Diversity in the media center

Differentiated Instruction means delivering instruction that maximizes learning for ALL students—regardless of skill level or background. It's based on the fact that in a typical classroom, students vary in their academic abilities, learning styles, personalities, interests, background knowledge and experiences, and levels of motivation for learning. But what we must remember is that the media center is an extension of the classroom and is not exempt from making sure that material and equipment is available for ALL students.
Visually-impaired students need to have special equipment available while in the media center. Large print books should also be a part of the collection.
Listening centers should be accessible in the media center for young readers and struggling readers. Licensures such as Tumble Books are a good idea to purchase.
If a school has a population of Spanish-speaking students, there should be items in the collection in Spanish.
Different computer software packages and licenses should be available to help tie in the technological components of lessons and activities.

Diversity in The Media Center

Many schools today consist of a diverse group of students. Students come from diverse background and have different developmental levels. The Media specialist is responsible for reaching all stakeholders in the school’s population. I have had the privilege to volunteer at many media centers. A couple of schools that I have visited have a section of books that are in Spanish for their Spanish population. I think this is important for those students who may not have develop a strong command of the English language, in addition parents would be able to read with their children. One of the schools I volunteered at had a massive amount of early reader picture books for kindergarten students. During, their library time the students were able to actually pick out books that they could read. I think this is important in helping them develop their reading skills. One media center had a listening station set up for students so they could come to the media center throughout to the day and listen to books on tape. The media specialists that I have worked with try their best to meet the needs of all of the stake holders in the school’s community.

Technology and Diversity in the Media Center

Where I am volunteering, the school is very much diverse, and everyone has access to technology resources. All grade levels, cultural backgrounds, regular education, special needs, and ethnicity groups make use of the media center daily. The media specialists introduces many programs to the students and staff, such as ebooks, Windows Movie Maker, Destiny, Net Tracker, etc. The entire faculty and students takes advantage of the technology programs offered when working on projects or reports or research assignments. All programs are beneficial and are catered to all cultural backgrounds. In Destiny, there are materials for Spanish speaking students on videos, DVD's, and online resources. No one is deprived from anything. It is the media specialist responsibility to serve everybody's needs. There are picture books provide for resource and special needs children. These books are accessible to the disable. The entire collection and online resources in the media center is diverse and it meets the needs of the entire school. This makes everyone happy and; therefore, they continue to visit the media center.

Digital story telling

This was my first time using the digital storytelling software. The software program was very easy to use and I enjoyed retelling a historical story. I research a topic that I really knew little about. I learned a lot through this process. I found my self wanting to find out more information. I’ve even thought of adding additional information once the assignment is finished. For students this would be an excellent resource to use when creating a video of information pertaining to the curriculum. I believe they would retain the information better and would become excited about learning the information. They would also feel a tremendous amount of pride at creating their own video.

I’ve only seen movie maker used at one school that I subbed at. The media specialist created a digital video of her favorite author and was in the process of teaching the students how to make their own video. She had already found the websites that the students needed to use. The process seemed very intimidating to me because of the individual attention that it took to guide all twenty students in the right direction. She was excellent with the students and very excited to walk them through this process.

What are ebooks and digital storytelling?

As an educator I have never heard of the terms ebooks and digital storytelling until I took this course. During my research and reading from the Library 2.0 and Beyond, I now have a pretty good idea what they are.

Ebooks are online resources. They take up hardly any physical space, the weight is very lite, and it provides very little disk space. For example, The Civil War holds the same amount of space as MP3 format. The majority of ebooks formats are searchable and they can substitute for dictionaries. Also, they can make tables of contents and indexes to be used as hyperlinks freely accessible and commercial. Project Gutenberg is one of the largest and oldest online sources of ebooks. It provides 19,000 public domain works that has been proofread by volunteers. Manybooks.net reformat a huge collection of Gutenberg texts into a e-reader format. Ebooks has a variety of commercial content. Some of them includes Mobipocket, eReader, the Palm eBook Store, and cookbooks. Reference books are available in ebooks for law, medicine, and humanities. Ebooks focus on areas where print materials are lacking.

