Media Center Web Pages

When looking to find information on a place, be it a doctor’s office, a school, a company, or a vacation spot, my initial inclination is to go look them up on the internet.  I’m sure I’m not alone in this preference – when I have minimal knowledge of a location and want to learn, I want to discover it on my own rather than making a phone call and/or asking questions.  I don’t know why.  That’s just how I function.  I hit the internet when I need directions, hours of operation, specialties, mission statements, reviews, or anything else that strikes my fancy. 

While reviewing various media center websites for this assignment, I found many that appealed to me.  They typically included names (sometimes with bios), schedules, policies, helpful links, and most important (at least to me) pictures!  I love when pictures of libraries are included with websites, because they let me be a part of their world.  There are several I’d like to visit, for no other reason than they look really cool.  (Check out McClure Middle School’s media center pictures on flickr: http://mccluremediacenter.edu.glogster.com/mcclure-media-center/  There are two pages, be sure to see both!)  I loved those with links using logos rather than just urls.  (Same information, just more visually appealing.)  I was particularly impressed with media specialists who were able to keep up with a daily blog. 

Those that I didn't particularly care for were those that were overcrowded with information, especially in small font, had broken links, or hadn't been updated in quite some time (we’re talking years, not months here). 

I was surprised to find that some of the websites included social media.  It makes sense with this generation of students, though.  I do find the idea appealing for high school students, though I’m undecided about middle school and elementary.  Though I know students at this age have access to their own devices, I just wonder about the level of interest they'd have in Media Center tweets...

Overall, when creating a media center webpage, I agree with both Jurkowski and Warlick that keeping the intended audience in mind is essential.  Only when a media center webpage is utilized by its patrons is it a truly effective tool. 

References:

Jurkowski, O. L. (2010). Technology and the School Library : A Comprehensive Guide for Media Specialists and Other Educators. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.  Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-wgc1.galileo.usg.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzMzNzQzOF9fQU41?sid=268b3564-4048-4cb6-8277-a40542129e91@sessionmgr110&vid=1&format=EB&rid=1

Warlick, D.  (2005, January/February). Building websites that work for your media center. Knowledge Quest.  Retrieved from: http://medt7477spring2014.weebly.com/uploads/7/5/8/9/7589068/warlick_lmc_websites.pdf

Top 10 List of Things to Know about a Media Center Web Page:

10. The Media Center web page should have its own direct link from the school home page. No one wants to be searching by way of “enrichment” or “staff blogs”, etc. to find the Media Center page.  The media center should be the focal point of the school. BE THE FOCAL POINT OF THE SCHOOL!

9. Learn to love and provide a link to Tumble Books! Most school districts or schools subscribe to these, or something similar. They are great audio or read along books.  These are soooo easy to use at home or at school, and, another fun way to promote reading!

8.  You need advocates. You need supporters. You need parents who will rally for you. Post some articles on your website that will appease them. Articles such as this one will give you job security:

http://www.cobbk12.org/librarymedia/proof/research.pdf

7. Make some noise! Add some audio (and/or visual) to your website in the form of a media center tour or maybe even a book talk! Better yet, introduce yourself by audio or video. Keeping things at a personal level will keep the media center from being an intimidating place.

6. Reference website links such as for Grolliers or World Book World Atlas are highly encouraged. Parents will love your for providing an easy starting point for research work for their children.

5. Talk up Cobb Virtual Library and be sure to post a link on your site. It’s a fantastic tool. Tip: you should have the password in safe keeping and not plastered on your website.

4. Promote new materials. Maybe even post a student review or recommendation on your new materials.

3. Create some Pathfinders and post them somewhere on your website. A Pathfinder is a research tool that is a subject specific source for posting a variety of print and nonprint resources such as books, articles, reference materials, web sites, or multimedia such as videos all on one research subject.

2. Give accolades where accolades are due! Newberry, Caldecott, Printz…these are just a few literary awards given out every year. Post these winners on your site.

