web 2.0: new tools, new schools Chapt. 1

While reading Chapter 1, these words kept jumping out at me: communication, connection, creativity and collaboration. I think this sums up web 2.0 pretty well. I bought right into their argument when the authors quoted both Daniel Pink and Thomas Friedman as well as several other forward thinking authors.

The bullets on page 18 highlight key points for me, particularly that we need to focus on more than content mastery and unless teachers are well-trained and supported, students will not master 21st Century skills. Our administrators must be on board with support and our teachers must be willing to learn new skills and how to apply them to their styles of teaching. After 20 plus years of teaching, I know change is difficult for many educators who see no reason to change the way they teach. I agree with David Jakes' list of how to make innovation "stick" (p. 22-23). I won't list them here, but so often in education we skip these steps and just wait for innovation to happen.

Literacy today has a very different meaning than literacy of the past centuries. We test on the old skills (and I'll try to ignore the soap box that just appeared with NCLB written on it) but our students need these new literacies to succeed in their futures.

Finally, I was taken by this quote on p. 19 from Learning for the 21st Century "Today's education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn." I think for many students we are already irrelevant. High achieving students "play the game" to reach their goals of graduation and higher education. Other students hide with their ipod buds under hoodies and tune us right out. I want to be relevant. I want to excite students and get them jazzed about learning. I think web 2.0 tools may be the vehicle for many of our students.

Week 9 / Thing 22: eBooks and Audio eBooks

I'll start by saying that I read really, really, really fast, and I love the feel of a new book, especially a quality trade paperback. I love to feel the cover, flip the pages, even smell the book. I don't love eBooks and audio books. . . yet.

When I lived in NC and SC and was driving back and forth on 3 hour trips, I often listened to a good audio book in the cassette player, and I loved the old NPR radio reader with Dick Estell (I just found out he's still reading --cool!). But at home, I read too fast. I've tried listening to CDs and Playaways, but find myself grabbing the book instead. Often this is because I'm trying to do something else while listening and my mind wanders to attend to the task and I tune out the reading.

That said, I think students enjoy listening to books. As an English teacher, I've read to kids of every age and ability. My AP kids in Charleston loved to be read to as much as my freshmen remedial classes. As for reading a book on the computer, sigh, I don't know. I don't enjoy reading more than a page or two. I try not to print out anything unless necessary, but I much prefer paper to electronic. Again, our students have grown up reading online and are much more used to it.

So I'm off to explore the world of audio and eBooks. My friend Teri Lesesne was on the Odyssey Award committee this past year and listens(ed) to a ton of books. She has many resources for audio books and more on her website, Professor Nana. I read her blog almost every day. It's listed on the side bar. Teri's powerpoint titled Why Listen, lists these reasons:
•Listening comprehension precedes reading comprehension
•Dialects are made easier
•Can help start the “movie” in the head
•Serves as model for oral fluency

She also lists some ways to use audio books:
•ESL/ELL students along with books in unabridged formats
•For reluctant readers paired or not but still unabridged
•For dyslexic or learning disabled readers paired with text
•For kids who are too busy to read
•For intergenerational use—family literacy
•For ADD and ADHD kids
•For adults, too

There's more if you're interested. It was good for me to review this ppt to remind myself of reasons and ways to use audio books. Teri backs up her assertions with research and anecdotal support.

As I browse the free ebook collections, I see that most of them are from the public domain which means for school purposes, they are mostly classics. This is good for those students who come wheeling in the library to check out a required book that's due tomorrow and all our copies are circulating. As I browsed, I see many of the titles that HS students often request. I downloaded the pdf of Walden just for fun and found myself wanting to either print it or go find my copy. By the way, I love Walden, so it wasn't because I was bored or not interested.

I also took a look at the ebooks available for sale. It seems that most titles are $9.99 for Kindle. Books for Sony's ebook reader cost more. Maybe I need to try an ebook reader, I like the idea of toting many books without all that bulk and heft! When I travel, I take lots of books (did I mention I read really fast?) and that can get quite heavy. I'm seriously thinking of purchasing a Kindle. Hmmnn.

I will promote both audio and ebooks to teachers and students. I think more and more titles including text books will be offered online and our students will be accessing text this way sooner than later.

