I am a big GoodReads fan! Before my website wouldn't allow it I had a very cool bookshelf on my webpage showing the covers of lots of books I had in the lib. It was neat because it looked just like a book shelf and you could click on the titles to go to the GoodReads page for more information. Alas, it is to be no more since technology intervened!
I actually have my students do a folder project in 10th grade where they take a manila folder and do a modified version of a book report (this idea stolen from Kathleen O'Dean). The outside of the folder is their original artwork depicting the book through their eyes - it's usually a collage of pics and words but is very cool. The inside includes a summary of the book in their own words and a collection of 5-6 quotes pasted on. The back of the folder is the book review - both their own and reviews from a reputable site like School Library Journal, Mackin, or Horn Book. It's amazing how creative students have been with their folders and then I put them with the books after the project has been graded as great 'advertising' to entice readers to chose those books. I think it's really important that students are exposed to vetted reviews from sources instead of relying solely on reviews from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. It's not that these aren't good it's just that they should know there is more out there to explore from professionals in the field.
I have had some serious issues with ebooks so I just am not thrilled about using them. Sometimes kids can't access them, sometimes if you check the book out you have to sit at the same exact computer to get it again, sometimes they don't port to their devices, and sometimes they don't come up because of compatibility issues with the network. We don't do Apple products at my school so we live in PC world only and that requires certain compatibility with the ebooks that I think is often better addressed with iPads, however, I guess you don't miss what you don't have :)
I have expanded the library offerings to include several Nooks. Since you can still share books over six devices on the Nook (not the Kindle - sorry Amazon!) I selected these. They are older but kids seem to like them - not love them. It's difficult because they want to download their choice of content and they don't quite grasp that there isn't money to do that. Funding with the Nooks has been an issue too. Our BOCES will not approve any co-ser monies that are used to purchase ebooks so, again, I haven't been all gung-ho to go out and get these because I can't use my co-ser monies to do so. I did get the Nook titles in the OPAC and that is helpful but still I think there are ways I could be marketing Nook titles more effectively. My kids still are definitely see it, touch it, want to read it type of book borrowers - they haven't really made the leap into the digital book age quite yet.
Some have and read on their phone or device but many of my kids really like to have the actual book in hand (me too actually) even to pick it. I did add a feature to my OPAC that gives summaries, sections of the first chapter, the cover of book, and reviews and my kids really seem to like that and use it to help them find books they love. It's Syndetics and it's relatively cheap - well worth it for me at least.
We have tried a couple of ways to share what we are reading by tweeting, with a Wiki, and with a blog but the kids really haven't loved any of these. Actually we post info on a white board and they seem to really like that! Sometimes digital isn't always the answer. We are working on more ways to share our reading ... all ideas are appreciated!
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Thing 6: Curation Tools
This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I was lucky enough to be able to hear Joyce Valenza speak in person at the NYLA Conference in Buffalo about curation a couple of years ago. It was a wonderful presentation and provided much thought-provoking information for me for sure.
I use both Delicious and Diigo. At school, I really like Diigo because it is extremely school-friendly and allows students to share with each other and me, as well as allowing them to highlight, archive, and sticky note articles. I have used Delicious since my days in online library school at MU so I guess I'm just old school there!
At my school we have been using NoodleTools for our citations for several years now and they have recently added some really great new features for archiving and curation, including allowing students to start a citation from a webpage, archive webpages, highlight information on web articles, and allowing students to easily share notes, cites, and articles with faculty and each other. If you haven't looked at this great and extremely cost-effective resource you should.
I reviewed paper.li and Scoopit as part of my exploration. I really liked both but can honestly say that I could not use paper.li at my school because of the restrictions on access to social networking sites. It would definitely defeat the purpose for sure! Scoopit was easy to use and really kid friendly in terms of graphics and access. I liked it better than Pinterest although I can see a way to use both effectively in a school setting. I think we will try to use Scoopit as part of our Freshmen Common Core research unit to share what articles we are selecting to answer our guiding question.
