'To change the world from dark to bright,
First I should learn to read and write'
- Susan Morgenstern
The book, 'I Will Make Miracles' by Susan Morgenstern, was parting gift from Duggan School when I left that school last year. The tradition at Duggan is to gift a departing tea
cher with a book placed in the school library that would be a meaningful remembrance of that teacher's presence in the school. It is a wonderful, thoughtful parting gift. I was so touched to be introduced to this amazing book that follows a small boy, through poetry, and with incredibly vibrant watercolour illustrations, as he plans how he will make the world right, safe from hunger, earthquakes, sadness, and weakness. The protagonist brings it all back to those first steps we have to take to tackle problems… basic literacy. I chewed upon many ideas to title my blog, and eventually could not let this go; it is a reflection of who I am as an activist and an innovator.
EDES 544 has been a movement from darkness to an increasing brightness. It is a journey that will continue far beyond tomorrow's 8 am deadline for this final course blog. Like most people who spend their life in darkness (City of Embers) I could not imagine how much I was missing. I believed in my technical savvyness and had absolutely no idea how much would change. I began in darkness, where I believed I saw clearly, and have ended this course knowing that I have a path that will continue to challenge me as long as I want to grow. My eyes are getting used to the light but have so much more to see.
The tools provided to move forward have been thoughtfully and supportively provided by our guide, Joanne deGroot. Every step of the way she led us through Trailfires to understand one more piece of the Web 2.0 puzzle, and like any worthy guide, she let us find our way, our speed and gently led us forward. In the path, there were so many turns we all took, moving forward on our quests in unique directions and sometimes off the beaten track. There were so many choices and never enough time to explore all the opportunities. The sampling of Web 2.0 tools that forged our path gave us a unique and broad background, but there are seemingly infinite others out there. Brad (EDES Classmate) talked about MindMeister once on his blog; but it was a deflection for me at the time. Since then, I've found a wonderful and similar tool, Mindomo, and a shared work that graphically shows 30 different Web 2.0 functions and webs out to links to many applications that fill that function. This page is like a small but brilliant memory machine for me. As I share, in teaching units, the multitude of functions that are available on Web 2.0, I may forget the use of one over another, and there are many links on this amazing thinking map (a Web 2.0 Tool) that I have not heard of. I want to plot my yearly plan on this next year, I want students to plot their goals, I want to explore more new tools and gain a brighter vision of education. I want, I want, I want…. (I want to write like Brandi...) (EDES Classmate)
Although the tools that I have learned have been engaging, enlightening, informative, profound in the classroom, delightful to learn and totally refreshing, the greatest learning has been the development of a PLN (a Personal Learning Network). I began teaching in 1976, and have had countless hours of professional development, some of my own choice, much because of district or school design. All of it has been valuable, but none of it has been specifically tailored to my own learning needs. Between Google Reader, RSS Feeds, Blogs and Twitter, I am constantly being fed information on exactly what I am interested in. Having fairly carefully selected who I follow and who I subscribe to, I find that about 80% of the blogs and tweets that I receive (passively through feeds and tweets) are engaging and of interest to me. This filtered and meaningful list began with our guide's suggestions and grew from there. This is such a tremendous learning tool that when I looked up two upcoming conferences, I wondered if they were as valuable time and cost wise as spending time with my online PLN. Of course, nothing ever compares to the opportunity provided by sharing with like minded people, but this course has provided that from a context of my home, in my own time, with my own problems that abounded, and enabled me to participate when other opportunities would have been impossible.
Many of our alternative schools focus on these principles. Students often are in other places when we decide it is time to teach a concept, even if we think they are in class... (Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.) Our entire philosophy of education in Alberta is about standardization, from curriculum to testing to classroom desks and schedules. Our libraries, our labs, our traditions are not about PLN's for teachers or students; they are about a defined set of expectations. Even in a staff meeting when talking about meeting the needs of all teachers, the consensus was a math consultant (when there is at least 40% of staff who do not teach math). Teachers are stressed, encumbered with a plethora of expectations; how do we get them to take the time to investigate these new tools that will in fact make their own PLN engaging and meaningful? One giant step forward toward the light: how do we get our processes, our vision, and our system, to see that students, too, need to develop and build a PLN. Moving our system, not just our teachers, is a primary goal that I see as an implication of this course.
The General Outcomes of the Alberta curriculums could lead to a bright and dynamic future for Alberta students. Several things stand in the way. A laptop for every child should be a minimal expectation from a very early grade. Although many dynamic activities can happen with limited support (scheduled computer labs, smart boards in classrooms) students ultimately need the hardware on demand and the teachers who can support it. This was a vision in the late '80s, although at that point it was a desktop. Now over 20 years later, we have not moved to that in most places in the world. We are all worried about provincial achievement tests, ability to answer multiple choice questions, our results, our standing, and our placement in the grand scheme that affects enrollment that brings in dollars. David Hancock, Minister of Education, can say time and time again that the Fraser report neither relevant nor meaningful, enrollment is decided in many cases by PAT results. Grade six students must sit and write, on paper, both a narrative story and a functional story (Newspaper article) in a set period of time ranging from 120 + 30 minutes to longer for ELL and coded students without a break. As I write this blog, I stand up and walk around, I chat with my family about my ideas, and I get a drink. Normal recess is eliminated for our 11 year old students. Authentic, real writing is a myth in such an exam setting. Imagine how difficult it is for students at this age to achieve what I am not yet able to achieve?
