Final Vision Project & Reflection: I Am A Champion, My Friends!!!! At a FAIL, anyway :)

I did it!!!! I won’t say that I did it well, but I did it!! I made an infographic! I really love the fact that I have gone from someone who was so scared of technology, to finding a tool that I connected with, and I now want to learn how to create it and share with others!  I have not only turned a corner in my learning, I have sprinted up a few blocks!!! I am not naive enough to think that I don’t have miles to go in my learning, but I don’t have as much fear and shame about where I am, or where I was at, in terms of my comfort level and knowledge of technology.  I won’t have any one observing that I’m a Luddite anytime soon!!! 

Now, I know your eye will probably scan down to see my infographic, but just wait, look back up here, I have some things to say first!  I have been as transparent in this class and with these blog posts as I am in my offline life, and part of me was worried that I was being too open/personal, and not professional enough, especially because I have never done something like a blog before, which is so open...to everyone...everywhere.  Then I perused some other blogs, and I got the impression that they were a venue to be open and personal about a subject matter that meant something to them.  So I stuck with the way that I was sharing on my blog, and I think by doing so, anyone who reads this series of blogs can really appreciate how far I have come in how I view technology, and even that the tone that I use when speaking about it has changed. 

I re-read my first blog post and I can’t help but laugh at myself and what I wrote; I sounded self-righteous and indignant at the “evil” invasion of technology.  Aaron, you were so generous with your comments, positive, AND tactful in not mentioning how absolutely negative I was about venturing into an area that I was really uncomfortable exploring.  I won’t say that I am fully embracing technology (I’m currently looking for two refurbished antique typewriters, one for me and one for my daughter...she loves them all on her own!! I have only taken her to the antiques stores, and she is drawn to them like a moth to a flame!), but I am more open to it, and willing to introduce it into other areas of my life, which is a HUGE change in my point of view! 

This journey of discovery has been scary, humbling, frustrating, informative, and, I can honestly say, fun!  I have actually made a few connections with people in my life who, in my opinion, have an unnaturally close, personal relationship with technology, but as they were well aware of my feelings towards technology, had never really brought it up in conversation.  I didn’t realize that I was preventing potential conversations from happening, just because I was so open about my feelings towards technology.  This definitely inspired me to examine other opinions that I might be a little too vocal about, that are possibly preventing other conversations, or connections, to be made.     So becoming self-aware about what I’m putting out there, which in turn, affects what I am getting back, is just another positive outcome of this class.

I can’t say that I am a Digital Native, but I’m not going to avoid becoming one anymore.  I am on the path that will lead me far, far away from being a Digital Immigrant, and I am proud of that, and I will now happily skip down that path instead of putting up road blocks that have been preventing me from venturing outside of my luddite-loving bunker, and seeing the good things that can come from taking the path less travelled (well, previously less travelled by me anyway).  Part of this skipping so happily along is largely due to the wonderful discovery of infographics, which I have been so vocal about for the last few blogs.  I am astounded that I am only discovering them now, when they have actually been around for quite some time, but I will blame the luddite-loving bunker on that one (shhhh...I know I’m the one that put myself in there, but we’re going to ignore that right now because I have made such monumental changes...okay, not monumental, but still big enough that we can ignore the whole self-imposed bunker aspect).

So now we get to the “professional” part of the blog, or “professional-ish” anyway, where I expound on the infographic Final Vision Project! This is exciting! But still no peeking!! Eyes up here for now! We’re almost there!  In all of my infographic researching, I really wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to pull it off.  Aaron, my teacher (for those of you who don’t know), gave me an out, and said that I could use clipart in a word document, but I was determined (have I mentioned that I may lean towards a wee bit of a stubborn streak?) to do an infographic, no matter how it turned out, and I did!  It isn’t what I would be excited to share, in terms of being on the same level as other infographics that delight me to no end with their visual and information provocation, but the process of creating one made me appreciate all infographics (even the not so interesting ones) all the more. 

I now know the difficulties of building something from the blank screen out: trying to display key points of information in a way that is pleasing to the eye, and not overwhelming; picking a color scheme that draws the eye, rather than repels it (although I’m not too sure how I fared there, but it is my first attempt!!!); choosing graphics that complement the text; and finally, knowing when to stop!  This last one was really important for me because I was trying to make my first attempt at making an infographic look like the ones that I find all over the net, but I had to take a deep breath, step back, and really look at what I had done.  I have created something that I had never even heard of 3 months ago, using tools that I had never had experience using prior to 4 days ago, and I am determined to continue creating infographics until I can make one “properly”, and by that I mean one that I would share with my district, colleagues, and publicly on the internet.    

