EDUC 7720 Humble Hub Beginnings

I started a Google Site at school. It took a very long time! I'm not so sure that I want to use it as my Digital Learning Hub after all. I'm starting to think I want to keep some of the technology and the more mundane school things separate. I tend to think of my learning hub as MY resource, and the school website as a STUDENT resource.

Here is my future Abbott Tech Library site:

https://sites.google.com/a/cthss.org/henry-abbott-tech-library/

The site is incomplete. I published it so you could look at it. (It's still a secret...)

In Google Sites:

-It was really easy to find a template I liked.

-It was especially annoying trying to get my pictures small enough to use on the site. I could have put up my nose...only... but that's not even humorous! I know I'll have to adjust the pixels in the future. I'll just leave it at that because I only have the vaguest clue what I'm talking about...

-Site navigation is pretty easy/standard for a user.

-Editing is a bit tricky. Once I got the hang of it, it was the same for every section. 

- I may have picked too many time-intensive sections as far as currency/updating goes.

- I would like to have used more "gadgets," but our school system has limited access to some things...

- I have not yet figured out how to do "buttons." I would prefer buttons for the Destiny catalog and the AR link.

- I don't like the lettering at the top of the page. There wasn't an easy way to change it. I'm not sure if I can.

- I thought I had replaced the calendar. It didn't work. It was cumbersome to manipulate. I'm weighing whether or not to post library reservations online.

On a VERY happy note, I had some time to play with the site at school because administration made "library" a DUTY for teachers! Instead of being the only person to answer the phone, shelve books, laminate, make copies, answer the phone, check books out, troubleshoot technology, answer the phone, and answer the phone, SOMEONE ELSE CAN NOW ANSWER THE PHONE! The teachers prefer "library duty" to study hall or lunch duty, so it's a total win-win situation. I finally got to troubleshoot the iPads that have been frustrating me for 8 solid months. They now update automatically! I can also market library resources and suggest collaboration to my now-captive audience.

ED 7720 My Idol

Our assignment this week was to search online for some exemplars of a Learning Hub.  We were to identify an exemplar and indicate why we selected the site.

I looked at a variety of websites for teachers and by teachers this week.
I googled "exemplary teacher websites." It found sites FOR teachers.
I googled "Google teacher website examples." In the Google Sites Examples link, there were two sites that were somewhat acceptable. I'm somewhat picky.
Under "teacher website examples," one of the links took me to some HS teacher sites. I don't want music to play when someone opens my site!

I don't like busy sites. A color theme is good, but not too many colors.
I like tabs at the top and links that are easy and descriptive.
I like a navigation bar down the side.
I like select graphics, none too overwhelming. A big background picture might work.

I am drawn to Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything. Kathy is a former Library Media Specialist who, after many years of being a technology leader in her school, district, and the library profession, has become an "Educational Technologist." She consults. Her website includes:
- Blog
- A link to her consulting business
- iPads for Teaching, resources for iPads in education
- PD offerings
- At the bottom (bottom half, actually) of the page main , there is an ALPHABETICAL listing of links to great pages/resources Kathy has compiled about technology use in schools. There are also password protected links to her workshop materials.
The site is easy to navigate. Even though some links are redundant, it is easy to find what you are looking for quickly, be it a resource or a reason to hire her.

Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything

I could learn a lot from just this site. It was the first thing I put in Pearltees.  I saw her sites when she was a (mere) school librarian, and they were a bit busier... and cartoon-y.

ED 7720 Questioning New Literacies

For this week's readings, we were asked to read
- Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, and Leu. Central Issues in New Literacies and New Literacy Research.(2008)
- Lankshear and Knobel. Researching Literacies: Web 2.0 Practices and Insider Perspectives. (2007)

Like a good student, I read the readings and took notes - on paper, of course. Thoughts kept popping into my head as I read about the skills required to navigate the 21st Century Literacies, especially the Lankshear article.
"Is understanding what you watch on TV a literacy?"
"Can you fully experience the internet without print literacy?

As teachers added filmstrips, overhead projectors, and VCR's to their classroom repertoir, did they talk about literacies? The kinds of things teachers could project on an overhead were much different than figures on a chalkboard. Watching video clips provided a whole different experience than reading the information in a book. 

Did the talk of new literacies start with the internet? or are we just doing the same things in a flashier package? Are we adapting popular culture to hold students' attention in the classroom? Yes, the world is internet savvy. Businesses expect new employees to be prepared for the world of work, but are we giving all of our students enough of "the basics?" It is frustrating to encounter ninth graders who can't use a ruler. Did creating a SimCity make ruler technology obsolete?

