Bring Technology into the Classroom

I currently work in a small rural school with approximately 200 students.  Our staff works very hard to meet the needs of our students, and my school was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence last year.  Even though my peers do an excellent job in their classroom, very few teachers incorporate technology skills into their lessons.  Recently each classroom was given a Qomo pad, and only a few teachers have embraced this technology. 

Each teacher received one day of training to use the Qomo pad.  I believe the training was well organized and provided ample opportunities to use the technology.  I actually provided this training.  After my student teaching, the principal hired me to train all of the teachers to use the recently purchased Qomo pads.  I provided teachers with printed notes and a predesigned online tutorial.  The training took place in the computer lab where I was able to demonstrate using the multimedia projector, and teachers were able to use their Qomo pads on individual computers.  I loaded each computer with a custom made tutorial.  As teachers worked through this tutorial, they were given the opportunity to use many of the popular functions.  I allotted one hour at the end of the day for teachers to develop their own application to be used in their classroom.       

The biggest problem was that the teachers had a great deal of difficulty thinking of ways to incorporate this technology into the classroom.  Every teacher completed the training, demonstrated their skills in class, and previewed upcoming lessons.  But as soon as they left the computer lab they were overwhelmed with daily demands and issues.  This left them with little to no time to explore the possibilities of this technology.  As a result, many teachers are not utilizing this technology today.    

For this process to be a true success I believe some follow up support and training is needed.  I do not totally blame the teachers with the limited success of this implementation.  I work in a classroom and realize how precious time is to a teacher.  If someone was able to follow up and provide additional assistance, I cannot think of a single teacher that would not welcome the support.  I then believe once the teacher becomes familiar with the technology, the additional support will no longer be needed.

Are you the "Copyright Police" in your School?

The Board of Education in my school district has adopted a copyright policy that states “The school Media Specialist is charged with informing school staff members of copyright regulations so that school materials, employees, and equipment will not be involved in the infringement of this applicable copyright law.”

Although many school districts have adopted such a policy, very few provide their media specialists with the training and support they need to properly enact the policy in their school. Researching and understanding complicated copyright laws becomes yet one more item on a busy media specialist’s already too long list to-do list. For this reason, many media specialists resort to obtaining a professional resource that provides “guidelines” for copyright law compliance in schools. Unfortunately, these guidelines end up being viewed as “rules” that must be followed rather than just guidelines that should be taken into consideration. Sadly, the media center staff becomes the dreaded “copyright police” who enforce the rules instead of being copyright leaders who teach others how to understand copyright laws.

But how does a busy media specialist become a copyright leader?

First, stop relying solely on professional resources that provide “guidelines” for copyright law. In the introduction to her book “Copyright for Schools” (Linworth Books, 2005), Carol Simpson admits that her book presents the “safest position” and “in some instances, the recommended practices might even be considered ultraconservative.” However, she also reminds readers not to be afraid of copyright laws. She does encourage readers who wish to advantage of their full rights under Fair Use to have strong rationale and good documentation to support their decision. But one must ask…how many readers take the time to read the introduction? Have you ever taken the time to read the introduction to your professional resources?


Thankfully, the Center for Social Media has taken on the task of educating media specialists and other teachers about exercising their rights under Fair Use. Through their publication “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education” the Center for Social Media provides educators with information on HOW to interpret Fair Use. In other words, instead of giving educators fish (specific guidelines) they teach educators how to fish (how to interpret Fair Use for their specific circumstance).

In summary, educators must recognize that any expert “guidelines” that they refer to are just that…guidelines. Educators must take into account their specific circumstances before making their own judgment about whether their educational use is fair use. I encourage you to explore the information provided by the Center for Social Media information and become the copyright leader in your school.


Center for Social Media - http://mediaeducationlab.com/code-best-practices-fair-use-media-literacy-education-0

When It Comes to School TV News - Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

The fifth graders at Sawnee Elementary School produce a daily live video broadcast. My fifth grade daughter is a member of the broadcast team and she gave me a tour of the video broadcast room and explained how the broadcast is produced. Her knowledge of the how to produce a school TV news program was impressive. If you are a media specialist who needs to produce a school TV news program – just find a fifth grader –they will be glad to share their knowledge.

