Here's what I think...

I. AM. BORED.

2011-08-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

Gawd, I can't wait for school to start again! Please don't spread that around, but I can't. I want to be useful again and have something to do during the day. You know, you can't appreciate the weekends when you don't work, so I'm at that point. I need to work again, so I can appreciate days off! Two more weeks and then I'll be back to counting the sleeps until I can sleep in on the weekends-lol.

Not that the summer hasn't had its up and downs and drama, but after some bad phone calls, email and unfriending on Facebook, it seems to have calmed down and things are quiet. Just in time for me to go back to work drama- which I don't mind. Drama when I'm not working and when I'm volunteering is NOT what I want. So, let's hope that is over with for now.

Off to watch bad tv and maybe read a book until it is time for me to go to sleep.

Counting the days...that's what I think of summer holidays!

A sad day.

2011-08-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

I just found out that a man I went to school with died on Sunday while having some fun on a lake in Saskatchewan. In a small town, we were in the same grade from Kindergarten to grade 12. And his dad was my social studies teacher from grade 7 to 12 and his mother also taught at the school. We were not particularly close, but when someone who is the same age as you dies suddenly, it puts life into perspective.

I feel terrible for his parents and his sister and his friends. Life is very short and for some it is incredibly so.

So hug your loved ones today and remember what's important in life and it isn't what you have or don't have- it is your loved ones and the people that you chose to have in your life.

Sadness and Sympathy; that's what I think today.

Yep, it's official...I AM a bitch!

2011-07-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

Because, I had a great time at the wedding last night! Reading the last post, I didn't have the greatest expectations for the wedding and I honestly thought I would be home in a couple of hours, but I drank and danced the night away. I had a great time with my friends and co-workers and I drank a lot of red wine! I staggered home with a couple that I used to work with, played with my doggie and then fell into bed. And I don't even have a hangover this morning!!!!! Bonus! I did sleep until almost 11AM, but to be fair, I was going to get up at 9 when I woke up, but it was thunder storming and I just didn't feel like it, so I went back to sleep until my mother called at 10:45.

Today, I'm having a lazy day. I cleaned my whole house really well yesterday and the only think that I might do is a bit of laundry. I will have to take the dog out for a walk, but after that I'm going to watch tv, read a book, work on my knitting-- whatever I want. Good day!!

So, in conclusion, I had a great time unexpectedly. A pleasant surprise indeed!

That's what I now think about weddings!

Am I a bitch?

2011-07-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

I really do want to know.

I have been asked by my friend to accompany her and her boyfriend to the wedding of a coworker who is getting married tonight. Here's the rub, I wasn't actually invited. Yes, the bride put up a sign up sheet in the staff room for people that wanted to attend, but my friend also received an invitation; I did not. I thought that I would be on a road trip with my cousin right now and so I didn't sign up. I also have issues with signing up for a wedding. It's like I'm begging to come to the social event of the year and the Bride will look at my application and see if I'm worthy. If you want me to come to your wedding, print off an invitation and give it to me so that I feel like I'm wanted.

I am happy for the Bride and Groom, but I am in such a funk these days, I don't think I'll be much fun. I don't actually enjoy weddings as a rule. I can't remember the last wedding that I went to where I thought, "Boy, that was a fun wedding!" I've had an okay time at a couple of weddings, but I haven't had a blast. It doesn't help that I'm a singleton and I usually go solo. My cousin is getting married at the end of August and I'm excited for that wedding but more because all of my extended family will be there and I have a blast with them. It is also going to be held at a nightclub, so dancing will be much better than at other wedding venues where you either have to be shitfaced or you just sway back and forth because the lights are so bright and you are self-conscious.

Well, I'll go for a few hours tonight and try to have a good time. I think that I've just answered my own question. Yes, I am a bitch. But, I'm not the only one out there- this I know for sure!

That's what I think about weddings. Harumph!

A time for reflection

2011-07-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

It is almost August and I am reflecting on a few things. The past few months have been very difficult for me, both personally and professionally.

The school year ended with teachers in Saskatchewan going on strike for three days. This was not only a financial burden, it was also a blow to my professional self-esteem. I found the comments about teachers on the news sites and in the paper to be a big wake-up call for me. I always thought that teachers were well thought of by parents and students- in general. There is always a few rotten apples in the barrel, but the ignorant comments from Joe Public really stung and for the first time I was feeling bad about my chosen career. Not only did I feel attacked by the people of Saskatchewan, but I also felt that my government created a campaign against teachers to break us down morally and emotionally. A fact that was basically confirmed by our bargaining committee. I think this was the most upsetting; a government is supposed to protect and stand up for all of its citizens and here they were- planning and implementing a strategy designed to hurt. I know that I am 30 years old, but I think that my childish innocence about government was shattered. I am still sick to my stomach when I think about it and now we have gone to mediation for a small percentage more than the government offered and I wonder what it was all for? Why did we walk off the job, put ourselves out there for ridicule and to be broken? Was it worth it? I don't know.

Now it's summer and I'm supposed to recharge my batteries except that I have volunteered for a non-profit organization and the drama that has ensued has made my summer more stressful than working. I joined the board to help and a few of us seemed to do nothing but try to "manage" grown women who should know how to behave. Our leader is sick in the hospital and is fighting to recover from a serious illness and this drama was picked up by myself and a few others. I am exhausted and not sure how much longer I can do this for. I now feel like I can't resign because we've lost three pretty big contributors already and I feel as though I would be leaving the organization high and dry. I am also afraid that I will look like a shit for quitting. I don't know where it will end, but I know this, when I go back to school at the end of August, I will be cutting back.

When I get back to school, I will be faced with a multimillion dollar renovation and I am dreading that. We have basically been told that it will be 2-3 years of hell and we need to be prepared. Goody! I am prepared, but when my volunteer work is stressing me out and my work is stressing me out, something will give and I can tell you that my volunteer work doesn't pay my mortgage, so I know what will be cut out of my life. I hope it doesn't come to it, but I am prepared in case it does.

This blog has changed for me. It started out as an assignment for one of my grad classes, then became a sort of professional blog and now I think it will be my personal blog. The title fits. Nobody reads this, so it will be an online diary for myself and I will be able to trace my life through the postings. If you have stumbled across this blog by accident, I hope you will leave a comment and let me know that you were here.

That's what I think...

Katie

Assessment?? Of whom exactly?

2010-09-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

As part of my professional venting system, I will continue to blog. I have found that this is a way for me to get my frustrations out even if it just sits in cyberspace taking up room on Blogger's server. It is my zen.

Can I say that I am sick sick sick of talking about assessment. Not so much the ideas of assessment and that we should be doing authentic assessment (what is that really anyway?). But that it is being shoved down our throats by the government and school division. I feel like they are saying that we, as teachers, have been doing a terrible job and we need to be re-taught how is should be. Many of these concepts that they are preaching, are done every day, we just don't sit down and feel the need to name them and make us feel important. We had to sit through an entire day on assessment and guess what? I don't even remember enough about it- apart from that I hated it- to even complain about!! Yes, we've got the free books and yes, we have to call it a name, but please don't treat us like we are stupid. Please don't shove this at us and say, "This is how it should be done." What happened to professional treatment? I have a Bachelor AND a Master of education degree- I understand the concept of assessment vs. evaluation. As high school teachers, assessment and evaluations were the lone weapon that we had to make kids hand-in assignments, behave in class and study for tests. Now we are told that we can't take marks off for lates, can't assign a grade for participation and attitude (even if we have a rubric) or let kids fail a test if they didn't study. No! Now they tell us that it won't be an authentic record of what kids are learning. Well, please give us an alternative.

The other point that I have issue with is the fact that this is another band wagon that everyone has jumped on. I guess that I should stop complaining and wait until this fad peters out. I'm just saying that in the 8 years that I've been teaching, I've seen a few fantastic educational leaders come and go. Does anyone remember the Dufours?? I'm sure as hell not doing and PLC's anymore. Just sayin'...

That's what I think about the "new" assessment.
Katie

Final Reflection

2010-03-28T19:41:00.001-07:00

This is my last blog post for ECI 832 and I have to admit that it is bitter sweet for me. I have really enjoyed the opportunity and freedom to explore and play in the sandbox with everyone in my class. I am genuinely going to miss posting my thoughts and reading others' ideas and experiences. As with my last class to use this blog, I will try and keep my blogging up as I go through and experience more in my teaching career. I still have to write a paper and post to the forum in my other class, but after April 15^th, I will have completed my Masters in C&I and will not have to take classes. I have stated before that the best part of all of my classes, be it online or on campus, is the interaction with my fellow educators and the learning that I get from them- from you.

I'm going to answer each of Marnie's questions and then post some final thoughts after. I don't want to get too far off track! J

Question #1-

What new understandings of the role of educational technology to support learning have you gained, acted on or perhaps strengthened?

I think that I have always had an interest in technology, but I always thought of it as a gimmick and not as a way to enhance student learning. I thought that it was something flashy that I could use to impress the students and my fellow teachers. Through this class and by taking a step back to evaluate and critique various technologies, I have been able to look at them as a way to deliver content and to reach students. I've never had much luck collaborating with my fellow teachers and through my final project, I am now working with two ELA teachers on their particular topics. I have had the chance to follow some other educators through their blogs and read about their ideas and questions about technology and gather information to form my own opinions. I also got the chance to explore programs that I never thought I would ever use (such as Second Life and Twitter) and have found them to be extremely interesting (going to the Globe Theatre in 17^th century England was a highlight) and such an interesting way to reach learners. Above all, I have found that through this course I have had the opportunity to objectively look at my own teaching in general and my own views and beliefs about technology. It has opened my eyes to a new way of reflecting and growing from my experiences and to be ok with making mistakes and to embrace them as learning experiences. I think that the blog has been a safe way to express myself and this is another reason that I will try and continue using it as an electronic journal.

Question #2-

What has had the most influence on your horizon of understanding?

I would have to say that it was a combination of my edu-tech blog (Will Richardson) and my classmates' blogs. I really enjoyed reading about the experiences of everyone in the class and even though I didn't always have time to leave a comment, I read a lot of your information and I found myself nodding my head with you or having "a ha" moments at my computer desk. I also have to say that the sandbox exploration also had an influence- I was asked to play and to explore new ideas and that was a lot of fun.

Question #3-

What new questions have emerged for you?

I have a few of questions swirling around in my head:

How can I get the teachers at my school to be more enthusiastic about technology? How can I get them to try a few of the things that I have tried and get them to use it in their teaching?
How will I keep up with all of the technology?
Will I still be as pumped up about all of this in two months? Two years?
How can I get the division on my side and work with us to start heading in the same direction? Is it possible?
What is the new stuff coming down the line? Are there trends that I should be looking out for?

Some last thoughts

I want to thank everyone for their time and comments- I really had fun.

I am applying to go to the eLearning conference in Edmonton this year. I saw an email about it and I am very interested in what I could learn there and it is primarily due to this course and that is exciting for me.

I am going to pledge to try and keep up my blogging and to try and keep a critical and open mind about technology in the future.

Cheers!

Katie

Online PD

2010-03-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

This week's topic was very interesting for me because of my seminar that I am leading this week in 830- my topic is Technology and Professional Development, so this is a very timely topic.

As I was doing research on professional development and technology, I came across a couple of articles that suggested online PLCs and social networking sites and I was very interested. So, for this week's exploration, I chose to join the Classroom 2.0 site. I was very glad that I did because it is a really neat way to do PD!

I joined the Beginners site to start with and found lots of really useful information. One of the discussion topics was called Twitter for Beginners. I recently joined Twitter and I found that the suggestions and information in that discussion thread was really useful for me. I also found the wiki section really useful, even though I have used wikis in the past, there was information in the discussion that I wasn't aware of and suggestions on usage that I had not thought of previously.

I also like the idea of an individualized PD opportunity and also an ongoing one. It is nice to be able to ask questions and get feedback. It is not a presentation on something that I have no interest in (like some PD that we get), but it is an online community that is accessible 24/7.

What's Wrong with the Web?

2010-03-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

Will Richardson posted something very poignant for me today- he was addressing a recent article in the New York Times called "Texts without Context" and he lists major issues with the internet today, by summarizing some of the issues in the article:

* Copyright and intellectual property are no longer respected
* Plagiarism is rampant
* Originality and imagination are being lost
* We are losing our ability to think deeply and creatively
* We now just want immediate gratification
* Information overload
* Further polarization of political views
* A loss of the ability to read extended texts
* An impatience with nuance
* A loss of focus in a world of distraction
* The sense of immature entitlement on the part of social media users
* Decrease in overall quality of work
* “Cyberbalkanization” or a growing comfort in the echo chamber
* Loss of serendipity
* Loss of an objective reality (i.e. the debate over climate change)
* The end of authorship
* Groupthink
* Etc.

Wow! This is very similar to a lot of the issues that I have been discussing with my classes (ECI 832 and 830). A lot of these points have been discussed through the chat room, forums and on the blogs. The comments that have been made, and there are only 5 so far, have been interesting as well. Some people blame our society, that we now all have forms of ADD and our attention spans (or lack of) have caused these problems. Some say that education is the key to solving these problems, which I think is a pretty broad answer and as we've been asking- How?? How can we solve these huge issues? Can we use these issues to our advantage? Does knowing what the issues are give us an edge to be able to reach learners in a more informed way?

My head actually begins to spin when I look at that list because I've really been intensively involved in looking at them for about three months now and it's all getting a bit blurry- I'm sure those of you who are also in the two classes or any other technology course are also getting a bit battle fatigued. This is what I will be thinking about for the next little while, but it is nice to actually have a nicely constructed list to work from.

Until next time...

Queen of Copyright!!