For curation at TAE we also have used www.only2clicks.com. In fact, one of our social studies teachers uses it on his website and found it to be extremely efficient and effective for him and the kids.
Keeping up with curation seems to be my issue! I tend to use a tool and then not have time to stick with the updates or add new topics. Time is never our friend in today's world so if anyone has a trick that helps them stay on top of staying on top of things I'd love to hear it!
I use both Delicious and Diigo. At school, I really like Diigo because it is extremely school-friendly and allows students to share with each other and me, as well as allowing them to highlight, archive, and sticky note articles. I have used Delicious since my days in online library school at MU so I guess I'm just old school there!
At my school we have been using NoodleTools for our citations for several years now and they have recently added some really great new features for archiving and curation, including allowing students to start a citation from a webpage, archive webpages, highlight information on web articles, and allowing students to easily share notes, cites, and articles with faculty and each other. If you haven't looked at this great and extremely cost-effective resource you should.
I reviewed paper.li and Scoopit as part of my exploration. I really liked both but can honestly say that I could not use paper.li at my school because of the restrictions on access to social networking sites. It would definitely defeat the purpose for sure! Scoopit was easy to use and really kid friendly in terms of graphics and access. I liked it better than Pinterest although I can see a way to use both effectively in a school setting. I think we will try to use Scoopit as part of our Freshmen Common Core research unit to share what articles we are selecting to answer our guiding question.
For curation at TAE we also have used www.only2clicks.com. In fact, one of our social studies teachers uses it on his website and found it to be extremely efficient and effective for him and the kids.
Keeping up with curation seems to be my issue! I tend to use a tool and then not have time to stick with the updates or add new topics. Time is never our friend in today's world so if anyone has a trick that helps them stay on top of staying on top of things I'd love to hear it!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Thing 5: Digital Storytelling & Presentation Tools
For me, the Digital Storytelling tools were a chance to revisit many of the tools we already use at TAE. My kids love using 'cool' technology for their presentations and so we try and shy away from the traditional PowerPoint and use a variety of web tools to tell our tales!
We recently used Animoto for science videos, Prezi to create poetry in motion, and Toondo for Spanish cartoons. We also use MovieMaker quite a bit to do some of our larger and longer projects. I find that my students are much more engaged when using these Web 2.0 tools than when they use PowerPoint. I've also used Animoto to create a presentation about our library for the Board of Education. It was very well received and went a long way to showing folks who aren't present in our schools on an every day basis what really happens 'in the lib' as we say! I also have a Prezi embedded on my library website.
Check out some of our projects and links:
www.heightsschools.com/taelibrary (Prezi)
http://animoto.com/play/A1V0AXVTRxEoOcwmtp1chQ (Animoto TAE Library promotion)
http://animoto.com/play/mVNfcegztwLpA656OufxWg (Animoto Sources of Strength video for students)
http://animoto.com/play/mK03E4kZxzPli1YCkYR9EQ Animoto Integrated Science video)
We recently used Animoto for science videos, Prezi to create poetry in motion, and Toondo for Spanish cartoons. We also use MovieMaker quite a bit to do some of our larger and longer projects. I find that my students are much more engaged when using these Web 2.0 tools than when they use PowerPoint. I've also used Animoto to create a presentation about our library for the Board of Education. It was very well received and went a long way to showing folks who aren't present in our schools on an every day basis what really happens 'in the lib' as we say! I also have a Prezi embedded on my library website.
Check out some of our projects and links:
www.heightsschools.com/taelibrary (Prezi)
http://animoto.com/play/A1V0AXVTRxEoOcwmtp1chQ (Animoto TAE Library promotion)
http://animoto.com/play/mVNfcegztwLpA656OufxWg (Animoto Sources of Strength video for students)
http://animoto.com/play/mK03E4kZxzPli1YCkYR9EQ Animoto Integrated Science video)
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