When you look at my product, please keep in mind that although there doesn’t appear to be very much information on it, I really had to pare down what I was going to share, which was challenging to do, and the creation process was arduous for me!  I know that when I create my dream series of infographics that will be focused on each of the groups within the school community, I will be better equipped with the process of gathering pertinent information, how to choose the best graphics to showcase that information, and how to arrange all of these elements to create an impactful, interesting, educational, and exciting infographic.

Soooo, without further ado, here it is; it may not look like it, but I put so much time and energy into this, it truly was a labor of love!   

Final Vision Project: Where, oh where, will my info go?

Wow, this is scary!!! I have been researching infographics for three weeks, and I don’t know if I can do one!!! I am going to do my best to produce one, but I may be going “creative-low-tech”...stay tuned!! 

I feel a little bit like I am drowning in information overload, but so much of it is relevant information, I’m just realizing that I may not be equipped to construct an infographic like the ones that I get so excited about.  I naively thought that I could Google “How to create an infographic for free”, and magically, I would find a site that would supply me with a stunning template, that also miraculously had graphics that COMPLETELY synced with my topic of Top Digital Literacy Resources (don’t worry, a more delightful, attention-grabbing, and epically appropriate title will be chosen...well now, that’s kind of putting pressure on myself...), where I would just have to input my information, and Voila!! My masterpiece would be ready for the adoring masses....sooooo....it turns out that life doesn’t really work like that, as such, I am going to lead with my struggles and challenges, before I start talking about my triumphs (few that they are, or seem to be).

Struggles & Challenges:

There is no end to the amount of information about infographics, I even found a multitude of infographics ON infographics, but filtering through all of the data, trying to find something useful is very time consuming, and so far, is leaving me empty handed.  I have logged many hours attempting to learn how I can create a really impactful infographic filled with mind boggling “data viz” (Amy Balliett, Smashing Magazine, 2011), but I still haven’t found a site that will allow me to create an infographic.

I have been to sites like visual.ly, piktochart, infogr.am, and easel.ly, that claim to be free, but you can basically register to look at samples, but if you want an exciting looking infographic, you have to pay.  The site visual.ly actually charges $1000 for one of their graphic designers to create an infographic for you, based on data you send them, and with your intended theme, but there is nowhere on the site that actually allows you to create one of your own.  The other sites have either one template with a variety of coloring schemes to choose from, or a few different themes, but if you want any of the templates that might actually fit with the project you have in mind, you have to pay and upgrade to “Pro” to have access to ALL of the fabulous templates.

I also looked for tutorials, and was discouraged when these “easy” tutorials were actually a study in foreign languages for me; I felt like I needed a Technology to English translator to follow along because there was a plethora of terms that were so unique to the technological lexicon, that I was completely lost.  Alternatively, there were other tutorials with simple language, but VERY complex steps to take, and they are clearly meant for people who have had some experience with graphic design, such as the tutorial for Adobe Illustrator found here: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/adobe-illustrator/create-cool-infographics/ .  I think I would need more than a couple of hours to figure this out, or a couple of weeks.  I think I could do this if I had nothing else going on in my life, and I could dedicate a serious chunk of time to just this.

A friend of mine suggested I look to see if there was an app on my phone, as there seems to be an app for almost everything else, and all that I was able to find were two apps to create infographics, one tutorial app, and a really interesting app that will give me an “Infographic of the Day” (which I will have to keep, of course).  Of the two apps that allow you to create your own infographic, one is actually a data gathering app called “InFoto Free” that creates infographics based on the data of your favorite time of day to take pictures, your favorite day of the week, your busiest month of the year, etc. It is a fairly entertaining, and informative app, but not something that I can use as a tool for my Future Vision Project.  The other creating app, iVi Touch Lite, has minimal graphics available, doesn’t have a large area to create the infographic, and even if I paid the $1.03 to pay for the upgrade, it is still quite limited in it what it offers.  I may come back to it if I can’t find anything else though.  The tutorial app, Udemy, has 10 videos that total up to an hour, but doesn’t provide a tutorial about how to actually create an infographic.  The videos don’t tell me anything that I haven’t already found out in the last few weeks of researching.     