As a result of this course, every student in my class writes more effectively on a computer. They utilize spell checks and revise in an ongoing manner. Because we now use WIKIs and blogs and voice threads in our class learning, they have learned to improve their writing though dialogue and collaboration, all tools needed for 21st Century learners; all tools needed for the workplace. There is nothing authentic about time monitored, technology limited, collaboration deprived writing. There is nothing authentic about teaching to this kind of writing. My student Wikis have shown me that my best students continue to be best, but my struggling students are so engaged, building, learning, fixing grammar and structure and context, researching sources and critiquing positively others work. Two wishes and a Star is powerless compared to the student who says,
Hey guys nice job but If I were you I wouldn't copy what other people said because you said the population is largest enough to sustain it...I know where that came from check it ou and make sure you put the ardress! :) nice Job http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080609215815AA79wKa make sure you don't copy becasue your taking credit not the owerner of the typer :) GREAT JOB!~
-Angela
Angela struggles with spelling, with math, but she is investigating and searching and giving authentic and positive supportive feedback. Will this kind of writing pass a PAT? Does that matter? Authentic, engaged, and critical learning in the milieu that is being explored is what matters.
Emily, my most amazing, gifted and totally engaged daughter is in grade 11. Like so many 17 year old girls, she worries about marks and results, as she has grown up in a system that concentrates on this. She has written on a computer and researched on a computer since she was 8. When it comes to tests, to stories, to essays, to her first Diploma exams, she must use paper and pen. When she writes for class, she is able to use a computer (from home). We are disenabling students because we do not have the tools for our student to use. When Emily asked for the use of a computer for testing, it was disallowed; however, she can continue to be effective as a learner with her netbook outside of a testing situation.
Evidence shows that students in elementary grades have more access to computers than in junior high high or high school. My staff continues to suggest that a tool is too difficult to use , (blogs, wikis, broadcasted podcasts) and that it can wait until junior or senior high. I want to stand up and scream out loud! We are letting these students flounder on their own. What has happened to our education system? Unfortunately I know. We do not have the resources accessible to our students or teachers so as a result we continue to deliver in the ways that have previously succeeded to meet PATs and Diploma results.
Access to technology is almost always limited and untimely. One lab for 250 students does not provide sufficient access for students to act and react as needed in writing. I am seriously considering the costs of a hot spot in my classroom with 12 netbooks to open up the doors for my students next year. After learning all these tool and recognizing that I have 60 minutes once week to be fair to other teachers, I am frustrated with my inability to engage students with these tools. Fortunately, 100% of my class has access at home. Why can we not keep up with common technology?
How do we move our system, not just our teachers?
John Dewey was ahead of his time. Each of his quotes fits progressive, authentic learning. Teachers today tend to update lesson plans to incorporate 21st Century learning by automating traditional practices. Use a word processer to write your thoughts, do online research as well as visit the library, or create a power point. These changes do not dig deeply into content and have little impact on student performance (Brooks-Young, 2010). New technologies and tools that we have investigated in our TLDL 544 class can transform classroom practice and the school day thereby creating positive impact on student learning.
When I critically evaluate my level of integration of technology into my teaching, using the Loti model, I feel, just like this course, that I have a long path to the light. In terms of a digital age framework, I have moved forward by need to move far beyond.
I got my first AM radio transmitter at my high school grad. Now you can guess the reality of my age! School usage was unimaginable. Now, almost all students own an MP3 player. My school library bought one this year. Is there a digital divide between school and home? You bet there is! In 2006, 54% of teens owned at least one MP3 Player and used it over 16 hours per week. Users have learned to control what they play. Although available since 1998, they have been slow to arrive as school tools. By 2007, educator banned MP3 players as devices because they were used to cheat (recording of audio libraries with test information). By 2009, these bans were reexamined. We have begun to see the use for mobile technology in classrooms. The educational world has begun to view the need to see these devices as tools to improve skills, and to deliver instructional programs. Teacher created podcasts are beginning to be recognized as an educational tool.
I am to a great extent an audio digital neophyte. Prior to EDES 544 I never considered the educational value of a podcast or MP3 player, but now they are teaching tools I am committed to. I am now devoted to the aggregation of MP3 files through iTunes and have a new philosophy about talking about my learning. Not for me, but for my kids. A recent cooperative teaching project on Canadian and Albertan historical stories made use of Windows Movie Maker. Students were, without exception, engaged with the creation of the picture file. When recording their narrative, it was incredible the learning curve students had when using their own voice. This was new, it was scary and it was exciting. The majority of the class had not recognized the power of their spoken word. Class members excelled and others floundered, as the ability to be heard was new and scary and delicious. This was an authentic learning experience, both for the challenged and mainstream, for the ELL and the gifted. Never had these students had these students had as rich an opportunity to reflect on their own articulation. Their having to re-record because they recognized their volume problems, their having to re-record because they hadn't synthesized their own ideas, their having to plan ahead to comment and reflect; these were all very powerful skills. The technical learning of the software was peripheral to the self reflection that happened in the process.
