Posts

Module 14 Post

For your final blog post, please discuss your biggest takeaway from this semester. My biggest takeaway this semester is that a school librarian can provide SO much support to SO many aspects of a school! Here are some examples of topics that a school librarian can be a go-to resource on for students, parents, and faculty: Information literacy Website creation Tech tools for the classroom (hardware and software) Technology and accessibility Copyright and fair use Censorship Cyberbullying Makerspaces Not to mention other topics like literacy, reluctant readers, cultural events, and even more! It can be overwhelming to consider the vast amount of knowledge and resources that a school library should have in order to support his or her school community.  My personal takeaway from this semester in relation to this overwhelming realization is that it will be important for me to choose a few things to focus on at first before trying to tackle everything else! It is okay...
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Module 13 Post

VR Tool : Oculus headsets For this blog post, I decided to focus on learning more about the Oculus line of headsets for virtual reality (VR) experiences. Besides Pokemon Go, this was the only tech tool I had heard of before, but I've never learned anything about it. Here's what I found out! The Basics : Oculus is the brand of VR headsets and gaming/experience programs. There are three headsets in the current line . There appears to be one each of high-end, mid-range, and lower-end options: High: the Oculus Rift, which is powered by a PC;  Mid: the Oculus Quest, which works without a PC but can access Rift games and software if connected to a PC;  Low: and the Oculus Go, which is an all-in-one headset with no other technology required. Each headset from Go to Quest to Rift increases in quality in terms of Hz (how fast the image "refreshes") and how well it tracks the user's movement. (For example, users are recommended to sit down when using the Go be...
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Module 11 Post

Image
MakerSpace Tool: IDEO Method Cards The Tool : I first learned about IDEO Method Cards from this post  on the Worlds of Learning blog about the "Top Ten Makerspace Favorites of 2018." Here is the description from that blog post about IDEO Method Cards that first got me hooked: "These cards are low-tech and offer 51 ways to inspire design, while keeping human at the center of the process, the whole time. Each card describes one method and includes a brief story about how and when to use it. These cards are not a 'how to' guide. They are a design tool meant to help you explore new approaches and develop your own."  More information about Method Cards can be found here on IDEO's website. I wanted to see more examples of the Method Cards in action, so I began looking for more images and stories about their uses. Here are some examples: From a Twitter post by Siddhartha Banerjee From Betsy Freeman's Pinterest What I love about Metho...
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Module 9 Post

As a high school teacher, I have been tasked with teaching many mandated, provided lessons about cyberbullying and digital citizenship to my various advisory and homeroom groups. One thing that has always frustrated me is that the students never seemed to care or take the lessons seriously. Many students have told me that cyberbullying doesn't happen or isn't a real problem, but I think the real issue is that they don't connect what they experience online to this very artificial-seeming "cyberbullying" that they learn about at school. Orech's article "How It's Done" mentions similar attempts by schools to "teach" students about digital citizenship through mandated lessons. He describes an alternative called the Digital Citizenship Project that encourages students to dive into the concept of digital citizenship by creating resources for authentic audiences and interacting with real people. My favorite aspect of the project is the mento...
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Module 8 Post

Tool:  SC Discus Link:   https://www.scdiscus.org/ I chose to focus on SC Discus because it is an amazing free resource! I have spoken with school librarians who moved here from other states without a resource like this one, and their school libraries pay tens of thousands of dollars per year  in subscription fees to databases! If you teach in South Carolina, your students can access dozens of databases entirely for free. What is SC Discus? SC Discus is a collection of subscription databases that are made free and available to South Carolinians through state and federal funding. The databases cover all kinds of topics from general academic databases to those focused on specific topics (nursing, health, reference, etc) and even those focused on specific resource types (such as videos). How does it work? Once you arrive at the home page , you have a few options: you can go to "A-Z List" (useful if you want to see all of the databases at once, or if you know which ...
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Module 5/6 Post

Type of Equipment:  Chromebook Description: A Chromebook is a lightweight, typically inexpensive laptop that runs using the Google Chrome operating system (OS). Chromebooks are manufactured by many different companies , including Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, HP, and more. The primary thing that separates a Chromebook from a more traditional laptop is the way the user stores and saves files. Chromebooks operate completely using Chrome, meaning that there is no "hard storage" available on the device itself. Everything must be saved to some sort of cloud feature (many people use Google Drive for this, but anything web-based is possible). Programs cannot be downloaded to the Chromebook, so it is not ideal for users who need specific, non-web-based programs. They are often used in K-12 schools because they are inexpensive, lightweight, and not too complicated. They also have a typically longer battery life and quicker start-up time since they do not have to run large or com...
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Module 4 Post

Infographic Tool: Infogram Are you tired of the same "make a poster" activities in your classroom, but unsure of how else to combine creativity with a visual display of learning? This new tool is perfect for you if: You are looking for some variety in your classroom You enjoy building creativity and art into your lessons You want your students to be able to display what they've learned Infogram is a great tool for any content area, but today I'm going to specifically focus on its applications to social studies classes! I was inspired by this post, " Infographic Tools " from the Library Tech Talk Blog. The Basics : Infogram is a free online tool for creating different styles of infographics. There are tons of options, but a few tools stand out and make it an excellent option for student use: Real-time instant saving, like Google Drive tools, so that students never lose their progress An easy "Share" button that provides studen...
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