Library Newsletter

Tech Play 4

Option 1: Information Literacy
We have offered you a way of thinking about information literacy using the infographic from National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) in the discussion forum as well as some information on the CRAAP test for information sources on the readings and resources page. Explore other resources for information literacy, considering the many aspects of it on the NFIL infographic. Identify tools with which you might teach information literacy to your students. Answer the following questions:

a. Identify the tools you found to teach information literacy to your students. Identify at least 4 different tools. Describe where they fit into the NFIL infographic and how you found the tool.

b. Evaluate the tools. Why did you include them in your list. What is particularly useful about the tool? Looking at the NFIL infographic, what areas do these tools neglect, and how can you justify leaving those areas out of any information literacy learning for your students.

c. Think about how these resources or this thinking about information literacy can transform your teaching or your students. Describe and evaluate that transformation.

            To begin my search for tools to teach information literacy, I simply performed a google search for “technology to teach critical reading.”  A plethora of sites appeared but I chose the following site to explore, https://gsi.berkeley.edu/teachingguide/tech/classroom.html#clickers.  It is actually a teaching guide for graduate students at Berkeley.  The site discusses the use of white boards, document cameras, clickers, and in-class chats, IM, and tweets.  I have never used in-class chats, IM, or tweets before but by reading the description, I believe in-class instant messaging will support critical reading and thinking.  This tool does neglect the other areas of information literacy but instant messaging can be used to discuss the other areas.  Utilizing IM vs. the traditional class discussion allows more students to participate and forces the student to read and think about what their peers are writing before responding.  Instant messaging and tweeting also enables the discussion to continue outside of the traditional classroom.  Ideas can be added after school hours and the discussions can be saved for later reference. 

            I am most excited about the next tool I found by reading one of the articles linked to the interesting ed tech website Dr. Dziorny posted.  The article is titled, Do Your Students Know How to Search?, http://www.edudemic.com/student-search-skills/.  As a teacher, I can perform a basic search on Google and find something relevant but I struggle with teaching my students how to perform efficient web searches using research and library skills.  The article led me to https://news.google.com/.  After further investigation, I discovered I can obtain archived scanned newspaper articles simply be typing the following in a Google search, site:google.com/newspapers "the Berlin wall".  By changing the topic in quotations, the user can find newspaper articles concerning almost anything.  This tool directly relates to research and library skills but also incorporates the other skills.  The scanned articles of actual newspapers will help teach media literacy by exposing students to a format they are not familiar with.  Exploring a newspaper and the surrounding articles and advertisements allows for a wide variety of discussions and the teaching of critical literacy.  A teacher can also teach information ethics by incorporating how to cite the information.  I believe this tool can transform my teaching and my students by showing them resources they have never seen before.  The students can experience history in a format unfamiliar to them but readily used in the past.  Until now, I thought we still had to go to the library to access archived newspaper articles!   

    

            Moving along the NFIL infographic, I directed my search towards media literacy and more specifically visual literacy.  An article titled Teaching Media Literacy with Technology, http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201305?pg=34#pg34 directed me to the www.huffingtonpost.com.  I have seen articles by Huffingtonpost.com on my Facebook newsfeed but I had never paid much attention to it until now.  Huffingtonpost.com runs a column titled Photoshop Fails, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/photoshop-fail/.  This column could open the discussion for not only photo shopping of models but also the ethics and reasons for Photoshopping.  I believe showing Photoshop Fails to high school students would cause a heated discussion.  Using this website in a classroom can enhance all information literacy skills.  The students are analyzing visual literacy while thinking and reading critically.  To use research and library skills, the teacher could require the student to locate sites with a particular photo from the Photoshop Fail column to compare and contrast.  Information ethics is also important when discussing the ethics of Photoshop and who has the right to perform Photoshop.  Without technology, students could discuss Photoshopping in a particular magazine but the internet transforms the lesson by providing multiple examples instantly.  

            The article, Teaching Media Literacy with Technology, led me to my last tool which incorporates all information literacy skills.  The article uses Voicethread, http://voicethread.com/products/k12/ to lead a class discussion concerning advertising but after further investigation, I believe Voicethread can be used in any subject area.  Using Voicethread, the teacher can upload an image and the students can respond through video, audio, or text.  This is similar to a class discussion but allows the students to participate in a variety of formats both during the school day and after school.  I believe this versatile feature transforms the classroom.  Voicethread requires the students to use critical literacy by thinking about their peer’s responses before responding.  Media literacy, research and library skills, and information ethics can also be incorporated by discussing a particular image or piece of media.

