Week #4 - Thing #8

I had actually learned quite a bit about RSS feeds in my library tech class this past summer. In it, we even had a chance to sit down and subscribe to feeds on Google Reader. We discussed how this could be used in education.
For teachers, we can subscribe to an RSS feeder requesting information on only one topic. Example: we can subscribe to cnn.com and request only feeds that have "Iraq" or "Al Qaeda". That way, we don't get every single item that comes across the CNN site, just the ones having to do with specific topics. This kind of selective feed is very helpful for current events. If a government teacher wants to focus on the elections this spring, he/she can subscribe to certain feeds that will only give him/her information on the topic of choice. This eliminates sifting.
However, this also eliminates other information that might have been found on other topics that the person didn't even know he/she might be interested in.
For students, this can be used in similar ways to help with reports/research. However, this is a live feed and it won't back-date the feed information. So if they start the feed today, they won't get yesterday's articles. For some, this could be a problem.
Now people can use this as a "gadget" in iGoogle. So, since iGoogle is my home page on my internet explorer at home, every time I go online, I immediately see my reader. This has simplified my reader anymore, since I no longer have to log on to Google and then go to Google Reader. It's right there on the front page.
If students use this option, they can see this the moment they log on to iGoogle. They can also use Google Docs here as well, so now they can have information at their fingertips and then immediately put it in their notes/research for any assignment that they may be completing.
Streamlining information and getting it where it needs to go even faster.... wow!

Week #3 - Thing #7

Anything technology related? How about the wonders of the exercise video game. One of the hottest things out there this season is the SmartCycle. My son can't stop talking about it. If a commercial for it comes on, he goes nuts. If it works, we may have one of the healthiest video game addicts out there. Both a blessing and a curse I guess. Of course, the fact is that most of these things look amazing, but then they don't work well and are a pain to operate. Luckily for us, his grandmother bought it for him, so we didn't have to spend a penny on it. My hubby and I are going lo-tech with a real bike and a child-sized Black & Decker set so that he can pretend to build.
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The other technology thing to speak of is iGoogle. I learned about it at the CSLA conference and immediately created an account for myself. It's good... not perfect... but good. Maybe it's just my computer, but the gadgets kind of "freak out" on my screen when I load the page. I've even deleted a number of them to try and solve the problem, but it's not done much good. It has some amazing possibilities if it works, though.
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I'm trying to get email for the students at my school. It's taking time though because each school must have an email sub-administrator to create and assign the accounts to them. The admins at my school have agreed that it's ok for me to do it (yet another thing on my list to do), but they never have the time to wait on hold for the ITD guys. The principal must personally call and authorize appointing me to the position. So, for a couple of months now, I've been reminding and reminding them, but it hasn't gotten me far. I'm hoping that once we do get it up and running, we can teach the students to use things like RSS and GoogleDocs. Our school doesn't have a separate server for students to log on to and/or save their work, so they either save to the hard drive and hope that no one else deletes their work later in the day, or they buy a travel drive, which most either can't afford or their parents aren't willing to buy (since they don't know what they do/how important they can be). If I can get them accounts, I can get them the ability to safely save on GoogleDocs and maybe teach them to get organized using programs like iGoogle and Google Calendar.
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Dear Lord... Google's taking over!

Week #3 - Thing 6

Ok... that whole trading card thing is fun. I also got to make a letter from Santa for my son. It was very fun! And surprisingly easy.
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I find it fascinating the number of people out there who have created these things on their own, apart from the companies, without getting paid for it all. It's very generous and is definitely symbolic of our new world. Where before everyone was "I'll only build it if I can make some money off of it", now, at least in the internet world, we've become more sharing. Of course, it's not all sunshine and roses; there are still many who are a bit greedy. But the future looks bright in many ways. I'm really enjoying much of what's out there.

Week 3 - Thing #5

I have heard of Flickr before, but have never spent any real time on it. Heck! I even suggested another TL use it in class a couple of weeks ago when her pic couldn't be seen otherwise. So today I sat down and went through the tour. Most of it was fairly basic stuff that matched a number of other sites I've seen like ccMixter and Freesound in terms of tags and grouping. But then I went on to to see the "interestingness" and the interesting images from the last 7 days.
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I was blown away.
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I just kept reloading and reloading the screen to see new pictures... and they were all amazing. I've always loved photography and taking pictures, but I've never come close to what some of these people were doing. I know that I have a couple of pics here and there that I could hope would be considered "interesting" by the good folks at flickr, but there were a few pics that just bowled me over and kept me on the floor. The one I've added here, by Lee Seung Kye, is exquisite. Granted, it appears that he's a pro, but that doesn't make me any less in awe of him and his work.
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Of course, this just makes me more determined to save up for a decent digital SLR so that I can at least have the equipment to take pics that might someday be this nice.

