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I read a poem called See, the library and I read directions to access our online card catalog OPAC at Morristown High School.

Brook

OPAC Directions

A Series of Unfortunate Events- The Bad Beginning

See, the library

I Love Paris

Serenity The State Or Quality Of Being Serene

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Week 10

Blogs, Wikis,...- This chapter was all about using Flickr. I had heard of Flickr and had looked at flickr but because I am not into taking pictures I never explored it further. I am not sure if I like the idea of everyone sharing their photos with the world (my issue is what if someone takes your picture and now they upload it into Flickr?) but it is a nice way of storing your photos, and organizing them! I hate putting photos into albums and then what do you do with the extra pictures? Throw them out? There are only so many pictures that Grandma wants! It is also nice to be able to get pictures from Flickr. If you took a trip or your class is doing a project and you need a nice picture from somewhere you probably can find it on Flickr.

Richardson, the author of the book above feels that Flickr is one of the best sites on the web and that it's educational potential is huge (pg. 100). I had never given much thought to how flickr could be used in a learning environment other than getting some nice photos from someplace other than google images. There are many good ideas for using in a classroom. The first thing that I have to check is to see if whether teachers and students in my building can access it. It really is beginning to dawn on me how being in such a restrictive environment when it comes to technology really thwarts creativity. It would be nice to hear about all of these great uses for technology. I feel a responsibility as a library media specialist to be on the forefront on many of these ideas but as mentioned earlier it gets frustrating to not be able to use so many of the things that I learn about. Even if I can use them sometimes setting up the technology is such a pain that I find myself avoiding it; and forget about getting others to use it!

Again the collaborative nature of Flickr is what makes it such a great learning tool. The ability to connect with students around the world is incredible. This is supposed to be a global economy and yet schools act as though students will be staying in their town for their entire lives. I think the quote on the back of the book from Erica Boling, Asst. Prof. of Literacy Education at Rutgers sums it up quite nicely, " Hits the nail on the head by emphasizing how technology can be used in ways that go beyond one-on-one student use of software programs and teachers use of PowerPoint for presentations. The book emphasizes the collaborative work and learning that can occur when educators take advantage of all that the Internet has to offer." To read more about Dr. Boling's current research which investigates the impact of technology on teaching and learning and how the integration of technology can challenge the fundamental beliefs that educators hold about literacy education click here.

Week 9

No reading for this week.

Week 8

Blogs, Wikis...- I had been introduced to blogging in another class, Current Issues also led by Dr. Joe Martinelli. I wasn't sure how I was going to react to blogging. I had participated in a blog set up by my brother-in-law but wasn't really sure how to set up a blog. Once I set up my account on blogger.com I realized how easy it was. I then used blogging in my technical processes class. Most everyone enjoyed it. I had one concern and that was actually a concern voiced by someone else and that is how can we keep up with all of these blogs. I thought it would be nice to have a library blog (assuming my district would allow it) but I did not think that I could keep up with it on a regular basis. My brother-in-laws blog is illustrative of this problem. He started it in 2007. At first he posted several times, as did I. One or two other relatives made a few comments but since the summer of '07 none of us has posted a single new entry.





The chapter on setting up a blog wasn't as valuable to me as I had already set up a blog using google's blogger. I glanced through the information and found it very easy to understand. It would be a good resource for someone setting up a blog for the first time. I agree with Richardson that in order to really get students involved in something is to do it yourself.



Although I enjoyed blogging I never really thought about what a great educational tool it could be. I had thought of some ways to use it in a classroom (and I guess I didn't think about it too much because I know that blogs are blocked in our district; although one teacher found a "safe" blog and she was able to get permission to use it with her class) but hadn't thought about all of the different ways that author, Will Richardson proposes. He says he is from NJ. I would love to meet this guy. He had his class do a blog with the author of one of my favorite books, The Secret Life of Bees. How neat is that? He says that her book had just come out and he contacted her publisher. I am not sure that she would be willing to do something like that now, but what a great experience for Richardson's students.

Eventhough I haven't used a blog in my work experience yet I feel comfortable that I could set one up and could discuss the merits of blogging with coworkers. But when I saw the subject of chapt. 5 was RSS I began to feel a little guilty. I went to a workshop on Web 2.0 for librarians at least a year ago. At the time I felt that RSS was something that I as a librarian needed to do. I also felt that it was something that should be introduced into EDST 6216 Digital Research and Information Literacy. Did I do it? No! I got the concept of RSS feeds but just never got around to setting up any feeds. In my defense I often feel so overwhelmed by all of the information that is out there that I just don't know how to keep up with it all. The book includes directions for setting up an RSS feed using google. I will try it out as soon as I am done blogging. I think for me as a school library media specialist the most important aspect of RSS is that when you are doing research you can set up a feed so that you get instant notifications of new information. How neat will that be for students doing research. Now they can follow a topic of interest without doing much digging. The information will come to them!