Digital storytelling is a story told using moving digital images, digital voiceover narrative, and digital music. They are short and sweet usually 3 to 5 minutes long. Digital storytelling is created for people to tell stories about the lives using drama and emotional content. It must include facts established form context and meaning. Library 2.0 and Beyond lists the seven elements of digital storytelling:

• Point (of view)
• Dramatic question
• Emotional content
• The gift of your voice
• The power of the soundtrack
• Economy
• Pacing

Digital stories can/cannot have music; however, the absence of music speaks volumes. With music it produces mood, builds emotion, and tells the story. The story must be economical with approximately 150 words. Digital storytelling helps promotes the technology use of the libraries, educate students, teachers, and the community.

At my school digital storytelling is being used the technology language arts, and government classes. I am not sure about ebooks, but the use of it will be beneficial for the students.

Technology Training

One of the roles of a media specialist is to share his/her technology expertise with teachers that will assist them with classroom instruction. The media specialist must find the best way to offer her services to teachers.
As a new media the first thing I would like to do is get too know the teachers on the team.
Cultivating relationships with teachers will help them to be more open to help and suggestions.
During the weekly staff meetings I would occasionally ask permission to give a brief abstract of a new technology that could assist in the classroom or others services that the media specialist has to offer. In addition, during in-service time I would talk with the administration about teaching a class on technology and information retrieval in the classroom.
Another way that I would help teachers with technology is by setting up a blog. On this blog I would write articles on different types of technology with links to sites that would be helpful. In addition, I would list website that pertain to what is currently being taught according to the curriculum, the websites would change every grading period to align to what is currently being taught.

Professional Development

Professional Development is extremely important. It keeps faculty members abreast of new and innovative ideas to help reach and teach all students. However its only truly effective if the training is properly implemented.

As an aside I just want to share the fact that one neat thing that we’ve had happen at our school this year is the installation of Acti-Boards in some of our classrooms. However only those teachers whose classrooms would be adorned with this technology were scheduled to attend the training for this new piece of technology.

I think staff development should be held by grade level and not the entire school. This decreases the group size and therefore trainers will be able to provide more individualized assistance if needed. As teachers, we get so much “new stuff” thrown at us, we often don’t get the time to digest those new tools and strategies before we are meeting and being professionally developed on something else.

Below are some tips on how I think to conduct effective professional development:

• Small-sized groups no more than a 1:15 trainer to trainees ratio (especially for training that involves many steps.
• Hands-on training; trainees are actually “doing"
• Topics are relevant and useful to everyday teaching and learning
• Opportunities to ask questions and time is permitted to have questions answered
• Valid methods to provide and receive feedback
  
  

Technology Training in Schools

Technology training in schools today is a must! Teachers need to be updated on the newest technology equipment or resources. At the school where I volunteer the teachers need a lot of assistance in different areas when they use the computers in the media center. That is why it is the media specialist's responsibility to conduct workshops for them. She/he could have a technical person to come in from the county to implement this. The media specialist may have a full plate to do it herself. Technology staff developments would not be a waste of time. This would be an asset to any school. Technology is integrated into the curriculum to engage student's learning. Students are more interested and focused when teachers introduce technology projects to them. This takes students to another level when learning. Technology in the schools helps teachers to become more proficient and effective at their jobs. The web site www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr176.shtml discusses how teachers should be trained to use a computer, and how to integrate technology into the curriculum. Once technology is mastered by teachers and students both of them could move forward in life. Schools would be established and known for developing high achievers.

Video Distribution System in our school

Our video distribution system has been used very limitedly. For one, unfortunately at my school, we have yet to get started with our morning broadcast via video. That is one of the main ways that we use our video distribution system. Also from time to time, the system is used to broadcast videos schoolwide; for example for school assemblies and awareness videos. We recently conducted a fundraiser for leukemia patients and the video distribution system was used to broadcast a cartoon schoolwide. The system is also used to share the Principal’s Book of the Month. During special PTA programs, performances are broadcast schoolwide so that the teachers and students waiting in the classrooms for their time to get on stage won't miss any of the production.
Concerning GPB...this has been such a chaotic year for us thus far that I doubt if any of our teachers, including myself, remember that to use GBP. In the past, however, we have been able to view GPB sponsored videos by letting the media specialist know the title of the video and at what time we would be in place to view it. This would sometimes conflict with other classes who may also want to view a video via closed circuit T.V. This became a first come, first served service because there wasn’t a set procedure for this

School TV News/ Video Distribution

At the school where I volunteer they do use the video Distribution system. The media specialist uses the system to show video’s for certain grade levels at a specific time. For example, last week they had (ADAD) Alcohol and Drug Awareness Conference, during this week they played anti drug video from the media center. The classes could tune in at a certain time to watch the videos. In addition during the big celebration on Friday they had a famous singer to come in and surprise the 4th – 6th graders. Since the younger students were not allowed to attend they broadcasted it to their class rooms. In addition, at times videos will be broadcasted from the media center when it is requested by class room teachers. The media center does not conduct morning announcements over the Television but uses the PA system. Throughout the day the time is displayed on channel four so the whole school is on the same time schedule.

