Final Reflection

This course has had a huge impact on me as far as being a 21st century librarian! I came into this course knowing the very basics of technology and being terrified of teaching it! I enjoy technology-just always thought I wouldn't be good at teaching it, but I can honestly say that this class has helped improve my confidence a ton in being able to teach the latest and greatest websites out there for students. I have learned so many helpful tools I don't know where to start!
Some of the ones that stick out to me are PhotoStory3 (loved it!) MixBook, PhotoPeach, Animoto, Prezi. I love these and can definitely see myself using these in my future teaching. I also never knew of Google Docs before and all that it has to offer such as making those polls, presentations, etc. Of course I can't forget the social medias learned - Twitter! (I had never tweeted before), Blogging!
I think the Voki's are an awesome idea to teach students and bet they love creating characters. I forgot Glogster and Wix.com! Also veryy excited to use those as well!
I am so grateful for all the tools taught in this class and hope to take future technology classes to advance my skills even more! I truly enjoyed the entire experience. :)

Day 4 - Monday July 18, 2011

     Today I was struggling a little, not sure if it was due to "technical difficulties", or that it was Monday and I am still in weekend mode...or maybe a little of both. My laptop was running extremely slow in the morning, making it difficult to keep up with the rest of the class and to customize or pick out certain themes that I liked on Glogster and Wordle/Tagxedo. The pathfinder I was given to research was WebList, which was really easy to navigate yet I had difficulty with the content I was supposed to be looking at because I haven't attended that class (I think it's LIS 620? some classmates were saying...) on research guides so I think I did that wrong. Well not wrong but not as well as maybe my classmates would be able to-but that's not the point, the point was to navigate and explore the pathfinder WebList and I did and I liked it. I also liked some of the others' pathfinders such as that Sqworl, Livebinders, and Only2Clicks. I look forward to adding to all the tools we looked at today, and continuing my wiki!

Book Trailer

     So I had a lot of fun creating my book trailer. At first to be honest I wasn't quite sure what was needed in the trailer so I played around and Google'd some trailers. I had an idea from the notes I took in class explaining that it was to promote the children's book. I kind of put a twist on mine though, in the sense that I didn't just promote the book; I gave some ideas that could be used in a lesson plan. It would of course be for younger children, probably primary grades.
     I am obsessed with PhotoStory3 and wish I had hours to play on it. The part I didn't enjoy was doing the voice as I get embarrassed and hate hearing myself. I also had a little trouble finding the right music and am still not 100% in love with what I selected, but it works!
     This could definitely be used in my future library by engaging students to read new books and would be awesome to see older students creating their own trailers/videos. I will most definitely be using PhotoStory3 in my future. =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yYDtKwFok8

Day 3 - Friday July 15, 2011

     Today's class was so much fun!! I genuinely enjoyed it and feel like it flew by. 

     

     First off I am in love with PhotoStory 3. I can remember making videos with my friends by filming one picture laid out next to another and so on when I was younger (this is a lot easier!). I love how you can add music and change the transitioning between pictures all with a click of your mouse! This is a tool I will definitely be using and it is so easy to do! 

The picture-taking challenge was a lot of fun also. Although I didn't love the presentation tool, Slidebomb, that we tested, I did gain a lot of insight into the other sites and am planning on playing around/testing them out as well. 

     Google Document (which I never knew existed!) is also awesome. There is so much that can be done on there and most definitely useful; creating that survey is just one of the tools I can now refer to.

     These are just some of the things we have discussed and explored in class. I really, really enjoy learning all these neat, inspiring tools and am excited to put them to use! =)

Thursday July 14, 2011

     Today we have learned so, so much! I have written down and joined so many cool sites and apps and resources that I can take and use with me on an everyday, personal basis as well as with my current and future students.

     At first I was terrified of technology and dismissed myself as being someone who would ever be really comfortable using it in an educational setting. I have come to see though that it is crucial not only to know how to navigate and use these web tools but to be able to model them appropriately for my students.

     I am a little overwhelmed, only because there is so much I haven't been involved with yet and feel a little bit behind the times - but mostly I am excited about the possibilities that these new sites can bring me and those I work with. There is so much out there on web 2.0-endless opportunities-that are just waiting to be grabbed and used and I am starting to feel a little bit more confident about them.

     I love the idea of creating a wikispace for my students. I really enjoyed the links we received last night showing us wikis in motion from a fifth-grade and a fourth-grade class. I love how all the students can view each others' blogs and can edit or add to their classmates' opinions/thoughts. That is something I definitely see myself using as a school librarian. 

     I like the idea of Flickr because it's nice to be able to share your pictures or albums with others and also it's someplace I can store all my photos in case my computer was to crash! I am excited to add to my new GoodReads account because I love to read and have never joined something like this. I am very excited to invite my friends and to see their recommendations. 

 

Using Blogs in the Media Center

Watching the three short films on blogging only reinforced my belief that this is the new wave of education. Technology is surrounding us and it is our job as educators to urge our students to partake in it. 

The last video provided a map of the world; showing how anything written or blogged can be seen not just within a classroom or a community but throughout the entire world. 

Blogging is so important in this day of age. No longer are homework assignments, projects, and opinions viewed solely by teacher and pupil; when blogging now the opinions of classmates and peers and virtually anybody can be seen and read. This changes the way we teach but most importantly, the way students can learn. Students who blog can truly benefit by allowing their thoughts and reflections to be seen by many different perspectives as well as can help teach them by learning from others' perspectives. It has been thoroughly researched and shown that students that work collaboratively take away more from the learning experience, which tells us that by blogging; sharing their ideas and responding to each others' blogs, can only help our students succeed as twenty-first century learners. Children and adults alike learn from a variety of ways - web 2.0 and blogs are the pivotal tools for sharing ideas in this modern day.