Tech Play 3

Once you have explored some creativity tools, go to your blog and post the following reflection:

• Discuss the variety of tools you explored, what you liked or disliked about each one and which one you selected one to continue to reflect on.
• Describe how this creativity tool that you selected might fit into the TPACK model. Specifically, describe the content, pedagogical and technological aspects of some student work that uses the creativity tool you selected.
• Identify other ways that students could use the creativity tool you selected.
• Why is it important to know about and use creativity tools? What do they offer that other tools (i.e., drill and practice, tutorials, instructional games, etc.) do not offer?

I believe creativity tools allow for a simple way to integrate technology in the classroom and many of the tools reach the transformation levels of the TPACK/SAMR model.  I chose to explore Puppet Pals, Comic Book!, Science 360, and Goodreads. 

 I least liked Science 360 as a creativity tool because it does not allow the student to create.  Using this app, the student can view a wide variety of science videos exploring the integration of science and technology in the classroom but the student is not required to share an opinion, create a video, or become interactive in any way.  There is also no table of contents to help in the selection of videos.  The user simply scrolls through the app and selects a video at random simply basing the choice on the image provided for the video.     

Puppet Pals, Comic Book!, and Goodreads were all interactive and allowed for student creation.  Goodreads guides the user in selecting and rating books within a variety of genres.  Upon opening the app, the user is instructed to rate 20 books to establish criteria for his book preferences making the app more personalized for each user.  This app also has a social aspect in that one can join groups, see how friends have rated books, and write reviews for others to see.  The social communication of this app can be beneficial but also problematic.  The reviews for the books are not posted by professionals but by the general public using the app.  A filter may need to be used to block inappropriate language and content in the reviews.  

Puppet Pals and Comic Book! are similar in that the apps allow the user to create a story through pictures along with either text or sound.  Both apps have the ability to save the creations but Comic Book! has the ability to share the creations on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.  Both apps use pictures from the camera roll that are taken by the student or from the internet.  I prefer Puppet Pals for younger students because the plays are created using audio recordings and Comic Book! for older students because the comics require written text.  Both apps allow for creative play that can be transferred to the academic arena.   

For the TPACK model, I will focus on Puppet Pals due to its potential to reach a wide variety of subject areas and age ranges.  Collaboration among teachers and the librarian is imperative and I believe Puppet Pals can be utilized both within the library and within the classroom for a particular subject.  Puppet Pals can be used in the following ways:

·         Create a visual book review

·         Create a play to summarize content to prove understanding

·         Re-enact or create an original debate

·         Create an original play to supplement a writing project

·         Create a math tutorial for fellow classmates

·         Re-enact a science experiment

The use of audio recording allows this app to be utilized by numerous students at one time.  In a science classroom, Puppet Pals can be used to re-enact a science experiment to be posted on the class blog.  The students will perform the experiment within the group and take pictures with the iPad during each stage of the experiment.  The students can collect and record the data on the iPad so the information can be utilized within Puppet Pals.  After the experiment is complete, the students will collaborate and create a play depicting the experiment and results.  Each student will take part in the layout design, creation, and audio recording of the re-enactment.  After completion, the play can be uploaded to the class blog for students and parents to view and comment.  

I believe this particular activity works nicely in the TPACK model and incorporates content, pedagogy, and technology.  The science experiment incorporates content while the app not only incorporates technology but also allows for customized results, interaction among students, and collaboration among people outside the classroom.  The utilization of Puppet Pals is a redefinition of instruction that was previously inconceivable. 

            The use of creativity tools within the classroom is extremely important.  We can all use technology for tutorials and instructional games but creativity tools take technology to the next level.  My goal is to utilize technology in such a way that it transforms the curriculum and allows students to create original ideas and produce original works through collaboration.  This goal can be achieved through creativity tools. 

Tech-Play 2

• Explore a variety of ePortfolio tool options such as wikis, websites or proprietary platforms.

• Create something. You can begin building your portfolio or just play around with the tool but you will need to post a link on your blog to something that you created this week.
• Identify affordances. In your blog post, write about the affordances of the tools you explored. Consider how and why that tool might be the best choice for you.
• Consider context. Would you make a different choice of tool if you were asking your students to create an ePortfolio? Why or why not? Discuss the affordances of these tools for others in different contexts.