School News and GPB Resources

At my school TV news is done on a daily basis by the media specialists. Everyone is tuned in to Channel One Network at noon. This network was bought by Dekalb County Schools. Every school is able to show this network. This channel shares news with teens that inspires conversations between teens and peers, teens and parents, and teens and educators. It is a student news broadcast which captures high school students attention. Furthermore, this channel trains and informs student's on today's issues, politics, and interviews. Channel One has a history of training teens how to become journalists. It provides a web sites, http://www.channelonenetwork.com/ to enhance guided discussions between educators, students, and parents. The students at my school really enjoy viewing this station. They are provided with critical thinking strategies which is a lifelong skill.

Georgia Public Broadcasting resources are used as an integration into teachers' lesson plans at my school. For example, many teachers use United Streaming to download videos for their class whenever they are implementing a specific lesson. Also teachers are using podcasts for students to create oral book reviews. Georgia Public Broadcasting Digital Library is a great place to find resources in audio/media. Teachers are using http://www.georgiastandards.org/ to create their lessons to line up with Georgia Department of Education curriculum. These are all outstanding collaborative tools to help teachers and students to become successful in education.

MMS Morning News

The MMS news is presented every day before first period. It is a live news broadcast aired on TV channel 6. It is produced by the media specialist and performed by students who are selected by teacher recommendations, student applications, and auditions. The content includes lunch menu, A/B day, athletic events and scores, special events, pledge, featured student birthday recognitions. Students are rotated quarterly. Our media technology committee is currently reviewing the content and may incorporate my drama classes in the broadcast. The distribution is through CCTV. Occasionally movies are broadcast. Specials concerning some holidays, Black History, and Cinco de Mao are just some of the special features. Both teachers and students may submit content to be aired pending the principal’s approval. Our school takes full advantage of PeachStar United Streaming and Safari Montage. Paul

Social Networking...in the schools

Social networking....I mean don't students socialize enough in school already? Isn't that part of the problems in our schools today?These types of online "programs" or tools should be restricted to at home, after homework is completed time. I do think MySpace and You Tube could be excellent teaching and sharing tools, but they've been taken in a totally different direction. School officials have long since realized this and have blocked these sites from school computer access.
I know this is the position that most have taken regarding this issue, but as I mentioned earlier MySpace and You Tube could be used to teach and impart knowledge. Students could share math strategies; become homework helpers using YouTube especially. Teachers could basically do the same things; record mini-videos that students can access at home when they are stuck on homework or project assignments. Book reviews, oracles, and other types of presentations could be shared in a non-threatening way.

social networking in schools

I believe that social networking sites are tools best limited to out of school hours. They are too difficult to supervise. Now, there may be some way to restrict access to members only and in the case they would be okay. The main reason for not allowing them is to prevent predators and bullies from entering our schools via the internet. My school filters out sites such as MySpace and YouTube. Students are able to access their e-mail on Yahoo and Google but this is only a recent change to our internet policy. I searched for examples of sites that are geared to improving reading skills. I found a good article at http://www.ll4schools.co.uk/ that talks about a safe social networking site designed specifically for schools. It’s worth taking a peak at. Paul

November 9, 2008

Social Networking

Social networking sites are a place where individuals can meet together online to have conversation about everyday issues. Many social networking sites, such as Myspace, allow individuals to set up a profile and select the individuals who are allowed to visit their site. They can also open it up to anyone who wants to view the material. In my opinion this type of networking site should not be allowed in a school setting. These kind of sites could open students up to individuals who may not have their best interest in mind. In addition, students may use this tool to bully or harass other students.

I do believe that when social networking sites are properly used they are beneficial to a school setting. The idea situation for students is to set up class social networking sites. On this website students could post projects and also pose questions to other students concerning assignments. In addition, information could be posted on the website concerning what the class is presently doing. There could be an area where parents could also pose question or comments to the teacher. The Blogmeister website (http://classblogmeister.com/) is an excellent tool that teachers could use to set up a class website. This site allows teachers to view students comments before they are posted on the website, therefore issues with students posting inappropriate material will be taken care of.