2010-03-16T20:22:00.001-07:00

Sorry folks, I found this post in my draft folder- I thought I posted it this weekend!

I am sure that when I utter the word "copyright" at my school, eyes roll. I have been saying that word for a long time and I'm not sure that anyone listens. Teachers have long been known as the Copyright Police's Most Wanted. We are terrible with copyright and from my experience have very little respect for it and yet we demand that our students cite their sources and give credit to authors/creators in their assignments. Sometimes I think it is the height of hypocrisy.

I understand that there are many good reasons for breaking copyright laws (money, availability, etc.) and I am as guilty as the next. Yes, I am confessing that even the Enforcer breaks the laws and I do it a lot. I find information that I think would be beneficial to my students and I grab it. But, and this is a big but, I am aware that I am doing it and I take responsibility for it. As the teacher librarian, the role of copyright expert has fallen to me and I was told when I started that I was to take it very seriously. In fact, I was informed by my principal that if there were any violations (he was speaking about movies in this case) and if we were caught I would be taking the fall and probably fired. Now, this is a bit shocking to a 24 year-old, who just started as a t-l and had only been teaching for 2 years before that, but I've taken it to heart. So, from then on, I've tried to take the issue of copyright and plagiarism very seriously.

There are mythical and terrifying people known throughout the education world as "The Copyright Police". They swoop down look through your things, write fines and slap your hands. When I was in a small community, during my second year of teaching, some of the higher-ups caught wind of a rumour that said there were squads of the Copyright Police moving through the province. I am being totally honest when I say; I have never seen such a panic amongst teachers and a school. Teachers were boxing up materials and moving them to their private garages at home. Some were wondering if they bought a lock, could they force you to open a drawer or cabinet. It was total panic! I was new to the profession and as with all small schools, I was the new kid and so I taught nothing that I taught the year before and I had not amassed anything of consequence. Now I am older and I find that I use that story and the stories of other unfortunate schools as a cautionary tale for my staff.

Even though I am the voice of caution in my school, I realized in this block that I don't really know a lot about copyright. For instance, I thought that you could use anything on the internet as long as you gave credit to the owner. I was wrong, some cases you need to ask permission. I also did not understand how Wikipedia worked- although I'm a huge fan. I admit that reading some of the information was a bit dry and I think that the entire issue of copyright is extremely boring, but a necessary mission. I really liked the iSearch concept and I actually plan on using it the next time I teach Science 10 and I also may have another teacher interested in using it in their class this semester. It is a vast subject and I'm sure that you could take a whole class just on copyright- I have bookmarked several links in this week's content so that I can re-read or refer back to them later when I'm unsure about something.

So, all of you teachers who are reading this please, the next time someone (like your friendly neighbourhood librarian) tells you that dubbing movies or copying DVDs is illegal, don't roll your eyes. Thank them for their diligence and understand that someone has to be a stickler; it is for your own good!

Katie

Apprentice, don't just Teach!

2010-03-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

In Will Richardson's Feb. 24th blog had a couple of interesting points: 1) teachers need to become Master Learners, not so much Master Teachers and that maybe we need to treat students as apprentices not just as vessels that need to be filled with knowledge.

Richardson talks about his frustration with "selfish" teachers. I understand where he is coming from especially in terms of technology. There has to be a willingness from teachers to revert back to the learner-mode and be ready to accept instruction, be experiential in our classrooms (which is sometimes humiliating and not always easy) and to be willing to make a few mistakes along the way. We have to be students again. I think that it is easier for people, like us in this class, to see that and to become the learner again because that is exactly what we signed up for! But, for other teachers, it can be difficult to get in that mindset again. For some of you, this may be your first grad class, but for the rest of us- remember your first grad class. Where you lost? Confused? Frustrated? Overwhelmed? YES!! It is not easy to shift gears and be out of control. Now that some of us have a few classes under our belts, it is easier to see that the control issue is huge for teachers and it is scary jumping off the cliff into the desk again. I like the term that Richardson uses, "Master Learner" because that is exactly what I feel like right now!

The other point that Richardson makes is that in the last century, there was a shift for the majority of children- from being apprentices to being students. Why can't we see students as apprentice adults and maybe change our approach to teaching. I like the idea of thinking of my class as full of apprentices not just students. I'm not sure how to go about doing that, but it is an interesting concept to start thinking about. I'm going to try to think about how I can change my teaching to be come more like a "journeyman" and my students as "apprentices".

Those are the ideas that I'll be chewing on this week!

Katie

Blogs, Twitter and Wordle

2010-03-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

I've had busy couple of days with my Web 2.0 tools. As I mentioned in the first post about Web 2.0, I have used a blog (obviously), but I created my blog for the library today! It is not perfect yet and I'm still fiddling around with format and gadgets, but it is up and running and tomorrow I will be posting my first "real" post about some new and old books that we have in the library. I will add my blog to the blog roll on this blog, but for my virtual portfolio, I'll hyperlink it in this post.

The blog is called Bell's Book Blurb. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I used Wordle for the first time this week as well. I have seen this in my school before and never really knew what it was. I have to say that I am underwhelmed. I like the idea of the words and the design is eye-catching, but I'm not sure how I would use it in my class yet. I am thinking that I would use it for vocabulary and have it around as a reminder for my special ed students or use as a motivational poster.

Then I did some research and found some really great ideas about how to use it in a practical and kinda fun way! Greg Smith writes on his blog, Technology Education Know-How about how to use it in a classroom setting effectively:

"Wordle is a tool that creates a graphical display to show the frequency of word usage in a text, web page or document. This is called a Word Cloud. The bigger the word is, indicates its dominance of usage. As I’m sure you know; Visual Feedback can give a more lucid understanding of what you read. To give you an example here is the “First Inaugural Address by George Washington in 1789”.

You or your students can use this tool in many ways.

Here are some ideas that I’ve had:

1. Students can use it to monitor the frequency of word usage in their own writings.

a. How often do they use the same adjectives or nouns?

b. Are they overusing words?

2. Students can use it to analyzing news articles.

a. What is this article about?

b. What’s the gist that the author is trying to get across?

c. Check out this assignment http://www.boxoftricks.net/?p=103

3. Teachers can use it for field trip reviews.

a. Have each student generate a list of what they saw are learned on the field trip. Combine the list, copy and paste into Wordle. Whoop! you have an instant “What’s Important List” from the field trip. (side note: A wiki would be good for creating that list. ;-) )

4. Teachers can create a Current Events Analysis.

a. Copy the RSS feed from popular news sights like Google News and use Wordle to give you the hot topics.

b. Copy the text from a news page and use the same way.

5. What are your students listening to? Copy and paste the lyrics of popular songs into Wordle and find out.

6. What is important on your school campus? Copy and paste your schools mission and vision statements into Wordle and find out. My schools Wordle.

7. Self Reflection; If you where to write a story about yourself, what would your Wordle say?

8. Current Study posters. What is curricularly important in your class this week? Create a Wordle that visualizes that.

There are as many ways to use Wordle as there are clouds in the sky. If you where to Wordle this blog post what would be the biggest word? So, today’s theme would be? You guessed it, Wordle!

Leave a post and let me know how you used or plan to use Wordle in your educational setting."

Many of these suggestions would be good for an ELA teacher, but I can see some connections for me, a science teacher. We are going on a field trip in May and I think this would be a great way for my students to express what they learned, as they aren't always able to express themselves fully. It is not an essay or a big description of events, just words.

(I wasn't following Mr. Smith before, but I've just added him to my blog roll!)

The other big event of this week is that I am now on Twitter!! Yes, I have resisted, but I have signed up the library to be on Twitter. I am only following a handful of people (including some in this class and my other one) and I would be thrilled beyond belief if someone would follow me! So, if you are feeling charitable, please follow the musings of a desperate librarian! The user name is WCSlibrary.

I've heard of teachers following politicians, authors and other people of importance, but I think for the library, I'm going to stick with literary people. I am still learning and haven't really seen how I will use Twitter in the classroom, but I may do some research and get some ideas.

P.S. I've added the library blog to this account, so I will know be known as Miss Bell! I may change it back later, but we'll see...

Richardson's 10 Questions

2010-02-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

I usually read Will Richardson's blog about once a week and I had quite a bit to get through this week. His thoughts on Educon has been vast. On Feb 10th, Richardson asked for his loyal blog readers to go through a number of questions that he came up with while he was at the conference/conversation and asked the readers to rank them. He had over 200 responses and on Feb 15th,he gave us the top 10:

1. How do we support the changing role of teacher? 116
2. What is the role of the teacher? 110
3. How do we help students discover their passions? 110
4. What is the essential learning that schools impart to students? 109
5. What is the purpose of school? 102
6. How do we adapt our curriculum to the technologies that kids are already using? 100
7. What does and educated person look like today? 97
8. How do we change policy to support more flexible time and place learning? 97
9. What are the essential practices of teachers in a system where students are learning outside of school? 92
10. How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity? 92

I think that if you look at these questions, they are asked a lot in education today, not just in relation to technology and education. His goal is to address each question in a blog posting for the next couple of weeks. I am looking forward to reading about his thoughts on these questions.

I have a feeling that these questions may lead to more questions! He has already started and if you have time, I think that you may find his thoughts very interesting.

Katie

Web 2.0 Tools

2010-02-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

Two years ago, I took a course through the U of A on Web 2.0 tools- nothing else, just Web 2.0. I initially thought that it would be a walk in the park because I was already using some of the tools personally and I thought it would be an easy conversion to using them in the classroom- I was wrong. I found that I did not know about all of the tools available and that using them in the classroom required a lot more thought and consideration. We were asked to create a blog (the one you are viewing now, as a matter of fact) and we had to complete a weekly blog posting on various Web 2.0 tools that we personally had to use and research the benefits and uses of them in a classroom setting for educational purposes. It turned out to be a lot of work, but also a tremendous learning opportunity for my professional life.

I have done extensive blog posts on some Web 2.0 tools for that course and if anyone is interested on my findings and opinions of them, you can find them in the 2008 archives on the menu on the left of the screen.

For this course, I would like to re-examine some of those tools, as some of my opinions have changed over the two years since I first posted.

Blogs: As I mentioned, I had to do basically a research paper every week for my blog. I started to resent my stupid blog and not enjoy posting entries. Eventually, I saw the benefit of putting my thoughts on “paper”, as a way of professional therapy. I resolved to use the blog after I was done the course and to keep up with entries. I even put a link to my blog on my school library website. I knew that no one would read it- and I don’t believe anyone has until January of this year- but it made me feel better that I was contributing something to my field. I was sharing my thoughts and experiences with others who may be in similar situations. I think I only ended up making 3 or 4 postings, but I thought about it a lot and wanted to do more. There was also an urge to rant about things at my school and about things that were going on, but I don’t think this blog (that is linked to my school site) is the appropriate place to do that!

I have found that since I have been back on the blog, I’ve been enjoying it. I think that it is a great tool to deliver information and experiences with others. I have such a high opinion of it that I am considering using a blog (or a wiki or both) to complete my final project and promote the library in my school. I want to use the blog as a way of advertising different events, new books, new software, etc. I think that I may also use a blog in my teaching as well. I am teaching a Special Ed course of Science and Social Studies and I think that I may use a blog in Social Studies as a journal for the students. They really enjoy sharing their lives with me and I think this could be a new and inventive way for them to communicate with me and with each other.

Wikis: I flat out love wikis!! I have been using them for a couple of years now, I have two of my own and one that I used as part of a class discussion (used a bit like an online forum).

-Graphic Novels and collection development

-Batman (Comic Vs. Film)

-2learn2gether

I really never understood what a wiki (except for Wikipedia) was before. They looked really complicated to create and to use, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tried to use one for the first time. It was very easy to do! I find them similar to a blog, but I am able to be more organized with my content. I am currently creating a wiki for my library to start a virtual book club. Students can pick books on my list and then they can discuss their thoughts about the selected works. I’m hoping that it will catch on and that we can have some good online discussions. It is another tool that I would like to use to promote the library. As with blogs, it could also be a fantastic way of creating a guided journal for students.

I love the ease of use, the organization of information and the way that others can add to your pages. It really offers an interactive way of learning- a bit more Socratic than traditional teaching.

I’m going to end this post for now otherwise the length may scare people and I want to break it up a bit. Remember, there was enough Web 2.0 content for an entire course, so I’ve got lots to say! Up next… Social Networking, Video/Photo Sharing and Social Bookmarking, I’ll bet you can’t wait!!!

Katie

Computers, teaching and learning...

2010-02-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

Before I get started on this entry, I have to say that the quote from Will Richardson yesterday may become my ultimate teaching quote! I have been thinking about it all day and I have decided that I love it!

Back to the topic at hand... computers, teaching and learning. I've been thinking about this question since Sunday, when the content was posted. I am to think about how "schools could implement computer-supported learning in ways that authentically transform teaching and learning." That is the $64, 000 question about teaching and technology today! How can we begin to use technology/computers as learning tools and not just tools?

In my limited experience, I have found that there is great diversity in computer skills between students. I teach at a high school that offers Information Processing, Computer Technology & Production and Computer Science. Students that are enrolled in those courses seem to have much better skills at using technology and it is very noticeable-naturally. My belief is that students should have computer classes (of some kind, I'll let the curriculum developers handle the content) that are mandatory. Before we can begin to use technology to transform teaching and learning, we must be sure that all students (and teachers for that matter) are on the same level playing field. How many times have teachers tried to incorporate technology into your teaching only to find that a third of your students, don't know how to use the technology correctly? So much time could be saved- computer skills should be cross-curricular.