I understand that the Web 1.0 skills are using the internet as a heirarchical way to disseminate information and Web 2.0 tools involve collaboration and building group knowledge. (Lankshear),
So does debate.
So does a discussion.

Debate and discussion require face-to-face ettiquette.

The new literacies involve person-to-person collaboration with the addition of the connectivity of the Internet. This teamwork can happen anywhere in the world. It is interesting. It can be engaging. Is it really all that different? Is it as meaningful as collaborating with someone you can eat lunch with or play ball with after school? On the internet, we may be engaging with classmates, or age-mates in another part of the world, but there is an electronic barrier of potential anonymity.

Would someone without basic print literacy be able to successfully navigate a computer/device other than the most basic visual prompts? Could they attain any REAL literacy on an internet-capable device? If not, is basic button pushing a "literacy?" Looking at it this way, it is easy to see why policy-makers focus on basic print literacy (Coiro et al) and not expensive new technologies. Without the building blocks of basic print literacy and numeracy, discerning credibility of websites and game coding make no sense.

Am I overthinking this?

* Photo CC licensed by Nevit Dilmen.

ED 7720 Thoughts about my Learning Hub

For many years, teachers in our system have been encouraged to maintain a website for the convenience of students and parents. Due to our network "complications" we have been encouraged to use certain websites and then banned from those same site providers in subsequent years. I have maintained a single-page, serviceable site on our School-run website. Please do not seek it out. It's embarrassing. It includes links to the Destiny library catalog*, iConn.org, and a handful of other heavily-accessed services. Last year, I finally embedded pictures of students using the library.

Some of the schools in our system (not mine) are piloting a 1:1 (device to student) program. Thankfully, Abbott Tech is not one of the pilot schools. The devices were "air dropped" over the summer into the school library to be distributed. Teachers have had no training in 1:1 school culture or expectations. This year, my focus will be to get staff up to speed in case we are blessed with devices next year.

A benefit to this technology influx is access to Google's education tools and permission from those on high to use Google Sites for our webpages. I have started creating a website, soon to be Learning Hub, using a basic teacher template in Google Sites. Using G Sites is awkward. I am researching some of the glitchy parts and writing down some how-to's so I can walk interested teachers through the process. My new site, Henry Abbott Tech Library, will be linked to the Abbott Tech website.

In my Learning Hub, I would like to include

- student book recommendations

- new (to my library) books 

- vocabulary words (Tier II, of course)

- links to library resources and tutorials (screencasted and written)

- a calendar (library and lab reservations)

- and digital resources students and teachers can use in their classes.  

For a librarian in a school that uses Accelerated Reader, I finish a pitifully small number of books. I decided to list the last four books I am reading or have read below my photo. This will keep me honest... and reading. 

My website/hub audience will primarily be students, but I plan to include a link for teacher resources.  I live and die by my "red folder." It is filled with school-specific passwords, master copies of sign-out sheets, and how-to's for obscure pieces ot technology around the building. I will have to keep some of that information out of student hands, but the information that I regularly disseminate to teachers can be stored in the hub. Maybe I can find a password function.

*I always feel like I should be wearing a cape when I talk about the Destiny catalog.

Creative Commons on Blogger

 
 
I am so proud of myself. I have added the "Creative Commons" license to my blog.
Here's how to do it:

1. Go to the Creative Commons website and set up your licensing. Copy the code.
2. On the main page of your blog, click on "layout." It's in the left hand column.
3. Choose one of the "Gadgets."  When you click on it, you will see choices.
4. Choose HTML/Java Script. Click on it.
5. Paste in your code.
6. Preview. If you like it, accept the changes.

Mine is at the very bottom of the entire page if you want to peek at it!

EdcampCT, Simsbury, August 2014

EdCamp was held at the Ethel Walker school in upstate CT. It was wonderful to see the UNH ITDML students who attended the conference. It was a nice way to interact as a group.

After a much discussion about legendary POTATO CHIPS and MILKSHAKES, the organizers encouraged attendees to create sessions and to take part in sessions. 

For those who have not attended an unconferece like EdCamp, attendees can either present about a topic they are familiar with, lead a discussion about something they have interest in, or call a discussion about something they would like to know more about. Most sessions involve crowd participation. Participants are encouraged to follow the "Rule of Two Feet." If you find the session you are attending is not what you expected it to be, you are welcome to leave and go find another one.