Social networking websites could also help teachers collaborate. The website could be set up by grade levels and teachers could give ideas on ways to teach assignments. The media specialist could use social networking website to inform teachers of the different uses of technology. The media specialist could create a blog on the media center’s website, on this page a separate area could be created for each idea and linked to a useful website. Teachers could leave comments on how this tool helped them or suggestion on other tools they want to learn about.
Social networking tools have gotten a bad rap. However if they are used properly they can be effective in a school setting. My only concern is that teachers have busy schedules and this is an addition thing that they would have to do. It takes times to keep a web site up to date and also interact with students and parents on the social networking site.

What is Social Networking?

I believe social networking is a great way to communicate and collaborate across the board with other educators and the public. As a student in the media program I had the chance to experience Librarything and Flicker through social networking. This was a great adventure because I had the privilege to post most opinion on specific book review, tag photo, group photos, select genres, download photos, rate books, and give them group names. This was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed using Flicker and Librarything. Educators and students should be exposed to this type of networking. Teachers as well as media specialists could integrate them both in their daily lessons. Students could be allowed to post personal book reviews, create picture projects in science or social studies in Flicker.

However, there are some disadvantages to social networking. The use of MySpace is used by many teens and adults. Most teens have met predators online through a chat room which have caused them to become sexually involved with them. Also Cyber-bullying is another social network teens and adults need to be watchful for. There have been anonymous individuals using this website to harass, annoy, and threaten people. Definitely social networking has its pros and cons. As adults, it is our responsibility to monitor students use when using social networking web sites.

Social networking provides new and exciting opportunities for the media center. It breads away from traditional practices. It makes visiting the library more interesting because students and teachers are being exposed to modern day technology.

MCS web page

My system’s web page includes a school calendar, quick links to events, newcomer info, school locator, i-parent, performance tracker, and a host of others. There are links to parent and student resource pages, and the cover page contains articles pertaining to system news. It is a very nice site. Additionally, it contains links to all of the school’s individual pages. Our school’s web site has less stuff but is still pretty. The page links are well defined and easy to follow. Maintenance must be done regularly because the page is kept current. I am not sure who has the responsibility of maintaining it. It includes links to the media center, teacher classrooms, academics and athletics, clubs and organizations and happenings on campus. The media center’s page is real basic, providing info on staff, hours and procedures. I believe it would be improved by adding some color and some images. It wouldn’t be too busy because it needs to easy to navigate in. I would include a list of new acquisitions, tips for parents to help improve their kids’ reading skills, book lists such as “If you enjoyed this title you may want to read…..” Cobb County Public Library has a good web page. I would definitely check out theirs and other web pages for juicy ideas. Paul

Websites...filling in the deficient

Websites are awesome tools to reach out to parents. They can be in place to detail upcoming local events; provide resources for research projects; serve as an interactive, extensive learning tool; communications method; a source of fun learning activities; showcase for student talents, etc...
However, they are only and valuable if the site has users.
I am currently in a school with 80 -90% of the population coming from economically disadvantaged households. Many of these households don't have personal computers. So how do you make this a beneficial tool for them?

One idea that could hopefully get the word out more about a school’s website is to include it as a session during Open House. The media center at our school is often left out of this rotation. Parents get no information about the media center at all. This would be a wonderful time to showcase, showcase, showcase! Another way would be to extend the hours of the media center at least one night per week. We have media centers at the public libraries, but often the wait to use those computers range from 1-2 hours! It would benefit our low income communities in a great way if we would extend the media center hours at least once per week. Having the school/media center's website as the default page would increase the usability of the site(s) as well.

I also agree with another posting on feeling ill-equipped and prepared to build a productive school website. I do know that the media specialist at my school is responsible for doing so. But my question, what about when I am in my own media center. I would like to go in with a rich bank of knowledge of how to get started with building a dynamic website.