I'm not sure if I've answered the question or just rambled on. I don't have the answers and furthermore I don't believe that I have the power to change anything in terms of technology at my school, because it is so regimented and we don't always get much say from the powers that be in the IS department. Sorry to any techies reading this, but that is how it appears from "the Front Lines" of teaching. Lot's of red tape and hand slapping.

Katie

Weblogg-Ed- Brilliant!

2010-02-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

On my blog, I follow a number of "cool" educational blogs. I have to admit that I don't always have time to read everyone of them, but I do try. Today I was reading Weblogg-ed by Will Richardson and I was struck by his reflections of the Educon and the actual website itself- not a conference, but a conversation. Isn't that interesting?

Quite often when I attend or I speak to a colleague that has just attended an educational conference, they (and I) are underwhelmed. This is not a shot at the organizers or presenters, but it is a common thread. I always find that the most meaningful experience that I have at conferences is the interaction between my fellow teachers and librarians. The conversation that we have and the experiences that we share seem invaluable to me. I'm either inspired or I feel my confidence rise because I know that I'm not the only one who does this or I am doing something right or I just helped someone else!

Maybe we need to have more conversations and less conferences!?

I also really liked Richardson's quote that he created from his reflections:

Stop complaining. Be the change. Love your students and do well by them. If that includes technology, so be it.

Wow! That may be my new motto in the school- that just sums up what I think about technology in teaching. Teaching is not a linear profession; it is circular, web-like and full of change. We are supposed to be leaders for students and our actions and responses are being watched and absorbed. We expect our students to roll with changes and accept the new ideas and tools that we present to them, but so often we ourselves are not willing to be so accepting. So do as Richardson says and if it will help your students, be like Nike and "Just Do It!".

My beliefs about learning...part 1

2010-02-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

For this blog entry I am really taking a good look inside myself, my teaching beliefs and my classroom practices. I'm finding it hard to put these thoughts and feelings into words, but I'm gonna give it a try:

I believe in the individual learner. I believe that we all learn differently, but that we are also capable of learning the same way- depends on the subject matter. I think that most people are visual and auditory learners and that a combination of both delivery methods will reach most students.

In speaking with other teachers in my school, I do find a few teachers that think the same way as I do, but I find many more who believe what I do, but teach their content very differently. I have also found a few teachers who do the same thing on the day they started (10 plus years ago) as they do today. I believe that you have to change it up a bit and continue to perfect it as time goes on.

After reading some of the information posted on our wiki, I think that I am actually a behaviorist believer to some degree. I think that the environment plays a huge part in learning and how students learn. I think that this part of me comes from my own learning experience and my role as a teacher librarian- a pleasing and stimulating environment stimulates learning. I think that environment also includes the people in it, such as teachers and support staff. Their beliefs and attitudes can also influence learning.

Rightly or Wrongly, I seem to approach teaching regular classes and special ed. classes differently. In a regular class, I feel a lot of pressure to get through a great deal of content and information. I have to complete my four units by the end of the semester, so my delivery is designed to get the most content to the kids in the shortest amount of time- I use overhead notes, lecture and handout information that they have to use when they are doing their homework. When I teach my special education classes, I feel that I am able to slow down, read information and discuss it, I watch more educational videos (to reach visual learners) and to be able to review and go back over information if the students don't understand. As I think about my teaching, I feel that I do a much better job of teaching special ed than the regular courses because I am more conscious of their needs- why am I not conscious of regular students' needs? They also have different learning styles and needs, so why do I not adjust my teaching for them?
This is something that I need to look at for my future teaching assignments.

I think that technology has a large part to play in reaching different learners and in our classrooms; I use technology to help students visualize concepts, through overhead diagrams, interactive websites and my Smartboard. I also use live streaming websites to access videos and information that would otherwise be unavailable to me and my students. I don't think that technology is the end all- be all, but when used as a tool and not a crutch, I think it enhances student learning. I enjoy taking these types of classes to find out how I can use technology in new and different ways.

Katie

Second Life and Second Chance

2010-01-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

Top to Bottom: Me in Macedonia, on the top of the Eiffel Tower and in the Globe Theatre!!

When I first signed up for Second Life and logged onto the program, I didn't know what to expect. I found the process of getting started quite easy and I adapted to the controls pretty quickly. I found that they were a lot like the controls of first player video games that I have played on my PC in the past. I actually remember thinking that SL was quite a lot like one of the games I have been playing. I did have trouble with customizing my avatar and am still working on that process.

I met with my group and had to type my chat because I forgot my head set at school. I didn't find that there was any problem with this and I was able to follow the group and what was going on. I did find it very useful to have our leader on audio, so that I could listen to her instructions and follow along. Some of the videos worked, others didn't and the ones that did, I didn't find all that useful for me.

I didn't really have any feelings about SL until I went back a couple of times on my own- I went to Dublin (one of them) and thought things were really cool at first and was quite excited. I then went into a pub and completely got the heebie jeebies! I felt as though I was walking into an actual pub on my own and I didn't know anyone- except this was worse, because not only did I not know anyone, I also didn't know what they actually looked like. I felt very uncomfortable and I didn't end up staying long.

After this experience, I was very unsure of exactly how this program could be used in an educational setting. I'll be very honest and say that I thought that I would play along for the class and read the readings for how to use SL in schools, but I would never, ever use it personally or professionally. I had written this technology off- so to speak.

I never went on SL again until my scheduled group meeting with my instructors. I was not looking forward to it, but I was blown away! This time when we met up we actually got to teleport to different places- Paris, Macedonia and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre!! I had so much fun that night, that I have been back on exploring other places. My attitude did a complete 180- I was a bit awed by that session and now my teacher-mind is starting to whirl. I can absolutely see how I could use this in my teaching!!

I have been telling other teachers about SL and my experiences and they seem quite keen on seeing it for themselves. SL is blocked by our school, but I have got a couple of them telling me that they are going to go home and sign up and try it out. I am hoping that my enthusiasm for this program will continue to grow with this course and beyond!

That's what I think about Second Life... Katie

My Coordinates

2010-01-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

I used Option 1, The LoTi (The Levels of Teaching Innovation) Framework by Chris Moersch to find my personal coordinates. As I looked through the descriptors, I found that I fell in between Level 2 (Exploration) and Level 3 (Infusion). I tend to use technology more in my personal life and my other role as a librarian than I do in the classroom. I feel there are a couple of reasons for this: 1) availability of technology hardware 2)Classroom dynamics- some classes are not ready to explore new technologies or go beyond and drive their own learning.

My hope is that the school division will catch up with technology and it will be available for teachers if and when they would like to use it. I also hope to learn new and interesting ways of using technology in the classroom through classes (like this one) and other PD opportunities.

Katie

Reflections-Looking Back to the Future...

2010-01-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

As I was reading Mirshra, Koehler & Kereluik's article The song remains the same: Looking back to the future of educational technology (2009) I was struck by the term "time". I think that technology is all about time.

I have long thought that the biggest obstacle for teachers using technology was time. We don't have time to see new technology, learn how to use it, learn how students could use it or how to use it in our classrooms. Our school divisions want us to get on the technology band wagon, but we don't always have the support to take on these new technological ventures. Mirsha, Koehler & Kereluik state, "Teachers are busy people with many goals competing for their time. Educators who are not skilled beyond basic usage will need to learn both the technology as well as how to use it instruction-ally--a completely different skill" (2009). I see this in my own situation; we are told that we have to start using a web-based report card program and are given one hour of "watching" instruction and expected to use it the next day and be proficient. The next time that we updated, they had people come into the school and allow us time to actually use the technology in a computer lab and set up our courses. Instructors were there to answer questions and I felt it was a much better way to handle new technology. Technology needs to be a hands-on instruction. We need to do it to learn it.

On the other side, teachers tend to use time as a battle cry for not wanting to try new things or to change the way they have always done things. I mentioned this in a previous post this month. Teachers are creatures of habit and many of us do not like change. Technology is change and is always changing. I find it a bit hypocritical of teachers to promote and encourage "life-long learning" when we, ourselves do not adhere to that way of thinking when it comes to technology. We need to model life long learning by making the time to learn something new or how to incorporate new technology into our classrooms and our subject areas. We have to be brave and show students and our colleagues that we are not afraid to jump in and learn new things. Take a chance.

I'm not entirely sure how to encourage people to move forward with technology and not retrace the past. My way of doing it is to model it for other teachers and hope that they will become interested and excited about new technologies. There are a few teachers on my staff that are really into technology and I find that when they talk about what they are doing in their classrooms and how they use technology, other teachers are very interested. Hopefully, if we continue to do this we will be able to convert other teachers into tekkies and it will trickle down.

All we need is time...

Katie

Welcome EC&I 832

2010-01-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my fellow classmates from EC & I 832!! This is my little blog that nobody, but me reads... it started out as a project for a course I was taking through the University of Alberta that dealt with Web 2.0 tools. We were required to blog about a new tool every week, so anyone that may have some time to kill and an interest can find those postings in the archive.

I am having a pretty good day so far- I had to break the news to my staff that VHS is obsolete. The shock and horror that resonated through my office was startling. My email has been pinging all day with questions and concerns. The theme of the emails dealt with questions about converting VHS to DVD- I wasn't sure if that was legal. After some research, I found out that if I couldn't replace the video with a DVD version then we could convert. Sigh... course materials and flow will be ok- we will not have to change anything. We are very strange creatures of habit and a lot of us fear change. I feel that I am on the outside looking in when it comes to teachers; I am a teacher, but I also have to work with them and that is sometimes a challenge! Some can be so resistant to change...

I am taking two classes that deal with technology, so I hope that I don't get confused between the two. Not sure if I will have to use this blog for that class, but there may be some confusing postings happening here.

I'm sorry to blather on, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to post more often on the blog. I find it a good way to express my feelings about my professional life- instead of boring my family and friends who are not in the education field and have no idea what I'm talking about.

That's what I think today. Until next time... Katie

Welcome 2010!

2010-01-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

A new year is upon us and hopefully a new attitude!

This school year I have been trying to incorporate my new SMART Board into my teaching. I am finding that it is much easier than I thought. The board has been in my classroom since the spring of last year. Our division offers a Technology Infusion Project grant every year- up to $4000 for projects that use new technology. Another teacher, Christa, and I applied to get a SMART board to use in Science 10, which we both were teaching at the time. We created an interactive periodic table using the Inspiration program. It enabled us to show students visually how different elements are related and how they react and bond with other elements. I've used it a couple of times and I think it is going to be fantastic when I teach Science 10 again.

This semester I am teaching modified science at the 10 and 20 level. I have used the SMART board way more than I thought I would. Last year it sort of hung in my room and acted as a very expensive projector screen. I made it a personal and professional goal to use it more and become comfortable with creating units using the Notebook Software. After the initial frustration with the program, I started zipping along with lessons. I think that I have reached my goal because I use the board almost every day!

Semester 1 is coming to a close in a couple of weeks, but my next class will be an Alternate Education Science and Social Studies class. I have found the SMART board to be a fantastic tool to reach all of my learners and the kids are really engaged because they think it is cool and it is a new tool, so it grabs their attention right away. They are also always very enthusiastic about coming to the front of the room and using it at any opportunity.

I am hoping that I will become more proficient with the software and be able to create more elaborate lessons and really wow the kiddies! I think that it will be fantastic for my Semester 2 kids and I hope that they get more out of my class with this new technology tool.

That's what I think about SMART Boards, for now...
Katie

Graphic Novels

2008-10-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hello people in cyberspace- I'm not sure if anyone reads this blog, but it makes me feel better thinking there are people out there with a vested interest in the school library world. He he! For those of you holding your breath for another posting- wait no longer- it is here!!!

I am taking another class through the University of Alberta on Graphic Novels and Comic Books. It is a subject that I admit, I know very little about, but want to know more. It has been a really interesting class so far and the assignments about reading comics aren't bad either!

One of the assignments was to create a virtual seminar for the class. My topic is the exciting world of collection development and policy for graphic novels. Ohhh... Ahhh. I created a wiki and I'm going to share it with my blogging fans.

Click here for the link.

It is a bit dry and it was harder than I thought to find info, but I think I've compiled some good info and it is a start.

Let me know what you think!

Katie

There's a policy for that...

2008-04-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I have taken a bit of a break from blogging for my course. I thought I would continue on with my sharing my thoughts to anyone who is brave enough to read them! The new format will be less formal than previous posts, but I will be speaking from experience and shooting straight from the hip with my posts.

So, this entry is dedicated to the Library Policy and Procedure manual that I have created for my own school library.

Once upon a time (about two and a half years ago to be more exact) several school divisions became one large division. Now there is one huge division, that has many, many schools under its umbrella. This new division doesn't have a library policy- yet!! So, as a little project for myself I decided to make my own policy and procedure manual.

You may ask why I need to have a policy, so I will answer that with the following quote from the American Library Association:

Every school system should have a comprehensive policy on the selection of instructional materials. It should relate to and include all materials; for example, textbooks, library books, periodicals, films, videocassettes, records, audiocassettes, and CDs. The reason should be obvious: haphazard patterns of acquisition will result in waste because some—perhaps many—materials will overlap in content, or will be unrelated to changing patterns of instruction.

A comprehensive policy on the selection of instructional materials also will enable school professionals to rationally explain the school program to the community. And, most important in a crisis, when there are complaints about social studies texts, human development materials in the media center, or fiction in the English class, the use of the “objectionable” item can be explained more easily.

A good policy on the selection of instructional materials will be relevant to your particular system and include basic sections on objectives, responsibility, criteria, procedures for selection, reconsideration of materials, and policies on controversial materials.

I think it answers the question about why very nicely. I also wanted a way to be able to say to people- "yes, this is how I select material, delete material, etc." I have been asked that and now I will be able to refer them to my document. I also thought it would be a great idea to have some kind of procedure in place for challenged material. The previous librarian told me that she has never had anyone challenge material before, but knowing my luck, someone would challenge a book and I would have little or no recourse to fall back on. I do now!