Thing 2

I would say the most difficult thing for me to do with 7 1/2 habit of lifelong learners is setting goals. I set plenty of goals. I am the goal-setting queen. My problem is that many of my goals are long-term and are dependent on my state of mind at a later date. I don't often set realistic short-term goals.
Part of my problem is also that I tend to take on too much. I am not only the teacher librarian at my school, I run AR (so far without extra $$), I manage the LMC MacLab, as well as do my best to manage all the other macs on campus (oh, the joys of Apple Remote Desktop), I'm taking classes to get my credential and master's degree, and I have an almost 5-year-old. There is also the fact that, while I am desperate to get teachers to USE the LMC, I am sometimes frustrated when they're here because I can't do all the other things I need to and they often have difficulties managing their students, resulting in an LMC that looks like a tornado hit it by the time they leave. Admittedly, it is a very long LMC, creating management issues for any sane person.
So what I need to do is create more short-term, realistic goals that I can keep without stressing over. And if I'm late meeting them, that's ok... as long as I don't skip them altogether.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that assists the average citizen who might want to protect his/her rights to ideas and creative work, but who doesn't necessarily have the understanding of how to do so and/or who might not want to completely block all use of the product or idea. As seen with the example of the bassist who contributed to the White Stripes album after it was released (on CreativeCommons.org), having the option to share your work with others can lead to some great collaborations with people you haven't even met. Because of this, ideas aren't created out of the ether and then left to get stagnant; they are developed, shared, and helped to grow into even more creative and amazing products.
With a standard copyright, you can't do anything with the product, whether it's to use it or to change it, without the express written permission of the person or group who owns the copyright. This means that using most of the copyrighted work out there requires a time-consuming process to get any permissions when it's difficult and/or not financially feasible to purchase rights. The CC copyright means that, as long as the creator has given permission as part of the copyright, people can have relatively free use of the product or idea. If the creator says that you can use it freely as long as you give him/her credit, then that frees the next person to use the creation, and maybe even build on it. This means that ideas around the world can be shared more freely, can develop and evolve more quickly, and can be used by the average person more easily than if a standard copyright had been used.
As an individual, this means that I can access ideas, software, music, movies, etc... that have the CC copyright and, if permission is already embedded in it, I can use these freely for my personal or professional life. As an LMT, this means that I can have access to all sorts of information online that I can use to benefit the teachers and students at my school. We can share lessons plans, unit plans, organizers, podcasts, vodcasts, movies, and all kinds of other creations to help our students to grow and learn. I can also use these items to promote the LMC and guide professional developments. And if I have some creation or idea, I now have a way to get it out there without worrying that I won't get credit for my own work.

And for a little fun with music copyright, here's a little Weird Al...
http://one.revver.com/watch/56451/format/flv/affiliate/24243

Wiki

Wikis can be wonderful things if they are monitored correctly. Recently, in my ELIB 500 class, Dr. Farmer actually created a wiki for us to use for our weekly journal entries. For us, it was more like a "blog collective" where we each had our own "page" and posted almost exclusively to that. We commented on other pages using the comments option, but almost never actually went in to change someone else's page. We had created an unspoken "rule" about editing other people's journals.
In the regular wiki world, this rule may not really exist. In the case of Wikipedia, that rule has probably never been heard of. Wikis are designed to be added to and edited by the masses (or at least the masses of approved editors).
I can immediately think of some things that wikis can be used for in the class setting. For example, if a teacher were to assign a project, it could be something done as a group, and that group could be either in-class or across the classes. The wiki would provide a safe place where all the members of the group could put their ideas and write the project out. They could organize the duties of each member of the group and post their assignments as they completed them. The teacher could also have access to this wiki and occasionally go online to it to discuss progress, make suggestions, or correct misunderstandings or errors before the assignment is officially turned in. This kind of activity could create a true collaborative atmosphere among the teachers and students. The LMT could also have access to this wiki and use the space to select alternate sites of interest online for research and ideas, as well as books that might be available in the LMC for students to use to go into further depth on their project.
A wiki would also be an excellent place for teachers and the LMT to meet online to work on collaborative issues and create lesson/unit plans that could be used by everyone. If a school wanted to work on creating grade-level projects, a wiki would be great place for everyone to meet and discuss the projects without being forced to do it in between meetings, PDs, and other commitments. This could create a more collegial atmosphere where teachers could relax and feel free to express their opinions in a time and manner that is more suitable and comfortable for them.
The downside to all of this is that people have to 1) have access to a computer with Internet and 2) actually go online. There will always be some people who will refuse to go online and wait for others to do the work instead. And often those people then complain about the outcome. Luckily, the wiki's own editing feature usually includes the backlog of all edits, including who made the edits and when. With this, those who did not contribute to the task can be pulled aside and/or out of the equation when the product is completed. Students who didn't do the work won't get the points, and teachers who did not contribute won't get the credit for the final product.