Websites

Websites

A media center’s Website should be a place where patrons can come and find valuable information pertaining to their school and the media center. The site should contain information that is valuable to students, teachers, and parents. The website should contain links, to valuable websites by grade level, that align to curriculum standards and this should be changed with each grading period. In addition the sites should have a listing of the Media center’s AR books. This will help parents who may want to supplement their child’s reading with books from a public library. One website that I visited recently contained a link to the cataloging system for the media center. This is a valuable resource because teachers could find books from home that they may want to use to teach their lessons. I also believe that the policy and procedure manual for the media center should be posted on this site. The hours for the media center should be posted in plan site for everyone to see. A calendar with all of the important events taken place in the school should also be provided, this will lead teachers to reference the site more often.

The Media Center’s website should appeal to all audiences. The site should be easy to navigate and always have an icon so patrons can go back to the home page. In addition, the site should be well organized and the information should be properly labeled. The sites should be checked regularly, I hate it when I go to a website and click on the links only to find that they are inoperable. A Media Center's website should also contain valuable information. The media center website for one school I visited recently only had a current calendar with no important dates listed.

As a graduate student in the Library media program, I believe that training on building and maintaining a website should be a part of our program. I have no idea how to build a website for the media center; however, I love the idea of having a website that would be a valuable resource for patrons. I feel ill-equipped to really make this happen. I realize that I will have to take the initiative and take classes to learn how to built and maintain a website. I feel that a media center website which contains valuable information is an asset to a school.

Why a Wiki? Wikis can be utilized to perform many functions that enhance our students’ abilities to share in the larger community of learners. An advantage is that a wiki allows students to participate in the collaborative creation of on-line content. A wiki provides a venue for students to share their writings, artwork, and thoughts. Teachers can use wikis to provide information on upcoming assignments and homework. Wikis are not perfect; they can be manipulated by anyone who has well-intentioned or malicious intent. Wikis can be written and edited by anyone with access to them. They must be monitored regularly which can add extra work for the mediator. This drawback is overshadowed by the educational value and experiences that students can gain. Wikis give students the opportunity to publish their works for an authentic audience. Students may have more motivation to produce quality work when they understand that their work is out there for everyone to see. Teachers can give immediate feedback and students are able to go back to earlier versions so that edits retain continuity. The use of wikis can be used to extend lessons outside of the classroom and provide valuable practice utilizing technology. Wikis can facilitate conversation for authentic purposes. Students who are part of a group responsible for developing a project can collaborate from their homes. Teachers can monitor and facilitate by offering suggestions and asking questions. Overall it may be argued that the pros of wikis outweigh the cons. Paul

The Importance of a Web Page

I believe the importance of a media center web page is designed for research purposes. Many students from grades K-12 are equipped in using the internet for their schoolwork. During my research I discovered that 78% of students in K-3 begin using the internet in school and 43% of student in 4-6 use the internet at school. Furthermore, 84% of students in 7-12 use the internet in the school so the web page is a necessity. The media center provides great web sites for students to research materials for projects. Teachers are supportive users of the web page. They integrate web sites with their lessons by surfing the internet. Teachers also use the media center web page when teaching class assignments in literature, technology, science, business or mathematics.

I think it is importance that parents have access to the school's web page. Parent need to be informed of events regarding their child, for example teacher-parent conferences. Contact numbers and web addresses of teachers need to be provided in case of an emergency. The hours of operation of the media center needs to be posted on the school's web page so the community is aware of it. Someone may want to schedule a meeting during school hours so knowing its schedule is very important.

Some of my likes and dislikes for web pages are the use of small images or photos and small font that is very difficult to read. All information and texts must be well organized so it can catch the viewers attention. This will determine if the viewers will continue to visit the web page. Here are some selected links to view on do's and don'ts for web pages: www.kysma.org/Making%20the%20Most%20of%20Your%20School%20Media%20web.ppt and alfabravo.com/blog/2007/11/presentation-skills-dos-donts.html
A web page must include links to book reviews' sites. There must also be a place for students to post their comments regarding the book reviews.

The media specialist must have the option to either have a web page, blog page or wiki page. I feel that their must be a balance because web pages have been around for a long time. Therefore, media centers need to be updated and have the use of wikis and blogs. Students need the experience using all of them because the more they know about technology, the better it prepares them for the world.