I have "borrowed" heavily from the old document that the "legacy" division had in place. It is still applicable and it seems to make sense.

I've told the powers that be and now a couple of division people have the policy and are looking at it. Hopefully, there will be a division policy soon and I hope that I can help them with it!

That's what I think about library policies (for now!)...

Katie

To Infinity and Beyond...

2008-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

In the beginning...

When I registered for this class I was not sure what to expect. The title and course description don’t always match the content of the course. I was expecting to read about using search engines, automated computer systems, online sources to help catalogue- things like that. I was pleasantly surprised when I logged on and saw the course outline! Web 2.0 was a term that I had heard being talked about, but I never really paid much attention to. The tools that we would be investigating were, for the most part, things I had heard of, but never really thought of researching to find out how to use them in the school.

I was relieved to see that many of my classmates also had some apprehension about the up-coming assignments and tools and that I wasn’t the only one wondering what exactly a wiki was. I was looking forward to learning some practical applications that I could use in my day-to-day life. Many of my previous classes dealt with evaluating the library, organizing materials, and other concepts that, as a librarian I was comfortable with. I was ready for something that seemed to be a bit more challenging and to have actual skills that I could use; I was ready to leave my comfort zone!

Low Points:

One of the most difficult areas for me, during this course was the amount of time I had to spend reading articles and websites. It is not the readings themselves, but there just seemed to be so much information out there and it was very time consuming to read everything and then decide if and what I could use from the articles or the sites for the discussions and the blog entries. I think more than one person stated in the discussions that they felt a bit overwhelmed. I was used to doing my course work on one or two days of the week- like when I was on-campus as an undergrad. I found that Jenn’s suggestion to look at blogs one day and discussions on another day to be really helpful. I tried to look at the class blogs on Tuesday or Wednesday and the discussions on other days. Once I got into this routine it was more manageable and less daunting for me.

I did have problems with my podcast. That was the only low point for me in terms of the actual tools we were looking at. I did this assignment on my brother’s laptop, which went back to Winnipeg with him the day after I posted my blog. I was visiting my parent’s for winter break in February. The first link that I put on my blog didn’t work and I had to rush around and try and find a different way of getting it out into the ether. Luckily, my mother took me to her work in the evening and we sorted it out. Considering that when I deal with technology, there is usually a major kink or bug I have to work out, only having this hiccup was not too bad.

High Points:

The highlight of the course for me is the experience and confidence that I have gained by using these tools. For the first time since I started teaching, 6 years, ago I am really re-evaluating my instruction, evaluation and delivery of course material for me and my students. I am trying to think of how to incorporate these new tools I have learned into my teaching for next semester. I have found that through this process, I am also re-evaluating the content and assignments that I give. I think it is very easy to get into a routine and want to stay there- especially for teachers. I feel that many of us have the motto, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” I am breaking it and then re-assembling it to be something that has the same core, but a different aesthetic. I think that I have become fired-up and I’m ready for change.

I also feel quite “cool” because when the students are talking about SNS or Flickr, I know what they are talking about and I can interact with them and discuss these tools with some knowledge. I still think that students are the best teachers for me when it comes to technology. They are a wonderful resource and I find when I ask them to help me- they feel quite proud and knowledgeable. To quote Martha Stewart, “it’s a good thing.”

I’ve also “met” some fantastic people through this course and it has been really nice. Cindy and I were put together for the wiki assignment and have been messaging each other since then. We’ve also had a couple of really good Scrabble games going on Facebook! She seems to beat me- quite badly- every time, but there is always the next game! I have enjoyed reading everyone’s blogs. Even though I put the readings under my low points, I found the links that others have found to compliment their postings to be fantastic and I have spent a lot of time reading their links as well.

The End...

In coming to the end of the course I feel very confident and ready to use what I have learned. As I said in one of the last blog posts, I think that I will continue with my blog- maybe not every week- but I am putting it on my new library website for my staff to have a look at and comment on. It is going to be part of my Professional Growth Plan for 2008/09 to keep it up and continue with my own learning.

Good luck to everyone and I hope to be able to work with you again in future classes or to read your blogs in the future.

Watch this space because it will be changing!!

I have a signature on my email that contains the following quote. I would like to sign off with it as I think it sums up how I feel about this course and my educational philosophy:

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn”- John Cotton Dana

Katie

PD Plan: Blogs

2008-04-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Web 2.0 tool that I would most like to showcase to my staff would be blogs. I have found that blogs are very simple to create, use, and navigate through to find information on just about any topic in the educational field.

My staff presentation would follow the format below:

Introduction to blogs:

1. I would assume that some people will never have seen a blog before and therefore not know what they look like or what they are about. There is really simple and straightforward definitions and examples of blogs on the Wikipedia page.

2. I would also show them this blog and highlight some of the features and talk about how I set up my blog from the beginning. I would also look at some of my previous entries and highlight some of the other tools that compliment a blog (wikis, videos, Voicethread, podcasts, etc.).

3. I would also show some other blog hosting sites and give a few examples. Examples include: Blogger and Word Press,

The benefit of teachers using blogs:

Some teachers will wonder why I am suggesting that they either view or create their own blogs. I have compiled some research that highlights the benefits of blogs for educators.

Reason #1: As Will Richardson writes, “Blogs are powerful communication tools. Blogs are powerful publishing tools. But blogging (the verb) is still much more than that to me. Blogging, as in reading and thinking and reflecting and then writing, is connecting and learning” As a profession that adheres to the dictum that we should all strive to be life-long learners, a blog is a great tool to be able to reflect on what you know and feel and reading or creating a blog allows a teacher to continue to learn.

Reason #2: Chris Lehamnn writes, “It's about putting ideas out there, exploring them, sharing them, and taking part in a larger community. Sometimes, yes, it's just about an announcement or two, but at its best, my blogging helps me think, brings others into my thought process and improves it because of their input and forces me to make sense of my thoughts -- which is why it's so damned hard sometimes.

Blogs make publishing easier, but having something to say is still hard. But if we can model reflective practice, if we can embody the old Socratic ideal that "the unexamined life is not worth living," if we can publicly create communities where thoughtfulness -- truly being full of thought -- then we have accomplished something powerful.”

Reason #3: It’s easy! I am not only advocating that teachers create and maintain their own blogs, I think they should also be reading other teachers’ blogs and commenting or interacting with them and it is so easy! If you can open a Word document, type some text and print it, you can blog. Sometimes the idea of using “new” technological tools can be daunting, but a blog is truly one of the easiest tools to start using. And who knows, maybe in a few months or years, a person will be designing websites or digital video games to use in the classroom!

Sharing:

After doing a number of blogs and researching various Web 2.0 tools, I have complied a list of my own favourite blogs and would show them to my fellow teachers and highlight the kinds of information that is shared through blogs. Teachers would be able to see examples of the types of information they would like to write about in their own blogs.

#1- Cool Cat Teacher: This site was created and is maintained by Vicki Davis a teacher from Georgia, USA. It has a phenomenal amount of information, on just about any topic relating to the teaching profession. I really like the “links of the day” feature and the “Most Valuable Posts” sidebar.

#2 Ubbernoggin : is a great site that is not necessarily for educators, but has lots of good information about technology and the tools that we would need to use in our schools or classrooms.

#3 Borderland: is a blog by Doug Noon who is an elementary teacher and he writes about technology and education in general. It is a truthful and amusing blog by a teacher in the “trenches” of education.

#4 The Fisch Bowl is a blog done by Karl Fisch designed specifically for staff development and to promote the use of technology in the classroom. It has really good information for anyone who is interested in trying to use technology in their teaching.

Concerns

Some teachers will have concerns about privacy issues and legal implications. I would direct them to this website by David Warlick; he suggests that there are three kinds of blogging teachers:

independent teacher bloggers, whose writing is completely unrelated to their job with your school or district;
professional teacher bloggers, who write in their capacity as teachers in your school or district; and
instructional teacher bloggers, who blog as an instructional strategy, usually encouraging their students to blog, too.

Warlick provides descriptions of each type and some interesting advice to follow. Many school divisions have rules or procedures to follow and each teacher should be looking into those to see what is expected and/or discouraged. He also has one excellent quote that applies to everything in life, “don’t be stupid.” I would advise teachers not to put anything they wouldn’t want their principal or superintendent to read. Don’t use students’ names or describe specific situations.

If privacy is the issue, I would advise teachers not to use their real names, reveal their schools’ name or location and don’t use specifics. We do have to realize that what we do can and will be judged, so act accordingly.

Hopefully, by seeing the presentation and looking at a few of the blogs on my list, teachers would be interested and want to learn more. Teaching teachers is sometimes one of the hardest things to do, but even if one of them wanted to blog or use blogs for their own education I think I would feel like I actually encouraged someone's learning and I would feel very satisfied.

Katie

I feel like a Blog...

2008-04-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

It is a sign of the times that something so ingrained into the population’s psyche is something that is so young. The birth of the blog (or web log as it was known at first) happened just over 10 years ago. I found it fascinating to read an article- a blog of course- by Rebecca Blood that chronicles the beginnings of blogs and their rise to popularity. I find it very amusing to remember my first experiences with the internet in general and to realize that my first experience in grade 7 with the “new” computers in our lab was about the time that many other people first got their taste. I can even remember when the fax machine was the height of technological sophistication! My how the times have changed- and so quickly!!

Blood’s history of the blog is very interesting to read and it provides a timeline to the popularity of the blogs. She addresses the question of why blogs became so popular and suggests that it is because of the free-form concept- people are able to express their thoughts and opinions- combined with the ease of use. I have certainly found the ease of use a definite plus to my blogging experience. I have found this particular site (blogger.com) to be extremely easy to use and it has taken away that anxiety of many other Web 2.0 tools in that I don’t have to worry about how to use it and if I’m going to be able to figure it out in time.

McGraw-Hill/Glencoe has a very informative website that helps teachers research many of the Web 2.0 tools that we have investigated in this class. Their site on blogs has been particularly interesting and useful. They suggest that blogs are beneficial for students by:
·motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in classrooms
·excellent opportunities for students to read and write.
·effective forums for collaboration and discussion.
·powerful tools to enable scaffolded learning or mentoring to occur.

They go on to suggest some uses in the classroom:

1.Classroom ManagementClass blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board.
2.CollaborationBlogs provide a space where teachers and students can work to further develop writing or other skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers can offer instructional tips, and students can practice and benefit from peer review. They also make online mentoring possible. For example, a class of older students can help a class of younger students develop more confidence in their writing skills. Students can also participate in cooperative learning activities that require them to relay research findings, ideas, or suggestions.
3.DiscussionsA class blog opens the opportunity for students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. With a blog, every person has an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. Students have time to react to ideas and reflect on learning. Teachers can also bring together a group of knowledgeable individuals for a given unit of study for students to network and conference with on a blog.
4.Student PortfoliosBlogs present, organize, and protect student work as digital portfolios. As older entries are archived, developing skills and progress may be analyzed more conveniently. Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to produce better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a student individually on a developing work, and expert or peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future reference.

I really liked the idea of using blogs as a way of having an organized discussion with students. Sometimes in the classroom we are inhibited by the time we can spend on a subject or by other factors such as management and size. Blogs would allow for the students who are truly interested in exploring a concept further to be able to extend the discussion at a later time. It would be a great adaptation for students who need to be accelerated or enriched.

I see the use of blogs more beneficial for professional development than for use in the classroom. I can use myself as an example; I have learned so much about Web 2.0 tools in this class by both researching for information for my own blog and by reading and exploring links that I have found on my classmates’ blogs. I have found that sometimes being a teacher can be an isolating experience. Not so much when we need to discuss behaviour problems or school related issues, but more in the actual delivery of material or ideas for changing and improving one’s program. I have mentioned in previous posts that being one of only two high school teacher librarians in a huge school division can be quite daunting. Until last spring I had never even met the other secondary t-l and so I had no one to really share ideas or to ask advice from. It never occurred to me to look on the internet for t-l blogs or wikis to gain some information. I basically used my classmates on my online courses- a big thank you to those who helped me in the beginning! Also, having taught at two rural schools where you are the only teacher teaching each subject is can also be isolating as you don’t have many to bounce ideas off of and I would (and have) recommended to anyone looking for that kind of interaction to look for blogs by other teachers.

In my search for information, I have come across a number of teacher blogs that support professional development. Some are by teachers for teachers in their division or district and some are for everyone. Here is an example of a few:
1) http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/ : a blog by Karl Fisch. From reading it, I believe that he is a leader in his school, maybe by choice or by job description. Some entries really mirror this course. There is a good entry on VoiceThreads he did not too long ago.
2) http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ : this site is on my side bar and I use it a lot. I have been using it for other things besides this course and I love it! Lots of great information and interesting posts.
3) http://teacherlingo.com/ : this is a site that hosts teacher blogs. It connects teachers in one site to share ideas.
4) http://onf.ca/blogs/hello-teacher : I have signed up for the NFB newsletter and I came across this blog a couple of months ago. It is great to find out information about the films NFB offers and ideas for using them in the classroom.
5) http://borderland.northernattitude.org/ : a blog by teacher Doug Noon. It is very informative and entertaining. I enjoyed the quote he found on Accommodating Student Weirdness! More on Doug Noon later in my blog...
6) http://gwegner.edublogs.org/ : a blog by Aussie teacher Graham Wegner. Fascinating insight
and ideas.

