The [not so] Flying Librarian

In the words of one of my classmates, I officially "suck" at Second Life! Needless to say my first attempt at Second Life was a big, fat FAIL! I'm so frustrated because I wanted to try it out so badly...and here is how it all went down...

When I went to sign up for an account and download the software, it went quickly and easily and I thought "Wow! This is a lot quicker than I thought it would be!" Well, everything got downloaded and I had my account, chose my avatar, and opened up Second Life. The graphics weren't as good as I thought they would be, but I chose to ignore it because from what I've read Second Life has some pretty cool things to offer. But then, as I began to try to navigate (slowly but surely) through the virtual world, my avatar began doing some weird things- like her legs or head would disappear, or she would go bald for about 30 seconds. I tried navigating to different places, but couldn't get my avatar to go anywhere but that little welcome station they put you in when you first start.  

I got so frustrated with my legless, bald avatar that I just closed the program and decided to start fresh the next day when I had had some rest and hopefully a renewed patience.Well, what do I find the next morning? That every time I try to open up Second Life it crashes!! I tried uninstalling it and installing it twice- and it did the same thing every time :-(

As of right now, I don't have the best review of Second Life, but from the little bit I saw of it, it looked pretty cool. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to get the issue resolved and be able to explore it and it's educational possibilities.

Getting Started with Educational Games

When I think of gaming, I immediately think of the blood and gore type video games like Call of Duty and Resident Evil. However, gaming can also be used in the educational setting but many parents are wondering if gaming, even if it’s educational is good for their kids.

Many studies have shown that children do learn from education video games, especially strategy-based games. Young children may also find these games to be entertaining and fun, meaning they’re having fun and learning new skills at the same time! One of the drawbacks to video games, educational or not, is it can lead to obesity if played too often. If you find your child spending a bit too much time in front of the TV, you may want to limit their video game time. So, like many technologies these days, moderation is the key!

So, where can you find good, educational video games? Education video games can be found and played on PCs, many gaming system, as well as handheld gaming systems. Older students may benefit from the “Brain Age” games, or city/historical civilization building games such as Zoo, Rollercoaster Tycoon, or Sid Meier’s Civilization series. I found a list of the top 10 FREE education video games that would be great to use in an education setting. I didn’t have time to play them all, but they all sounded pretty cool! You might also want to check out some of the user comments on this article as well because they also give some recommendations for good educational video games that didn't make the list.

The Flying Librarian

Do you feel clueless when it comes to virtual worlds? Well, you’re not alone. Believe it or not, I only learned about Second Life just a few short days ago. I had no idea such virtual worlds were so complex! Not only did I know absolutely nothing about Second Life, but I had no idea that it could be used in education in such unique ways. I began looking around for ways to integrate this technology into the classroom and found this great video on YouTube that has some really wonderful ideas for teachers. 

 

I have yet to get an account with Second Life because I'm always somewhat wary about downloading extra software on my computer that I might not ever use, but the more I look into Second Life, the more curious about it I get! Looks like I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and do it! Once I get started with it I'll have to check back in share my experience. ALA has a wiki on Second Life, and it's looking like it might be useful in getting me started. Here is the link in case you are new to this whole virtual world thing and are thinking about joining Second Life.

Television & Mixed Messages

I feel that TV is one of those subjects that parents and educators alike can never agree on. But who can blame us? There are research reports telling us to not let children under 2 years of age watch TV at all, while there are commercials for “Baby Einstein” on every channel. Furthermore, there are reports that too much time spent in front of the television can lead to aggression and obesity. So, what do we do?

This was what we discussed in our groups this week, and it all seems to come down to open discussion and communication, and moderation when it comes to television viewing. Personally, I believe that there is no way to shield your child from 100% of all negative media. You can do the best you can to oversee what they watch- but what happens when you go to bed? Or they go to a friend’s house? That’s where open discussion and communication comes in. It’s important to help guide children in making good choice when it comes to television, and even talk with them about some of the violet images they may see on TV. Also children are highly sensitive to commercials and advertisements, so it’s important to education them about that as well.   

Using television in the classroom has also been an ongoing debate. As long as it's for educational purposes, I think it's perfectly useful! The following link gives teachers and librarians alike great tips on how to use TV in the classroom.