Wiki-ing & the media center

I definitely think wikis can be fun and useful tools in schools amongst teachers and students. Of course they need to be closely monitored especially when students can add and edit entries. That’s why I believe students’ should be limited to add and reading entries.
I can envision wikis being implemented in many ways with students:
Book talks: it is strongly suggested that media specialists sponsor some type of book discussion club. Though book discussions are very fun and interactive, wikis can offer an alternative to actually discussing a book face-to-face. Students can include links to topics related to the book; include videos of their thoughts about the book; etc…The list is endless.
Students can share their favorite math-related resources Sharing of ideas for a unit of study; teachers have such creative minds. One of the most unique aspects of wikis is the fact that you can add videos
Students can share research projects and not have to be consumed with the logistics of writing. They can share their learning in an informal and fun way. I feel students will take pride in the public posting of their learning and strive to make it the best!

As a media specialist, I think one will have to be reasonable and accept the fact that everyone is not going to embrace the idea of yet another something new. However, there are ways to create enthusiasm surrounding wikis. It would be wise to start small with a select group of teachers and faculty members. Build that wiki using it to its fullest potential and showcase the wiki at a faculty meeting.

Wiki's

I initially thought that I would never use wikis, in the Media center. However, as I’ve read different articles on wiki’s I realize that they can be useful to a media specialist in many different ways. For example, one of the jobs of a media specialist is to collaborate with teachers on the curriculum, a wiki’s would be a great tool to post informational sites pertaining to the curricular unit. In addition, this would be an excellent tool, where the media specialist and grade level teachers, could actually post their ideas and thought before they all met together. This would allow teachers and media specialist to brainstorm at their convenience and post idea before they ever meet. This would help save time when they actually meet together.

In order for Wikis to be successful teachers have to be open to the idea of new technology and fully understand how it can benefit them. Many are overwhelmed with their workload as it is. In order for Wiki to be successful teachers need to receive a brief tutorial on the tool, the benefits of the tool, and how it has worked for other schools in the past.

Wiki’s have been criticized over the years. For one, the information can be compromised by others. To overcome this problem wiki’s can be limited to teachers and administrators. Furthermore, wiki’s could be broken down by grade levels and subjects. For example, a fourth grade wiki could be created for fourth grade teachers to collaborate on the upcoming unit or address issues or concerns they are having teaching the current unit. Another criticism of wiki’s according to the article Seven Things You should Know about Wiki’s is that a Wiki can be biased and represent the opinions of the authors who creates them.

The Use of Wikis

In all honesty I never heard of the word "wiki" until I took this course. After reading Chapter 3 Library 2.0 and Beyond I pretty much comprehend what a wiki is. Wikis are used for internal communication, instructional collaboration, and as a research guide. Using wikis in the media center can be very productive. Teachers can use them for student's book reviews, reports, Pathfinders research on fiction and nonfiction books, and for student's work/assignments. The web site blog.schoollibrarymedia.com/index.php/category/wikis/ has some interesting information about the use of wikis. Wikis can be used effectively in education by having students to learn how to create web sites. Students can track group projects on a wiki and post their discussions and collaborate on design or podcast.

Certainly there are some drawbacks to wikis. In an organization or school setting there are many users contributing and editing on the wiki. There should only be administrators and teachers having the responsibility to edit on the wiki not students. Students may include information that is not factual. Review the web site report on wikis.wikispaces.com/Drawbacks+of+Wikis for more facts on wikis drawbacks. Another drawback is that it does not have an identical customized option as a self-hosted wiki.

When perusing the wiki from last week I realized its strength and weakness. In Library 2.0 and Beyond, its primary strength is to allow contributions from anyone in society. A weakness for the wiki is having too much inappropriate content and resources from the community. The elements that must be taken place to move wikis towards collaboration is for the wiki creator to give up control to the administrators, teachers, and students. A library media specialist must promote the wiki positively whether teachers or students are using it. However, as time goes by they will learn how to appreciate it and understand the importance of it.

Podcasting 101

A teacher approaches you and asks you if you can help him to start up a podcast for his class (something like Radio WilloWeb). How do you respond to the teacher? What is your role? What are the reasons behind how you choose to respond to this teacher?

I would respond excitedly. Excitedly because I know this means that at least one teacher is interested in new-age technology. Unfortunately, new technology and new ways of doing things are often resisted at my school.
To help this teacher, I would first do my “homework” and brush up on my understanding of podcasting; including what (free) software is needed or available and compatible with the type of computers we have; the equipment needed; and how to begin the start-up of a podcast.
My next step would be to share what I have learned with the teacher and actually sit down with him or her and create a podcast. We always stress that students learn best when they are "doing" so this is why I would take this route.