As promised, I would like to share more information that I found on Doug Noon’s blog. He has a “blogging manifesto” that I would like to share:
“Educating people for a democratic society is cultural work. Teachers must become border crossers. We need to be creatively flexible because even if curriculum is standardized, our students are not. Teaching is more than methodology. It begins with understanding, and it depends on personal connections that honor the identities of learners. Conceptual borders are places to make new meanings - to explore different ways of thinking and being, to muck about with difficult questions and to be unafraid of wrong answers.”- Doug Noon
I love that quote- it has really summed up my own ideas about teaching and spoke to me in a way that no other idea about teaching has. I have copied that and printed it out and have it beside my desk at school. So once again, through a blog, I have found information that has affected me personally and professionally- I believe that is the power of blogs.

Conclusions:

There is a reason that I titled my blog “Here’s What I Think...” I had plans to continue using this blog as a professional and personal diary for my own purposes after the class had ended. I thought I would use it as a place to vent and get some frustrations out of the way. I have changed my mind a bit- I probably still vent somewhat- but I have decided to try and keep up the research part of the blog and have it as a tool for my own personal and professional development. What better way to keep on top of the new ideas, tools, methods, etc. of teaching. Maybe someone will stumble across my blog and find it useful- hopefully that will happen, but even if now one reads it, it will still be valuable to me and my professional growth. I also plan on having it attached to my Virtual School Library site and it will be available for my colleagues to view and have a look at. Hopefully some of the entries on Web 2.0 will be useful for them!

The only downside I can see to blogging in general is the time factor. It takes a lot of time to research and create blog entries like these and I’m not entirely sure that I will continue on with the same determination if there is not a mark attached to it. I hope that I will, but I can see that becoming an issue. I think the “time problem” cannot be underestimated in a teacher’s life- in some cases with our teaching days, planning, extra-curricular, families, personal lives, etc. there isn’t a whole lot of time for blogging, but I think that if I (or anyone) can set aside some time to put their thoughts into the ether- it is well worth it!

That’s what I think about blogging...

Katie

Conclusions

2008-03-29T16:08:00.001-07:00

I appreciate the benefits that some of the researchers have put forward for the use of Social Networking Sites in schools, but I think the risks outweigh the benefits. I will probably never uses Facebook for any sort of educational purposes. I value my privacy away from school and I don’t want to communicate with my students in this manner. I remember when I first started teaching and my students continually wanted to be my “buddy” on MSN. I have always been very weary of having too much personal contact with students outside of school. Teachers that teach in larger centres may not appreciate this, but I grew up in a community with 1000 people and I taught in two places with similar populations. I ended up doing parent-teacher interviews in the grocery store or on the street corner. If I (or a group of teachers) went to the bar on a Friday or the weekend, you were stared at and the kids would comment on the following Monday. I quickly came to value my privacy when I wasn’t working. I know that other professionals have the same issues, but now that I’m in a larger centre not everyone knows I am a teacher I am more comfortable. I will not have my students as friends on Facebook as there are things on there that I don’t necessarily want my students to see- things (pictures and stories) from university, old boyfriends, etc. that I don’t want to share. I am also very weary of the professionalism of being too close to students and I don’t want to open myself up to any suggestion of impropriety. If students have to email me outside of school, they have to use my official school account. Some teachers are ok with this- I am not, therefore I will never allow my current students to see my profile.

I also cannot watch students 24/7 and the idea of using MySpace or Facebook as a way to complete assignments is not something that appeals to me because of some of the issues that arise between students. Currently our school is experiencing a lot of problems with cell phones, texting and IMing that has been causing issues with bullying and violence. For me to introduce something like a SNS into my classroom would be madness. I know that some teachers do use Facebook for clubs and communication, but I would prefer to use some other way to do this. I have been playing around with Blackboard and I think that I would prefer to use that as an online community for my students.

That's what I think of Social Networking Sites. Now I think that I will go and check my Facebook...
Katie

Cons of SNS

2008-03-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

CONS

When I was doing the research for SNS, I came across many, many sites that discussed the dangers and risks of allowing students to use SNS in schools and public library. I think that we all appreciate the risks involved in any online activity that is not monitored, but I chose to highlight some of the more interesting and school appropriate articles that discuss the cons of using Facebook or Myspace in schools.

When I was doing my search, I came across several articles that mentioned a new bill that was being put to the floor in the US Congress to have libraries, schools and any place that has public internet access to ban minors from using these sites. The people who are backing this bill feel it is necessary to protect children from online predators. The bill itself doesn’t surprise me, but when I read a this article further, I was surprised to read that there was already a law in place, signed by President Clinton in 2000, that compels librarians to block any “off colour” sites. The law was appealed in 2003 on the grounds that it was against the First Amendment, but the law was upheld. As far as I’m aware, we do not have anything like this in Canada, but I could be wrong. I think that a law like this is a knee-jerk reaction to technology that scares people and it is a little like using bubble gum to patch a hole in the Hoover Dam! There is always going to be something new and a new way to communicate. Kids are also much more internet savvy that many people would like to believe. I found out about proxy servers from a student who knew how to get around the blocks put in place at our school. They will find a way if they want to and now they are proposing that librarians need to police inventive and motivated students! (Find complete article here)

Most of the sites I came across listed child protection as the main concern. This particularly hits home in Saskatchewan as recently there was a case of a teen being abducted by a man and they were caught in Winnipeg. It was not clear how the girl communicated with the man, but it could have been through Facebook or MySpace. So what can schools do? How do we keep them safe at school without hindering their education? Education World suggests the following:

1. A clear policy with a strong focus on educationally valuable use of the Internet -- no "Internet recess." The policy must be supported by curriculum and professional development, and a clear expectation for teachers that all student use of the Internet should be for high quality, well-planned instructional activities.
2.Student education about online safety and responsible use.
3.Effective technical monitoring.
4.Appropriate consequences. Schools and districts should consider a full review of Internet use management policies and practices. A needs assessment and evaluation of Internet use would provide helpful insight. Safe school personnel must be involved in that process.

Education World also has guidelines for what students can do when they are using the internet and Social Networks:

* Be kind to others. Think how you would feel if someone posted similar things about you.
* Think before you post. Material posted in these communities is public, could damage your reputation, or could be used to harm you. It is not private!
* Take steps to protect yourself and others from bullying and harassment. Report concerns to the Web site and to a trusted adult.
* Report to an adult if someone posts threats of violence or self-harm. Such threats could be real threats. Don't post threats yourself. Someone might take you seriously.
* Develop "stranger danger" detection skills. People online might not be who they seem to be. Develop a safety plan for meeting online friends that is approved by your parent.
* Stop the predators. If you have been contacted by someone you think might be a sexual predator, report it to a trusted adult.

Pros and Cons of SNS

2008-03-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I would try and divide my thoughts on SNS into pros and cons of using this Web 2.0 tool in schools. I found a lot of opinions and ideas about SNS, so it seemed to be a logical way to conquer and divide the information.

PROs:

One of the first sites that I came across was a pdf document called “Teen & Social Networking in School & Public Libraries: A Toolkit for Librarians and Library Workers” written by Young Adult Library Services Association. It is a 10 page document that explains exactly what a Social Networking Site is: “software that enables people to connect, collaborate and form virtual communities via the computer and/or Internet. Social networking web sites are those that provide this opportunity to interact. Sites that allow visitors to send emails, post comments, build web content and/or take part in live chats are all considered to be social networking sites.”

The YALSA suggests that SNS can be used as an area for teens to be able to reflect on their own learning, communicate with teachers (and librarians), to get feedback from educators, parents and peers and also to create a sense of community outside of the physical environment of the school. I do agree that teenagers may feel that this is something they know and feel comfortable with, so it may appeal to them in ways that traditional interaction cannot accomplish.

The YALSA also lists the following benefits for SNS:

Developmental Assets & Social Networking
When schools and libraries help teens use
social networking tools safely and smartly, they
also help teens meet their developmental assets
as defined by the Search Institute. (www.searchinstitute.
org) For example when teens:

Learn how to use blogs, wikis, and My
Space sites within an educational context
they learn about boundaries and
expectations.
Are able to use social networking tools in
learning they have a commitment to
learning.
Have the opportunity to communicate with
peers, experts, authors, etc. via online social
networking they develop social & cultural
competence.
Work with adults and peers on developing
social network sites and teaching how to use
these sites they are empowered.
Have a voice in the future of the school or
the library they gain a sense of personal
identity and value.
See how librarians and teachers use social
networks they are presented with role models.

A study done by Ellison, Steinfeld & Lamp for The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication concentrated on looking at “the relationship between the use of Facebook… and the formation and maintenance of social capital.” The authors found there was a positive outcome for college students who use Facebook in terms of their self-image and esteem. “Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.” And that use of the internet alone did not necessarily help the esteem issues, but the use of Facebook did. The authors also suggest that the use of Facebook may also help other people with their social capital; “In addition to helping student populations, this use of technology could support a variety of populations, including professional researchers, neighborhood and community members, employees of companies, or others who benefit from maintained ties.”

Uses for SNS in Schools

2008-03-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

The YALSA provided me with several ideas about how teachers could use SNS in schools and why they could be beneficial:

A math teacher has students serve as scribes on
class blogs. Students post notes, visuals, formulas,
activities and comments related to each day’s lesson.
They also post reflections about their learning at least
once before each test. Using the technology in this
way gives students the chance to process learning
and as a result better understand the content.
See http://pc4sw06.blogspot.com/
A school uses blogging software to publish its
newspaper. The blog format allows for timely
publication and the ability to make updates easily.
This format also allows for comments from readers
and easy navigation to archived stories. Publication
costs are minimal (no color print costs!) and there is
no limit to the length of the paper, allowing for more
student participation. See
www.uni.uiuc.edu/gargoyle/
An author creates a blog as a way to reflect on the reading and writing experience. Teens
who enjoy the author’s work keep up on what the author is writing and thinking through the blog. The author blog is used as a research source and as a way to communicate with the author about books, reading, and writing.
See www.sparksflyup.com/weblog.php
Two biology teachers in different parts of the country are working with students on the topic
of water quality and ecology. The teachers create a joint wiki for the unit of study. As
students find information on the topic, they post to the water quality wiki findings,
observations, and useful resources. Together students build an online resource (their own
encyclopedia) on the topic.
A high school student creates a My
Space site for a British poet she needs
to study. As she gathers information,
she enters it into the poet’s My Space
profile. She uses the blog function to
post the poems she analyzes. Before
long, other MySpace authors and poets
(some real, some not) befriend her
poet. They comment on what is written
and lead the student to more
resources. The student has to adopt
the persona of her poet and imagine
what the poet’s responses might
actually be.

Social Networking Sites

2008-03-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Web 2.0 tool we are assigned to investigate this week is one of the only tools I feel totally comfortable with using and talking about – personally. Professionally, I have not used any Social Networking Sites in my classroom or school and I found a lot of information that highlighted the pros and cons of using SNS’s in schools.

Personal Experience:

I signed up for Facebook more than a year ago. I started taking notice of it when the school division blocked MySpace and the students started using Facebook. I also saw two different segments on CanadaAM and a CBC program that talked about Facebook as the “new internet craze”. It was thought to be more of a networking site for adults as opposed to MySpace which some felt was more popular with teens. I noticed all of these things in a one week span and I was curious, so I signed up.

I really liked the privacy controls- even though I am aware that there are some issues with privacy- and I liked the whole idea of sharing my life and interests with my friends. It would be easier to keep up-to-date with friends and family with a SNS than with traditional email, MSN, etc. I was never a very reliable letter/email writer and most of my friends aren’t either, so this has been a wonderful tool to keep in contact with everyone. I also loved the fact that I contacted people I hadn’t seen since high school or university. I quickly added many friends and I was able to see what they were doing with their lives.

I like to see photos that my friends put up and I like to share my photos with them as well. There are privacy controls that one must be aware of, but it’s pretty simple and I don’t put anything up that would allow anyone to invade my privacy. I also like “The Wall” and posting messages to the private inbox. Cindy and I organized our whole wiki using Facebook and we continue to communicate that way.

I’m sure that more than one person will complain about the silly requests that people get from their friends to add fun applications; I also find most of them very annoying, but what’s the harm in a little fun? Yes, I have some friends that have so many applications, it takes about 10 minutes to load their profile page and they send me about five requests a day, but it takes about 20-30 seconds to ignore them, so I don’t get too fussed up about them. I take longer to go through my junk mail on email. Some applications can be fun- like Scrabulous. I also like the ability to be able to personalize my profile page with things that I enjoy such as favourite television shows (with quotes and pictures) and other things that interest me. I do find that I have to “clean up” my profile every now and then because I don’t use all of the features. In my busy day, Facebook provides about 10 minutes of fun and I don’t usually have to think too hard- unless I’m playing Scrabulous with Cindy!! I don’t believe that it was ever meant to be a serious tool; it was meant to be a form of communication with entertainment. It is a just a bit of fun!

Voicethread

2008-03-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Using Voicethread

The media sharing site that I chose to investigate was Voicethread. I had a look at the Jumpcut site and at first glance, it appeared to be very similar to YouTube with the added bonus of being able to edit the video using the site. I felt that because of the simiarity to YouTube, I would look at Voicethread instead.

The moment I went onto the Voicethread site, I was intrigued. A site that allows you to both share photos and allow you to record a commentary that goes along with the photo! My immediate thought was that it would be great for personal photos. I must admit I didn’t really start thinking about the educational purposes right away- that came a few days later when I was thinking about my blog.