CALIBK12

At the end of the management class last year, we were encouraged to subscribe to this listserv, so I went ahead and did so. Initially, what I saw was a mass of confusion and chaos, but that was only because subscribing to a listserv is like walking into the middle of a conversation. It takes a little time to sort out the many different voices to make a coherent discussion. Within a couple of weeks, some people began showing up as the sharers of knowledge, while others were obviously seekers. I was also a seeker at one point in February when I suddenly found myself needing a large amount of input in a very short span of time. It was amazing how quick the information got to me.
Some of the conversations on Calib get a little repetitive when new people join and ask questions that have been asked and answered over and over again. However, that doesn't make the conversations any less valid or important. There are the monthly requests for book titles on various subjects, the yearly summer reading lists, and the regular "what would you do?" questions. The Ed Code comes up often, so it's a great way to get familiar with the laws that govern us.
It's also a family atmosphere, and sometimes families fight. There is currently a discussion going on about "Richie's Picks". He regularly posts reviews of books that include anecdotes and reflections on politics. Recently, someone posted a request for him to stop "politicizing" his reviews. This person's post was met with a few responses from others who either criticized the critic, justified Richie's reasons, or praised Richie for his work. It may not have been the best way to respond, but it was a familial response that was given. And, given the types of responses that were posted to the listserv, it's curious to wonder about what might have been sent directly to the critic.
Overall, Calibk12 is a valuable resource of information where people can, usually, go to get information, post notices, request help, and generally share knowledge.

RSS

Having gone through some of the options available on Google Reader, I am struck by the many different things that I can do with the information that I can get here. As an LMT, I can stay current on book and author information, I can keep up with the latest trends in technology, I can find out the new techniques that students are using to get around technology in a way that can hurt themselves and others, and, most importantly, I can get information that will help me be a better LMT, a better teacher, and a better collaborator.
When it comes to teaching research to students, RSS is an excellent way to access current events and even current research on past events. However, considering the way that RSS functions, this is a feature that should probably used as a long-term research tool, rather than as a one- or two-time use program. If students only have 1-2 hours to research a topic online at the lab, and if they have no other access online, then setting up a Google account, getting Google Reader, and subscribing to RSS feeds will actually waste more time than it will save. If, however, these same students are doing a long-term project over the course of weeks/months, then RSS could be a real time saver, especially if we can teach students how to evaluate the veracity of the information provided on those feeds.
I believe that teachers will actually be able to find more to use out of this than students. Teachers can use this source to subscribe to journals, news feeds, magazines, etc. and then download the information that they are interested in to a folder that they can use to build up curricular projects and plan for the coming months. As technology speeds up, the information provided on these feeds will also speed up and, rather than being left in the dust, those of us who use RSS can instead keep pace with the rest of the world.

The Usefulness of Blogs

When considering why we use blogs, what needs to be considered is what we want the blogs to do? For classroom teachers, blogs can be used to post assignments, remind students about upcoming deadlines, keep parents in the loop on what is going on in their children's classes, and share lessons with other teachers. Classroom teachers can also use this space to show student work (with parental permission), which is an alternative to posting things on the walls of their rooms and gives students another place to see their own work when it has been done well. Parents can then log on to these blogs and feel a certain pride when they see their own child's work posted for everyone else to see. Basically, a blog can be an online bulletin board for teachers, but with the additional ability given to students and parents to comment back to the teacher ("I loved that assignment!" "It was wonderful to see my son's work posted online!" "Thank you for letting me know that my daughter had a project due next week. She keeps telling me that she has no homework.")
Library Media Teachers can use their blogs in similar ways. In addition, LMTs can also promote the LMC, its programs, books, and resources. For example, at my own LMC blog, http://lmc8062.blogspot.com, I have used the page to do much of these things. When we had the Black History Month Trivia Contest, I posted the contest rules and a picture of the grand prize on the blog. Since the blog is the homepage on my computers, students who went to use the computers immediately saw the contest information and were inspired to participate. I've also used my blog to post book reviews, important notices, and other items.
One of the bonuses of a blog over a webpage that was discussed in class (Thanks, Karen!) was that blogs have the advantage of creating a community for everyone to post. You can give many people permission to post on your blog and/or you can allow people to make comments. With this, you can create a meeting place for clubs and book groups, so that everyone can go online and post a message to you or to anyone else who's commented.
Blogs like this one are also fairly easy to navigate and give even the newest computer users an easy place to post to the Internet.
A disadvantage, however, is the lack of flexibility. Here, there is less that you can do to manipulate a page. There are fixed templates and you only really have the one page to work with. Creating cascading pages is very difficult and time-consuming. However, as the blog world continues to evolve, this will be less and less of a problem.