                                                             

And, the #1 thing to know about a Media Center Web Page…

When it’s February or so, be sure you have updated your blog since the first day of school. Better to not have one at all rather than look like you can’t handle even the most basic update now and then.

Wiki-Wiki-Wiki's.....WHAT!?

You guessed it! It's another Web tool that can be used at home, at work, with students, with teachers. The ways to use a wiki are essentially endless. But, what is a wiki exactly? Well, according to Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, "A wiki is essentially a web-page with an open editing system". That kind of puts it in a nutshell, but it is so much more. It really depends on you, the creator, and how you want it to be. However, visitors and members of your wiki can edit the wiki, then it is how they want it to be as well. 

Wikis have been around since the 90's, however, it seems that within the past 10 years or so that wikis have really taken off as an instructional technology tool used for collaboration. One of the most commonly used wiki, that you might not have even known was a wiki, is.....Wikipedia. 

How does a wiki work?
Very simple....
1. Create a Wiki
2. Hit "Edit"
3. Type, load, hyperlink, import your content
4. Hit "Save"

After that, you have a wiki. Another big plus, besides the fact that they are so easy to use, is that it's FREE. You can't get much better than free, especially in education. As long as you have access to the internet, you are wiki ready. 

Upsides of using a wiki...
Wikis are a great alternative for students doing group projects. Wikis allow for student creativity, which is a lot of the times lost, when a student is forced to regurgitate the information learned in an essay or on a poster board. Why not allow for student creativity and let them really teach you what they have learned? However, there is a downside to this aspect. If you were teaching at my school, all wikis are blocked due to the limitless opportunities of editing and it being hard to monitor the content. 

Wikis are also a great teacher created website tool, especially in relation to his/her classroom. Kind of like how online college classes have everything in one place already created for the semester, a wiki could be used in the same way by teachers. Practice work could be loaded, notes from a lecture, study notes for a test, or examples of past created projects shown all to help the student get a better understanding of the class when they are outside of the classroom. They could access the content at anytime. Teachers could also create discussion boards, where students can interact and collaborate on the wiki with their peers. 

Teachers could really benefit from having a place where they could come and collaborate without having to leave their classroom or from the comfort of their own home. This would come in handy when having to create subject units or lesson plans. 

The biggest upside of using a wiki in the classroom is that it's so easy and simple to use, that it requires little to no training for your students. I find it to be very user friendly. 

Downsides of using a wiki...
I think a large downside to using a wiki, like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, is the fact that anyone can modify your wiki. This can be solved, be creating members and passwords, so only someone with the password can edit the wiki. 

Another downside I feel is that instead of really using a wiki as a collaborating tool, it becomes more of a place to store items. 

To me, the biggest downside of a wiki is the fact that it is just another web tool, when we already have so many. My county has switched to being completely Google. Our email addresses are from G-mail, we just Google Drive and all of its resources and because of this, there really isn't a need to use another outside tool to collaborate on. The same goes for out students. They too have Google accounts and collaborate with one another on one of the Google Drive applications. I do think it is important to show students that there are other applications to use other than Google, but find teachers don't have the time to learn about other applications that are out there because they already have one that works for them.

I feel like this is where we can come in as media specialists with our all knowing power. :) I feel like it is slowly becoming our duty to have a knowledge bank of resources and tools that we can throw out to the teachers every once in a while to help prove to them that we really do know a thing or two regarding education. Or, we could use wikis in the media center instead of relying on the teachers to introduce them to students. A great way to do this would be to find a willing teacher to bring his/her class to the media center for a lesson that you will teach. Do your background work and find out what the students are learning about, and create a lesson that requires them to visit the media center, but you be the teacher for the day instead. Plan ahead of time and either create a wiki to go along with the lesson, or find an already created wiki that helps with what you are teaching. If you have technology present, pass some of the technology out and allow the students to interact with the wiki as you are presenting the lesson. The possibilities really are endless, it just requires a little time, effort, and knowledge to get the job done. 

Wiki's, over and out. 

Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. (2014). Wikis. Retrieved from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/wikis/

Wikis

Wikis….What are they and how do they relate to education and being a Media Specialist? A wiki is a flexible web application that is used to promote internal communication, provide a virtual space for group collaboration, or create dynamic content for the user population (Courtney, 2007). As a teacher and a Media Specialist I have seen the advantages of a wiki in the classroom and in the media center.  As a teacher wikis can be used to serve e-portfolios of student work, framework of course content, and as a collaboration tool within the classroom.

In many of today’s school systems e-portfolios are being considered nonnegotiable. Teachers must keep evidence of student work and how they show mastery of the standards being taught. Many teachers in my school use the “old school” system of a file folder with the student’s name on a tab. Yet, I have converted some to using technology for this purpose. A hand full of teachers use Evernote and there are a few that use a Wiki. Wikis are accessible through connection to the Internet, allowing access from any place where there is a connection. Having a Wiki is a great way to show the work in parent conferences and it allows the parent to see what the evidence of student learning.  Teachers have found that using a wiki as an e-portfolio to be a way to organize the students work by standard and it makes the students accountable for their own documentation allows them to verbally reflect on what they have learned. Having this reflection process allows the student to move the knowledge from short-term to long-term memory.

Another advantage of using a Wiki in the classroom is by having a framework of the content that will be taught. A fellow teacher created a Wiki for his social studies classes. He has divided his Wiki up by grade and by his A.P. history class. Under each category are the names of the units and when you click on them the student is able to read the standards that are aligned to that unit. For each unit there are detailed instructions to activities that the students will complete and the date they are due. I found this to be an excellent differentiation tool that allows the students to work at their own pace, yet working together to mastery the standards. This type of teaching tool allows the students to collaborate with one another that helps foster a relationship of trust and learning in the classroom. I believe this type of usage of a Wiki is an active space for collaboration. 

As a media special I have found Wikis to be an excellent tool in promoting resources and services to the teachers. In Courtney’s Library 2.0 text Courtney states that Wikis are “a great way to create and manage dynamic content in order to meet the needs of the teachers” (Courtney, 2007). Media Specialists do this through subject guides or pathfinders. As a Media Specialist I have found that creating a pathfinder for my teachers is a way to take some of the load off of them in researching different media sources to use in the classroom. I have created a pathfinder for all four content areas for each grade level (6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade). I have media resources, print resources, and online resources for the teachers to use in their classrooms.

Although the teachers find this to be extremely useful, it does have its disadvantages. One of the main disadvantages is that I have found it difficult to maintain current with what the teacher is teaching. With all the other duties in the media center, finding time to keep the pathfinders up-to-date is difficult. One way to keep this up-to-date and be a truly collaborative resource is allowing the teachers access to edit the Wiki. One of the main purposes of a Wiki is being a collaborative tool and having access to edit and add material hits the mark of being collaborative.

Wikis can be used in many ways in education. Wikis should empower educators to create technological communities where the students, teachers, and Media Specialists are able to communicate more effectively and collaborate with one another. Wikis allow the users to be creative and allows them to evaluate the work. As a Media Specialist I recommend the use of Wikis in the classroom and in the media center. They are great tools to inspire teachers and students to get involved and interact online.

 

Courtney. (2007). 2.0 Library and Beyond. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Podcasts in the Classroom

A podcast is a digital audio file available on the internet for listening and/or downloading to a personal listening device.  They can be created with free downloadable software, but also require a computer and a microphone.  Podcasts are easy to create and upload and depending on the file type, can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. 

In the classroom, I can easily see podcasts being used in two different ways – 1) by the teacher, to explain lessons, and 2) by the students, to create projects/reports to share information.

1) There are multiple benefits to uploading a lecture as a podcast. 