Triumphs:

            One thing I’m not struggling with is finding information about my topic!  I am excited to put together a useful tool that will allow teachers (who are not yet Digital Natives) to have a quick guide to some of the best Digital Literacy tools that will assist them in raising the bar in their teaching pedagogy in relation to technology in the classroom.  I am pleased that I have developed a new found confidence in my lack of technology skills, in that I know I am not the only one, and from my research, I have discovered that although there is a huge push to have students become digitally literate, teachers who are not digitally literate are not being addressed.  Or they are not to being addressed to such a degree that I was inundated with information about them, which makes me believe that my focus for my Future Vision Project is relevant.  I have also given some amount of thought and consideration on creating a series of Digital Literacy infographics, where each one would be focusing on one member of the school community: administrators, students, parents, and educators...but I think that I will stick with one for now, see how that goes, and maybe revisit this lofty idea at another time.  Although my triumphs seem minimal in comparison to my struggles/challenges, I am really proud of how much I have learned so far about infographics, so even if I do FAIL, I know that I am going to keep trying until I am able to create an infographic that really engages my intended audience, educates them, and inspires them to share it with others.

References:

 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/14/the-dos-and-donts-of-infographic-design/

Final Vision Project Rationale: I can't be the only one...

After conducting some preliminary research on infographics, I have decided that the easiest part of my Final Vision Project, so far, was actually choosing the vehicle that I wanted to use to showcase my learning over the duration of this class.  I didn’t realize that all the elements that make me love infographics will actually cause me the most difficulties when creating one: delivering a large amount of information in an interesting, concise, and visually stimulating manner.  Pair that with my broad topic of Digital Literacy, and I have a recipe for frustration and potential hair-pulling (my own, so as not to cause harm to others). 

Who is this Project for & Why?

  I have been able to narrow my scope and have decided who my target audience will be for this particular project, and I believe it’s very apropos: educators, like myself, who want to incorporate Digital Literacy into their classroom teaching, but may not know where to start, or what would be the most effective way to do so.  I can’t, and won’t, believe that I am the only person in the education field who isn’t so tech savvy, but would like to be (as I now find myself), and could benefit from having an amazing infographic that, at a glance, can assist them in incorporating all of the multi-literacies of the digital age into their classrooms. 

Participant Qualities & Characteristics

            This is a little embarrassing, because I will basically be describing myself for this section, although I have been fairly open about my shortcomings where technology is concerned.  The educators who will utilize my infographic the most, will be those who are aware of the need of having digitally literate students, but they won’t know the best way to meet the need; they will envy their colleagues for the technology based lesson plans they seem to produce out of thin air, but they won’t know the best websites to find and adapt their own; they will have the desire to become Digital Natives themselves, but they won’t know the path to take from being a Digital Immigrant to becoming a Digital Native; and most importantly, they will want to incorporate all of the digital multi-literacies in all of the subject areas, but they won’t know how to effectively do this while meeting all of the PLO’s.

Learner Considerations

            As this project is reaching out to those who are like myself, I have been thinking about what I need from a visual tool, what I find to be the most attention grabbing element, and I was having a difficult time trying to vocalize exactly what it is that makes for an outstanding informative, visual tool.  This little roadblock, of course led me to TED, my favorite go-to for help in almost all matters (and what TED can’t answer, Pinterest can J), and I found a TED Talk that was singularly exceptional in voicing what I could not.  The speaker is David McCandless, and the talk is called The Beauty of Data Visualization, filmed in July 2010.  There were three things that he described, that are absolutely perfect, that cannot be rephrased, and they are as follows:

1.    How we process images: “combining the language of the eye, with the language of the mind, you start speaking two languages simultaneously”

2.    How we process data: “we need relative figures that are connected to other date so we can see a fuller picture, and then that can lead to us changing our perspective”

3.    Why data visualization is so important: “visualizing information like this is a form of knowledge compression, it’s a way of squeezing an enormous amount of information, and understanding, into a small space”

Please watch the rest of David’s talk here:

References:

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization

Final Vision Project Scope: I want to be like Kevin Bacon

Now before you go judging my blog by its title, I want to explain myself. I have made no secret about the fact that I know a mere drop in the proverbial bucket when it comes to technology, but I am trying to learn more and be more open to incorporating it into my life and future teaching pedagogy.

As I am not in a classroom at this time, and unable to practice what I have been discovering, it is difficult to imagine what a 21st Century Classroom would look like, and the reality of creating a project that I could then put into action is slightly unrealistic. So I was left to ponder the ways in which I might be able to share my Vision of the Future for Teacher-Librarianship.