The information in Chapt. 6 wasn't new to me. As mentioned above I had attended a workshop on Web 2.0 for librarians. The speakers discusses RSS, Twitter, Face Book, and bookmarking sites. I liked the idea of twitter but didn't get into it. I am not sure that I will because no one that I am close to "tweats." So I am not sure what or who I would twitter about! But as a librarian I do need to keep up with these things. I sometimes feel like I work in a technological backwater. I learn things at SHU or at conferences and come back only to find that none of these innovations can be implemented. It gets very discouraging. I have used de.licio.us but not on a regular basis. Again, I just don't have the time. I have tried to get teachers interested in it but so far we haven't done much. I have to get back on, although I may have to use something other than de.licio.us as I read recently that their entire server crashed and they lost everyone's files. Not a good thing. They were hoping to get it back up and running but I am not sure that they did that. Shows one of the dangers of keeping everything stored in only one place.

I think that the social nature of the web is very fascinating. Something like Wikipedia shows the strength and the weaknesses of the common man as expert. Some of the entries are phenomenal. I once worked with a class on German musicians and looked up the Wikipedia entry on Mozart. It was extremely detailed and appeared to be very accurate. We used that entry as an example of how to use Wikipedia for research. But there are other entries that appear to be written by 6th graders and the information is sketchy at best. But Wikipedia can give you information on topics that you can't find anywhere else. The connectivity of Web 2.0 now means that people aren't sitting isolated behind a computer screen but can rather reach out and meet or reconnect with people with similar interests or backgrounds.

Week 7

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, ...-Web 2.0 as tools like blogs and wikis are called have really transformed the internet. I think that schools by blocking these tools are really doing a disservice to students. I think that the internet safety rules that Richardson discusses on pgs. 10-16 are valuable lessons for teachers to impart to students. I feel that library media specialists are at the vanguard for this type of training. Typically media specialists (because they deal in all types of media not just print) have specialized knowledge in many of the newest technology applications. It is their job to keep up with these innovations. Classroom teachers may not have the time to keep up with the latest technology while keeping up with content area changes and innovations. I loved the many ways that Richardson says that a blog can be used in education. I liked the idea of going slowly. I may try to set up a blog for our library (hopefully I can convince the tech dept.) and using it as a portal to our library media center. While I wouldn't be using it as a student file cabinet or as an E-Portfolio (although I may try that for one of the classes I teach here at SHU) it is definitely something that I would like to share with teachers at my school, Morristown High. I think the collaborative nature of a blog as Richardson discusses on pgs. 23-25 is what makes it such an effective learning tool.

Week 6

Digital Storytelling-In chapter 11 Oehler discusses how to start the DST process. I liked the idea of having students "pitch" their ideas to one another to be a good one. I could see that kids (especially younger ones who haven't been tainted yet by a sense of boredom) would find it enjoyable to listen to different ideas and to choose from the best ones. I also found the use of PowerPoint as a storyboard creator. I have made storyboards before doing a PowerPoint so it was interesting to read Oehlers suggestion. I haven't looked at Oehler's template yet at www.jasonohler.com/storytelling but I do want to check out his site for ideas. I am amazed at the detail that Oehler has put into this process even going so far as to include different ways of presenting the DST project depending on a teacher's focus.

I found the green screen information in Chapt. 12 to be totally foreign. It is not something that I want to contend with. But the details about how to present the production and adding titles and animations was easier to follow because after using movie maker in class I have some familiarity with these things. I loved the statement on pg. 155, "An untold story is an incomplete story." I think being able to present one's work is a very important skill and DST strongly emphasizes this. As a librarian, I appreciated Oehler's remarks on pg. 160 about devoting just as much time to researching a DST project as one would an essay or report.

Chapt. 13 was just a quick overview of what eqipment one needed and the best places to find this equipment. I would make one comment that here in NJ in a public school setting a teacher has to be very careful about where they purchase supplies and equipment. Unless they are willing to spend their own money they need to make sure they are following all of the rules. Generally that would mean that you could not purchase from ebay or craigslist or even from amazon as they will not accept a purchase order. A teacher had better make sure they ask before making a purchase.