Social Networking continues to be a limited platform for students worldwide. There are strict district acceptable use policies in place. Hargadon, (2009) in Teaching With Tools Students Really Use, suggests that there needs to be compelling reason to use, there needs to be specific focus and that it must be moderated. He suggests that the target audience is grade 7 and upward, but I believe that there is a need to teach appropriate skills prior to this.. Social networking has significant value as a place to share collaborative ideas. Social networks will not go away so teaching appropriate use will be important in the building of 21Century interpersonal relationships.
According to NCREL, technology serves as a bridge to more engaging, relevant, meaningful and personalized learning, all of which can lead to higher academic achievement.
As Nicola says (classmate) , social bookmarking can bridge the gap between school library and their patrons. Ease of access and removing the walls of the library can create a bridge the moves the library into every home. Nicola's discussion of Diigo led me to finally separate from Delicious and move onto Diigo and see how a technology can ultimately link ideas and retain ideas that enhance my personal learning network.
Web 2.0 is a bridge to the curriculum, to student engagement, to authentic writing and investigations..It is a bridge to our past, a tool that becomes an historical reference, of our thoughts, our pictures, our idea and our activities. Thanks, Pauline (EDES classmate) for that perspective!
Technology is part of the solution to problems in education but not the solution. A few simple changes in the classroom involving technology will bring big results in learning. Technology can give voice to otherwise classroom–quiet students. Through the use of twitter responses to what is being taught, to blog or wiki comments, there is less fear for students to reflect and make meaningful comments immediately in these written formats. Students who fear to talk in class are more willing to post a response.
Putting all of that aside, technology is a crucial "part" of the solution. But again it is not "the" solution. Being that it is part of the solution it has to be embraced by all in education. We as teachers, administrators, school board members and parents cannot simply cast technology aside as "another fad" in education. We all have to be both learner and champions of technology in our classrooms and offices.
Technology improves performance when the application adjusts for student ability and prior experience and provides feedback to the student and teacher about performance or progress with the application. Such a huge topic, but this is so intuitive. The best example is our course. Each of us entered into this new learning environment with different levels of growth. Each of us tackled the curriculum based on our own needs and skills.
Technology drives change. It can place the power of learning into the hands of the learner. It can give students control and responsibility. It the old adage of 'one will live up to what one is expected of' is true, then technology is the true enabler and distributor of the power of learning.
Students have more technical ability than most teachers. We need to allow them that advantage and we need to teach them the skills to use it wisely. When we use students to mentor us we model the power of collaboration.
A teacher's job is to help students learn what to say, how to say it and when to say it, and how to respond to feedback. Students' work is affirmed by web publishing. The audience creates motivation and students learn the power of their words November (2009). My daughter's cheer team works hard because of the performances, the dancers practice because of competitions, football players and choirs practice for the audience. An authentic audience for student writing and other production gives the students motivation and power. Their digital expertise builds their confidence and engages them in writing.
It is a curiosity of teaching that no two days are alike, but, if we are not careful, all the days can take a deadening sameness. We must remember that we have every opportunity to transform ourselves and our practice, just as we have every opportunity to stagnate, remaining much the same teachers we were when we began. ( Tomlinson) find this on Google books, saved on home The differentiated classrooms
The 21st Century learner is a learner who takes responsibility for learning and managing their work. Teachers need to challenge the low expectations that exist for many students. Tools that were once impossible to use or afford in schools are now free and available through the web. Grade two students can create complex charts and graphs, elementary students can use once extraordinarily expensive tools to digitally change, enhance and create audio and video, and can become broadcasters. The skills to solve real problems (communication, confidence, critical thinking, interpreting data, collaboration, and organization ) are all intrinsic to Web 2.0 tools.
With mobile technology, we are still figuring it all out. I have to wonder how many parents even realize their kids possess the capability of recording and broadcasting to a potential audience of billions? And if they do know, how do they feel about that? We hurried to be online so we didn't fall behind, and now we block so much in fear of too much knowledge. Parents have little idea of what is going on online. As an educator, as a leader, it is imperative that digital citizenship be a part of everything we teach. In our school 3 year plan, I've been able to promote the imperative that not only do we need to educate students about Web 2.0 technologies, but we must offer opportunities to share this with parents and build understanding of the guidelines for safety and the partnership we are embracing as we move forward. We need to teach students and parents, and manage realistic fear.
Despite my mother's greatest fear, I attended a 'free' school in the '60s where I managed my learning. (AISP, North York, Ontario) I built the program that engaged me that fit with the curriculum. I explored literature and philosiphy that made me think and mattered. I learned, and it isonly this learning htat I still remember. There wasn't the tools that we have to manage this easily, but there was the will. That is what we need now.
Technology, in particular, Web 2.0, creates many issues and problems in the classroom. Availability, access and usage should not be one of them in a province and a system of such wealth and potential. My job, Mission Possible, is to make this happen. Melvil Dewey, that librarian who organized and structured what is now the standard for small libraries, said
'The librarian must be the librarian militant before he can become the librarian triumphant'.
The librarian triumphant that I long to be will be able to introduce to teachers the power of a Personal Learning Network. The Librarian Triumphant will engage with teachers as they learn to use Web 2.0 tools. The Librarian Triumphant will light a fire (as John Dewey says) and 'give the pupils something to do, not something to learn' The ideas of our past work for our future. Our tools are different if we want to engage students.