• When new concepts are explained in class, it is not uncommon for some of the students to have a harder time mastering them than others.  With a podcast, students could return to the lesson and review (and re-review) the material as many times as necessary in their own time. 
• Though students may grasp a concept in the classroom, they may have trouble remembering it at home.  As not all students are good note-takers, some may be completely lost when attempting to complete assignments outside of class.  With a podcast to remind students of what was discussed, better understanding may follow.
• Students who are absent don’t need to worry about borrowing notes from a classmate. 
• Parents who want to help their students can listen to what is being learned so they can better help their students.  (I, personally, am very grateful for this option.  I have a student enrolled in online courses for middle school.  I hear “Mom, I need help” quite frequently.  If not for the ability to listen to what is being taught, I’d be clueless!)
• With the push toward student-centered learning, if lessons were pre-recorded, students would be able to move at their own pace, rather than waiting for the whole class to master the concept before moving on to the next.  (I love this idea!  In my school, this concept of recorded lessons was discussed, but it was more with the thought of flipping instruction than student-centered learning.)

2)  Podcasts could also be used to present students’ mastery of a subject.  Our students today embrace technology; as educators, we need to do the same.  Allowing (and encouraging!) students to create podcasts helps brings school into the present (as opposed to outdated and irrelevant).  Student podcasting hones several skills:

•  Research -  before recording, students would need to research their topic, so they can present relevant information with confidence
• Organization – students will need to organize their findings to ensure adequate coverage of their topic
• Writing – having a script to follow when recording will allow the student to remember everything that they want to be include in their podcast
• Speaking – students will need to use clear, enunciated speech to record.
• Creativity – a podcast is a way to express personality while passing along information

As a future Media Specialist, I’m excited about bringing technology into the classrooms.  There are some teachers at the school already trying to push ahead; others will need some gentle nudging (ok, maybe outright shoving!).  Podcasting seems as if it could be a baby step in the right direction.

  

References:

Eash, E.K. (2006, April). Podcasting 101 for k-12 librarians. Computers in Libraries, 26(4). Retrieved from: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr06/Eash.shtml

Podcasts and Their Place in Professional Development

     It’s funny how quickly a new word, specifically a technology word, can become a household name such as google, selfie, hashtag, etc. Well, in 2005, the word of the year was “podcast”, voted such by The New Oxford American Dictionary. Its formal definition is: “a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.” So, if you miss church? No worries…there’s a podcast for that. Big road trip ahead? Find a podcast series to download. Got something on your mind you want to share and don’t feel like blogging? Make a podcast! A podcast is just another way of communicating with your audience.
     Podcasts are used in a variety of ways, but one of which I see as most useful is as a professional development tool, specifically in Education. Teaching is a lifelong learning process. It’s the nature of the profession and professional development supports that idea. Not only is it professionally required for licensure, it’s also another way of disseminating information in lieu of, or in addition to, seminars, conferences, or in service days, all of which can be costly and/or time consuming.
     Podcasts allow for multitasking. Teachers can listen while they are preparing materials after school for the next day, or they might listen on the commute home. They might even relisten, if necessary. Podcasts are extremely useful in that you only create a product once, but then it can be accessible over and over again, and, it can be easily shared.
     I’ve thought about how much information is out there for me, personally, in the form of a podcast. To professionally develop my area of interest, the media center, there are book discussions and talks on new innovations and trends in media. I can even share my media center lesson plans by way of podcast, just as I can search for such. Professional development podcasts can also include on-demand tutorials, copyright discussions, overviews of new services or policies, presentations by outside professionals, or introductory discussions of educational issues.
     I could spend an entire professional development session podcast giving ideas to teachers about great podcasts that they can subscribe to on a regular basis. Looking for good podcasts can be time consuming, so sharing and collaborating these sites would be helpful. Heck, I just spent 3 hours this morning exploring for purposes of this blog entry and I finally had to tell myself to “just walk away”. It’s an addictive hunt, but one that for this research-minded, motivated, media specialist, is well worth the effort.
     To save the readers of this blog some time and effort, I found two sites that could be seen as one-stop-shopping. Check them out!

Edudemic’s 10 Best Podcasts for Teachers
http://www.edudemic.com/ten-best-podcasts-for-teachers/

TeachThought’s 51 Education Podcasts for the 21st Century Teacher
http://www.teachthought.com/technology/51-education-podcasts-for-the-21st-century-teacher/

References::

Eash, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr06/Eash.shtml