Technology Training... Who has the time????

This year as media specialist I have become much more aware of the staff and faculty at my school’s technology skills, or lack thereof. As we all know today’s world is technology driven and unfortunately some of our teachers are getting left behind.  Most of our teachers are comfortable using Microsoft Office programs but are not comfortable stepping outside of that box. For example Powerpoint is a great tool, but so is Prezi. Unfortunately most of our teachers have not even been exposed to any of the newer developments in programs, apps, and opportunities.

This past year the CSRA RESA has put together a number of meetings for media specialists to get together and discuss issues, concerns, things that are working etc… because we are so often on our own. Along with the open forum discussion there is also a technology component. It is awesome! We all bring different programs, apps, media that we are using in our media center and introduce it to the group. I have learned so many new ways that technology could be incorporated in the classroom. Unfortunately, it seems to stop with me. Our teachers are so busy that they have no time to come in and meet to learn another thing that they feel they will not have time to use. As I have seen in my school as media specialist (and teacher) required meetings are horrible for morale and often times teachers resent the “professional material” even more. So what is the solution???

I am planning on working with my principal to see if there may be a day where we can get coverage for small groups of teachers during the day. I am also going to send out a survey that gives choices about what they may want to more learn about. Hopefully since it will be during the day they will not resent the time, and since I will be helping them with something they chose they will see the value in the time spent.  Also, since we are getting so close to testing, I will wait until after the CRCT. This way teachers won’t be worrying about what needs to be covered in “such a short amount of time.”

Blog #5: Video Distribution Systems and Georgia Public Broadcasting Resources

In my current school, the Video Distribution System is working at about 75 percent. The media specialist used to use it to do the morning announcements, but now he streams it on Ustream.tv so that everyone can make sure to see it. There are four main hallways of my elementary school and three of the hallway’s closed circuit work. Sadly, my hallway does not. The media specialist, Mr. Ashley, used closed circuit a lot during February as we had many Black History Month presentations, including Ruby Bridges, a play called Minty, and a one man performance called The Long Walk. It was nice that everyone (well, almost everyone) could turn on their televisions, turn to Channel 3, and watch the same thing (those of us without working televisions went to another room to watch). The addition of Ustream.tv to watch the morning announcements has been great! In January, the Kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers got projectors (and we LOVE to use them), so this works out very well! Third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers have Active Boards (something I truly envy them for). Every teacher in the school has a television mounted to the wall and a VCR/DVD combo. The control panel for the closed circuit is in a closet in the media center.

The media specialist at my school loves to use Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Resources. Every week, he reads a story to my class (either through digital story telling or the old fashioned way) and then he plays a show from the GPB resources. He particularly likes Word Girl, a short 30 minute cartoon where she used two or three new words and explains the new vocabulary. He also likes Cyberchase which is another short, 30 minute cartoon about students who complete missions with science, math, and technology. He does a great job of collaborating with us to show resources that correlate to what we’re learning in the classroom.

I love the fact that the media specialist in my school is leaning towards more digital streaming. In my experience, using something like Ustream.tv is much easier to use and the teachers can control it through their own laptop. I think there are less kinks involved. I definitely think schools will be doing away with televisions in classrooms altogether soon. With sites like UnitedStreaming.com, GPB, and YouTube.com, we can basically find anything we need at the convenience of a click!

Blog 5: Video Distribution Systems and Georgia Public Broadcasting Resources

Since I currently don’t work in a school library media center, I met with Julie Townley, the media specialist at Johnson High School, to get an overview of what video distribution system they use and gather her thoughts on its effectiveness. Johnson HS currently uses a closed-circuit cable system to distribute movies/media throughout the entire school. The head end unit is located in an office inside the media center. This unit contains a VHS/DVD combo and Julie uses the system to broadcast various movies or programs. Each classroom at Johnson has a mounted television, which also contains a VHS/DVD combo, so in most cases, Julie says that the closed-circuit system is rarely used because teachers can control the video or program themselves. Grade-wide programs/movies at the end of the school year or usually shown on the television and until recently, the morning school news was shown through the closed-circuit television (it is now digitally recorded and sent out through email, which teachers can display using their laptops/projectors or SmartBoards). Teachers also have access to certain TV channels, such as channels 2, 5, 11, etc.

One of the problems Julie notes with the closed-circuit system is that it’s just not as user-friendly as other, newer platforms are. For example, she notes that a lot of area schools have switched to a digital format such as the Safari Montage system. By allowing teachers/media specialists access to online programs, these digital systems are proving to be a lot more user-friendly and allow easy access to resources.