We are well into the 21st Century. If there are schools and districts out there still talking about preparing kids for the 21st Century, they have missed the boat. Their kids are already behind.
The journey begins now. Are our students, our teachers ready?
Brooks-Young, Susan. (2010). Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use. Thousand Oaks, CA : Corwin Press.
Courtney, Nancy (2007) Library 2.0 and beyond. Westport, CO :Libraries Unlimited.
Davies, J. & Merchant, G. (2009). Web 2.0 for schools: Learning and social participation. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Gantos, Jack. (1998) Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. Harper Collins.
Morgenstern, Susie (2008) I Will Make Miracles. New York : Bloomsberry Childrens Books.
November, Alan. (2010) Empowering Students with Technology. Thousand Oaks, CA : Corwin.
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Schrumm, Lynne; and Levin, Barbara (2009) Leading 21ST Centruy Schools. Thousand Oaks, CA :Corwin.
I wish I'd known about blogs in 2008, when I spent many hours with Dreamweaver, fiddling with some sort of new foreign language called HTML, learning over the phone from that my son. I totally would have done a better job of creating short, sweet and regular updates if I'd been blogging. But that is what a blog does, and a website is different. I feel quite reflective writing about blogging at this point in the course; this journey began with a total immersion experience in January. I am, finally, after three and half months, bloggin' about bloggin'.
No Blogging Babies allowed in this classroom! It was sink or swim from the first assignment. Although I didn't quite swim, more of a doggy paddle really, this has been boot camp blog-wise. It hasn't mattered what we were learning, we had to blog it.
It all began with curiosity. I'm always asking questions and wanting to know NOW something new. I wanted to figure out swimming as a toddler at Indian Lake in Quebec, so I threw off my lifejacket and jumped off the deep end of the dock. My father, who seems always to be running after me for some reason, threw down his rye and coke, cigarette in hand and fully clothed, raced off the beach to rescue me. I didn't need it! I was the one who always found the Christmas presents and at the tender age of 6, perfected the art of unwrapping and rewrapping them days before Christmas. I was the teacher librarian who tireless advocated for automating my school library in 1984, just because I wanted to figure out something new (and I was sure was better). I dabbled in a library blog in the fall, because I knew it would be useful and a new challenge, but tied to being in a new school, returning to Teacher Librarianship after a long hiatus, and taking on an administrative role as well, it was really just like a tourist who picks up a few words of the foreign language. January began with that full immersion experience. Just like those children who go to French Immersion, their eyes pop wide when they are first exposed to the French only language. They have to quickly figure out how to say 'Je veux aller aux toilette, madame' very quickly to prevent embarrassment. I had to learn how to use a blog effectively very quickly.
It took me my first blog and a careful critical look at other classmates' blogs to realize I didn't know how to link anything, didn't know how to cite anything, but at least I had bitten off a fair chunk. I graduated into grade one. It took me several blogs before I could embed a file. I figure out how to cite… grade 4. Now that those basics have been mastered, we get into the tough stuff. The skills are less defined, the processes involving higher level thinking.
From the start, I'd set up, as suggested, a Google Reader account, and subscribed to the blogs of my classmates and my prof's recommendations. Task done, then ignored. I spent the next many, many blogs surfing for articles, following trails from one blog to the next, and Trailfires, while Google Reader worked silently away, completely ignored. Occasionally I'd read in a discussion that a classmate had discovered that her reader was her new best friend, or that the reader was the savior of the day. I made promises to myself, I will go say hi to my Google Reader, but, for shame, I left her alone even longer. Not one work of complaint did I hear from my hard working colleague.
I vaguely understood that my reader had a slave that did her work. RSS feeds, (Real Simple Syndication) were just like the Dragons in How to Train a Dragon, feeding Reader with everything I'd asked for. It was the tool that made Reader work. I'd implemented it in January, and just left the two to get my work done. This pair of tools together can save me so much time, I can subscribe to even more blogs!
Where is the best place to get information? The Trailfires have provided the most directed information, as they are clear and linear; providing an excellent scaffold to learning about both blogs and RSS Feeds. The blogging world is very immediate, far more so than print materials and often more immediate than electronic publishing. Searches for blog information on the Google Blog. The textbooks have been useful; the feed that I have to my email from Amazon has led me to two excellent books published in 2010 that made my thinking about blogging clearer. (November, 2010; Brook-Young, 2010)
How will I write it? Blogs, I've come to believe from the hundreds I've now read, need to be short and to the point. My verbosity gets in my way; I believe a wider audience will be gained by shorter, more frequent blogs. The hook is vitally important too; that is drawn from the content but also from the personality of the blogger and is one of the ways to build voice and readership. We all love to read Brandi's blogs because she has voice, she has a hook and she makes the reader want to learn more. I want to write like that. I enjoy most the blogs I've read that are personalized. Perhaps this addresses the slightly voyeuristic needs in all of us and our desire to connect to the world when we read blogs. Technically, I will write it on Word 2007! That belated discovery was an aha moment and has decreased a lot of frustration that occurred writing in the draft format. How I design and layout the page will be an important first decision; if the design frequently changes, the repeat reader may not hook to it as easily. Think first, act later… remember that! I've been playing with widgets of which there are millions on the web. Do I want my reader to know he is only the 17th person to visit? Do I want them to see that only Edmontonians have been on the blog? Will that information help readership or reduce it? Do I want a search key, do I want to link to twitter or Facebook or have a follow button? Design will be a great attractor once someone is on the sight, so like writing, it has to be done effectively.