At Sawnee Elementary, four rotating teams of fifth grade students produce the daily school TV news. Each team is made up of 8 members – 2 anchors, 1 weather reporter, 2 camera persons, 1 mixer operator, 1 graphics operator, and 1 director. The volunteer teacher who oversees the program chooses students based on a written application they submit at the end of fourth grade.

Sawnee is fortunate to have decent equipment which they use to produce the program.

The anchors read the script off a laptop which serves as a teleprompter. The volunteer teacher uses PowerPoint to create slides with the script. The anchors simply click the laptop mouse to scroll through the slides.

The video broadcast room has a wall painted green (by yours truly!) which serves as a green screen.

The graphics operator uses a laptop to switch the graphics. The volunteer teacher creates a script for the graphics operator to follow.

The video broadcast room has 2 cameras – one focused on the anchor desk and one focused on an open area in the room.

The mixer is used to add graphics and sound to the broadcast and to switch which camera is being broadcast. The mixer is connected to a simple monitor that previews the broadcast.

The mixer operator refers to a posted list of instructions to help them remember when and how to change the mixer.

The broadcast has a basic format:

Introduction

Weather

Moment of Silence

Pledge

Announcements (lunch menu, upcoming events such as book fair)

Special Feature - Vary daily and include items such as guest speakers, students presenting book talks, presentation of Star Students, presentation of W.A.T.C.H. Dog Dads, etc.

Sign Off - Anchors end broadcast with “Sawnee Students Shine Shine Shine”

The broadcast encounters very few difficulties. The volunteer teacher does wish that they had laptops with Wi-Fi so that there would be less cords running through the room. She is planning on petitioning PTA for new laptops.

The school TV news at Sawnee is basic and their equipment is far from being cutting edge. But that just serves to prove that a School TV News broadcast does not have to be an insurmountable task. Follow Sawnee’s model and start simple, then work your way to having a full blown production such as the one at Pleasant Grove Elementary (http://www.henry.k12.ga.us/pges/knn/).

Remember, the information about Sawnee’s broadcast was obtained from a fifth grader. If they can learn how to create a live broadcast, so can you!

Great Rewards with Social Networks

Social networks go beyond the commonly known MySpace and Facebook.  Social networks include blogs, podcasts, tagging, and wikis.  Each of these formats allows people to connect, collaborate, and form virtual spaces.  These formats provide a unique opportunity to connect to students, staff, and parents.

Students are engaged in reading and writing when working with social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.  Creating a profile, posting comments, and performing searches all require reading and writing skills.  In the environment of MySpace and Facebook I question the educational value.  From my point of view, posts are often brief and poorly organized, so grammatically I don’t think that I could recommend these social networks for educational purposes. 

MySpace or Facebook would be a perfect format to promote upcoming events, advertise services, or preview new selections in the media center.  Students could also ask the media specialist questions or make request.  I believe this format could change the way students perceive the media center.  Instead of the media center being housed within four walls down the hall, the media center could come alive and be accessible 24 hours a day.  The primary concern would be monitoring the site and assuring appropriate comments. 

The other formats of social networks include blogs, podcasts, tagging, and wikis.  Each of these formats could be setup to post, review, and update books reviews, group projects, or special topics.  These formats cater more to a structured format and would better meet my concerns with grammar.  These sites would also have to be monitored to assure appropriate content.

Many OPACs are already embracing this technology.  Auto-Graphics, Fish4Info, Follett’s Destiny, SirsiDynix’s Enterprise, and Mandarin’s OPAC are designed or are being designed to support community/social networking capabilities. 

The bottom line is that we all prefer to have 100% control.  To implement social networks, media specialists must give up some control.  The information that appears on these sites will come from multiple sources with little to no initial filtering.  This puts a greater burden and responsibility on the media specialist to monitor and manage these sites.  I believe that if it is an option… it is an option that can yield great rewards.     

