her brain on where she finds the time to do this all???  And I can imagine it would be very difficult to be such a pioneer with technology in a school that is not totally on the tech wave yet.  Overall, she stressed the importance of differentiating lessons for all learners.  That is difficult for a teacher to do in any form but it is so vital for student success.
After our guest speaker, I was able to explore LiveBinder.  What a tool!  It is a cloud based bookmarking site that allows you to follow websites through tabs.  You can categorize the tabs as well as create sub tabs.  They are great for teachers to develop for students as a tool to get them started on their research.  It can provide the students with all the tools they need for success but still requires them to search.  It is also great because within the tabs, you can include links to videos, images, text to speech websites as well as very informative wordy websites.  This tool of LiveBinder fits in very nicely with the educational theory of UDL that Ms. Parisi spoke about.  The information is presented in many different forms, all provided by the teacher.
Today went by very fast and we learned a lot of technology tools.  I cannot believe that tomorrow is our last day!

Animated Videos

I recently made a short PSA for my future library using the program Xtranormal.  What a cool program!  Through this program, I was able to type in text and have the character speak it, choose the motions of the character and even select the camera angle.  I designed mine as a welcome for students prior to the first day of school.  These videos are easily embeded into websites.  I think they are a great tool for teacher librarians to use in their media centers because the students can create them.  They allow the students to express themselves and publish thier work, while at the same time not exposing their identity.  They can be posted on websites for all to see!!   I would love to see students write a short story based off of a book we read as a class.  After they have written it, they can "produce" their story out through Xtranormal.  The only downside I saw with the program is that the videos are published through a point system and users get 300 free points and then need to pay for more so I would need to look and see if there was a free version for students and educators. 

Day 3

Class on Friday was jam packed with technology.  We started out learning how to make surveys on Google.  I could not believe how easy to use the surveys were and the instant feedback they provided.  Data was easily presented and I think they are a great pre assessment tool to use in the classroom.  On Friday, we also did a lot with digital storytelling.  We went out and took pictures of the CW Post campus (which is beautiful BTW)  and then we put them into different formats.  My partner and I explored the possibilities of MixBook and I love it.  Not only will I be using this for personal use, I will most definitely use this with students in my library.  What a great tool to motivate students to write.  Their end product will be a published book! I think parents and students will enjoy such a well made end product.  Other classmates presented tools for digital presentations like Photo Peach, Animoto, Slidebomb and Prezi.  All of these were great to have in my bag of trick to motivate students to learn.  And then finally, we explored PhotoStory.  I think I have developed a love/hate relationship with PhotoStory.  After about 30 minutes of downloading the necessary items to make the program work, I realized how wonderful it truly is.  It allows the user to speak over images and insert text.   This can be used in a library for independent learning as well as presenting.  However, when I got home and tried to use the program, I encountered even more technological difficulty when it would not recognize any microphone I used.  I think the fickleness of the program may hold it back from being effective in a classroom.
Overall, I was introduced to so many wonderful tools to use in a school library on Friday.  I'm looking forward to exploring them more and developing ways for my future students to use them. 

Day 2 of LIS 629

What a day!!!  Today I officially posted a "tweet".  I had never even felt the desire to tweet, I didn't "get" it but after much discussion and exploration, I see the true value of the instant information communication twitter provides.  I now follow people and have followers.  I think that I can learn a lot from the people I follow.  The hardest part of being a new school librarian will be keeping up and being proficient in all of the new technologies.  As mentioned in our class today, as we become more and more comfortable with dealing with technology, we will find similarities in a lot of systems and catch on quicker each time.
Another thing we learned about and practiced today was Googledocs.  I had heard the term Googledocs before but I knew I was getting along just fine with Microsoft word so why bother.  Well the truth is, Googledocs is very easy to use, and while I may not feel the need to personally make a huge change to it, I can see limitless possibilities for it within a classroom library of students.  What a great tool to use when sharing and peer editing.  The only thing, as will all of this new technology, would be stressing to the students before we began how important it is to use this technology responsibly and NOT be a bully. 
The third and most challenging thing we did today was design Wiki's.  Oooooof did I struggle through this.  I kept typing and then having it be deleted, or linking something to the wrong page.  I became very frustrated and wanted to just stop but I pushed through and even though it's not much to look at, I am understanding for the first time how to build a website. 
Along with this new post, check out my new book link on the right from Goodreads!  That too is still a work in progress, partly because I need to read more...eeek! Where to find the time.  I am happy to be in the class and learning so much.  Last night, my family had some good laughs from making new Voki's.  Here's to working on my Wiki tonight!

Using Blogs in the Media Center

Today we began LIS 629, Integrating Technology in School Media Centers.  As I was driving to class, I was thinking about what I already knew about educational technology and what I was hoping to learn.  After a few honks and stink eyes thrown my way, I had developed a list of what I wanted to learn. I want to learn how to practically integrate some technology into my library classroom. I want to learn the technology that has proven itself to be a successful tool over time, not just the newest and latest that cannot fully be integrated into student learning.
It took me no time to realize that this is exactly what this class was going to provide!! One major technology piece we focused in on was Blogging.  I have always seen cute blogs and loved what I have read, but never knew how to do them....that is until today. It only took me actually being told that I could do it and a few short minutes I was an official "blogger"!  It truly is a well developed program that allows the creator to be in total control.  It can be as simple or complex as you make it.  But after making it then what?  I wondered what benefit did they provided, especially to students.  The answers began to emerge as I was introduced to more and more features.  Blogs are 100% interactive.  They allow people (and as I now know students) to express their ideas and then have their peers read and comment. Many conversations can begin to develop through posting and then comments. 
So how can they be applies to School Library Media Centers?  Very simply in fact.  Each student can create their own blog and be able to then post ideas or reflections based on whatever objective the teacher designs.  They can be geared towards book discussions, project journals, learning reflections...  Blogs, especially at the school media level allow the students to continue learning outside of the library.  Unlike classroom teachers, school librarians do not have the pleasure of seeing their students everyday.  They are limited in their face to face time so blogs are an exceptional way of extending the communication and therefore, the learning.  
When I become a school librarian, I foresee myself setting up a blog  for the community to visit often and check up on things that are going on in the library.  Through this blog, I can communicate with a large audience and answer any questions that may be posted.  It will be a huge part of my communicating with an entire school population.  On a smaller scale, I would have every student develop their own personal blog and develop thought provoking lessons in which students can share out and discuss through the safety of their blog.  The blogs will give the students ownership and will make them take pride in the work that they are publishing. 
The possibilities with blogs are endless it is up to me as a teacher to direct my students to use blogs in the most advantageous way.