Part of my pondering involves brainstorming, which then leads me to search out visuals that might help with my brainstorming, which leads to YouTube...and to make a long story short, I found an exceptional TedxMidwest video of Kevin Bacon talking about the process that he went through when he developed a charitable foundation through the use of the internet and utilizing the infamy of the game named after him: Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. He is candid, humorous, and honest in discussing how he had a vision for this project, but he knew next to nothing about philanthropy.  Kevin shares how he wanted to do something that was meaningful, the collaborative process he experienced with people of a like mind who had more knowledge on the subject, not wanting to be considered a joke amongst his peers, his failures that led to his triumphs, and how he wanted a feeling of connectivity to be maintained as a result of his foundation/project. 

This is almost a carbon copy of how I’m feeling, except substitute charitable foundation for technology/Web 2.0 tools, and becoming an expert in using them; trying to think of something that I could see myself becoming an expert on leads me back to visuals. I understand them, I utilize them in many different areas of my life, and I feel excited when I find one that is informative, connected, and invaluable.  There are so many possibilities for creating an impactful visual, but I can’t even pretend to consider any of them when I am so fixated on infographics right now.  I can’t even describe how thrilled I am at finding infographics that relate to topics I have to blog about, and even when I find some that have nothing to do with any particular subject matter I am looking for, but capture my interest anyway.  I have even started a board on my Pinterest account dedicated to infographics!! Don’t get me started on how excited I was to find that Pinterest even had them!

Needless to say, creating an infographic will be an exciting adventure, one that will mirror a bit of what Kevin Bacon went through, and I’m hoping that I can be just like him, in that I am able to successfully take my vision from a concept to a reality, and one that will resonate with some, make others think, and hopefully become a useful tool for many.  I’m not too sure who my audience will be right now, if I want this for fellow TLs, teachers, students, parents, administrators, or the whole school community, but as I have decided to focus on Digital Literacy, I will narrow my scope through my research, and decide who the target audience will be based on that.

Please watch the Kevin Bacon video below, I promise that you will find it interesting and informative J

References:

YouTube. "Kevin Bacon at TEDxMidwest". Retrieved from YouTube March 26, 2014 from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9u-TITxwoM .

Reflecting on Change

Well, I have probably been the one who has dug their heels in the hardest in regards to using technology, and I won’t apologize, but in looking back over the last couple of months during Phase 2 of my blog experience, I’m going to do several things.  First, I’m going to talk about my takeaways, from my classmates and my teacher.  Second, I am going to discuss a couple of avenues that I would like to further develop.  And lastly, I am going to discuss the one topic from Phase 2 that had a considerable impact on me, and why. 

Takeaways:

I am a very visual person, and I love to have a big message in a snapshot, which is actually quite a contradiction to the way I speak...I’m quite long winded and have a difficult time giving a “short version” of anything, which may be the motivation behind my passion for visuals.  They can say, in brief format, what would take me hours to say.  So I am going to give a nod to my Eagle Group members and some of the visuals that they have shared that have had an impact on me. 

From Leisbet’s blog on February 16^th, Supporting Teachers Learning ICT, she shared a visual called What Do You Want Kids to Do With Technology that listed the wrong answers and the right answers, and ended with the statement that “Technology is a tool, NOT a learning outcome”.  I think that many people (parents, students, educators) don’t fully grasp this, and when trying to explain it, I don’t think I do a phenomenal job because I am not, as of yet, comfortable with technology to differentiate between what is the tool and what the intended learning outcome should be.  Well, scratch that, I didn’t know until Liesbet’s share; I can use this visual to help other teachers who are reluctant to utilize technology in the classroom because they, too, are unsure of the value of using a tool to achieve a learning outcome.

The week we had to focus on PLNs I was, no surprise, at a complete loss at figuring out what that was, what it would look like, or how I would even start one.  I perused a few other blogs to get some ideas, and I came across Emily’s blog from February 10^th, Personal Learning Network, and watched the short YouTube clip she had included on her post, called “Sketchy Explanation: Starting a PLN”.  It was a just under two minutes, but managed to answer my questions in a straightforward manner, and made me realize that I unknowingly already had a small PLN started with my Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter accounts, and this blog.  So I was a bit relieved that I wasn’t going to feel pressure to create a PLN from scratch, and in the future, I can use this clip to help other teachers in organizing PLNs of their own, or helping them see that they already have one started.