The ideas introduced in Chapt. 14 about media grammar struck a chord with me. I have often felt that teachers had no idea what made a good presentation and generally gave good grades to anything using technology whether it was good or not. On pg. 183 Oehler notes that one of his favorite books on the subject of visual literacy is the other book we are using in this course- Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams. I had read this book before and the ideas and tips are easily understood by anyone (and I can say that as probably one the most art-challenged people in the world!). I think that every teacher needs to read the book and take the ideas that Williams states in her book and utilize them whenever they are doing a visual project with students.

Although we didn't have to read Chapt. 15, on Copyright, as a librarian I did read it and was pleased that Oehler was very emphatic (and this was emphasized throughout the book) that fair use and copyright laws must always be upheld.

Week 5

Digital Storytelling- This very short chapter focused on transformations. The list on page 109 that detailed the different types of transformations that a character or person can go through was a very helpful list. Oehler compares Bloom's Taxonomy to transformations on pg. 109. This list helps the writer (whether it is the student or the teacher) to focus on what type of change their hero or protagonist is going to go through in order to make for an exciting or memorable story. Oehler also gives the teacher on pg. 111 some questioning tools to help students think more critically about the direction their story is going to take. I think often much of what happens in a classroom is accepted as "sufficient" without making students think about what they have done and even more importantly to think about how their work can be improved. I think that frequently in lower schools their is an almost "cult-like" obsession with telling students that everything that they produce is "great" so that the student isn't demoralized. This may be a reaction to earlier times when teachers were often ruthless in their criticisms and destroyed students curiosity and imagination. There does need to be some balance. I remember reading in a parenting magazine that it wasn't good to look at your child's messy early artwork and exclaim how fantastic it was. Often the child knew that it wasn't great so the overwhelming praise was actually demoralizing. What the report said was better was to focus on one element of the painting and point it out. If the child used a lot of blue paint you could say- Wow! You used a lot of blue; you must really like the color blue. The point being that you should be honest but not brutally honest (no, "this is the worst painting I ever saw in my entire life!").

I also liked how Oehler said to use the story mapping process to get an idea of how the child was growing him or herself. This is just one more example of how DST can be used very effectively for many types of assessment.

Week 4

Digital Storytelling- Reading this section makes me see how poorly I had been taught the writing process. I don't think that I am alone in feeling this way. My daughter who is now a high school senior and a very good student, feels that she wasn't taught this process either. I remember learning about the hero process but never having been taught that it is a very effective tool for many types of writing. Now I am wondering if it is something that I should use when I do a PowerPoint lesson explaining how to do something- whether it is how to research effectively, how to use a particular database or our card catalog, or even how to produce and effective PowerPoint.

I am also feeling overwhelmed because I don't feel like I understand the writing process well enough to be able to teach it effectively. What I am wondering is if language arts teachers are better versed at this and if this is something that could be taught collaboratively. The language arts teacher teaching the writing process of the project and me as the library media specialist working with the students on the technology piece of the project. I feel like I am much better able to do that than to teach the entire process.

Oehler does give some very ideas for creating a story and those examples could be a jump start to a project. I am relieved to see that on pg. 97 he discussed story block and gave some pointers as to how to get around that dilemma. I also liked the grid on pg. 96 with several problems, several solutions, and several transformations. As a beginning project a class could brainstorm several responses for each category and then mix them up to create some funny stories. That might be a good introduction to the process and much less threatening perhaps for students who might not feel that they have any good ideas.

Week 3

Digital Storytelling- I thought the information on assessment was very worthwhile. One thing that has always frustrated me as a media specialist was seeing students creating really poorly done presentations but teachers raving over them. I think that teachers viewed anything that was done with technology as being worthy of an A; or they just didn't know what made for a good visual presentation. I totally agree with the statement on pg. 63, "Thus, if learning how to read and write passes muster as intelligence, learning how to understand and create new media -- that is, learning how to read and write new media narrative -- should as well." I thought that the criteria that Ohler chooses to assess are important. Assessment is a huge focus in learning today and the criteria that Ohler suggests hit on many of the different types of assessment: preassessment, formative assessment, evaluative assessment; etc. Most importantly DST is an authentic assessment where students have to demonstrate that they can utilize what they have learned in many different areas. Also, DST has mentioned earlier hits on several different types of literacies so it is cross-curricular. So with one production students are learning a wide variety of information. One thing that is very overlooked in our current school curricula is presentation and particularly oral presentation skills. This is something that businesses say over and over is a skill that workers need to have. Public speaking is listed as the #1 fear for most people. Digital storytelling is a way to get students to practice their speaking abilities. I was extremely shy, so I can understand and sympathize with students who may be reluctant to speak in front of a group. But DST presents many ways that this can be done so that even the shiest student could have the opportunity to practice their auditory skills.