Key to a good blog will be good writing. Copyblogger, a favourite blogger I subscribe to, in 11 smart Tips for Brilliant Writing, knows that KISS rule. Short sentences and paragraphs, simple words, active voice, don't overwrite, edit, don't be redundant or ramble, don't use fluff words. I definitely have LOTS to learn. (Remember that both 'erudite' and 'verbose' can be replaced with simple words that will engage all readers. (The temptation is in me to go back through this blog and erase, cut, shorten, and perhaps I will do blog version number two at the end… ie the Twitter tweet). Readers connect if it is personalized, real and entertaining; these ingredients engage and connect the reader to the blog.
Who will read it? The perennial topic of voice that confounds every novice blogger, but is compounded by the dual purpose of writing for a curriculum expectation and a rubric and a mark, and balancing that with my desire to write for a different audience. Dean Shareski in Ideas and Thoughts believes that audience is critically important. He defines three types of audiences.
I believe we made lots of progress and certainly became co-learners as bloggers by the end of the course. Time limitations certainly affected the number of direct comments I've posted, but our course blogs are often being read by our classmates and the ideas and thoughts that each of us our posting directly relate to the shared learning that is happening through the reading of each others' blogs. I believe this audience factor will be critical if I continue to blog. I believe that the course focus limits the audience. For now, the main readers of my blog are classmates and colleagues, although it is growing if cluster maps and Feedjits are accurate. I would like to be writing with an audience as co-learners; writing this blog has been about professional development and learning. With the pace of technology change, what we have learned is the beginning of a journey that I can see has no visible end in sight. The learning and growth that is possible through a blogs is unlimited and I do not want it to stop. I look forward to the day where commenting and linking with other blogs, reposting and learning is co-operative across the teacher librarian world.
With so many types of blogs (The 25 Basic Style of Blogs) out there, and so many functions that blogging has filled, I can foresee a continued growth in the blogosphere despite the periodic reports that Social Networking sites are attracting more clients. Blogging fulfills a different purpose with more comprehensive information. Twitter and Facebook are excellent pointers to blogs where readers can get more information. When I've shared with connections that I have been blogging, I have repeatedly heard about people who blog about their trips and holidays (life blogging). What a fantastic way to keep a memory in picture, writing and video. I've been following a blog for years (Daveberta) and have often found that that has been a first source to learn about provincial politics and to read interpretations and opinions (insight blogging). I might eventually use a life blog, and intend to keep up a technology education blog of some sort, I have learned that whatever blog type I do, it will be short and simple. Simply understanding that there are differences in functions of blogs themselves will help me interpret and understand the blog I'm reading
My Netfirms account expired and although it is on the list of things I've been meaning to do, I am wondering if I really do need to keep a web page. I can blog easily and if one style of blog does not meet my needs, then there are others (Weebly with pages as well as blog, even wikis can be used like a blog and have some different functionality). The first decision will have to be to figure out the intended purpose of the blog, what audience am I reaching for l targeting, and the best marketing and advocacy I can use to get there. This will determine how I design and write, how noisy or quiet the page is, (do I use many widgets?), what colour will it be, what colour is the writing. Just like buying a car, what it looks like is darn important because that is what the reader notices first. If they like the look then they might step inside the car, look at the engine, take a test drive (metaphorically speaking). If I do decide to do a blog, I have to be committed. I've spoken about loyalty and true love before when talking about delicious, and then I abandoned my relationship for the more hip diigo with its yellow highlights. I'll have to be careful that I truly make a lasting commitment that I don't just follow another lark. Perhaps I need to be careful that I don't take another blind jump off the deck before I get my water wings badge!
Part of my most recent personal learning was realizing that I can RSS feed from my bookmarking site! When I want to know what new bookmarks are there from my network, I can have a feed! My students all use a social bookmarking site (some classes on Delicious, some on Diigo) and now I can RSS feed the sites they are adding! I can get feeds on my favourite subjects. Steve Harris shows the steps to accomplish this. I can see I have learned so many new tools and discovered so much on the blogosphere that I will need to quit my day job to keep up with my web life. I need a second life…
Greg Schwartz, in his Web Junction article, succinctly summarizes the reasons one should blog:
Reason #1 - Writing a blog keeps you current.
You'll want to know what's going on in the world before you start talking about it. Posting regularly to a blog encourages you to actively engage the process of information seeking and current awareness.Reason #2 - Blogs are an advocacy tool.
If you want change, you have to talk about it. Blogs are a great forum, not only for exposing the world to the issues facing both libraries and librarians, but also for thinking through your ideas and cultivating means of expressing them effectively.Reason #3 - Blogs build community.
Some of you are probably thinking that no one will read what you have to say. When I started my blog, Open Stacks, I shared your skepticism. As it turns out, no matter who you are and what you write about, there will be others who share your interests. I was surprised to discover that, as a librarian, you already have a built-in community of people interested in you and your perspective. You can, and probably will, meet people that you may not have met otherwise, becoming part of a very progressive segment of the LIS community.Reason #4 - You are unique.