This will definitely come as no surprise, I LOVE the infographic that Jane used in her blog titled Potential ideas for future vision from March 14^th, I’m only slightly miffed that I didn’t find it first, but I would absolutely use this as a visual aid in advocating the school library and the TL’s position in the school to administrators, parents, and the community. 

Kacy always has wonderful visuals embedded in her blogs, I still haven’t figured out how to embed images AND videos, I seem to be able to do one or the other, but not both.  So I wanted to point out a very powerful image she posted on her March 4^th blog called Where in the world is your library? of a Bookmobile in the Sahara.  The reason I found this image so powerful is because I think developed nations have a tendency to take for granted the resources we have, whereas in developing nations, kids and adults alike will clamor to these rare mobile exposures to literature.  There are complaints that the books we have are out of date, have tears on a couple of pages, maybe have a few pen marks; yet there are people who can look past the imperfections of the book and appreciate the fact that they are actually able to read something, anything.  I would have this picture in my library as a reminder to appreciate what we have, and to think of ways that we could help those who may not have as much as we do.

Aaron has modeled for me how to adapt my expectations based on a student’s background knowledge and skill set that they are bringing to a particular lesson, topic, or unit.  I feel that he has given me the freedom to test my own boundaries, given me the guidance to push myself further than I thought I was capable of, and the acceptance in my own knowledge of technology, even though I thought I was extremely lacking in this area. 

Avenues to Explore:

Amongst all of my classes that I have taken for my TL diploma, Learning Commons has played a role in each one, with varying degrees of involvement, but I find that I would like to explore more examples of what an amazing Learning Commons can be developed, what it could look like, and how it would positively impact the school community.

For my personal development, I feel that I really need to work on extending the reaches of my PLN, and actually be more regularly involved in it so that I will benefit from all the educators that I become connected with.  I need to dedicate some time on the computer so I can become better acquainted with more sites that allow teachers to share ideas, lessons, units, and resources, and find ones that I will be truly engaged and interested in.

THE Topic:

I think that the one topic that had the greatest impact on me from Phase 2 would have to be learning about programs in developing nations that are trying to elevate literacy levels through the use of handheld mobile devices.  This is not something that I had ever thought about before, but when reading through some of the sites, and learning about the lack of available resources, it made me think about what kind of impact could I have on this situation? What could I do as a teacher, or librarian, to help out? What could I do to educate others in the school community about this situation?  I would like to focus some time and energy on making a connection with some programs that bring devices to the developing countries, and see if we could have a mobile device drive at our school, and donate some handheld devices to help bringing literacy to those who could only dream about the access and availability that we are fortunate enough to experience in Canada.

 

Final Thoughts:

I think that I have really gone through a transformation, of sorts, in my outlook on technology being used in the classroom.  One might even say that it’s a complete 180, but I like to think that I am more open to change than what comes across, so maybe it was more like I turned a corner in my thinking.  This course has been quite labour intensive for me in terms of becoming comfortable with the subject matter, and the extra research that I have to do in order to understand all the terminology and references that are being made, that go right over my head.  But I think that it would be very appropriate to close this chapter of my blog with some wise words from Sheryl Crow “A Change Will Do You Good”, because I can support that train of thought wholeheartedly now :) Also, it's pretty entertaining, but more importatnly it visually represents how I have felt during the process of Phase 2; I have felt dioriented, out of place, and confused sometimes about where I was, very much like the characters in this video!  

 

 

References:

Beaudry, L. ( 2014,February 16). Supporting teachers learning ict.Beaudry Library Journey, [web log] Retrieved from: http://beaudrylibrary.blogspot.ca [Accessed: 21 Mar 2014].

Leslie, J. ( 2014,March 14). Potential ideas for future vision. Mme Leslie, [web log] Retrieved from: http://mmeleslie.blogspot.ca [Accessed: 21 Mar 2014].

Morgan, K. ( 2014,March 4). Where in the world is your library? Kacy Morgan LIBE, [web log] Retrieved from: http://kacymorganlibe.wordpress.com  [Accessed: 21 Mar 2014].

Rodgers, Emily. (2014 February 10). Personal Learning Network. Emily’s TL Diploma Blog, [web log] Retrieved from: https://blogs.ubc.ca/emilyrodgers [Accessed: 21 Mar 2014].

YouTube. Sheryl Crow. A Change Would Do You Good. [video] Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDwLPMOzHLY [Accessed: 21 March 2014].

