About Jing

Jing - This is a screen capturing tool. I love the beautiful interface and how it sits at the top of your screen - you can't possibly "lose" this tool!
The bundled tutorials are excellent and easy to understand. I think it is wonderful that this software is free; and its' video screen capturing tool can be used in many ways that are applicable to schools and libraries. Jing is a great tool for making tutorials on using internet resources, like search engines and databases. For this assignment, I made a Jing video on using the Florida Electronic Library, which I will share with my students at my high school. We have an  English class that  is currently doing a research project on genocide and our school is lacking the internet resources that would help students with their project. Many students just use Google, period. Since, FEL is free for all students in Florida, becoming familiar with how to navigate and find information in FEL is a great first step down the path of information literacy.
See my Jing video below; I had to post the link because....I'm guessing....my screenshot is larger than the 600 x 600 that is recommended for best results . But I had to make it that large to capture all the features on the catalog web page, otherwise it defeated the purpose of explaining things that the student cannot see.

Dignam_LIS6303: Jing Video

http://screencast.com/t/rQpPkot7

Wikis and Libraries

Working on a Wiki was a new experience for me; and I thought the process was very time-consuming. I thought learning the navigation part of the wiki was difficult and frustrating. I'm still not sure if I got the uploading of the documents part right - what's the difference between putting the documents on as a page or a folder? - and do you have to do both? I spent so much time on this project. And that to me is the drawback of using wikis- this it is too cumbersome for librarians - too much time checking what is posted and editing postings that are inaccurate.

However, one way that libraries can benefit from using wikis is to share information; particularly forms, written procedures, presentations. This would save us a lot of time because we librarians wouldn't have to go around re-inventing the wheel. My personal preference of a web tool for informational purposes is blogger. It is easier to use than wikis and I like the navagation better. It is much simplier and I think you can be more creative with blogger. It is so simple to pick a template and you are ready to go! Love blogger, would pick it hands down over wikis.

Delicious and Diigo

I think both delicious and diigo are great tools for saving web pages and sites. I used to save sites and web pages in folders but there was no way to search or organize them and I just ended up with a lot of information that wasn’t searchable. I really like the interface of delicious and thought it was the best until I started using diigo. Diigo is really more useful because you can highlight parts of the site and add your own notes, so that you don’t have to search the site to remember what you thought was useful about the site to begin with. Click here to see my delicious site and here to see my diigo site.

I plan to use both my delicious and diigo sites as  teaching tools to illustrate social bookmarking at our next faculty meeting on how to use Web 2.0 tools. Very few teachers in our school are familiar with social book marking, so these sites will be great to illustrate how to save, search and use all this electronic information.

QR Codes

This is a QR Code that links to my Google Sites page. I created the QR Code and the Google Sites page for my Preparing Instructional Media class at USF. The Google Site will showcase my portfolio of instructional media coursework. 

Podcasts - One More Way for Libraries to Reach Patrons

Using podcasts to instruct patrons is another way that libraries can connect to its' tech-savy users. Although the percentage of tech-savy patrons is still in the minority, podcasts can reach those patrons that prefer their information on demand. Because podcasts are audio-only, the information given needs to lend itself well to listening -topics like giving instructions or descriptions. Readers advisories, author's interviews, and walking tours are all easily understood in this kind of listening format. But a big disadvantage of podcasts is that many things library patrons want to learn requires a visual element, too;
and podcasts are not a suitable choice for teaching something patrons need to see. Thus, it's funtionality is somewhat limited. The most logical and time-effecient use of podcasts in libraries is a self-guided audio tour - like museums offer to teach visitors about the layout of their collections. The big advantage for using podcasts for audio-tours is that podcasts free library staff from having to do this. Another advantage to using podcasts is that they are relatively simple to make.

Podcast

My podcast is about how to use our library card catalog to find a book in the library. I am amazed at how manyof our high school students do not know how to use the online school card catalog. They will walk up to my desk and ask "Do you have any books on soccer"? When I say "yes" and to check the card catalog, they will respond that they don't know how to do that. So, this podcast is for all our students who got to high school without learning how to use the online card catalog. The podcast covers how to log-in, use basic search, Title Peek, and to save books to a resource list. I want the listener to understand how to use the card catalog to search for, find, and save information on books.

Click this link to hear the MP3.

Comparing Prezi and PowerPoint

I think PowerPoint is better used for detailed, in-depth information and Prezi for more general, free flowing ideas. I just had a general knowledge about PowerPoint before this module and have been amazed to find out all the special effects than are available for slides. I really like how easy it is to embed videos in Prezi and did not realize this is not possible in PowerPoint.
But the most important point I have to offer about the two tools is that Prezi is much better suited for a child who has a certain kind of learning style - a style that is not linear. This is the child who likes to get the “big picture” first and then see how the parts are related. Students really enjoy making Prezis for research projects. It lets them be more creative, as opposed to putting information on slides in numerical order.