I would make sure that the teacher left with a comfortable understanding with how to get started and a tip sheet that detailed the steps taken to complete the project.
Hopefully this would start a chain reaction and other teachers would become interested as well. "Our" next step would be to conduct an in-service for all teachers intereseted in sharing this unique tool with their students.

Being an effective media specialist is all in the relationships you build with the rest of the faculty.

Podcasting in Schools

With the advancement of technology even the most novice users can create multimedia presentation. Pod cast are where images, animations, and images can be used together to create presentations. Teachers can use this technology to created interesting presentations. In addition, students in elementary, middle, and high school can use this technology to create presentations. The pictures can be obtained from the internet or from digital pictures. When students use this technology to create presentations they gain a better understanding of the information. In my opinion, having students to create presentation should be used in conjunction with pen and pencil tests. However, I realize that with a shortage of computers and because of time restraints it is unrealistic to have students complete many pod casts. In one elementary media center I visited the media specialist was teaching students how to create a pod cast of their favorite author for a writing assignment. The first thing she did was show them her presentation on her favorite author, and then she taught them how to download a photograph and book covers of their favorite author and where to download it on the schools server. She actually had the website pre selected for each students. This whole process took about 45 minutes and the presentation would be completed over several visits to the media center. It was very exciting for the students and the media specialist. Pod cast can be used in elementary, middle, and high school and can be a powerful tool to help students learn the required information.

Podcasting in Schools

The use of podcasting in schools has risen tremendously. It appears that technology is taking over the school system. I really did not know much about podcasting until I took this course, research the topic, and read Chapter 4 on Podcasting. This form of technology is very popular and user friendly to students. On the contrary, it keeps them focused and engaged in their studies. Now, I think this is awesome to have students to really enjoy what they are learning through podcasts. At my school where I volunteer, the teachers are assigning students to do podcast movies and videos. I don't know much about creating these type of podcasts. I would definitely need some kind of training on how to create them.


If a teacher approaches me asking for help to start up a podcast for his class I would first of all research the topic and then ask the technology specialist for assistance. Once I have gotten all of my resources I would suggest the following from Library 2.0: (1). An audio file must be uploaded to the web. (2). An RSS 2.0 feed is associated with the file and must be uploaded to the web. (3). The feed must be read by the podcatcher application and then downloads the audio file. I would also suggest that he does a 3 minute podcast presentation having each student to introduce themselves using their favorite pictures. Hopefully, this would help the teacher get started with his podcast effectively.

Duties of the Media Spec

A teacher approaches you and asks you if you can help him to start up a podcast for his class (something like Radio WilloWeb). How do you respond to the teacher? What is your role? What are the reasons behind how you choose to respond to this teacher?

I would tell the teacher that just making a podcast is a relatively simple thing to do, but creating a space is a little more complex. I will offer to help create a space like Willow Web. My role as the media specialist is to provide media support and podcasting is part of today’s media that kids will enjoy and learn from. After visiting some of the sites we were given, some better than others, I can see the value of using this technology to enhance/enrich the curriculum. I would further suggest offering an in-service to “share the wealth”. Paul

Slippery slope but a good point

"The issue is not whether patrons have been denied First Amendment rights but rather, whether public libraries must be forced to become purveyors of pornography and deliver obscene material to innocent children," said Stephen Crampton, chief counsel for the American Family Association.
Moreover, libraries already censor literature deemed inappropriate for kids, said David Miller, the vice president for Citizens for Community Values.
"They already pick and choose which books their patrons have access to," Miller said. "Why are they unwilling to filter out Internet material that is harmful to children?"

People who want access to material deemed inappropriate can always purchase their own net service. Many municipalities and some states have opted for smoke-free restaunts to protect patrons. An argument could be made that filtering out certain content is doing the similar thing; protecting young patrons from inappropriate stuff. There are adults who would find some blocked sites offensive but are those sites also harmful to adults? Hmmmm. Something to ponder further. Paul

Super attractions at Myrtle Beach

There are some wonderful pictures in Lahamasflower.

Myrtle Beach this Summer

Myrtle Beach was fabulous this Summer. I had a wonderful time lying on the beach in the sun and listening to the waves splasing backwards and forwards. Wow, I had the time of my life! I am excited about visiting Myrtle Beach again.

hurray

Finally!!!!!!!! Okay ladies, let's knock this out!