What's the Future Involvement of Mobile Devices in our Libraries?

               http://kevincorbett.com/2013/02/mobile-learning-report-card-infographic/

The preceding infographic was put out by T-Mobile in late 2012/early 2013, making predictions about how prevalent mobile devices will be in schools across the United States.  Some of the statistics seem improbable, such as the prediction that by 2016 100% of K-12 students will use handheld mobile devices for education; this is based on the assumption that every family will be able to afford a handheld mobile device for every child, and that every school will be able to provide Wi-Fi for the use of said mobile devices.  I can’t see that happening by 2016, although there is a school in the US that has gone completely digital, Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains NY, in an effort to be at the forefront of 21^st Century education.  A full article can be found here:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/12/no-more-books-high-school-goes-all-digital-/2807577/.  A few main points from the article that highlight how mobile devices can help libraries were as follows: students will be having lighter loads to carry, student access will be cheaper, and it will be working towards the goal of having “tech savvy” graduates, which is a necessity in this age of technology.  

I was actually quite surprised at how few library projects there are for developing nations, either that, or I was not using the right search words.  That isn’t to say I didn’t find any, but besides Room to Read and Library for All, I was hard pressed to find specific programs.  With a little bit more digging, I found a program that might even be considered the fore-father of these two programs, and it’s called One Laptop Per Child, which had it’s very early beginnings in 1984 when Nicholas Negroponte had an idea to bring technology to developing nations, at little to no cost.  He discusses this idea, as well as several others (including touch screen technology, with an amazing demonstration) at a Ted Talk from 1984:

 

The current concept is that when someone in North America buys an XO laptop (designed by Negroponte and his team), then one is given to a child in a developing country.  The initial price for the laptops when the program officially started in 2005 was $100, and now they cost $180.  Although a laptop is technically not a handheld mobile device, they are small and lightweight, and a tablet version was in development stages for release in 2014.  Just as I was going to post this blog, I was looking for an infographic for the OLPC program, and I came across a news article that said that the non-profit branch of OLPC has closed its doors in Boston (where the project first began), but the for-profit program is still up and running in Miami, article can be found here:  http://venturebeat.com/2014/03/11/one-laptop-per-child-may-be-done/  

  Regardless of whether or not the program continues, it has given over 2.5 million laptops to developing nations between 2006-2014, allowing children to learn through the use of technology, who otherwise would not have had the opportunity.  Negroponte discusses the project in the following Ted Talk, filmed in 2007, 2 years after the launch of OLPC:

 

 

Amazing Links!!!!

Link to paper discussing DL’s (Digital Libraries) and how the combination of them and mobile devices can benefit developing nations:

http://www.lab.org.bd/1.pdf

Link to paper outlining a program called: The World Digital Library and Universal Access to Knowledge, which was developed by “UNESCO and 32 partner institutions launched on April 21, 2009 the World Digital Library, a website that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world. The site – located at www.wdl.org – includes manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, prints and photographs. It provides unrestricted public access, free of charge, to this materiali.”

http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/programme_doc_wdl.pdf

Link to article discussing other programs that are trying to increase world literacy, not just digital literacy:

http://www.edudemic.com/increasing-world-literacy-infographic/

A wonderful book about ICT in Developing Countries available for free in PDF format, found here:

https://dlib.lib.washington.edu/dspace/handle/1773/22753

 

 

Supporting Teachers' ICT Curriculum

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dy3xQgsi1o

The preceding video is from a series called In the Know, produced by Vancouver Public Schools and hosted by Mark Ray. In this short clip, Mark Ray explores the changing role of school librarians, and collaboration between TL's and classroom teachers is mentioned as one of the ways that school libraries are going to stay relevant in the 21st century. As educators, we need to work together to ensure that students are getting the best, well-rounded, education that we can provide, where they are learning to navigate the digital world just as confidently as the paper-based world.

As I have not had any experience with teaching in a classroom or library of my own, I don't have any personal stories that I can draw from that illustrate how I was able to establish a strong collaborating relationship with my colleagues. In other areas of my life, I have collaborated with others in a variety of settings, such as school, work, family gatherings, and workshops, so I know that there needs to be a certain level of trust and desire to work together to accomplish a certain goal.  It is also important to be open to other points of view, or different ways to approach, new tasks.  I have thought of a few ways in which I would like to build a foundation of collaboration with my fellow educators, and they are as follows:

-          start a blog/school podcast/Facebook page that introduces and demonstrates new and useful ICTs, ask teachers to follow me so that they can receive notifications when there is something new added to the page