Using Television in the Classroom

Podcasting

During the past few years, podcasting has become an increasingly familiar method of information sharing. However, it seems as though most people are using it solely for entertainment purposes when it is a perfectly useful educational tool. I think the problem seems to be that many teachers and librarians aren’t quite sure how to integrate podcasting into their lessons. The beauty of podcasting is that not only can you access podcasts made by others, but you can also easily create your own. Here are a few ways you can use them:

• Promoting the library- Create a podcast to let your school body and community know about available library programming, or even to promote books. 
• Have students create their own podcasts- Instead of having the end product of a project be a poster, paper, or powerpoint, have students create a podcast instead! They’ll probably have more fun doing it, and even be able to use it to share with their class as a learning tool.
• Professional development- Both librarians and teachers could create their own podcast (or find ones that already exist!) to aide in professional development. They could be “how-to” in nature (how to write a book review, create a lesson plan, lead a book discussion, etc.), or even just give tips for librarians and teachers. Also, if you have innovative, original lessons, record them to share with your colleagues!  
•  Share school news- You can get the community more involved by letting them know of “school nights” at local restaurants, advertise upcoming school concerts, athletic events, and family nights.

 

If you’ve never created a podcast before, follow this LINK and it will help get you started. I have found that creating a good podcast just takes a little time and experience. I have only ever created two podcasts, and you can see from my examples below I learned quite a bit after creating my first one. I had a good script prepared, but it didn’t matter much because the video and audio is so poor. Here is what I took away from my first podcasting experience:

1. The camera on your laptop probably isn’t the best to use if you want good visual and audio quality (Note the difference in the two below!).  
2. IF you have to use your laptop camera, don’t have it plugged in and charging during the filming. Sometimes, when your computer is charging, it tends to run a little louder, creating background noise that can sometimes overpower your voice.
3. Always have a script prepared, and run through it a few times before you start to film. 
4. It’s going to take a few tries! It always takes me a few “takes” to get it the way I want it…so just be patient!

First Podcast

Second Podcast

"OMG I just ate the best cheeseburger EVER! ♥"

This is exactly what I think of when I hear the word “Twitter.” Ever since Twitter emerged and I actually figured out what it was, I have had a little bit of a negative attitude towards it. I feel that most people use it to announce what they’ve eaten, talk about the drama in their lives, and other little things that nobody really cares about. For this reason, I have never created a twitter account. However, yet again, this class has challenged me to take a second look at Twitter.

In doing a little research, these were some of the ways I found that libraries could make use of a Twitter account: 

• Connecting with patrons and colleagues
• Advocacy
• Answering and asking questions
• To see what others have to say about your library
• Broadcast announcements 
• Promoting services or events
• Post links to webpages, blogs, articles, etc. for students to check out

 In addition to these ideas, it could be helpful for librarians to get a Twitter account just so they could "follow" other libraries and/or librarians in order to get ideas for their own library. So, while I probably will never have my own personal Twitter account- one of these days I just might get one for my library! 

If you're still struggling with how you could use this in your library, here is an article on 100 ways to use Twitter in your library. If you can't find at least one way to use it out of these 100 ideas, then maybe Twitter just isn't for you!

What in the World do I do with a WIKI?

If I’m completely honest, I’ll have to admit that I never really think about Wikis one way or the other- and sometimes even forget that they exist. Even though I use Wikipedia on a fairly regular basis, I have (for some reason) come to think of it as just another website rather than a Wiki.

In discussing Wikis this week in class, it has forced me to consider ways they can be used in a classroom or library setting. Since I had basically forgotten they existed, I obviously had not been considering ways to perhaps use them in my own library one day. In my search, these were some of the things I found schools were using wikis for:     

• Group projects and collaboration
• Group discussions
• School newsletter/newspapers
• Student journaling
• As a place to ask and answer school/homework related questions
• As a place to share helpful educational links, homework assignments, and class notes

Obviously these ideas are quite broad, but teachers and librarians can takes these ideas to start with and use them to supplement whatever units they are teaching at the moment. One of my personal favorites is using a wiki to create a class “textbook.” For example, pretend you are teaching a unit on plants. You could assign each student a different plant and have them find pictures of that plant online, post it to the wiki, and then have them write a short paragraph about that particular plant. The paragraph could include things like a description of the plant, where it is usually found, what type of climate it does best in, etc. This is something that could be used with pretty much any topic, in any subject- and in the end, you’ll end up with a class created “textbook!” On this same note, a librarian could use a wiki as a place for students to post their own book reviews. After a student read a book, they could post a picture of the book cover along with their review for other students to read!

To Facebook...or not?