I found the sign-up process really straight forward and simple. Some sites that require sign-up want to know more information than a passport application! It was easy and I had an account in less than five minutes. I also found the tutorials really informative and I got to see a voicethread in action, which helped when I had to think about how I would use the site, both personally and professionally. My only problem was to figure out the subject of my own voice thread. I had originally thought that I would take some pictures of my dog and my parents’ dogs (I was home for Easter weekend) and do a mini biography for them. When I went to upload the pics, I had a bit of trouble (still don’t know why) and I saw that one could upload from Facebook. I have several pictures of my dog, Paddy, on Facebook and they were already organized in an album dedicated to him, so I thought that would be easier. I connected to my Facebook account and uploaded the pictures without any problems and it was extremely quick. You can also connect with other sites such as Flickr.

The actual process took very little time and the steps are very clear. My biggest problem was being interrupted while I was recording or making mistakes. I always have that problem when I have to record things- I am much better live!

The link to my Voicethread presentation is here. Please let me know if there is a problem with the link. I am not really clear on how to share files without emailing them or adding everyone in the class as my friends. I am crossing my fingers that this will work!

Using Voicethread in the Classroom

As I mentioned earlier, I thought that Voicethread would be an excellent tool to use for personal photos. When I thought about how I would use it in the classroom, I had a bit of trouble. I initially thought it would be an awesome tool for students to create story books or as a tool to help with creative writing. Students could use their own pictures and create a plot with characters to share with their classmates, teachers, parents and others. When I started doing research about using Voicethreads, I came across the wiki called The Connected Classroom that talked about digital story telling. There are links on the site that explains the concept and thinking behind using various tools for oral and digital story telling. It also has many examples of voicethreads and digital stories.

Beyond digital story telling, I was a bit stumped about what I could use Voicethreads for in my own teaching. I thought about using it for history; scanning and uploading historical pictures and adding a commentary. But, using pictures that aren’t your own brings up the copy right issue and I don’t believe it would be good to encourage copyright violation. As I kept on reading various sites, I found a blog by a technology manager in Maine called The TechKnow Blog. He lists the following suggestions for using Voicethread in the classroom:

ev--> In Lower School, classes can use Voicethread with their own class pictures to create a audio/visual newsletter. Especially in the younger grades where students cannot write yet, this would be a great tool for the kids to use in order to better express themselves.

-->In Science classes, students could use Voicethread to document an experiment - a kind of visual lab report.

-->In Math, students could use Voicethread to narrate their way through solving a math problem in order to demonstrate their understanding.

-->In English class, they can put original poems or short stories to pictures.

-->In Art class, Voicethread can be use a tool to reflect on their work.

-->In Foreign Language, kids can create stories or tours using Flickr images and narrate them in their language.

-->In History, they could use use flickr images in a digital narration of a historical event.

I could see myself assigning the kids to do an experiment and have them document it on Voicethread. It would free up some classtime and make it a bit more exciting for kids to find, perform and record their labs. Sometimes ordinary labs and experiments need a bit of spice or something different and this could be it. Each student could do a different experiment and share it with their classmates.

There are also really interesting links on the blog that connect you to sites that deal with using Voicethread in art classes, elementary schools and story telling. I spent a great deal of time looking at this blog and the links. Very interesting reading.

I found a lot of sites and information about using Voicethread in elementary schools. One of the best sites I found was Talkabout Primary MFL blog; I found it had a lot of ideas for the primary grades. I must say that I did have a lot of trouble finding sites with suggestions for the secondary level.

Reflections:

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I found my opinion of this Web 2.0 tool running to the personal side. I have many pictures that I would like to share with my friends and family that live far away. It is a way for me to connect with them in a different way. I used to send pictures to them with typed comments, but I feel that by having my voice recorded, it is in someway a bit more personal and adds a new dimension to media sharing. I am actually going to make a Voicethread presentation of a variety of pictures and send them to my granny in BC. She is in a care home and I have not been able to get out and see her as much as I would like. I have arranged for my uncle to bring his computer to show her and it will be really special I think. I also have a few pictures of different vacations I’ve been on and I would like to create a presentation with commentary for those photos as well. I have big plans!

As for using this tool in my classroom, I’m not entirely convinced that it would be beneficial enough for me to use. In all honesty, I’m not sure that it wouldn’t take too much time to organize a project like this and present them to the class. I don’t see this being as useful to my teaching as other tools that I have used and investigated. I mentioned that I would be able to have students perform their own experiemnts, but I think that the time involved in organizing the experiment, the materials and explaining the process (of both the experiement and Voicethread) would be too time consuming. It is not one of my "Must Use" new tools.

I can see that it would be useful for PD. It would be a good way of sharing information with other teachers. You could take pictures of lessons, have examples of work and have a way of orally explaining what was happening. I think that it could be a good way for teachers to collaborate and exchange ideas.

That's what I think about Voicethread! Katie

P.S. Please forgive any typos, sentence errors, etc. I am writing this post after a lovely turkey dinner with my extended family and I think the chemicals are kicking in! Happy Easter to everyone!

2008-03-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

Connection to Learning and Personal Reflection:

After careful consideration, I think that the benefit to learning is more for the teacher than for the student. I could see this being used in a classroom as a teaching tool, but I think that personally I would prefer to use a wiki for professional development.

I think that wikis could be used in a classroom as an on-going project that could span a long period of time, such as a semester or term. Student could be required to add their own research, thoughts, or questions to the class wiki and have it as a way to change up the learning process. Instead of being passive about the learning, they could be active and actually initiate or control the process. I could see this working in a few subjects.

To me the benefit of wikis can be found in the opportunity for professional development and professional collaboration. This is my fifth online course from the University of Alberta and I find that by far, the most beneficial aspect for me is the discussion portion of every course.
When I started my graduate studies, I had only been a TL for one whole school year; before that I had only been a classroom teacher for two years. I was still thinking like an undergraduate in many ways and I was very unsure of myself and what I was doing in the library. I found that my first couple of courses enabled me to ask questions of other teachers and TLs from around the province and country and to compare my practices to other librarians. I found out that I was not way off the mark and most of what I was doing was correct. The confidence that gave me was and is indescribable! I compare the online discussion in our WebCT to wikis. The ability to read, respond and question other professionals in the same area is extremely useful to me. Even though I don’t feel that I need to respond to every post or topic, I do read them all and I learn something new just about every day- I found that responding to questions or topics on the wiki was very similar to the discussion process in the course.

Now that I have a few years under my belt, I feel that I have some useful things to say; things I have learned from my own experiences and things that I have read or discussed in my courses. It is an awesome thing! I know that some of the wikis (and blogs) that I have come across during my research for this particular class will be permanently in my bookmark tool (actually on my del.icio.us account now as well). The potential for collaboration cannot be understated and to people (like myself) who don’t get to do a whole lot of one-on-one collaboration with fellow teacher librarians, I think that this provides the perfect vehicle for just that. I will be spreading the word!

I want to share some interesting information I found on the Boston College website. It addresses the advantages of using wikis in the classroom. I think that one could also apply these benefits to teachers as well. The list of benefits for collaboration learning is:

"Learning from others. Collaborative authoring allows students to learn from one another – both in terms of viewing each other’s content but also by seeing the quality of other students’ work. In a traditional classroom, a student writes a paper, the teacher grades it, and then returns it to the student. Other students rarely have the opportunity to see and therefore learn from the information in that paper. Seeing other students’ work on a continuous basis can cause a student to evaluate his or her own work and see how it compares in quality. The comparison may cause the student to raise his or her work to a higher level.

Developing a higher level of critical thinking. Students can develop critical thinking skills by critiquing other students’ information and learning how to defend their views when critiqued by other students.

Deepening investigative skills. Working collaboratively on one document can encourage a student to do more investigative work. When information is critiqued as incorrect or underdeveloped, the author is encouraged to do additional research to respond to the critiques.

Developing skills for negotiating conflict and facilitating effective teamwork. Professors at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi found that working on a wiki helps co-authors negotiate conflict. In Wiki As a Collaborative Writing Tool, they write that “conflict … is an inherent part of the collaborative process…Wikis provide a means to negotiate conflict and to build upon the positive aspects of conflict. In writing and working collaboratively with wikis, users must create and agree on the structures, forms, and methods that are necessary to accomplish their collaborative task….[The] required negotiation of space can lead to a better understanding of the social processes that underlie any collaborative activity. In these ways, wikis not only build constructive communities of writers, but also accommodate differences among members of these communities, which in turn can allow all voices to contribute to the conversation.”

Building a class community. "

© Boston College 2007

The site has many more benefits, but this entry would be a little long if I included them all! I think that as a profession that likes to encourage life-long learning, wikis could be one of the greatest tools we have to achieve that goal. Everything on this site is directed at students, but it could be applied to teachers or just about any profession.

Conclusion:

I think that wikis have become my favourite Web 2.0 tool- in case you couldn’t tell. It is not really for the teaching aspects, but for my own personal learning and professional growth. I find that speaking with people who are in similar situations and have been there before is one of the best ways for me to learn and grow as both a classroom teacher and a teacher librarian. Long live the Wiki!!

That is what I think about wikis- please excuse the gushing!
Katie

Wiki Madness!

2008-03-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

I seem to have Wiki on the brain these days! I’m going to try and do this week’s blog entry in a couple of small parts rather than a large one, as Cindy and I are working away creating our wiki for the class next week. I had one of those moments where my brain seemed to fail me for a few minutes- I said “my brain seems to be full”. No more information please!

I have found that many of the blogs that I have discovered in the course of doing these weekly blog posts also have wikis- like the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. I also found out from the Cool Cat Teacher blog that the term “wiki” is Hawaiian and it means “quickly”. I wasn’t aware that it meant anything at all- I figured it was one of those internet words that just sounds cool. One more thing for the brain! I knew that the term “wiki” has to be related to www.wikipedia.org, but I wasn’t quite sure how- after a little time on Google, I found out!

As with most of my Web 2.0 research, I started- where else?- wikipedia . That site provided me with a very clear definition for the term “wiki”:

“A wiki is software that allows users to easily create, edit, and link pages together. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. These wiki websites are often also referred to as wikis; for example, Wikipedia is one of the best known wikis”.

I have to admit that after looking at a few wikis, I feel they are very similar to blogs- there is a post and people are encouraged to respond. The main difference being that blogs are more of a vehicle for individuals to express their opinions and the readers can leave their feedback, comments or questions to the author. The public can see these comments, but there is not usually a whole lot of interaction. Wikis provide a similar opportunity, but instead of just one person sharing their thoughts and opinions, they encourage many people to contribute and it is more of an actual dialogue between the readers, or contributors.

This past week I have only had the opportunity to respond to group 1’s wiki space- I will go to group 2 after I complete this post- and Cindy and I are still organizing ours, but we have yet to add anything to it. I found the whole process quite easy. The first time I tried to edit the site a little red message popped up and said that Ronda was editing the page and I should try back in 5 minutes. I was wondering how they would do that, as there could be a lot of people trying to edit the same page. I actually waited 10 minutes and I had no problems. Very simple. It was encouraging to see that because I was a little apprehensive about creating our wiki. It seems to work in a very similar way to creating or editing a blog post.

I just wanted to share my initial thoughts on wikis before the weekend got too far away from me. I am going to have a peek at the next group’s page and see if I can’t fit more into this head of mine!

That's what I think of wikis- so far... Katie

P.S. My new library program is great and I think that it accounts for the lack of brain function this week- lots of new things to learn!!

Virtual School Libraries

2008-03-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

Starting Out

At the beginning of this course we heard a list of Web 2.0 tools in Joyce Valenza’s podcast. I mentioned that I had heard of all of them, but that was about it. Virtual school libraries were one of those mysterious tools that I had heard about, but didn’t know much about. In my mind I thought they were websites with lists of e-books or maybe even a new, fancy name for an iPAC. I wasn’t really sure. I was pleasantly surprised when I did some investigating and found out exactly what they were!
So, what exactly is a Virtual School Library. I put this term into my Google search engine and I found a number of site, but one seemed to sum up or define it in terms that seemed to make sense to me:

“This information on this site will be useful to teachers, teacher-librarians, administrators, and students as they incorporate information technology into the curriculum in their schools. Tips and guides for search engines and power searching should make your Internet searching more productive. The Computers in Education section deals with some of the current issues in technology integration in the curriculum: plagiarism, intellectual property and copyright, Internet addiction, and girls and computers. You will also find lesson plans for K-12 sites, and local education links. The WebQuest page contains both theory and relevant WebQuest curriculum links. The Virtual School Library was designed for secondary students to be their home reference library.” Holly Gunn- Halifax Regional School Board

I really liked how Gunn summed up all of the information that I had been reading on various sites. Some sites differed- some were more student-oriented and some were for teachers, but they all seemed to have similar qualities. Most of the sites I looked at had tips on using search engines effectively, access to an iPAC, copyright and plagiarism information, citation instructions and information, and access to useful links. Some sites were very plain and to the point, like the Birch Lane website and others were very eye catching and had extra information, like Joyce Valenza’s site. I think that both would be useful to the average student or teacher.