-          create a school library web page that advertises exciting events, resources, or functions that are being brought into the library; have interactive links for students, parents, and teachers to explore, share, and learn from; book club suggestions; book ratings; new arrivals; and book themes of the month

-          I would organize Pro-D days that were based on common ICT interests/curiosities expressed by my colleagues

-          at the beginning of the year, I would go from class to class to introduce/reacquaint myself to new/returning teachers and give teachers a list of services that I am able to provide to assist in their classroom teaching, as well as ask if there is anything that they would be interested in me bringing into the library to further develop their teaching practice

-          provide availability times to collaborate for thematic units, lesson plans, and cross-curricular units

Below is an infographic that outlines the ways that a TL can benefit a school community through various forms of collaboration. 

Infographic article link: http://www.ala.org/aasl/research/ncle-infographic

Other useful links:

Link to site that has a list of books and articles that discuss the relationship between TL's and teachers, the benefits of collaboration, how TL's can become technology leaders, and many other useful resources:

https://sites.google.com/a/ualberta.ca/becoming-and-being/teacher-librarians-becoming-and-being-technology-leaders/articles-and-books

Link to site from the Manitoba government that has the answers to frequently asked questions about literacy with ICT: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/s_leaders/faqs.html

Link to site for a study on Teacher/Teacher-Librarian Collaboration - A Review of the Literature conducted by Karen Lindsay who was the Teacher-Librarian at Reynolds Secondary school in Victoria, BC:

https://learn.eku.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/LIB800_14288_F12/LIB800_14288_F12_ImportedContent_20120808022316/Modules/Module%203%20%20Forging%20Partnerships%20in%20the%20School%20Library%20Module%203%20content/teacher--teacher%20librarian%20collabortion.pdf

The Journey to Developing my ICT Skills

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

    It’s no secret that I have a lot to learn in terms of technology, so that when thinking constructively about what I will have to do to develop my own ICT skills, I became a bit overwhelmed. When looking at the outline of the areas to focus on in my development: strategies, tools, resources, & networks; I realized that I am going to have to focus mainly on strategies that are going to build my arsenal of tools & resources, and assist in becoming a part of networks that will keep me informed, included in the ever-changing face of ICT in the classroom, and form connections with my fellow educators.  The above infographic is a simple guideline that I found at Education Infographics, and for someone like me, who doesn't really know where to start with ICT in the classroom, this is a good starting point.

 

     One of the strategies that will be essential for me in developing my ICT skills, is actually setting aside time to research new Web 2.0 tools, practicing using them, and becoming comfortable with them, so that I can incorporate them in my lessons and teach students and colleagues how to utilize them as well. Another strategy that will be key for me is to actually follow through on using the networks that I become a part of, and employ these networks to further develop my connections with others who have the same interests as I do, and to learn how to share information via these networks, not just borrow information from them.

 

     Unknowingly, I have actually become an expert in the use of one particular Web 2.0 tool that I started using prior to this course, and that is Pinterest. I actually have taught several of my friends how to get the most out of this tool (after I had two friends who forced a tutorial on me, as they were very aware of my reluctance to use technology). I have several boards that are just for teaching pins, library pins, and book pins, and there are members that I am following so that I get notified of their new pins so that I can peruse them and decide if I want to add them to my boards. Having this one tool that I feel so comfortable with is not enough, so I am trying all the time to see what other people are using and talking about and I am making an effort to explore these tools to build my confidence in using them. Some tools, I just don’t see the value in them, but I am always open to suggestions if anyone would like to leave some suggestions for really useful Web 2.0 tools!

 

     So far, the ICT resources I rely on (that aren’t SD based, or online articles, etc.) are Pinterest, YouTube, TEDTalks, and podcasts. I would like to become more diverse in my resources, but I am not always sure of what I should be looking for, which is where I am open to suggestions again! I did find a very good link that has 28 TL resources that cover online magazine resources to how to create your library webpage: http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/resources/slresources.html

 

     For networking, I have subscribed to LM_NET and receive daily emails from them, but I haven’t learned how to add anything of my own to the forum yet; and then the only other networking that I do is through conversations with fellow teachers and librarians. I searched for other networks and came across Ning, Diigo, and Teacherlingo, but I really have no idea where to begin with essential, and valuable, networking. I don’t know if I should become a part of several, a dozen, or more, networks? What’s a realistic number? How do I manage them all? Here is another area that I am open to suggestions and guidance, I’m trying not to become too overwhelmed, but am finding it exceedingly difficult.