Media Center Websites - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Media Center websites have become a vital way of providing students with access to media center resources 24/7. The question is no longer should a media specialist have a website but the question now is how effective is the website. The information age allows media specialist the opportunity to have a virtual library that is available to patrons 24/7. A student working on a research paper over the weekend could simply open the media center website to find links to research databases and information about proper citation. Every time a patron uses the website the media specialist has provided a service. Take advantage of this opportunity to serve your patrons 24/7 by creating an effective website.

Do you think your website is good, bad, or ugly? Do your patrons view the website as useful? Would you love to have a great website but you just don’t know where to begin? Check out these examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly to find ideas for improving your website.

THE UGLY

• No website

• Only contains basic information such as contact information and hours


THE BAD

• Only advertises the services available in the media center (no content that can be used from
outside of the media center)

• Not age appropriate (i.e. using advanced vocabulary on a website for younger students)

• Poor color choices and font choices make reading difficult for visually impaired students

• Lack of eye-catching graphics


THE GOOD

• Navigation bar (easy to locate, easy to activate links, appears on all pages)

• Special navigation features (‘back to top’ and ‘home’ links on all pages; links to outside sources open in a new window, bread crumb trails)

• Transcripts of sound clips available for hearing impaired students

• Link to the OPAC

• Theme/pictures changed periodically to keep site interesting to repeat viewers

• Promotes reading (award winning book lists, book talks, most popular lists, ‘if you like this than try this’ lists)

• Creative forms of presentation (podcasts, use of Web 2.0 tools such as Wordle.net and Glogster.net)

• Uniform presentation (same template for each page)

• Caters to student egos (information created by students such as video book talks and information about students such as photos of projects and award ceremonies)

• Organized (i.e. grouping information and links by subject, grade level, or type of user)


Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. View your website as a work in progress. Use this improvement plan to get started today.

1. Start by conducting a simple survey of the media center patrons to determine what information would be useful to include on a website. The survey should include students, staff, and parents.

2. Explore websites created for other school media centers. The School Libraries website (www.school-libraries.net) has a listing of school library websites with links. A list of my favorite websites is included below to help get you started on your exploration. While exploring the websites, take note of any features that would be useful to your patrons.

3. Compile the suggestions from your patrons, your notes from exploring other websites, and ideas from this blog into a wish list of improvements for your website.

4. Gradually make improvements and add new features over time. Adopt an “Improvement of the Month” plan where you work on one new improvement each month. Start out with simple improvements for immediate results.

5. Don’t forget to check in with your patrons periodically to see if the improvements are taking your website from the ugly to the good.



Suggested Media Center Websites

Collins Hill High School, Georgia – created using Weebly.com
http://www.chhsmediacenter.com/index.html


Locust Grove High School – created using school system template
http://schoolwires.henry.k12.ga.us/79612042710331133/site/default.asp?7961Nav=1113&NodeID=1113


Settles Bridge Elementary – created using school system template
http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/13062072183334793/site/default.asp


Jackson Middle School– created using WordPress.org:
http://jmslibrary.wordpress.com/



Further Reading

How to Design Library Web Sites to Maximize Usability by Chris Jasek
http://www.elsevier.com/framework_librarians/LibraryConnect/lcpamphlet5.pdf

Easy-to-read pamphlet that outlines how to create a user-friendly website. Includes annotated screen shots of good web sites to illustrate concepts.


Best Practices in School Library Design by David Walbert
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/969

Examples of poorly designed websites are used to illustrate the concepts of good web design. Includes screen shots of websites.


School Library Websites: Examples of Effective Practice
http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/

This educational Wiki is an extensive collection of elementary, middle, and high school media center website examples and examples of content to include on media center websites.


References

Credaro, A. (2002). School library websites: More than pix and clicks?. Orana, 38(3), 20. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Franklin, P., & Stephens, C. (2007). Creating webpages for the 21st century library media center. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 24(3), 41-42. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Jurkowski, O. (2010). Technology and the school library. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Schrock, K. (2003). Sources of great ideas. School Library Journal, 49(11), 37-47. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Warlick, D. (2005). Building web sites that work for your media center. Knowledge Quest, 33(3), 13-15. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.