Thing 13 - Reflection

With the integration of the iPad into curriculum, students are now able to have a much more engaging and rich educational experience. I am well aware of what a massive responsibility this is for me, as a LIS, one of the gurus on campus. I must be frank; I am very, very concerned about workflow. Using the iPad - wonderful, great, fun, engaging and a host of other superlatives. Getting the fabulous-ness OFF of the iPad - I would rather undergo a root canal. Perhaps I exaggerate. No, no I don't.

I am looking forward to the Edmodo class this summer to hopefully put my mind at ease regarding workflow. In the best of all possible worlds, each campus would have an iTunes account and unlimited space in the iCloud. A girl can dream...

In the meantime, I will rely on my in-district PLC to figure out work arounds. 

As far as my biggest a-ha! moment? I would have to say the realization that the campus will be looking to me to know how to "make it work." Hopefully, with some time over the summer, I'll become more confident in my new role. Ready or not, here it comes!

Thing 6 - Screencasting with Educreations

Activity One

The Educreations lesson that I chose is about book choice. Oftentimes, students are overwhelmed by the number of books in the library and don't know where to start. Using this Educreation will give them a place to start! I would like to show this video at the beginning of the year to help students have a starting place. 

How Readers Choose Books

Activity Two

How to Read the Spine Label of a Nonfiction Book

For my Educreations assignment, I explained how to the read the spine label of a nonfiction book. Because Alexander has had what I call "the revolving door of librarians" oftentimes there are many different types of spine labels found throughout the library. While all spine labels have the section (E for everybody, etc.) and the cutter (first three letters of the author's last name), some of them also have "sp" for Spanish, or the AR level and point value. All of the unnecessary information can be quite confusing to the uninitiated.

I think that the main  barrier for students who use Educreation might be the initial silliness that occurs when students try something new. I can just imagine, even now, the giggling and the silliness that is bound to be inevitable.

To reach the point beyond this, I think that providing an initial "play" period would be helpful. Simply allow the students to get to know the features of Educreations and become accustomed to hearing themselves recorded would go a long way toward students reaching that point on the other side of silliness where productivity lies.

Thing 10 - Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commo

Part 1 

What I like most about the instructional input provided for this lesson is the succinct nature of the material provided. Truthfully, when copyright is approached on campus, eyes glaze over and my voice begins to morph into that of Charlie Brown's teacher, "Wah wah wah wah, wah wah, wah wah."

I know that copyright is second only to a visit to the dentist for most people, but the fact of the matter is that we, as educators, need to model the behavior that we expect from our students. As such, students need to be taught about copyright, correct adherence to copyright guidelines needs to be modeled, and students need to be held accountable for meeting the expectations of legally using work within the parameters of copyright law. 

Previously, I had seen the Creative Commons symbol, but I wasn't sure what it meant. After this module, I learned more information about it, specifically that it allows the creator of a work to set forth the  terms under which it can be shared. I also didn't have a full understanding of fair use. It just seemed as though many things were automatically off limits, when in reality they are not.  Also, I learned that guidelines are more stringent when work is shared "off campus" in a public forum or through digital means. 

Now that I know these things, I will be better able to educate our students and hold them accountable for working in accordance with these guidelines. This is especially important given the nature of the work that students will be doing on the iPads. Just bringing this information into awareness and providing an accountability piece to assignments will work to develop their understanding and proper use.

Part 2 

I really like the way that the instructor introduced the lesson, charging the students with becoming copyright lawyers. This sets a real world purpose for applying their knowledge of copyright law. She asked the students, immediately before, to activate all of their knowledge about copyright law. Presumably, this was due to the students already having a lesson with instructional input.

I think that anytime students are challenged to take the knowledge and apply it in a real life situation it creates an opportunity for a much richer and engaging lesson. The instructor in the video successfully did just that. Further, asking the students to provide the evidence that led to their conclusion is a very powerful strategy that ensures students can demonstrate an understanding of the concept and an application as well. Consequently, I feel that this lesson most likely had an impact on her students and they will begin to become more aware of their responsibility to follow copyright guidelines when they create their own work.

I would be eager to implement a similar lesson here at the elementary level. Certainly, it would not be as complex as that lesson. I suspect that only one aspect of copyright guidelines would be introduced at a time, causing the lesson to expand over several meetings. As such, I would be interested in collaborating on this with our Health/Tech teacher in order to most effectively meets the needs to the students in a setting where they are already scheduled to be. 

Thing 9 - Collaboration

Both Skype and Padlet can be powerful collaboration tools in the classroom. 

More specifically, I look forward to using Skype to provide a quick and easy, no muss no fuss, connection to the outside world. There is a super-librarian, who regularly blogs about her adventures with Skype in the Van Meter Library Voice. I would love to get to a point where Skype enables our students to chat with authors while only undertaking a minimal amount of fuss and muss. 