One of the problems with librarianship is image. Stereotypes of librarians abound. Publishing a blog is an opportunity to demonstrate your individuality and thereby work to dispel some of those pervasive myths. Even if you don't think of yourself as unique and fear being redundant, your voice is yours and yours alone, so join the chorus.Reason #5 - Do it for you.
Never discount the power of writing as catharsis.Reason #6 - Lastly, it's easy, so no excuses.
We've got no excuse. We need to build a community. I'm toying with the idea of gathering a group of like minded teacher librarian types to coauthor a blog… any takers? Together we're better… we can blog about it and share the work. Sounds intriguing to me. Do I see any wannabe writers out there looking for a forum? Or, even guest authors? There are blogs that are shared…
Kim also writes about the guidelines for commenting. Students can learn true reflective commenting when guided through the process. Instead of the typical 'Great job' comment, she points out the need to leave a comment, that it must consider the purpose of the blog and be constructive, have a personal connection, add meaningful information, and follow the writing process. Comments are not short form text messages; they are a published piece of work. Teaching students to create appropriate and thoughtful comments would make a meaningful contribution to the quality of responses on the web.
RSS Feeds are useful for teaching and Learning. In our extremely busy personal and professional lives, keeping up with communication is often a challenge. Communication with parents and families is often a challenge when parents are working during the day. Homework blogs set up with RSS feeds to a parent's and/or student's Google Reader account would be an excellent tool for teachers to use.
Teachers and students can get RRS feeds from Amazon based on an author or a category such as Young Adult books. Students can use a Google reader account to collect news on a topic of interest or research using an RRS feed, and therefore access news from around the world. I have set up RSS feeds from different Teacher Librarian Sites in order to keep up.
We need to increase communication to build community. School leaders have a responsibility (and in fact it will determine a level of their own success) to communicate extremely effectively. (Schrum and Levin, 2009). School leaders are using blogs to communicate with parents, family and community members and are writing weekly about efforts to meet schools and student's needs. Leaders can blog about how and why teachers are using tools such as blogs, wikis, and Google Docs. Links to school leaders who blog can be found at http://supportblogging.com/. Click on the List of Bloggers and you will connect with school administrators and how they are using blogs as public relations, news, events, field trips, and to post alerts, to report issues related to local politics (ie: West End Facility Usage that leads to school closures!) These types of blogs can be informative not only for the parents in the school community, but for the trustees as well. (Schrum and Levin, 2009). According to Richardson, (2006) in his list of blog uses for school leaders:
Spring Break! Historically, this is the week that I expect all the winter snow to disappear. The roads will be awful but the freshness that surrounds the new season wraps me in optimism. When I lived in Fort McMurray, Spring Break was always the week I chipped away at the ice on the driveway and became excited about the season that is unflolding. Birds singing, sunshine, warm late summer nights.
The new season. In Edmonton, the driveway has usually been clear alread. The snow in the yard is, this year, almost gone. Windows open today, (March 28th) I awoke in the bedroom today with the call of the birds. I love hearing that sound as I awake; it makes my morning feel alive. The upright juniper outside my window is often the home to small birds, and this morning I finally heard them! Wait… it was a bit sporadic, a bit canned… I finally realized I'd left my computer open and Tweetdeck was announcing incoming tweets! A sigh, and then the overwhelming temptation to find out what are my twitter friends talking about.
Twitter twitter down the stairs,
Whose loud tweets have led me there?
Is it Teacher List with a new site
Or is it that that Singapore Guy posting at night?
Is Buffy mentioning a restaurant again?
Or is Justin talking about PC pain?
Is Brandi sharing about student teachers
Or someone chatting about movie features?
Am I going to learn about a new web site
To share with my staff, to spread the light
Or will I laugh at a friend whose child disobeyed
Or read about blocks that have been arrayed?
Whatever the case, I have to admit,
That 'Tweet' on the laptop has led to me to sit
Many hours in front of my LCD screen
With hopes that ideas and knowledge I'll glean.
Learning to Snack: Reflections on the Process of Learning about Twitter
I've known about twitter for a few years but didn't sign up until late fall. For several months I sporadically looked at it, but as my list that I followed was limited, I didn't get much out of the tool. In fact, what Michael Martine says, (retrieved March 28, 2010) resonates with me. The first time was very slightly informative but not completely engaging, but the more I experienced it and learned how to use it, the better it became. It was the course that led me to increase my following. Originally, I was disappointed that more people were not following me, but as my lists grew, I realized that what was important for me was not who was following me, but who I was following. What at first I conceived as social voyeurism became a personal learning network.
What we have to do is deliver to people the best and freshest most relevant information possible. We think of Twitter as it's not a social network, but it's an information network. It tells people what they care about as it is happening in the world.—Evan Williams
The name itself, Twitter, led me to see it as a superficial tool, much like I've used Facebook status. I have no friends who Twitter, and the few politicians I first followed used it more as a short commentary. The 140 word limit is not sufficient to communicate any in-depth ideas, short of "I attended…". Twitter is like having a small snack; you get a taste of an idea and if it works well, it makes you hungry for more. It wasn't until I started following educators tweets that I understood that there were links with strange shortened web addresses. Hashtags confused me until just recently, and the language itself ('hash'… is this a snack? what the heck did that associate with?) was over my head. What was tweetdeck?