Fostering Reading Cultures in Schools

I won’t be able to share any current experiences with using technology to foster a culture of reading within a classroom, but I will share ideas that I plan on implementing with the use of technology, and without, when I become a TL.  In my research, I found several interesting articles that outline some current practices of promoting reading cultures in China that can easily be incorporated in any library or classroom.

I believe modeling is essential in anyone learning pretty much anything, so when students are silently reading, I will too, or if they are doing independent work at their desks or in groups.  My daughter is always asking what I’m reading when we read together, and if she’s allowed to read it, or how old she has to be before she can read it, but the most important thing is that she is interested because she sees that I am.  Something that the librarian in my middle school did, that I would put into practice, was start a book club that met once a week at lunch hour to discuss the book of the month, and when each book was finished, we would put up a rating on our book club poster board. 

As I am not overly familiar with ICT, I asked a couple of teacher friends if there were any favorite tools that they used to encourage reading in their students, the most popular one was any one of the storybooks online, such as: Starfall, Just Books Read Aloud, Mightybook, or, the most popular choice, Tumble Books.  When I did some research on the Internet, I did find some other sites that I have heard of, and used, such as ReadWriteThink and PBS Kids, which both have games and activities that help develop phonics, grammar, spelling, comprehension, and sentence structure.  By providing students with a variety of tools that assist them in strengthening their reading skills, they will be more confident, and willing, to read for pleasure.  Another way that I believe fosters a culture of reading, is having Author Visits to the school, but if physically having the author come to your school is not in the budget, a cheap alternative is to google what Skype Author Visits are planned, and you can Skype with an author via a large projection screen (or laptop, depending on audience size).

 I found seven separate PDF files that make one paper that was put out by the Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, outlining the library programs at six of their schools, with each school focusing on the development of a reading culture within their school, and outside, at the homes of their students.  I apologize that I couldn’t find one PDF that covered the whole paper, but each school implements different programs (or schemes) and its worth the trouble to read each section (which are no more than nine pages each, two for the introduction).  I will give the title of the school, point form list of their schemes for developing a culture of reading in their schools, and a link to the PDF.

Introduction

Download Introduction PDF here

Canossa Primary School

-       Reading Star Scheme

-       Class Reading Stars

-       Parents as Reading Companion Scheme

-       Senior Peer Reading Companion Scheme

 

Download Canossa PDF here 

Lam Tin Methodist Primary School

-       Parent-and-Child Reading Scheme

-       Big Brother & Big Sister Scheme

-       Reading Aunts

-       The ISLM Bookmark Project (***an international program that could be brought into your own library!)

-       Production of Braille Books to Enhance Harmony

-       Teacher Reading Award Scheme

-       Promoting Parent Education to Strengthen the Partnership Between Parents and the School

Download Lam TIn PDF here

King’s College Old Boy’s Association Primary School No. 2

-       It’s Fun Reading Together

-       Drama on Shared Reading

-       Reading Bean

-       Mathematics Quest

-       Story Creation Competition

-       Parent-and-Child Reading Scheme

-       Story Brothers & Sisters

-       Big Brother, Big Sister Reading Scheme

Download King's College PDF here

Concordia Lutheran School-North Point

-       Morning Reading Scheme

-       “Reading for All” Reading Programme

-       Top 10 Patrons/Top 10 Books

-       Books Recommendation & Sharing

-       Students’ Participation in External Competitions & Activities

Download Concordia PDF here

Lok Sin Tong Yu Kan Hing Secondary School

-       The Reading Team: Agency for Communication Between the Librarian & Teachers

-       Morning Reading Programme

-       Reading Variety Show

-       Chinese Language Panel

-       English Language Panel

-       The Mathematics Panel

-       Cross-Curriculum Collaboration

Download Lok Sin PDF here

Tuen Mun Catholic Secondary School

-       Book exhibitions

-       Reading Activity with Taiwan Students-Online Reading Platform

-       Early Morning Reading Scheme

-       TMCSS Reading Club

-       Chinese Extensive Reading Scheme

Download Tuen Mun PDF here

I’m finishing off with the addition of a paper written by Nancy K. Schroeder in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education from the University of Alberta, April 6 2009.  Titled, Developing a Culture of Reading in Middle School: What Teacher-Librarians Can Do, and at 47 pages it is an amazing paper that addresses many issues that TL’s face when trying to promote a culture of reading, and it is definately worth setting aside some to read it.

Download Developing Culture of Reading PDF here