Implications for Teaching

I have found the research for this blog post very useful for not only the assignment, but for my own school library. I am currently entering a period of great change in my library. Starting on Monday, I will be having a whole new LAS installed- the data conversion has taken place and the IT guys are going to be over to install the new system. I think that people think that I am a bit strange because I’m like a kid at Christmas!! I really hate my current system (Library World) and I’m very excited to get my new program (L4U). I was on the committee that helped chose the new program for the whole division, so I also feel very involved and a bit like I have some ownership of this choice. This will be the first time that I will have an iPAC available for students and teachers to use and I’m very excited.
I have also joined forces with one of the Information Processing teachers to design a new library website. We are going to have two sections of IP create a version of the website and I will choose one to have as the official site. I will be in her classroom on Monday or Tuesday to present my information to her students so they can get started. It kills two birds with one stone because I don’t have the time to create a whole site from scratch and the teacher was complaining that the students take so long to come up with an idea or subject for their websites- problem solved.
I did have the whole thing somewhat built in my mind, but after seeing these Virtual School Libraries, I think that I am going to have to sit down tonight and rethink what I want. I am more inclined to create more of a virtual library than just another website. I want to go through many of the examples and see what I would like to include on my site. One site that I really admire is Angela Langadar’s VSL. It appears to have been designed as an assignment for EDES 545 and I have been a classmate of Angela in my last course and admire her input and ideas. I would encourage everyone who is interested in creating their own VSL to have a look at Angela’s site.
Professional Development
The whole idea of a Virtual School Library is wonderful, but it will only take off if teachers buy into the concept and use it. I am currently involved with a group of t-ls from my division who are trying to create a PD presentation for teachers on effective resource-based learning and to provide them with ideas and tools they can use with their students. If I am able to have the VSL ready in time, I would also like to be able to include it with our information and encourage teachers to have their students use it for their research projects. In Janet Murray’s article “Teachers Teach; Teachers Learn” she talks about strategies for PD within the school and I particularly like the idea of becoming a teacher-mentor. She states the qualities needed for a teacher-mentor:

“Effective technology instructors serve as mentors to those they teach. Ideal mentors have very specific characteristics, abilities and personality traits:
They should be peers of those they are training, i.e. classroom teachers or building library/media specialists.
They should be effective teachers, capable of "translating" technical information into language which can be readily understood by novices.
They should be patient tutors able to provide over-the-shoulder training without succumbing to the temptation to take over the keyboard.
They should be available by telephone or fax for followup questions, and promptly responsive to those questions.”

I think that many t-ls would be performing these duties already, without even knowing it. I would like to think that I do all four of those duties both in my t-l role and as a classroom teacher.

VSL could provide teachers with a great tool for learning and provide t-ls with a fantastic opportunity to become a mentor and provide informal PD for teachers who can sometimes be resistant to it.

That's what I think about Virtual School Libraries. Katie

P.S. Here is a link to another great VSL.

Reflections- Take 2

2008-02-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a new link to my podcast- it was brought to my attention that the previous link did not work, so I tried again.

I hope that it works now!

(My mum helped me!)

Katie

Audio Reflections

2008-02-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to my podcast. I'm not sure that anyone outside of this class will appreciate this particular podcast!

Enjoy!

That's what I think about podcasting!!
Katie

Do I want to be a Podcaster?

2008-02-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

This week's topic for the blog is another Web 2.0 tool that I've never used before- totally new. Even though I had listened to Joyce Valenza's podcast at the beginning of the course, I really didn't know exactly what it was all about.

I started my research by looking up the actual term "podcast". I found the following definition on www.wikipedia.org:" A podcast is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers. The term, like "radio", can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster." It confirmed what I thought it was and I was interested to see that it is compared to a radio. It seems like we are going a bit retro! I also found it interesting to see that the actual term was created or introduced by Apple and the iPod- duh?! It's just one of those terms that is used so often, I didn't really stop to think about the origins.

Use for teaching (Before Research):

When I sat down to think about when and where I would use this tool in my own classroom, I couldn't really come up with a scenario. Personally, I am a person who listens to things in the background and picks up pieces here and there. I am also a person who has to see, read or discuss things to really learn them and I feel that the majority of my students are the same way.

I could see podcasts being used for something like online courses or WebCT, but the only thing that I would use it for would be for students to report findings for projects. I could also see myself using this for a tool for students who have a learning disability and need to have my "lectures" recorded.

I did ask ask a couple of my colleagues about this tool and whether they would consider using it in their classes. One of the teachers, who teaches English thought that she might use it for doing things like Reader Theatre. The French teacher was a bit more excited because she felt that she could (and might) use it for oral tests or assignments. It is a very time-consuming process for her and she felt that she could use the MP3 format to have students record and submit their tests and she could evaluate them later and free up more class time for instruction. For either purpose, I'm not sure that they would need to actually have the file on a website- they could just hand it in electronically or email it to her. Some interesting responses that I never thought of!

Without doing more research, this would be one tool, I don't see myself using on a regular basis.

Use for Teaching (After Research):

After looking at a few websites that discuss the use of podcasts in education, I can see there are many more possibilities. Darcy Norman has a blog entry entitled "Podcasting for Education" and he has many suggestions for using this tool- although I do find that many of them would be more useful for post-secondary students Vs. secondary school. A couple of suggestions that caught my eye had to do with interviews and guest speakers- it is suggested that interviews with experts and presentations with guest speakers could be recorded and then put on a site so that the class (and future classes) could be able to access them at any time and go over the information repeatedly. I could see myself wanting to do this in the future.

Another area that I totally over-looked- and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it- is to use podcasts to create audio files of books!! I came across and article by Kathy Ishizuka in the School Library Journal that outlines using podcasts for this purpose. I think that she is talking more about elementary schools, but I could see this working in a secondary setting as well. Sometimes it is extremely hard to find audio recordings of novels for students with disabilities and this could be an option. I will have to practice my "radio" voice! :)

I would also like to share this website that I came across for anyone who is interested. I came across it when I was researching and it has heaps of links to articles about using podcasts in education. There are too many for me to mention here, but I would suggest that if you are interested in using podcasts in your own program to have a look! Very interesting!

Reflections:

I will try and create my own podcast using my personal reflections as the topic. I am having a little bit of trouble with it, which I will discuss in my next post, but I have to send a shout out to my brother Nick, who is going to help me out! I'm sure I'm in capable hands.

Until next time....

Katie

Sorry...

2008-02-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I just realized I forgot to add the link to my del.icio.us account!

Here it is:
http://del.icio.us/Katons

Social Bookmarking Part 2

2008-02-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

Using del.icio.us

Well I signed up for a del.icio.us account last week and I have found the basic set up quite easy and user friendly. I was able to install the icons into my web browser and had no problems accessing it. I started using it mainly this weekend. I didn’t have a lot of time during the week to play around with it, but I was able to spend some time on the weekend.

I have been planning a trip, with my cousin, to Britain in 2010. It has been a life-long dream of mine to go and see the sites of Britain. I am a huge history buff and I have been dying to see some of the historical sites. Both my cousin and I are HUGE Jane Austen fans- of both the books and the films, so we also want to see a bit of that. We were speaking on the phone on the weekend and it occurred to me that del.icio.us would be a great tool to use when planning this particular trip! In fact it was one of the suggestions on the help page. We were able to go to various web sites and the ones that were interesting to us we could tag in del.icio.us. I wasn’t able to spend as much time looking at my trip stuff, as I do have other things to get to- like this blog- but I did manage to get four or five good sites on my account.
I was also able to find a couple of teacher-librarian sites through a search on del.icio.us and I tagged a few of those as well.

I must confess that I have not had as much time as I would like to have to look and play around with all of the features, but I plan to in the future. I tried to organize the tags into groups, but I think that I did it wrong- I think that I should have only used one-word tags for my trip website to make it easier. I also have not been able to subscribe to any networks or other accounts. Maybe I will look on my classmates’ blogs and try to subscribe to a few of theirs. My only complaint with this tool is that it does try and help people out with instructions, but it seems a bit complicated and time consuming. I do intend to go back and have a look at the help section and see what I can find out, but all in good time. Maybe I’m just a bit thick to figure this one out!!

Implications for Teaching:

I do see myself using this tool as both a t-l and as a class room teacher. I would like to set up a different account as a teacher though, and have one for strictly personal purposes and professional purposes. I am not comfortable with students having access to my personal spaces on the internet- I never have been- maybe that is just me, but I don’t feel the need to share all of my plans and business with staff and students. I will create an account that staff and students can access and I will place the link on my resource centre website.

I have many sites that I use in my classroom that would help my students with their work. Some of the sites have tutorials, practice assignments and pictures or videos of things that could help them with their understanding of particular concepts. As I’ve said in earlier postings, I usually end up using a projector to show these sites and it would be quite handy to have the students be able to go to a lab or at home and look at these sites.

I would also like to see my students creating their own accounts and tagging their own sites. While I was tagging my sites for my trip, I thought it would be a great assignment for students to create their own accounts that tagged sites they found interesting or helpful and to explain in the tag why they wanted to save the site. I’m not sure if it would work or not, but I would like to find out. I could use social bookmarking sites as a type of learning journal and even devote some time in class for the students to use the internet and find the sites they would like to use. The only con with this idea would be that my students are not terribly self-driven and I can foresee many, many questions of, “is this what you want us to use?” being asked.

In the December 2007 issue of Teacher-Librarian there is an article by David Loertscher (P.14-17) where he discusses the benefits of students constructing their own information spaces on the internet. (Children, teens, and the construction of information spaces). He believes that it is beneficial for students to create their own spaces, but they need us to help them organize these spaces and direct them towards learning. I was struck by the following excerpt: “For years we have built computer systems on the idea that ‘if you build it, they will come.’ Well, they came, but instead of staying, they worked around it because of their needs in social networking. Instead, we propose that: ‘If THEY build it, they will LEARN.’ Learn what? Children and teens will not only learn how to construct a learning space, but in doing so, will surround themselves with tools that will help them learn.” So, maybe instead of creating a collection of sites for my students- they could create their own collection and give it to me. Would they learn more from just reading mine or from creating their own? After being a student again, I don’t think that I would learn as much by reading about Web 2.0 tools as I would actually trying them and using them for myself! I certainly didn’t learn a lot from just reading the help section of del.icio.us. I had to actually use the tool before I found out how it works. I still don’t know how to use it completely, but I’m sure that after using the help page and making a few mistakes, I’m more likely not to forget how to use it and I’ll probably have a better understanding of del.icio.us in the end. I think that my students would gain more from creating their own bookmarks as well.

Reflections:

I am currently reading the course materials on Topic 2- Professional Development and I am struck by some of the readings. As I mentioned in the previous blog, this is the first tool that I had not used at all. I didn’t know anything about it and had to start from scratch. Many teachers that I work with don’t use computers at all and are very intimidated by it. I felt a little intimidated by the tool as well and I couldn’t help thinking that a PD session on Web 2.0 would help teachers. The link to Michigan State University’s Big 10 Ideas has a quote that sums up what I believe about learning new things, such as del.icio.us, etc. They state: “teachers are also learners, and through integration of the Internet into their classroom activities, they can broaden their experiences, connect and benefit from the experiences of other teachers, learn about new ways of teaching, and reflect on their own teaching practice.”

By posting to my blog every week I am finding that I am examining my own teaching techniques and practices in a way that I haven’t done since my undergrad days. I am re-evaluating my program and the way that I present information, create assignments and evaluate students. I think that this revelation has come because of the learning that I have had to do and the information that I am reading in this course. In the past, I have only just related my experiences, but now I find myself reflecting- without being forced to! J

I’ve gotten a bit off topic, but I’m having one of those days (and weeks). That is what professional development should do! It has been great!

That`s what I think about Social Bookarking! Katie

Social Bookmarking Part 1

2008-02-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try and split my blog up a bit, so it is not so long. Divide and conquer!

Social bookmarking is a Web 2.0 tool that I have not had any experience with. I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never personally used it, so this is brand new for me. I looked at three sites - del.icio.us, ma.gnolia, and diigo to try and get a feel for what exactly social bookmarking is.

I chose del.icio.us as the site that I am going to use and create an account with. I chose this particular site because of their help section and because it was the original social bookmarking site that actually coined the phrase, "social bookmarking". I started the whole process by using Google.ca to find out information about social bookmarking and what exactly it was. I found the About section of del.icio.us to be very helpful. It explained exactly what social bookmarking was, why I would want to use it, how to use it and examples of how others have used it. There is also a great Help section that has answers and tips on just about every aspect of the site. I like that there is a section on more advanced features- for people who want to do more with this tool. If anyone is leaning towards using del.icio.us I would highly recommend looking at this site. It would even be helpful for anyone wanting to know more about social bookmarking in general.

I am a person who uses my web browser’s bookmarking feature a lot. I have many sites that are either important for my work or that I think would be useful for students and teachers. Of course the limitation for that tool is that it is only good for my computer and unless I speak to the teacher or student, they won’t know about it. This topic is quite timely for me as I am currently in the process of re-doing the website for the resource centre. The previous one was quite dated and many of the links did not work anymore. I am trying to put together a collection of links for staff and students to help them with their work. It would be great to have a link to my del.icio.us account instead and then I can keep the list updated- as I don’t believe I will always have access to the server for the website.

I also found the potential to use these sites as research tools very appealing. I can see the benefit of this as a student myself and a teacher. So often when I am researching and looking at many different sites with so much information it is easy to lose track of what exactly I have read. I am going to try and do some research on a topic- something fun like going on a vacation- and see exactly how it works and if it would be a good tool to use or not.

I’ll report back with my findings in a couple of days! I am actually very excited about trying this new tool out!

Until next time…

Katie

I saw it on YouTube...

2008-02-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

Once again I began the research into video sharing sites by reflecting on my own experiences with them- I think that this will be my MO for these blog entries!