…we came across the word "twitter," and it was just perfect. The definition was "a short burst of inconsequential information," and "chirps from birds." And that's exactly what the product was. Jack Dorsey
No one could really explain to me why Twitter worked or why it was valuable. I can't explain it to my colleagues, both in the education field or in the political field, although they are somewhat more receptive, given that there is a huge need to use social networking communication.
Twitter is like sex. You can read all the stuff (or look at it) about sex all you want, but if you've never had it, you simply have no idea what it's like. And once you've had sex, you know you could never hope to really explain it to someone else. You will sound like a complete idiot if you try."
For the first time, I am disappointed with Lee LeFever's video on Twitter.
His simplistic overview of ideas has always been informative and enlightening, but his treatment of Twitter feels superficial to me. The interpretation of Twitter as a way to understand what friends are doing in between blog posts and emails feels more like Facebook Status Updates than productive usage. I am placing a value judgment here but the video did not resonate with the possibilities I see for Twitter. Charlyen Kingston in her excellent ebook, Twitter for Beginners, proved a far more valuable introduction to Twitter. Commonly considered 'microblogging' (in 140 characters or less), Nick Wesselman calls Twitter a global conversation where one can listen to every conversation they wish and reply to any whenever they want. Great! My voyeurism will be fulfilled!
Wikipedia informs me that when I search in Twitter it accesses EVERY public tweet, making Twitter the most timely way to see what is happening right now. News becomes instantaneous and accessible to everyone with access to the internet. In Edmonton, the number of people sharing information and Tweets is steadily on the rise according to MasterMaq's blog. Sadly, it has not yet impacted my colleagues and the information that I find so easily accessible is not as easily shared with my local contacts who remain skeptical about the value of twitter.
As I learned that the articles were for me the essence, (I know, that is what my dad said about Playboy) I began devouring the links. New ideas, new thoughts about the topics I was interested in. I began looking at who other people were re-tweeting and who were their followers, and slowly built a network. Every new connection was a new opportunity to learn. Making the most on Twitter by Charles Arthur in the Guardian (retrieved March 28, 2010) introduced me to Whoshouldifollow.com and I discovered a wealth of library twitterers that I now follow. I learned What people Tweet from Twitter for Beginners : by Charlyne Kingston
I'm still at the stage of keeping my personal life to myself, and follow only th
ose who are similar. Although I enjoy and respect the tweets of many of the people I follow, I do get frustrated with my professional contacts who share their airplane schedules and their restaurants and their shoe collections. My interest remains in professional issues and current news, and wish to keep workplace details and family life details separate. Perhaps it is those people who purely see twitter in terms of a chatter or brief SMS who critique the tool as a devolution of communication. They do not see the huge opening it has to knowledge when used as a tool to open up the web.
Phil Bradley, in Twitter in Libraries speaks more to the uses that I am using: Social networking, updating information, trending information, searching for information, and asking questions. He suggests that librarians are posting to twitter but not following others and that it , that is like standing in a crowded room and talking but not listening. It is important that the communication be two way.
I recognize that Twitter can grab you. Tweetdeck in the background wakes me up on a beautiful spring morning and calls me to my laptop. As I am working on other materials, a tweet will appear on my screen and I will be distracted from the work I am doing. In the online book, How to Get Focused, Scott Scheper writes about how to keep focus while using Twitter. Twitter as We Knew it is Dead: The 7 New Dependable Ways to Use Twitter tells the reader to not use twitter fluff, avoid using clients like Tweetdeck and and Seesmic, to market yourself outside of Twitters with links to Twitter, use Tweet schedulers such as Sharefeed and Hootsuite and Twaiter, to always respond to people that @yourname, to follow only those who provide valuable information, and to limit the times you check twitter each day.
Despite this, I did learn that Tweets fade away, and the use of Tweetdeck has kept my tweets more organized with columns for the groupings (hashtags) and direct tweets and mentions. Tweet! Tweet! I've grown to colse to 200 interesting, articulate professionals that I follow, and I've learned that the people I follow are more important to me that the number who follow me. It is MY personal learning network, and if I am helping others great but it is not about my building a popularity contest.
I had fun learning to change my Twitter background to look more like a Blog, and even more fun turning my blog background to look like a Twitter background. There is one reliable truth in all this Web 2.0 learning… I Can spend huge amounts of time fiddling around and accomplishing little if I don't stay focused! (but it is fun!) I've found that the larger my focused network grows, the more I am learning. I get excited when I get a tweet, I get even more excited when 'famous' people actually send me a personal tweet! Wow, I have made some serious connections.
For a snack, Twitter sure can take up a lot of my time!
Twitter has clearly become my own personal learning network (PLN). I enjoy seeing what others snack on and even share some snacks of my own, but my real love is in the main course.
The isolation of a teacher librarian is unique. Seldom do we have professional opportunities to share in the day to day activities of our job. We all value the times we get to meet with our colleagues in other schools, but for myself, they are few and far between. I like to get ideas and apply them so I prefer my learning in small chunks. My twitters have become for more valuable to me than many other sources of personal learning. Certainly, my Twitter learning follows me out of school; I do not have my Twitters go to my cell phone as other educators do. Twitter could eat up a great deal of time. I do check out my Tweetdeck (apologies to Scott Scheper) at home, and find that as a result I am thinking about work regularly outside of the job, which from an employers point of view, is a good thing.