Tim Flanagan, Josh Lambert and I put together a Google Presentation outline that discussed the ORMS Model. We chose to present at the first session. The link is below.

Question, Consume, Create : Exploring the ORMS Model

During the presentation we started a lively discussion about what teachers already do in their classroom. We then introduced the ORMS MOOC, Mozilla's Web Literacy Standards, and some of the other material we alluded to in our presentation.

For the second session, I saw there was a talk about the role of Technology Coaches, and was surprised and pleased that I had found Elizabeth's Ignite Talk. 

Other titles: Technology Integration Specialist, Digital Instruction Specialist, Literacy Media Technologist.

 - There was a principal in the classroom. It was fascinating getting his opinion about the role of the Tech Coach. He wanted to be sure that person was not seen as an extra IT fix-it person, but as an INSTRUCTIONAL coach - a CURRICULUM specialist with Technology, not a Tech specialist with curriculum. He was also wants to ensure that all students in his building have similar experiences across a grade,  and the "Technology Stars" in the building give their students a whole different (better was implied) experience. 

 There were also teachers who officially and unofficially hold that position in their schools. Most are overwhelmed by the sheer number of teachers who like the idea of using technology in the classroom, but don't have any idea where to begin... so they stick to the same routine.

Technologists who get a stipend never get enough time to do the job well.

If you want a Tech Coach in your district, collect what is happening in other districts and present it to the board of ed... preferably by students.

Use the argument, "You just gave us $800,000 worth of equipment, and if it isn't implemented correctly, school achievement could go down. Is it worth it?"

"Air Drop Technology" mostly fails. With out proper PD, the equipment is a distractor.

LUNCH: As promised, along with creative sandwiches, and a salad that included lettuce, watermelon, red onions, and Feta cheese, there were freshly made potato chips, brownies, and..... MILKSHAKES. It was also fun sitting at a table talking to fellow teachers from around the State.  Lunch was also longer than 20 minutes, a reminder that I have one more week of eating like a human...

Videos that suck less, third session:

Try: Sock puppet app, Use short (5 or less) minute clips with activities

Other things to check out:

Videoscribe, Explain Everything (iPad), GoAnimate, PowToons, EdPuzzle, Voki, Voicethread, Haikudeck, Tellagami, 30 Hands, 60 Second Recap.

I also wrote out a list of other sites to check out that were recommended in the Connected Learning session and at the closing:

#CLMOOC

DS106

International Dot Day

Voxer - like voice twitter

Rap Anything - Makes anything you record sound like rap

Adobe Voice - pix, soundtrack, voiceover

Chatterpix - make a photo "talk"

Google Chrome shortcuts: "Shift ?" gives a list of all the shortcuts. Memorize a few.

Want money?

CECA aweards $1000/year to 3 people. 

NEW John McCormick Award - you must be recommended, and it often involves a trip. Few people apply.

I chose to attend the happy hour after the conference. It was nice to sit and chat informally with teachers about school and life in genearal, exchange twitter handles, and talk about technology.

Connected Learning

I tried another Mind Mapping program, Inspiration Lite, to put Connected Learning in perspective. I like some aspects of the program. It is simple to add branches and intuitive about getting a cursor to pop up for typing. If you choose a template, you cannot eliminate branches in the FREE version. I ended up using a blank template. I liked adding only the branches I needed. It made more sense because I put the connections together from scratch. Erasing in Inspiration, in general, is more complicated then I prefer.

To summarize Connected Learning: it is multigenerational, social learning about an academic subject culminated by creating a product to be shared.

An area that is most familiar is "peer supported" learning. My son took professional guitar lessons at age 8. He didn't enjoy them, and he stopped. He took "Beginning Guitar" at school in 8th grade and loved it. There, he had buddies to learn from. They hung out an practiced for hours. In high school he took professional guitar lessons again (mostly to undo bad habits learned from his peers and from winging it!) and his skill grew exponentially. The same kind of thing happened in my backyard when I was growing up. We traded songs, gymnastics skills, and ice skating tips we had learned from others and we all grew and had tons of fun at the same time.

I also connected with the "production centered" learning. In order to create something meaningful, one must have knowledge, but also skills to make the knowledge meaningful to others. It is said that teaching is the best way to learn something. Creating a project to be shared is teaching, therefore a strong way to learn.