General Observations:

I was only really familiar with YouTube for video sharing. I have had an account for a number of years, but I only really used it for my own entertainment. It was about a year ago that I began to see its potential for teaching. It began when the Mentos and Diet Coke craze started; I was in the middle of teaching my chemistry unit and we were discussing catalysts and how they affected the rates of reactions. I had heard about the Mentos and Diet Coke on CanadaAM and that there were many more videos on YouTube. I found out for myself and then set up a digital projector in my class room and we were able to view a number of different people doing this experiment. (Side Note: in case you haven’t seen this, the powder on the Mentos reacts with the Diet Coke and it shoots the coke very high into the air- like a geyser. If you want to see it for yourself, just type the words “Mentos” and “Diet Coke” in the search engine.) After we watched a few of them, we were able to discuss what had happened and we actually went outside and did the experiment ourselves.
I am also going to use YouTube next year when I teach Science 10 because there is an experiment called Liquid Ice, where you take Sodium Acetate and water, boil them up together, and refrigerate. When it comes out of the fridge it is a liquid, but as soon as you touch it, the liquid turns into a solid block of ice. Very cool! One of my students showed me this one and I’m very excited to try it.
I also recently used YouTube for an assignment on Extreme Weather events. My students were asked to research an event and create some kind of presentation for me. Only one group chose to do a video on blizzards. We had been having problems with our server at school and they were afraid that the Assignment In folder would be out of commission, so they suggested that instead of taking a chance, they could just post it on YouTube and I could see it there. It turned out to be a great idea and they did a pretty good job- I don’t think that they are going to win an Oscar anytime soon, but it was a good effort nonetheless. Please feel free to have a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEDhWIJTuS4 . I’m not sure about the bloopers; I can’t vouch for the language in it!! We ended up having to use a DVD in the end anyway for the presentation because I didn’t realize that our division had blocked YouTube and we are not supposed to use it anymore- I will discuss what I think on this topic later in this blog! L I do have permission to show this video and it is on YouTube for all to see, but I thought I should cover my bases anyway.
When it came time for me to research video sharing sites, I had trouble finding information on the benefits for education and learning. I may have been looking in the wrong places and soon I will have my classmates’ blogs to read and learn from, but the majority of the sites I found were warnings against using YouTube (that was the site most cited). I did find one site that mentioned other beneficial uses of videos in the class room, but side-steps the issue of video sharing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEDhWIJTuS4 . I like the author’s thoughts about using video as a new “report”. Instead of having students write reports, videos can be a new way of presenting information. I have done many research assignments that use presentations as the final product and I always find that the students who do videos have way more fun doing the assignment and have the best product. The rest of the class is always entertained and they usually remember the information presented in a video rather than an oral report or even a PowerPoint presentation. I also find that the students who know they are doing a video are way more enthusiastic about doing the research, planning the video and creating the finished project! They really love to do the assignment! Shocking!
I went to TeacherTube to have a snoop around- I had never heard of it before this course. What an awesome site!! I signed up immediately. I spoke of using photo sharing sites as a way for teachers to share resources with other teachers in my previous blog, but this may be even better! I know that I will be using this site for gathering information for my own use and I will be telling all of the teachers I can about it. I spent about an hour poking around and I have found a few things for just about every subject. One of the best things is the French content. We have a fully bilingual French teacher in our school and she is always looking for ways of exposing her students to French. There are quite a few videos on the site that are done in French- there was actually a weather report about blizzards in French on there too- what a coincidence! I might have to upload my kids’ report to the site!! I also thought that Mrs. Burkes Perimeter Rap was a hoot! If you have a chance, look at it! URL
I am using YouTube and TeacherTube as my main points of reference because I think they are the most popular and the kids will know about YouTube. I know that I would love to continue using this as a tool in my classroom for demonstrations that I am not always able to perform and as a way for students to showcase their work. I know that I would be really excited to see some of my work in cyberspace- heck I was even excited about this blog- so I know that students would be happy for their work to be recognized as well. I think that YouTube or other similar sites will replace the fridge door or classroom wall as one of the best places to display their work!
One good site that I did find in my search was this blog: http://fabricoffolly.blogspot.com/2006/08/top-20-video-sharing-sites-rated.html . It is a blog that Dan Taylor created that rate 20 video sharing sites. I must confess that I didn’t get a chance to visit them all, but I thought the rating system was very helpful.

Concerns and Questions:

#1- My division blocks YouTube and has a ban on all live streaming sites!! What a pain in the butt! Of course I enlisted my little computer savvy students to help me with this problem, but I’m sure I could get in trouble if caught! I now use a proxy server to view YouTube, but they are getting crafty as blocking the proxy sites as well. I may have to use the information I gather from this class to make a plea. The computer teacher and I have had this discussion many times as YouTube is a huge part of the curriculum for his Computer Production and Technology class. I’m gathering stats and information and I will be making a case in a couple of months. The reasoning for blocking this site (and others ) is that our server can’t handle the bandwidth necessary, harrumph! We are getting a new server in two weeks, so I think I will let the dust settle and then see what I can do!
#2- Appropriate Content: I may be using my account and the site for appropriate things, but sometimes the students are a little less genteel.
#3-Parental Permission: Some parents might not feel comfortable with having their children on the internet. We have to have permission for students to have their picture taken for the yearbook, website etc. I’m not really sure what kind of problem this might become in the future, but it concerns me.

In Conclusion...

I think that these sites are an awesome way to gather information, share information, and to present a final product. I plan on expanding my use of these sites in the future- if I am allowed- and who knows maybe I’ll even start a video blog for my students to use and get information about assignments and discussions they may have missed- then there will be NO excuse for not getting their home work done!!
I do have an account on both YouTube and TeacherTube (Username: Katons8 for both), but I don’t own a video camera, so I am not able to upload any video- maybe I’ll ask for one next Christmas! I have subscribed to a few channels on YouTube, but I’ll have to spend more time on TeacherTube and see what’s out there for me and my school. My account link is: http://www.youtube.com/user/Katons8
That’s what I think about video sharing sites! I can’t wait to read what everyone else thinks!! Katie

P.S. I found a good site about Web 2.0 tools and I’ve added it to my blog roll. It’s called Ubernoggin- Check it out!!

Oops!

2008-01-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I forgot to add the link to my photo-sharing site; I thought people could find me by using my username, but when I tried it earlier it didn't work.

Here's the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23201246@N05/

Katie

My thoughts on Photosharing...

2008-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here's what I think about photo-sharing...

Before I tried to do any research on the educational uses or benefits of photo-sharing websites, I sat down and made a list of all of the things I could see a photo-sharing site used for within a school setting. This is what I came up with:

1. Science experiments: kids could do things at home and post their results for the teacher and fellow classmates to see.
2. Weather events: students could capture local weather events and/or experiences and post them for the class to see.
3. Home Ec./Foods classes: students could cook things at home and share recipies and pictures of their completed creations.
4. Cosmetolgoy: students could share the work they have done outside of schools; things they have done for special events or just for fun.

I used my own professional setting to come up with these ideas and I thought about the classes that were offered at my school.

After I made this list, I went on the internet and did a Google search to see what kind of ideas, research and literature there is on this tool. I found a terrific site that talked about promoting "visual literacy". http://www.zardec.net.au/keith/digcam.htm It is a website that has so much information about the use of digital cameras in the classroom and it would really help both student and teacher. The site includes directions on how to use a digital camera, possible uses of cameras in the classroom, pros and cons of using digital photos, cost, buying tips and accessories. There was not much information on using photosharing sites specifically, but it does mention publishing photos to websites. Even though it not really about photosharing, I found it to be a great website for information purposes in getting started with using this technology in the classroom. It discussed using photo-sharing sites in art (I can't believe I didn't think about that one!), social studies, computer science classes (too obvious for my list), english (as a way to start a creative writing piece) and just about every subject taught in school today.

I also stumbled upon a University of Florida site that talks about many of the Web 2.0 tools mentioned in Joyce's podcast from the beginning of this course. One of the links lead me to a discussion of the use of Flickr in the classroom. http://www.citt.ufl.edu/toolbox/toolbox_photoSharing.php This site focused more on the uses for teachers. I was mostly focused on uses for teaching and student learning, but I never really thought about the uses for sharing resources with other teachers. The site had links to discussions about teachers who were looking for class room posters and science experiements. I think that photo sharing sites could be awesome for teachers to exchange and/or request information from other teacher throughout the world.

The last site that I went to was a wiki called Teaching Hacks; http://www.teachinghacks.com/wiki/index.php?title=Photo_Sharing_in_Education this site had heaps of information for teachers. It discusses why and how to use photosharing sites; again Flickr seems to be the site of choice. It also had links to elementary, high school, administrators and higher educational Flickr accounts. I found this to be really interesting because you could look around and see what other teachers are doing. If you have time to look at this site it is very interesting- in respects to both the information and the links to the teachers' sites.

After I did my search, I went back to the information on Topic One in the class notes. I was struck by the quote from Teaching and Learning in the Information Age that said, "Educational telecommunications offer powerful teaching and learning tools that can reshape the educatioal process in classrooms and demand a new set of skills from educators. This technology multiplies the power of modern computers by the power of connectivity, creating as a result, a potentially new approach to teaching." I think that because I have only been teaching for six years, I forget how much technology has changed how we do things in school. Even when I think back to my own educational experience. We use tools such as PowerPoint, digital projectors, DVD's, email, wesites, etc. without really even thinking about it. These are just part of what we do on a day-to-day basis. I think that we, as educators, are on the brink of a technological revolution in education and it is going to be a quick one. Some of us will be ready and some will resist and be afraid of it- I see this in my own school. Photo-sharing sites are only one of these new tools that we can use to enhance our students' learning and I believe soon, everyone will be using the Web 2.0 tools- like PowerPoint et al- without even thinking about it.

In terms of my own teaching, I plan to use this tool more, specifically with my grade 10 science class. This is the only class I teach, so I will be using it for most of my personal veiws and uses for the upcoming tools. There is a weather dynamics unit that I will use a phot-sharing site to illustrate weather events. Right now, I have a collection of pictures that I have taken with my digital camera, such as cummulus clouds taken right before a thunder storm, lightning, etc. that I use a digital projector to show students. Many of my students live on farms or in different areas of the city and many of them travel. I would love for them to be able to take digital photos of weather phenomena and post them to a site with comments. I think that I could get quite a collection and also I think that students would be in to it because it would be their own- they could take ownership.

My Experiences with a Photo-sharing Site

So, I actually went and signed up for a Flickr account. As I mentioned in the previous post, I do have a Ringo account, but I couldn't seem to access it. I did have to create a Yahoo account, but it didn't take long. My only problem with it is now I have another email address, username and password to remember. I uploaded two pictures from my computer and typed some text to describe them. It was relatively easy and I think the whole process only took 10 minutes- including signing up for the Yahoo account.

I think that I will use the Yahoo account and Flickr for the assignment I described above, but only for school purposes. I think that for personal photos, I will stick with Facebook and then my friends can see what I want them to see and my students don't have access to my personal photos.

If any one is interested, my yahoo and flicker account is: bell.katie48.

That's what I think about photo-sharing! Katie

Photosharing

2008-01-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

In anticipation of the next blog entry, I have started looking at photo sharing sites. I did sign up for Ringo a long time ago and today I found that I still have an account, but the site was having problems, so I couldn't navigate my way around. I also went a looked af Flicker because some of my friends use it, but I'll have to create a Yahoo account to use it, so I'll wait and see what Ringo does tomorrow. If I still get the same run-around, I might just take the time and set up a Yahoo account.

Since I have started using Facebook, I have not really looked into any more photo sharing sites, because I can share photos on Facebook and only my friends can see them. I think that Facebook may save a step, because I believe that you have to send out messages and tell your friends that you have added new pictures or they have to have accounts on that site as well. With Facebook, the announcements happen automatically and you already have your friends on the site. You can also add an option where anyone can see your pics if you wish.

I think that I will try one of the sites for this class, but so far I can't really see why I wouldn't continue using Facebook.

That's what I think- for now...
Katie

A new learning curve!

2008-01-21T15:23:00.000-08:00

So, I just got a new computer in December and it has Vista. I am just learning all of it's little quirks and quacks. I just learned how to use the RSS feed on Explorer. It is actually really cool. I think it was on the updated version of Explorer for XP, but this is the first time I have actually used it.

Speaking of XP, my students are learning that things created on Vista will not work with XP unless you save them in the correct way. Lots of scared students looking tired and tearful at the end of the semester! I am trying to get a little presentation together with the division IT guy to help students and teachers, but I foresee a long road ahead.

So, I continue to see what Vista has to offer and hopefully it will only be good things.... I'm not too hopeful!

Katie

My Blog Introduction

2008-01-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

This is my first actual blog post- well a post where I actually have something to say! I chose Blogger because my brother uses it and he told me that it was actually pretty user-friendly and the templates were pretty neat. It's a bit of a lame reason, but it is the truth.

This will be the first time that I have actually used a blog to share my own thoughts. I do tend to use blogs to find out information about questions I have- about all aspects of my life- and to see what other people think. I must admit that I find the idea of blogging a bit daunting, as I'm not sure there are a whole lot of people out there who would be interested in what I have to say. I was thinking that the whole idea of the blog has replaced the idea of a journal and I think this will be a great way for me to reflect on my thoughts and ideas and perhaps get some feedback on them. I will view this blog as my own professional journal and will try and get some of my internal feelings out into cyber space.

I have found a great site that I go to that has blogs for all sorts of areas relating to being a t-l. It is: http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/infolit/libblogs/ it has a great selection of blogs for all levels of school. I stumbled upon this site when I was "google-ing" some information about the AL SC. Some of the blogs are quite funny and the ones that I have seen have great information.

So far, I feel pretty comfortable with the course and the tools that we are being asked to use. I was looking at some of the readings and I am a little bit nervous about some of the things that are coming up, but I have lots of resources and the best resource (I found just last week) are the students that are in my library and classroom every day. I have a couple of student resources picked out already and they have told me that they will help me if I have any trouble. It is very reassuring.

That's what I think for now, but I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later on!
Katie

Welcome!

2008-01-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hello to everyone reading my little piece of cyberspace! I have created this blog for a course that I am taking, but I have a feeling that I may enjoy writing down my thoughts for anyone who wants to listen!

This post is short, but keep checking back because it is going to be pretty interesting soon!

That's what I think! Katie