Organizations such as Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) offer online streaming resources for educators, which provide reliable and accurate programming or lesson supplements. For instance, say a social studies teacher wanted to screen a particular video on Kennedy, but the school didn’t have a physical copy, such as a DVD. GPB’s Education website contains digital content in a variety of different subjects that can be streamed from any computer. This eliminates the school having to purchase a physical copy.

Digitally streaming videos is also cost-effective for many schools. By purchasing a subscription to any particular educational organization, teachers have access to many videos and resources that would cost much more should the school have to purchase each one of those items. Another thought is copyright—in most cases, digital content which is provided through a subscription-based provider, such as Safari Montage, can be shown without having to worry about copyright issues.

Overall, I think the advancement in digital streaming content is a huge gain for school systems (and probably a lot less headache for media specialists!) and I think that more and more schools will be switching to this format in the near future.

Social networking and schools

I do believe that there is a place for social networking sites in our media centers and classrooms.  I teach gifted ELA/SS middle school students and part of my curriculum/standards involves technology.  My students are avid techies and can do just about anything on a social network site, a Smartphone, a tablet, etc. As an educator, we are supposed to engage our students and what better way to engage them then to relate to them.  I have several students that bring their Kindles to class to read and of course 90% of my kids have a Smartphone.  I have no problem with them reading in class on or even using their Smartphone’s for dictionaries and or a thesaurus.  Yet, my school district frowns upon social networking sites in the classroom/media center. I just asked my school technologist if our student computers would support wikis, blogs or LibraryThing. and he said as of right now no. This is crazy to me and of course, prevents me from teaching the technology standards to my students.  So AASL’s poll was off a little when it generalized that social networking is “widely accepted” in schools.

While I understand the filtering of FaceBook and Twitter, I wonder why we have to block all of the sites. However, our OPAC system is Follett’s Destiny and so we have Destiny Quest which is great tool for students to use. Yet, not many of our kids know about it and I only recently learned from Barbara Fiehn’s article that we have access to 65 e-books! This is something I can try to explore with my students once I have better idea of how to use it.

My school system simply does not support technology in the form of social networking sites and I think that is a shame. As we progress in  society with technology, so must our students. They love social networking and if we can find a way to link social networking to education and curriculum, then why can’t we explore those options that  are already out there ?  I’m still hoping that one day my district will truly understand the disadvantage our kids have from our filtering methods. Until then, I will just have to make one more PowerPoint instead of that cool wiki.   

Blog #4: Social Networking and School Library Media Centers

In today’s society you will rarely find anyone who is not on some sort of social network, including our students. Library 2.0 describes social networking as “websites offering additional opportunities for finding others with shared interests.” I think that this is one social benefit, but I also think that there are many educational benefits of social networking. Social networking can be used as a platform for group discussions and work on any needed topic and or idea. Social networking can also give our students an outlet to speak on. Often times we will have students who do not want to speak in class, but feel comfortable sharing in an online setting. I definitely think that there is a role for social networking in schools. With that being said though, we also have to think about the “dark sides of the social web” (Library 2.0). I think that it is important (especially at a young age) that any social networking sites that students are using be only within the schools community. According to Barbara Fiehn and the article we read Follett Destiny already has a platform in place so that students and teachers can communicate effectively with each other without the extra worry of online predators.  Unfortunately along with cyber discussions also comes cyber bullying. This is something that I feel should definitely be talked about and discussed with students and closely monitored.

Right now our school does not allow any social networking sites through the filter. It is very closely monitored. I am not sure if it is due to security or band width or both. I do hope that soon we can convince them to at least unblock some educational social sites that can be used in the classroom.  I think that these sites could be used for group discussions, to give critiques/ reviews of materials, and even to get help from other students in the classroom. I think that if we had a site where students could openly post books that they were reading and excited about along with reviews and even questions this could go a long way with getting our students motivated to read.  

Blog #3: Media Center Websites

While reading "Building Web Sites That Work for Your Media Center", David Warlick suggests that there are many, many things that the creator needs to consider before beginning a Media Center website. Warlick states that one needs to consider the goal, content, format, layout, and design of a website. One of the most important things for a website is that it is scannable and that the visitor can find what they want in a quick and easy way. 

North Elementary: Wow! I totally forgot about Symbaloo! I used it in Fulton County and have not used it since. What a great reminder. This website is a great example of how a Media Center website needs to be scannable and easy to use. Right away, I could find whatever I was looking for in any of the grades.