Additionally, I could see using Skype in order to connect in real time with subject area experts. An example that immediately comes to mind is Geneva's lesson wherein students are researching Asian religions. A quick Skype session with a facility could provide a depth and richness to student research.

Finally, I could see Skype being used to connect students with people in different career fields. Why wait until career day to talk to a firefighter? A quick Skype session during Fire Prevention Week would surely spark a bit of excitement on campus!

Padlet could very well work out its own collaboration with Skype! For example, prior to connecting, student could create questions for the Skype-guest and add them to a Padlet especially created for that purpose. 

If, for example, students were planning on connecting to interview a person for whatever purpose, collaborating on a Padlet would allow them to create a list of questions that are representative of the class as a whole. As they say, two heads are better than one, so twenty-two heads must be…well, you get the picture.

Finally, during an "author's chair" type situation, wherein other students are presenting, have a Padlet for each group or individual (your mileage may vary) would enable more than just the requisite one or two students (due to time constraints) to provide feedback. Using Padlet would increase the amount of feedback and enable shy students to find their voice.

In short, both Skype and Padlet are very powerful tools with which to engage students. The combination of the two is almost unstoppable! Pretty much like Superman. Except for that whole Kryptonite thing. (Apple doesn't use Kryptonite to build iPads, do they?)

Thing 12 - Evaluating iPad Lessons

For Thing 12, I commented on the blogs of Jewlene Harris and Geneva Browning.

Having a post this short feels strange...

Thing 8 - Research and Inquiry

The tool I am most excited about is Diigo. 

And because sometimes our classroom has grown up students (in other words, teachers), please allow me to regale you with the Tale of Two Bookmarks…

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the time Ms. Prather unknowingly and without her permission lost all of her bookmarks.

For maximum enjoyment, please start humming the tune that plays when Darth Vader approaches. Remember? 

Dun dun dun dun dun DUN dun dun DUN.

Still not there? How about this:

Clickety cick…

Ah, now you've got it! And so approacheth - the campus tech guy.

For whatever reason, and perhaps no reason whatsoever, Ms. Prather's machine was uncooperative. Hinky, even. And it was then that the campus tech guy did a system restore. Or something. Or nothing. Frankly I'm not sure what he did, but whatever he did I am sure that he had.to.do.it. and regardless, Ms. Prather's bookmarks were no more!

That's right, a whole year of carefully and lovingly gathered bookmarks gone. POOF! Just like Alderaan. A disturbance in the force. As though thousands of voices - or bookmarks - cried out at once and were suddenly silenced.

Even without a Rebel Alliance, this sort of thing can be stopped! Neither droids nor wookies needed!

That's right - it is Diigo!

Never again will Ms. Prather lose her bookmarks. Now she can have her bookmarks - and much more! - including a way to gather and collaborate on all of the those pesky research projects -  all handy, no matter whether she is on her own hinky computer or not. 

And I can't wait to share this fabulousness with ALL of our teachers at Alexander! 

But not now. Not while everyone has May-itis. We'll make that one of our first TechXpos next year when everyone is fresh.

Deal? DEAL!

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Thing 7 - Garage Band for iPad

For me, at this time, the most useful feature of GarageBand is the ability to capture the spoken word. Although the musical features are also fabulous (and lots of fun!), I don't know enough about music to use them with students. On the other hand, the music teachers might…but that is an endeavor for another place, another time.

I could see podcasting as being very valuable to students, even at the elementary level. It is widely held that in order to be able to explain something, to teach it, you must know it. What a fantastic way to assess understanding - having the student explain the steps to solve! And in Language Arts, GarageBand would be amazing! Just imagine, poetry in the author's own voice! 

Ah yes, with all of this wonderful-ness there had to be a catch, didn't there? Not to sound like a broken record but getting the fabulous-ness OFF of the iPad again seems problematic. Although the You Tube video linked in the class has been removed "due to multiple reports of third part copyright violations" a quick search of You Tube did provide a video from a teacher who is using GarageBand for podcasting. The thing that I am most excited about - creating authentic work and sharing with an authentic audience  - is exactly what he was doing! His students were creating podcasts which he then uploaded to iTunes and they were listened to not only in the US but around the world in different countries by actual people  - not just grandma because she is, well, grandma.

Ah, there's the rub - how do I get this stuff, these wonderful, authentic creations, off this darn-diddly-arn iPad. How.do.I?

 Today, right now, I don't have the answer. And frankly, I fear the answer will be "out of hours, at your home, using your own equipment, you know the not locked down stuff."

Sigh.

Maybe that is the answer today, right now. But I am holding out hope that soon, it won't be.