my tool belt

In week 10 of my class I am finding that my tool belt is growing regularly. Everyday I find that I have the opportunity to learn new tools and envision which ones I find useful in my ideal library and technology center. As for Digo I am excited to be able to have such an easy way of keeping track of web sites that I wish to refer to on a day to day basis. Being able to share with groups is another positive. Would I recommend Digo?, sure I would. Each new tool is a valuable addition to anyones tool belt for the professional world.
I don't neccessarily believe that every tool such as Wiki's are meant for every area of education but by taking a course like this it allows one to be able to experience and experiment with new technologies being developed. Wiki's are great for upper education but I do not believe I would use them at an elementary level due to there complexity.
In becoming a librarian I do believe that it is important to become familar with new technology. I think it would be wonderful to be able to keep up to date with online courses such as this one. Keeping in touch with growing demand for change in education can be difficult but with aides like this one it makes it much more fun.
What can I say about blogging.. Well it is obvious that I really like blogging. It's a great way to express creativity..
On to next week!!

online conference

Ok so I attended 6 sessions of an online conference this week. I thought the conference was very informative and well presented. The first conference keynote presentation I attended was entitled the Wizard of Apps. I believe that the presentation was very interesting and well organized. The idea to set the presentation to the tune of the Wizard of Oz was unique and quirky. This also caught my eye and my interest. The information presented was also well thought out. I guess I am not as creative as some folks when developing something like this. I have not figured out what made her come up with the idea but it was ingenious to enlist the schools theatre group. I discovered that when listening to song and dance it can make any topic fun to participate in.
The next presentation I attended was one on writing e-books. What a wonderful way of getting students involved in researching topics such as Ancient Greece. I always knew this exsisted but never understood how easy and interactive this could really be. I also agree that this is a wonderful way for parents to see how their children are working and what they are learning. I really do think that this also keeps attention and creative flowing. Would I ever use this in my classroom..Absolutley.
These were my favorite of the presentations I attended and I look forward to more in the future.

PowerPoint Presentations

Powerpoint presentations are very useful in a wide variety of arenas. When starting to use powerpoint it is very easy to become confused and agitated but as you navigate the program it becomes much easier and even fun to become creative. I am in agreement that when creating a powerpoint you should be aware of your audience. Obviously you are not going to put childish images into a professional staff development presentation. But for student this would an ok idea in order to hold their attention. Unfortunately I have been subjected to some pp presentations that could use some serious TLC. I thin power points are a great way to show information to students and it is even fun at the higher levels to have the students assist you in creating your presentation. I am a great fan of power point presenting but I think you really have to be somewhat computer savyy in oder to have fun using it.

blogs or wikis

week 7 already. On to blogs or wikis. Well as I sit here blogging I can see a difference between blogging and wikis. I do have to admit that I like blogging a bit better. Even though I feel more information can be laid out on a wiki. As I read through the many articles and chapters by Richardson I found myself developing a liking for both pieces of technology. When i have my own School library media center i feel that I will using blogging to keep students informed of what is happening in the library, however I will keep a wiki tio provide quick access to information relevant to school projects such as databases. Choosing between the both is very challenging that is why I feel incorporating both is benefitial.
As for collabortive projects in a graduate study class. I have mixed emotions. I clearly understand that group work is important but I feel that most of us already understand this and know how to be an active member of a group. The project assigned was interesting but most of us seemed to be coming up with the same ideas.
So on to week 8....

Copyrights and Safety

Wow on to week 6 already. Copyright is a very important serious issue. How do we go about following all the rules and regulations? Who knows where to begin. It is my belief that students should be taught on a situation by situation basis such as writing papers or doing research projects. I think that as a School Librarian it is part of our job to make sure that students and faculty can come to us with any concerns or questions. I think it is important that faculty should be trained as well. Well it is nice to have Simpsons book on hand it seems that Copyright Laws. I wonder if anyone else is having a problem with being able to show a movie to a class. I work in a Nursing Home and we often show movies as an activity. But the question remains are we really able to show these movies or does it reflect and infringement on copyright issues? There are many thoughts on this issue. I think it is important to follow copyright laws and we obviously do not want to get our schools or adminstration in trouble because the fines can be very steep. I know myself I will be able to make knowing copyright laws at the top of my list.
On to Safety...another important issue. I think knowing Internet Safety is very intrical in being a successful school librarian. Students need to be reminded not to put information on the net that they do not want to be shared. The Internet can be a very powerful tool but has its downfalls such as myspace and facebook. Used correctly these tools can be fun ways to keep in contact with friends and family, however used incorrectly students can put themselves at risk. So as School Librarians we need to teach these.

Search Tools

Hi everyone welcome to week 5. Moving right along to search tools. Search tools are a very important part of reseach which need to be taught and redefined at an early age. When being taught how to use these devices teachers and librarians should be very clear in making sure that their target audience are aware of the many possiblities provided for them. It is also very important to make it very clear that your sources be reliable and that is why I prefer databases to search engines although I do realize that they are not always avaialble, If I had to choose my favorite search engine I would probably choose Google for its wide variety of capabilities. I am not as fond of Bing and Yahoo. As for databases I prefer Infotrac to Proquest for Highschools and Public Libraries. For elementary students I prefer Searchasaurus and Worldbook Kids. Teachers also need training in these databases in oder to be able to serve their students better. In the last few weeks I been observing in school libraries and have found that many different schools have different views on the subject of searching. Smallwood elementary prefers to teach Google for searching whereas Herbert Hoover Elementary prefers Database searching. Amherst Highschool looks very fondly on databases as well such as Infotrac. I know when I have my own library I will make sure that I make as many possibilities available as I physically can.

Information Literacy

Wow, where to begin. Ok so this week we covered a large amount of information. But what I found as most informative was the Webquest on Information Literacy. I really like the idea that students need to be informed on the correct usage of technology. It is not so important to know how to send an e-mail or create a webpage as it is to know the function of how to perform these tasks. Although I believe that I could be a strong advocate for Information Literacy I believe there needs to be a strong collabortaive effort between librarians and staff in order to fully provide students the capabilities to success. Although I realize that getting staff to become less reluctant and take a leap may take alot of time and effort. Bloom also had a lot of information to think about. It is really surprising how much technology has developed since I was even in high school,(graduated in 1997). Simpson and Richardson both in chapters 3 were also very informative. I have never been very technical which is why I support teaching students and staff current updates in technology because bwhen facing the job force these skills can provide the capabilities to exceed. All right enough for now, on to next week.