Getting ready for 11 Tools

As you can tell by the previous post, I have not blogged for some time. Truly, it is not something I do for my personal entertainment or enlightenment, I do it when required as part of the job. For now, let's say I just wanted be sure that my previous blog still works for an adventure we will begin @ SWHS.

Thing 11.5 - Evaluation

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

Taking time to work with Facebook was fun and I really appreciate learning about Slideshare, 280 slides and all the resources for videos. I will be sharing this info teachers and students and posting it on my webpage.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? Learning never ends, look at all that has changed and progressed over the length of my career (34+ years). I couldn't begin to list all I have learned through this process and other staff development along the way. Sometimes it is difficult to keep an open mind, or to feel comfortable with the technology and resources - but those of us who have survived and conquered have always had the needs of our students in the forefront.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? That 11.5 Things were a lot easier to manage than 23 Things, not so overwhelming. I think that having the new laptops were a big plus...

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? If you could keep an updated list of the resources we review, by categories in the Curriculum Wiki, it would be an easy cross reference. Thanks!

And Thanks for this opportunity. I enjoyed 10.5 of the 11.5!

Thing Eleven - Digital Citzenship

Digital citizenship has to have evolved from our earlier discussion with students of Internet Etiquette. Since we have all become more global in our connectivity - digital citizenship has to be an important component of all instruction. A list of important points might look something like this...

1. Characteristics of a good citizenship in a digital world
2. Cyber-bullying examples (new DVDs in library's collection)
3. Plagiarism/piracy/copyright laws- examples of copyright friendly/free-share resources and Citing Sources (Noodletools)
4. Safety on the Internet (privacy, sharing of information, Internet friends, chat rooms (Youtube video of Facebook Etiquette)
5. How to evaluate a website for valid information (PPT in Librarian Sharefolder)
6. Discuss expectation, rules and appropriate behavior in line with district policies.

Thing Ten - Virtual Worlds

This is the one Thing that I do not feel comfortable with. It will take a lot of time, effort and learning to move around and be good at this. Why? Well, to be real honest I'm not a game player. Sure board games are one thing, but way back when Pac-Man came out and my 5 year old daughter could beat me, I knew that this part of technology would pass me by. I understand the part that gaming plays in today's library (especially the Public Library) but it doesn't mean that I will be good at this. I try to learn and keep my students and staff informed of all the new resources and the new things available but I'm just not good at all of them. I will share this information with my students, discuss the possiblities - I read about the virtual field trips - I see that of being of great interest to a few on my campus.

I did do all the reading, downloaded, installed and created the avatar. I know I will find a few students on my campus who will love this and be willing to pass on some pointers. For now I will file this information for future experimentation.

Later,
Dewey Rhapsody

Thing Nine - Slideshare

With a name like Slideshare how can you go wrong? I see these resources as a great means for posting the final product in such a way that everyone has easy access. Also, it is an excuse buster...there should be no reason why any of our students can say that they didn't have to means to get a project of this nature done and to the teacher. No access to the SAN server, who cares... I will definately create links on my school webpage to to Slideshare and 280 Slides.

Thing Eight - Screencasts

Ok, so this was the one Thing that was the most frustrating so far. Four hours later I have decided to let this post go as is and hope that with practice I will get better. I promised myself - no stress or frustration this summer. I really hope to finish all 11.5 by the end of this weekend so I can put my laptop and desktop to rest so I can enjoy the month of July catching up on good books and R&R.

I tried several of the screencast options listed and found Jing the easier to use. Not easiest, but easier. The tutorals were helpful although I'm not sure that the embed link is correct. I followed the steps carefully. Anyway the link below takes you to a very simple example of what I would use screencasting for, just as we did when we first learned about Snagit. I guess they were one of the first to provide this kind of service? I haven't used it in a long time, I know it is loaded on my school laptop. I will revisit it and jing while preparing for the next school year.

As stated, this is a simple snapshot of Meriwether - our OPAC, there would be infinite uses to give step by step instructions for getting from point A to point Z in just about everything we teach and share in our libraries. But like everything else, will our patrons read our instructions? I would hate to go through the motions of preparing for it to be just one more thing that doesn't get read. I know that sounds a bit negative, but I found that the easier we try to make things for everyone, the less they take the time to read carefully. I know you know what I mean...

So if you click on the link below you will see my sample of Screencasting. If it was supposed to show directly in the blog, please someone tell me how to do that and I will fix it...

2009-06-25_1412

Thing Seven - Video Resources

This video so cleverly and humorously shows students the importance of Facebook etiquette. I found it in Hulu and plan to share it with students as they embark on Facebook projects as they begin the new school year.





And this one is a simple way to introduce Twitter and the etiquette that should be in place while using it. The video was found with a Google search and was posted on the Truveo site.

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Thanks for all the Fair Use documentation on video use. A bit overwhelming, but good to have for future reference.