Milton Middle School: This site is really cute. I like how she made it look like a comic book. It is very inviting. Items were extremely easy to find. 

Creekside High School: Right off the bat, I was not crazy for this one. It is not scannable like Mr. Warlick stated was so important. It was not inviting or fun to look at. I did not want to take time exploring this site. One word--- boring. I don't doubt that this site has great information, but I didn't want to look at it anymore because it was so bland.

Deerwood Academy: I added my school's library website (http://deerwood.wix.com/ashley). I think Mr. Ashley did a great job of making a very inviting, very easy to use website. He has instructional videos, important links, assignments, e-books, and more! Whenever I am looking for something, I know I can find it quickly and easily here.  

A little Q and A... 

• What do you see as the top ten do's and don'ts for good web page design? What really ticks you off when you hit a web page -- and what makes you go "I really like this web page"?
• I think one of my main don'ts is boring backgrounds. We want kids to want to explore these pages. We can just a leave dark blue background and white page and expect kids to like it and use it. 

• What content should be on a media center's web page? I know what the book says (that the survey said) -- but what do you think? What's really useful and why do you think so?
• I think instructional videos are very important on Media Center websites. Six teachers could come and ask how to use Study Island but if you just put an instructional video on your website, you can answer all of them at once and save yourself some time to make some awesome lessons for other teachers.

• OK, so now we're into Web 2.0, and some consider plain old webpages to be outdated. What do you think? Should we dump the media center web page and make it a blog or a Wiki?
• No. I am not a huge fan of Wikis. In my experience, web pages are far easy to use and navigate than Wikis. I also feel that more personality and design can be put into a website. For instance, it is much easier for me to keep up my website (http://mrsbrittanybarnes.wix.com/1stgrade) than it is to keep up with a Wiki.

Blog 3: Media Center Webpages

As we continually use technology such as websites, social media, or even Instagram to share information, it becomes increasingly important to make sure that you are visual to the online world.  I think that this is also applicable to school media centers in that they should be promoting themselves to teachers, students, parents, and even the community through their websites, blogs, or social platforms. 

While researching a lot of different media center websites, I’ve added up a list of my favorites and my least favorites with my personal opinions and comments.

Favorites:

1.       Milton Middle School- Milton, Wisconsin

http://www.milton.k12.wi.us/schools/mms/website/library/MMS_LMC/Welcome.html

My immediate thought when pulling up this site is that it is very aesthetically pleasing. The layout and graphics are nice and pop, drawing the user to important links on the site. I enjoyed that the site included a link for media center policies, which is easily accessible for teachers and students. I also enjoyed the fact that the media specialist included a large bio on herself, because I think that is an important element for a parent/teacher connection.

2.       Lewis and Clark Elementary School – Liberty, Missouri

http://lc.liberty.k12.mo.us/lmc

When I came across this site, I was at first a bit overwhelmed with the amount of content, but soon came to enjoy and appreciate all of the detail that the media center team put into this site. Of particular interest is the twitter feed to the left side of the screen. I think this is a great way for students, parents, and teachers to keep up with library happenings!

Least Favorites:

1.       Knoch Senior High School- Saxonburg, PA

http://www.southbutler.net/lib/

While this site does have some useful information, it really lacks in esthetic appeal and doesn’t do much to promote the library. When trying to find information, I think that having a clear, concise format is ideal for students, teachers, and parents. This site seems to be lacking in a particular format and includes way too many “outside resource” links.

2.       Cass High School- Bartow, Ga

http://www.bartow.k12.ga.us/education/dept/dept.php?sectiondetailid=10305

This is another site that needs a lot of help. I did appreciate the fact that the media specialist included a book search; however, there is no other useful information to be found on the site. There are links to encyclopedias, weather, and databases, but it really gives no direction on how to use these resources.

Overall, while searching through various media center webpages, the ones that really stick out to me as “great” are the ones that have a clear and simple format, but also contain information that is actually useful for teachers and students. For example, the Cass High School website contained a BUNCH of links to various resources, but gave no other information as to what the site does or what information is available on that site. If I were a student or teacher, I wouldn’t want to sit and go through each site to determine which one(s) to use. I think as a media specialist, it is our responsibility to “weed” through these sites and lists the best possible ones.

As far as ways to make a website, I personally prefer using Weebly, now that I’ve been accustomed to it. In my search, I came across tons of different website platforms, such as a Google site, Blogger, and even pages created through the school’s webpage creator. The ones that were made with Weebly, or the ones that contained their own domain, stood out the most to me. They looked professional, creditable, and, in the most cases, contained very useful information.