How To Use Web 2.0 in School Libraries

How To Use of Web 2.0 in School Libraries

There are so many new Web 2.0 tools, that is easy to be overwhelmed in trying to decide what to introduce and implement; it is fun for the tech savy, but overwhelming to those who are just beginning to learn about Web 2.0. As a librarian of a school that has been slow to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, I found an article in Library Media Connection detailing how to select a Web 2.0 presentation tool for K-12 schools very illuminating. Basically, deciding which tools to select depends on your school's wants and needs. Key trends involve using “cloud computing” which refers to software tools that do not reside on a single user’s computer but exist on a server, accessible through the internet. Web-based tools are called the next generation presentation tools because they are based on the cloud computing concept. They are also free and easy to use. The article lists popular online presentation tools and an evaluation instrument to determine if this tool is a good fit for your school. Tools like TOOL, Ahead, 280 slides, Emprssr, Google, Docs, MyBrainShark, PreZentit, Prezi, SlideRocket, Vuvox, and Zoho Show are listed with their URLs.

Hodges, C., & Clark, K. (2011). Selecting a web 2.0 presentation tool. Library Media Connection, Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf database.

Another article along that same subject was A Fleet of Freebies: Choosing Web 2.0 Tools for a school Community (School Library Monthly, 2011). The author approaches the subject from the viewpoint that a librarian should help the school community determine a common toolset to further learning and collaboration. She believes that finding a core set of tools can give everyone a common base and provide an introduction to other cool tools. This article provides a chart with 3 colunms: Purpose, tool and URL and lists 21 popular tools. This is great to see the tools associated with their purpose. For instance our English teachers use Wordle a lot; but I didn’t know its purpose is word play. Or for website design Weebly is a great tool. I will keep this article for future reference.

Frederick, K. (2011). A fleet of freebies: choosing web 2.0 tools for a school community. School Library Monthly, 27 (2), 37-38. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf database.

I guess once a school librarian decides which online tools for the school to adopt, next is to blow out the walls of the library so that it is now a learning commons – the hub of a world of information. And the author is right; broadening traditional pen and paper lessons, to include Web 2.0 skills expands our library walls to include the world of information. In New Essentials for the Library as a Learning Commons, Jay Gamble tells librarians to not miss the chance of being visible: Web 2.0 can make learning exciting for students and teachers. Placing student or faculty work online or in hallways around the library is a way the library can act as a bridge between the old and the new.

Gamble, J. (2011). New Essentials for the Library as Learning Commons. Library Media Connection, 30(2), 54-5. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

While these articles give me ideas to focus on and a school library environment to strive for; I am finding reality quite different. I feel like I am doing things right, taking steps slow in introducing Web 2.0 tools. But it was quite disappointing to give a faculty workshop this month on using blogger and no one showed up. No one. Except my library assistant who jumps at the chance to get free training. And I publicized it quite well- gave a short presentation on blogs at the monthly faculty meeting, then offered to do an afternoon workshop to help teachers set up their own blog. This was after performing a needs assessment, in which I determined that very few teachers knew much about blogs. I know not to take this personal; I think maybe the timing was bad and that teachers have so much to do anyway. So, I am going to try to have more of an online presence, and reach teachers that way. I started my own blog for our library, posted the new books in the library and instructions for research papers. I also have posted commoncraft videos on my blog for teachers to use in their instruction. I then emailed teachers with links to my blog. So far I have no comments, no followers. I guess this takes time. So, the new tool, and right now the only one, being implemented in our library is blogger at - http://www.blogger.com

Hello classmates, Dr. Martin and Welcome 2012! This is my fourth blog that I have written and I am finally getting decent at it. The first blog was for a foundations class, the second for a Information Literacy class, the third is for my library at the school I work at and now this one is number four! It is so much easier to begin a blog when you are already set my with Gmail!

I have begun the New Year by writing a blog at my school - Voyages of the Viking Librarian- to help get the word out about all the changes happening here in our library. I am including the posts from my new blog at school and copying them here; that way I would not have to invent new things to write about and you all could follow the new ideas I am trying to implement in my school. I am the brand new librarian at a private, Catholic high school in Fort Myers, Florida. Our school has not really done very much in the way of updating the library. I am working to get faculty to change the way they look at libraries: from a quiet place to read and browse for books to centers that teach students to be a community of learners. No longer is our library based on the physical boundaries of the library and the books in its collection. Last fall, we began our expansion of services by putting our card catalog online and adding electronic resources for students and teachers. Britannica Online is available 24/7 for students research needs and Streaming Video On Demand is available for teachers to use for instructional enhancement.

One of the subjects I will be blogging about is using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. I will be introducing Web 2.0 at our monthly faculty meeting with an afternoon workshop to follow.In January 2012 we began our exploration of Web 2.0 tools. I explained how libraries and schools across the country are completing Web 2.0 training programs to help their faculty become familiar with blogging, RSS news feeds, tagging, wikis and online applications. I gave faculty information on“23 Things”, and IPL's 22 Things and SLJ's 15 Things. My plan is to introduce one Web 2.0 tool a month and then give a follow-up workshop in the afternoon to get teachers started with their own blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and RSS feeds.I have purchased a license to use In Plain English videos for training in our school. It was expensive, but I really didn't think I could explain blogs, RSS feeds, Wikis and Social Book marking as well as Lee LeFever. I want the teachers to be able to go back and watch these as many times as they would like. They may also download these videos to their computer or embed the videos in their blog. In my opinion, In Plain English videos are the cadilliac of Web 2.0 training tools; the videos take complex concepts and explain things simply. I suppose that is why the Commoncraft videos are also called “In Plain English“. The first “thing” I will discuss is blogs. These are the posts from after our January faculty meeting when I introduced blogs.