Pretty much everyone these days has a Facebook account. I think there are a lot of positive things that come from using Facebook- such as staying connected with friends and even using it for educational purposes. However, before we talk about how Facebook can be used as an educational tool, I feel that it is important to note that there are a lot of negatives and controversies that are associated with it as well. One of the biggest problems with Facebook deals with privacy concerns. Some people share inappropriate information, while others just share way too much personal information. This creates two very important problems: first, it can reveal something you wouldn’t want your current/future employer or teacher/school administrator to find out, and second (and most importantly!) it can put your personal safety at risk. Thus, it’s very important to always check your privacy settings to make sure that only those you want to see your profile can. Also, if you have a young child or teen at home using Facebook, it’s important to monitor their use, because I’m sure we’ve all heard the horror stories of predators using social networking to prey on the young.

With that being said, Facebook can be integrated into the classroom and library in fun and unique ways! Here are just a few ideas:

Create a private group for reading discussions: Librarians could post a book for students to read and then guide them in a discussion of the book through the private group page. This is a great idea to use during the summer- or even during the school year. This could really help increase student engagement and excitement about reading.

Create a “teacher account” for use with students and parents: Teachers and librarians could create a Facebook account just to be used to communicate with students and parents. This would be a great place to post homework assignments, as well as answer any questions students may have about their assignments. 

Post lesson information: Ok, so this idea may be a little different and more time consuming- but a good idea nonetheless. Say, for example, a teacher had created a few Powerpoint slides to present to her class. These could be posted to the teacher’s “teacher account” on Facebook for students to review at home. 

Post links to educational sites: Since Facebook is all about sharing information, it would be a great place to post links to helpful educational sites or even sample quizzes. Again, this could be posted to the teacher’s “teacher account.” 

For all you current teachers and librarians out there- please feel free to post ways you have incorporated Facebook!

The iPad...What do I do with it?

I have always been fascinated by the iPad ever since it first made its debut in April 2010. I do not personally own one, but if I had an extra $500 lying around, you better believe I’d have one in a heartbeat! Even if you don’t own one, more than likely you’ve played with one at some point. But, for those if you who haven’t and are a bit…um, behind the times, the iPad was designed by Apple as a platform for audio-visual media, including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, web content, and much more. So, you may be asking yourself, “How can this be useful in my classroom or library?”

Well, for one, it’s perfect for student research. Here are some of the reasons why:

• You can set specific websites as apps on the desktop, meaning a research database can become a one-touch app.
• There are "brainstorming apps" (like Popplet Lite and Brainstorming by ideaWallets) that allow students to use the iPad to brainstorm topics and reorganize their ideas. 
• There are apps such as Evernote, Flipboard, and the Delicious app that allows students to collect and save pages, graphics, and links that relate to their research.
• There are also apps that can help students assemble a list of their sources such as iSource MLA.

Furthermore, its brilliant graphics make it function great as an eReader, and you can download magazine apps such as National Geographic, eliminating the need for messy, torn-up magazines in your library. Also, iPad 2 is designed for FaceTime video calling, featuring two cameras- one on the front and one on the back. This creates the possibility that students could communicate with students or even professionals in other parts of the country or world.

The only problem with the iPad is that they are quite expensive, so it's not the easiest for schools to obtain them in large quantities. However, this short article features a school that did away with their computer lab and opened an iPad lab. So, take a look at this article, and perhaps consider ways that your school could integrate the iPad into your 21st Century classroom or library.
iPad Lab

If you're still struggling with what to do with your iPad, check out this link. It gives the top 20 iPad apps for teachers- 10 to help with organization and time management, and 10 education apps.
Top 20 iPad Apps for Teachers

Welcome!

Welcome everyone!

So, I'm kind of new to this blogging thing, but I think blogging is a great way to share and explore new resources. This blog is intended to be aimed at both librarians and teachers, and my goal with this blog is to take an in-depth look at various electronic resources, digital media, and social networks and explore ways they can be used in the classroom and library. We now know that today's students are much different from students in the past, and thus have a very different style of learning. Today's students are considered "digital natives," and have grown up surrounded by these various forms of media. They learn best in a fast-paced environment, and with the use of digital media. So, it is important for both teachers and librarians to incorporate various forms of digital media into our lessons. 

Since I am not yet in a school, this blog will also be a chance for me to do a little research and come up with ideas that I can use in my own library. I can only imagine that getting a job in a school library coming straight out of college could be quite intimidating, so this will give me something to reference in the future when I'm trying to come up with a last minute lesson plan!