Link to my ePortfolio: http://saradalton.weebly.com/

I played around with a wiki for another class but did not get very far in the creation process.  I thought I would give wikis a second chance today but my experiences have been the same.  I think I need more experience using someone else’s wiki before creating my own.  The process is not as self-explanatory as other tools.  One important feature of an eportfolio is an index so the users can easily navigate your site.  While working with wiki, I could not figure out how to create an index for the pages I wanted to add.  This inability caused me to look elsewhere for tools.  

After exploring the wiki, I googled “proprietary platforms eportfolios.”  I ran into the problem of needing to buy a subscription or needing to download a program, neither of which I want to do.

I chose to explore creating a website last because I thought it would be the most complicated but to my surprise, it is the easiest and most user-friendly.  I created a website using Weebly.  The affordances within Weebly are very easy to understand.  The website guides the user in creating a user name and domain name.  Once on your own Weebly page, there are icons listed at the top for you to select during the design process.  By selecting an icon, more icons appear on the left to further the design and creation process.  Creating a website using Weebly is similar to creating a blog using Blogger.com. 

If I asked my students to create an eportfolio, I would like them to use Weebly because of the ease of use.  As with a door knob we know to turn it, on Weeble the user knows exactly what to do when a pop-up window appears or by selecting an icon.  The user can easily upload artifacts and drag them to the desired place.  Possible artifacts include: text, image, slide shows, maps, webpage links, video, sound, and files among others.  A forum can also be set up allowing for class discussions similar to a blog.  

1.  Begin by describing student work that you might design using blogs. Use the TPACK Model to identify each aspect of the work. The following questions will help guide your thinking:   

• Content--What content you addressing? Considering the verb in the standard and Blooms Revised Taxonomy, what is the desired level of thinking from the standards?
• Pedagogy--What pedagogical stance (or which learning theories or theorists) does this work support? In other words, whose “shoulders” did you stand on?
• Technology--What affordances can you identify for the technology selected? Justify the match of your pedagogical stance/strategy with the technology affordances.

2.  Discuss other ways that this technology can be used in the learning environment.

3.  Identify any obstacles to using this tool. What makes this tool worth using even with these obstacles? 

          I believe students can form new knowledge both socially and independently through individual study but knowledge is best retained through social interactions.  Allowing students to discuss concepts causes them to internalize the information and mix prior knowledge with new knowledge.  I base my pedagogy on constructivist theories.  Many students learn best in a hands-on, experimental, and collaborative setting.  

            It can be difficult to create a collaborative environment in a library when classes are shuffled in and out every thirty minutes.  I believe a blog can solve the problem of limited interaction with students.  One of the standards for a librarian is to promote the success of all students and staff by facilitating the access, use, and integration of technology, telecommunications, and information systems to enrich the curriculum and enhance learning.  A library blog will allow students to access the library in an informal setting throughout the school day and at home.  A library blog fosters interaction with other students and the librarian while a library web site only provides information.    

  

            I have set up my blog to encourage students to write reviews of books they have selected in the library.  The reviews can be written for fiction or nonfiction material.  The variety of reviews will connect all content areas with technology from an analytical perspective.  The students will first need to comprehend the information, analyze it and then evaluate it by giving an opinion for others to see.

 

            While playing with the blog, I discovered the affordances are designed effectively.  By simply selecting the layout icon, I was able to add numerous gadgets to display.  The gadgets include surveys, lists, and translators among others.  This is a quick way to make the blog more visually appealing and more interactive.  I also discovered how to create more pages by selecting the pages icon.  This allows me to organize information in categories.  The affordances of blogger.com are well designed with icons listed on the left side and top of the page.  This site is very user friendly. 

            My only concern with using blogger.com in an elementary setting is allowing students to post comments.  I would like to preview the comments before the students are able to publish.  I did not discover how to preview comments during the play time.  Through further investigation, I believe I can either figure out how to preview comments or I may choose to use a different blogging site in the future.    

            Giving students an opportunity to participate in a blog is novel to them.  Many know about blogs but have not participated in one.  The blog is also effective in that the students are practicing writing skills including grammar, spelling, and sentence structure while sharing their opinions on a variety of concepts.  My hope is that the library blog will become part of the content area classroom routine.  I plan to post not only reviews but also information concerning units and activities taught while collaborating with the classroom teachers.