"Times They are a Changin": Reflections on Technology for the 21st Century Learner

As I read through the articles, my blood instantly started to boil. How dare they question the importance of technology for today's students?!? Well, by the last article, I had checked the dates they were written and I had tried much harder to see the other side of things.

There are some very valid points being made in these articles. Some. Do some districts spend an exorbitant amount of money on technology unnecessarily? Yes. Is too much money spent on getting the latest gadget? Sometimes. Are many teachers under utilizing or abusing technology? Without a doubt. But technology actually replacing vital subjects such as the arts and physical education is not my experience. This would be a travesty. The idea of computers as the new filmstrips gets my blood pressure rising again. Maybe that is the way that things started. It is not where they are going.

In a recent lecture at the TIES conference, Jim Norwood discussed the moral imperative he believes we have as educators to prepare our students with 21st century skills. He also discussed how difficult it can be to convince others they need to change their views and methods to accomplish this. He sang Bob Dylan's song, "The Times They are a Changin'." Listen to the lyrics and apply them to educational technology. I believe, as a change agent in my school, I need to prepare those who would "sink like a stone" to swim by changing their perception of technology. My reflection paper will focus on why I believe this.

Song and lyrics found at: http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/times-they-are-changin

Image found at www.creativecommons.com posted by badosa.

Read all about... the Media Center! My newsletter is going to be about basic library information that new families need. It will cover checkout proceedures, overdue books, etc. I'm planning to adapt this and use it on my Media Web site, too.

Poster/Brochure

OK, so I put the cart before the horse. I created a brochure to hand out to teachers. It contained a list of possible technology inservice offerings, a way to sign up for them, and various other odds and ends of information about the inservices.

Now I'm creating a poster to promote those inservices.

I don't know, what do you want to do?

For my poster assignment, I'm going to to create an interest survey/sign-up for staff development workshop possibilities.

Image found at http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/sign%20up%20now.jpg on Nov. 7, 2008.

Staff Development Topic

My Staff Development assignment topic will be the new Notebook 10 software for Smartboards (downloaded from the SmartTech site for free with a Smartboard product code or a free 30 day trial). Because in my school all classrooms, the special ed area and the Media Center all have Smartboards and the Music and Art rooms have LCD projectors, staff are mostly fluent in the last version Smartboard software. As there are significant changes, getting people to upgrade will take a little convincing, since our district is in the middle of a new language arts adoption, new absence reporting/sub calling system, new student management and report card system and now we are going to go through the process for the School of Excellence award. Whew! However, the new software is so cool, I know the teachers will want it once they see it. It is just giving them the time to experience it. I'm going to present my assignment (only using the Notebook 10 software, of course) to the staff in the next two weeks. Wish me luck!

Notebook 10 image found at http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Support/Downloads/default.htm on October 14, 2008.

My Media Center Web Site

Here is my Media Center's active Web site. The link takes you to the main East Union Elementary site. The Media Center is found in the drop down menu under "Students." It's goofy, but the software my district has moved to does not allow direct links to the subsites.

http://eue.district112.org/se3bin/clientschool.cgi?schoolname=school377 (changed address on 9/21/08)

It isn't completely finished, but several of the elements I wanted are there. It is definately a work in progress.

I'm toying with the idea of having the "Check this out" section on the main page an RSS feed. I want to get the rest of the site under control before I add that, though. I'm actually in charge of the main pages for the school, as well, and really need to focus some time on those. They are designed, just not inputed yet. Wish me luck getting that all done!

Blogs: The good, bad and ugly

What is your personal opinion of blogs and blogging?

Blogs are turning into my new black hole, giving me my daily techie fix. I am sucked in every morning with all the new entries and am held there for far too long. If I do manage to get my daily blogs read, I go in search of more to add to the ever growing list! While the start up seems rather rocky, taking lots of time to find worthwhile blogs and readjusting my iGoogle page to have them show up there, I am glad I'm delving into blogs. Already my delicious bookmarks are overflowing from the new sites I've found there and, while the side trip to create an avatar was time consuming, it was fun. It really does feel like professionally I am keeping far more abreast of cutting edge technologies, something I am feeling much more humble about over the last year. Instead of intending to get around to trying that out, I jump online and download SecondLife, look at Ustream, or get an account on VoiceThread.

So, my opinion as a blog reader would be that they are worth the time invested. I gain valuable knowledge or new perspective on a variety of topics I might not otherwise be aware of. I’m learning and growing because of them.

Now, looking at myself as a blog poster is a different matter, far more personal. I am shy about posting my opinions in such a fixed, semi-permanent way to an unknown audience. Knowing how e-mail can be misinterpreted makes me gun-shy. Not knowing who my audience will be makes writing far more intimidating. Being so new in my Media Specialist role at my school, and not totally trained at that, makes me wary of not coming across too strong, something I fear a blog has the potential portray. I hope that after reading other blog postings for awhile, I’ll get over the self-consciousness and get on with it! Research shows how reflection is vital to growth, and blog demands this. I know I would love this new way to collaborate.

image from Flickr:Creative Commons

Blogs in the media center and/or classroom

Question:
How do you think blogs can be used in the media center and/or the K-12 classroom?

As stated in the article by John Sener, In Search of Student-Generated Content in Online Education , "Student-generated content has also long been an integral part of the educational process. " Three main improvements that online this article proposes are:

• Increased Student Engagement
• Improved Learning Effectiveness
• Create Projects with Lasting Value - for other students, the community at large, or the student themselves

OK, now that I believe we should blog, I need ideas about how to go about it with kids. I ran across a great blog post in Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech by Dean Shareski with suggestions for successful teacher and student blogs. He suggests:

1. Be a reader - Read other blogs before starting. Read more blogs than you create.


2. To get people to comment on your blog, comment on theirs!


3. Make it personal- write about what you know (nice tie in to the storytelling movement in presentations!)


4. Use Hyperlinks


5. It's not all text - use graphics (including pod/vodcasts!)

All really good ideas! Since diving into blogs, I've tried to pay attention to what grabs my attention, and these five tips really show up.

So, how can I use a blog with my students/staff? There are so many ideas!

Collaboratation on projects

Publication of student/staff work

Student Book Reviews

Book Talks/Popular Checkouts/New books/Featured books

Staff Development

Concept presentation and discussion

Library News
And more! The more I look around at other library blogs, the more ideas I get. I'm getting more confident and am ready to start my own at my school and get some of my older students blogging, too.

Oh, one other thing, safety concerns are always prevelant when students are publishing to the Web. We require students and families to sign AUP statements for using technology equipment at school. A similar for could be used for Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs. One I found gives a framework from which to start.

image from Flickr:Creative Commons, posted by robinhamman