Week 2

Digital Storytelling- The reading for this week was very relevant. Our district, as are most school districts in NJ are really emphasizing core curriculum content standards. This chapter discusses all of the ways that DST addressses many different content standards and literacies. A friend of mine, who is a curriculum coordinator for a K-8 school district, told me that at a workshop that the NJ Dept. of Ed sponsored, DST was specifically mentioned as a tool for connecting technology with many different literacies to make sure that students are prepared for the 21st Century.

This chapter addressed two special initiatives that my district is focusing on this year: Backward design and different types of literacy. I liked the acronym of the DAOW of literacy. I was able to have a discussion with our curriculum director about DST and he is very interested in pursuing it as a vehicle to incorporate more technology into a language arts curriculum. No one in our district has done anything with digital storytelling so the curriculum director is very interested in me doing a workshop on DST. I told him that he needed to wait to see how well I did in the class. His response was that I would know more than anyone else.

Non-Designers- The remaining part of the book discussed more design techniques. Particularly the use of color and fonts. The color information was something that I had learned in art (one of the few things that I did learn!) so it wasn't new information for me. Also, many sites now give color palettes that give suggestions for color choices. But the information on fonts was very useful and informative to me. When I first read the book I had a hard time distinguishing between serif and nonserif. I can definitely see the difference. I am not sure if I read it in this book or somewhere else, that serif fonts are much better for print materials whereas nonserif is much better for visual presentations such as PowerPoint. It used to drive me crazy that the default font in PowerPoint was times new roman. I always told students to choose Verdana if they didn't know which one to choose. In another book I read that Verdana was developed by Microsoft as a visual presentation font.

I love how fonts can alter a look or "mood" of a presentation. I love looking through all of the fonts to choose just the right one to say what I want in my PowerPoints. I think it is a very easy way for nonartistic people to make a visual statement. I think fonts could be used in many writing assignments to set mood. I have tried to get teachers to use fonts as a technique in poetry writing; but I haven't had too much success with this. I am really disheartened by how uninnovatelively technology is used in my school.

Reflections- Week 1

Digital Story Telling- I had never really thought about story telling in education. This was really shortsighted on my part because story telling is part of our tradition as humans. Maybe it is what sets us apart as humans. The minister of the church I attend often talks about the stories of our lives and how the bible is about stories. So the idea that everything we learn can be connected to a story was a very plausible idea to me but one that I just had never considered before. The idea of using technology to convey our stories is perfectly logical. First stories were transmitted orally, then by way of writing. Now we have the means to convey our stories digitally. Even if teachers aren't teaching storytelling via this method, students are definitely using all types of new mediums.



Ohlers discussion of the various components of DST was very useful. When I see teachers assign projects using technology, particularly PowerPoint, they often disregard the design aspects of the presentation, never discuss the actual presenting of the material (i.e. don't read from the screen), and totally disregard rules for good writing and for ethical use of information. This may NOT be the case in every school but it is most certainly the practice in my school. Because I am not an English teacher and have never considered myself a good writer I found the criteria for what makes a good story very helpful. I am wondering if Alicia was aware of these items. I don't remember learning anything like this in school? Is writing taught more systematically now so that students can grasp these concepts step-by-step?



I think this book is an excellent resource for using storytelling as a classroom tool and not just for DST but even in teaching material.



Non Designers Design Book- I had read this book several years ago (second edition) and found it so easy to appy all of the design techniques. I am very unartistic and yet this book helped me to have a much more critical "eye". I used the tips from the book to come up with the acronym CRAP which I use whenever I teach ppt. to high school classes. They remember the word and what it stands for Contrast; Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. I am astonished by how few people have a grasp of these simple techniques. Most PowerPoints that I see are downright awful. For me the hardest concept is alignment; I am still working to get the placement of elements perfected so that the eye is drawn to the most important piece. Contrast was the easiest concept to grasp. I would think that this would be the easiest but still I see many presentations that have a light font on a white background or vice versa. This does get a little harder when you stray from the typical black font on white background. It is especially hard when the background has many colors (this might be a good reason for avoiding that situation). Repetition is also fairly straightforward. This seems to get many people; the conventional wisdom seems to be that the more elements you can load into a slide the better it is! Proximity, or the placing of elements that go together so that they are grouped together makes sense. I think our brain is "wired' to chunk information together if it connects. Again, there seems to be a sense that a presentation that fills all available whitespace is somehow better. I often wonder how many teachers are given training in this. Students can't be expected to know this and yet most teachers probably don't have a clue so we are producing a generation of presentation producers who have no clue as to what constitutes a good, better, or best visual presentation.