Week 9 / Thing 21 Podcasts

I have used podcasts often to listen to NPR articles and programs I've missed (I see I'm not the only NPR junkie in this class).

I used EPN (Education Podcast Network) and found myself drawn to a long list of poets reading their works and giving lectures. As a self proclaimed poetry addict, this was the best! So now after listening to some old favorites and discovering a few new poets, I'm in a very good mood.

For the librarian, I found some booktalks by Nancy Keane. I think I have some books by her and have seen her at conferences. Just One More Book has hundreds of podcasts with a huge variety of titles. Again, there's more than I have time to explore.

Here's a funny one by Ms. Sanders called "I'm Bringing Vocab Back." For some local flavor, you can also visit Alaska Readers' Theater and hear Lake Hood Elementary School students (and more).

Podcasts can be found by searching the links RAW has provided or through itunes. I had fun looking at the top podcasts at the itunes store including Dilbert, This American Life (no surprise there), other NPR selections, The Onion, Discovery Channel and one called Grammar Girl. I think Grammar Girl would be great for HS and perhaps MS. She does a little advertising at the beginning of each one so be aware of this.

Podcasting can be used in any discipline with all ages. I see so many potential uses.

Week 9 / thing 20: Teacher Tube Again

Here's a very visual lesson on what happens when you post on the Internet. I think this short video is a powerful cautionary tale for students.

Another 2 hours or so gone! This is fun, but who has the time? YIKES.

Week 9 / thing 20: Teacher Tube

I love Teacher Tube. I like that the videos are for both teachers and students to use as professional development and as a tool for teaching specific topics.  My favorite of all has morphed since I first saw it a little over a year ago. It's called Shift Happens or Pay Attention or Did You Know.  For some good discussion and background, visit the Shift Happens wiki. 

Week 8/ Thing 19.1: Digital Pipeline

As an ASD librarian, I've been promoting, praising, pushing, and presenting the Digital Pipeline since it first arrived. Over the years, I've gotten more familiar with its many features. I use it quite a bit for personal and school searches. 

I like the new EBSCO interface and look. I especially like that you can click the box for full text in the results page and limit the list. Students ALWAYS forget to click full text and they just don't get the abstract concept no matter how often I tell them about it. It's frustrating to a student to click on a result and only get the abstract. I just noticed that the student research center interface hasn't changed that I can tell. Maybe I'll have students use EBSCO host instead. 

Is it just me, or does making all the search terms bold seem a bit too much. I'm sure EBSCO did this before, but I don't remember noticing it. I just did a search for "When the Rainbow Goddess Wept." It's our next bookgroup title and I like to send out reviews. When I click on the html full text, the bold print for the word "the" is really distracting!

I had forgotten about the journal alert feature. This is a great way to get a look at content, but I seem to remember the emails pile up in the inbox just like the print journals pile up on my desk. And I'm interested in far too many subjects to limit that way.

The Consumer Health link is down. I'll try again later. 

I watched the flash movie, but there was no sound (on Safari or Firefox) and I just couldn't stick with it.

I'll show my students how to use the folder feature and how to save their searches. I'll show them the various types of databases and talk about how to choose between them. I may steer them toward EBSCO host instead of student research center. 

Week 8 / Thing 19: Library Thing

I can see loads of potential for Library Thing. I like that with just a click or two, you can get the cover and basic information. Again, I got very overwhelmed because I somehow ended up looking a list of all the things you can add to Library Thing before I even have had a chance to really play with Library Thing. 

I've only put a few books in so far (otherwise, I'll never finish this class). Most of them got very high ratings, but most of the titles I looked at did also, so maybe people usually catalog the books they like and that skews the results a bit. I don't think that's a bad thing, just something to be aware of. Libraryhiker from this class had 2 of the books I cataloged which doesn't surprise me since we traded books all summer.

I have a super bookgroup that meets once a month. I'd love to create a catalog of all the books we've read and the ones we've talked about reading. I like all the choices of information that you can put in. 

There are many students out there who would like this program. Many of my students like to keep track of the books they read and want to read. I'll be showing Library Thing to students and am excited to see where they take it. 

Can't wait to spend more time with this one.