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