In the Future Buzz, Adam Singer suggests that Twitter should be your outpost and your blog your home base. Certainly, it is the links that I learn from and I recognize that any conversation must be two way. If I expect to learn from the links (and not just 140 character tweets, then I too need to keep my blog as my home base. If I miss out on a blog posting, I can still find it later and utilize the information. If I miss a tweet, it is in 'archive purgatory' and will likely never be seen again. It is like missing your between meal snack, but I will crave the main course, the contenet of the link, be it a blog, a picture or a web page. Twitter has become, for me, a way to navigate the web and to find out snack-sized bits of information so that I can then find the main course. Just like television news, you only see a tiny bit, and I hunger for the more detailed information I would find in a deepr news source.
I wonder if I should use one of the sites mentioned by Scheper to spread out my tweets? I have noticed that I tweet in clusters, which makes me visible only to those who are checking out Twitter around that time. Should I send similar tweets out over a sread out time period (as I've noticed others doing) so that my tweets and ideas get more exposure. At this point in time, I'm not sure that the tweets I'm sharing are that important, but if I build my network, and feel that I am sharing valuable information, I will have to consider this dynamic.
There are clearly dynamic ways that I could be using Twitter to keep my personal connections in the forefront, if only I could convince family and friends that Twitter could be valuable. Colleagues, as well, both teachers and teacher librarians, are not yet ready to take the plunge. I have work to do still in this area! 
I wish all my students had smart phones. I wish we could be using Twitter or Edmoto to enhance class conversations. Imagine the engagement students would have if they could twitter a response to a question instead of waiting in line with their hands up? Like an elluminate session, questions can be asked as they come to mind without interrupting the teacher's dialogue. Imagine the power of students who, when faced with a difficult idea, could ask the question from home? Professor David Parry observed that class chatter went beyond the classroom when students began to use twitter for class purposes. Even if the teacher does not respond, the student feels they are making progress on their work. Imagine the power of a classmate stepping in to help? We develop learning networks and active engagement. Alberta, like many other jurisdictions, have taken on student engagement as a focus along with 21st Century literacies. Imagine the learning network if Alberta students worked together using Twitter to share, build, learn and develop multicurricular local and global ideas.
This is, for my class, still a dream for the future. In an elementary school, smart phones are limited to a handful of students. Truthfully, phones are banned, a barrier that could be overcome. When there is only one student who has a cell phone, then the idea is still out of reach. Despite my dreams 20 years ago that there would be a computer on every child's desk, I now believe this step will be skipped. Student owned smart phones, mobile computing devices, ipads and netbooks will likely supersede any resource allocation be school districts.
I am pleased that, to date, Twitter has not been blocked on my district's computers. There is potential for us to develop communication in our staff groups at a professional level to disseminate information, to share ideas and to learn from professional practice before we integrate use with students. Until professionals acknowledge to potential in this media, it will remain off limits in our classrooms. Broward County Public School uses Twitter to disseminate information to parents, students and staff. This is a start, and as we open these avenues, eventually we will discover, as I am convinced, if there is a safe, beneficial learning and teaching application. Perhaps it will end up in a modified environment such as Edmodo (a private micro-blogging service that provides privacy controls in virtual classrooms where one does not need an email, and can work in broad ways to facilitate Twitter-like communication).
Laura Walker in Tech & Learning suggests nine reasons to use Twitter in school:
I ran across an amazing school project as I worked on Twitter. A teacher, fron the appearnances of the pictures, in Middle School, was planning a service trip for her class to Nicarauga to help in schools and libraries. She used a wiki for the student groups to record information about their work (including contacts with governement and business in Nicarauga and in their community, fundraising objectives, and over-the-summer projects in preparation for the trip the following November. Over the summers, students were required to tweet their progress, report on the Wiki, and fulfill requirements to prepare using 21st Century literacies. She did this on a challenge from her principal. She posted Vlogs and students had to respond in the same manner. Unfortunately, in the process of this last week, I've lost the link to this site. She demonstrated a meaningful, engaging learning environment using multiple tools. Students were highly engaged and fulfilled difficulut, responsible learning tasks at highler levels of thinking. The technology engaged them and gave them a responsibility to use tools wisely.
If we deny access to tools like Twitter to all students, there is a digital divide between those students who have access at home and those who do not. As we as educators ponder the pros and cons of modern technologies, many of our students are so far beyond the ideas we are discussing that it is a moot point. However, we become responsible when there are divisions of access and when we are not teaching appropriate use. Twitter is a powerful educational tool, but left in the hands of the self-taught adolescent, it easily becomes purely a brief status update tool, another form of SMS. The power of the technology is lost. If we need to teach for the future, we need to embrace it now.
@nancyacavanaugh
Unlinked Resources Used:
Black, Elizabeth. Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 : What Librarians need to Know. Courtney, Nancy (ed), (2007) Library 2.0 and Beyond. Westport, CN: Libraries Unlimited.
Brooks-Young, Susan. (2010). Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use. Thousand Oaks, CA : Corwin Press.
Davies, J. & Merchant, G. (2009). Web 2.0 for schools: Learning and social participation. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
DeGroot, Joanne. Podcasting Trailfires.
November, Alan. (2010) Empowering Students with Technology. Thousand Oaks, CA : Corwin.
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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