My First Ever YouTube Video Upload!

I borrowed this video from one of my husband's collection of work related videos. He has quite a few exciting stunt shots...enjoy! He would have loved to be this guy.

WOW…this was easier than I thought! Just uploaded my first video to YouTube without pulling out any hair and YouTube just sent me a Congratulations e-mail too.

Now I am thinking that I should create my own private sharing account so that I can share recent family videos with family and friends. YouTube is quite easy to navigate and I found useful tools easily with short, uncomplicated instructions that give you the option to use the tool more in depth when you click ‘learn more.’

My Own Personal Learning:

I learned how to create your own channel, which I will explore further because at this point I have only one video upload. This option allows you to compile all of your videos and create a personal channel, you can choose categories for your channels and as a user you can find specific topics when searching through the various channels that others have created. You can subscribe to particular channels of interest and YouTube will send you all of their recent activity. I subscribed to NYSSBA0IT's Channel that is put together by the New York School Board. Here is a link to one of the videos that I watched:

I learned how to embed videos to my blog and I created a JPEG image to link the video. I also linked my YouTube video uploads to my Twitter homepage to share my recent videos there. You can also link to a variety of other social networks like: orkut, Myspace, Face Book, StumbleUpon, Digg, reddit and tumblr. I also created my own playlist where you can organize and compile all of the videos you have watched and would like to watch again or share with others. You can create a favorites page with all of your choice videos as well. You can purchase, download and watch movies, I wonder what the copyright regulations would be on this and if you could watch them at school? You can also add captions or subtitles to your videos, which I thought is quite useful. Another feature is to add music to your video for free and the ‘insight’ option allows you to study the demographics of the viewers who are watching your videos, quite useful if you want to try to target a particular audience.

Teaching and Learning:

The implications on teaching would be beneficial due to the visual possibilities available to you, your students and their teachers. For research alone YouTube serves as a great visual guide to any kind of video you would like to watch from educational videos that teach the alphabet to medical research. YouTube can be viewed or it can also be used to view your own creations offering so many possibilities for classroom and library use.

When thinking about safety and security within the school environment YouTube allows teachers to create their own private sharing accounts where only invited students and teachers may watch videos that are created. You can also choose whether you want your videos to be public or private.

There are numerous ways in which to incorporate YouTube in an educational setting, these are some of the ideas I brainstormed:

· For primary use teachers can access a variety of videos to share on the white board to promote early literacy and learning. Some examples include: alphabet learning, shapes, colours, counting, language learning (great visuals for ESL learners), animal videos, songs, music and art.

· YouTube provides an exhaustive and extensive library of visuals for any research project and with a quick instruction lesson students would be able to find what they are looking for quite easily.

Again it is not difficult to discover inappropriate material and language at times so hopefully the school blocker is one that filters well without putting too many limits on searches.

· Students can create their own short films for projects and post them on YouTube to share with the class

· Also YouTube could be an alternative to in class presentations. Students could video tape their own presentation and show them in front of the class instead of having a live presentation. This could allow the students to perfect their presentations and many may feel more comfortable with this kind of option. They could record research presentations, book talks, debates, etc…

· Students could also create their own music videos for projects in language arts or music class.

These are just a few ideas and with a little research on video sharing sites I am sure you will find many concepts to inspire and engage student learning.

Flickr -- Photo Sharing -- LIBE 477

I have missed Flickr!!

My husband and I set up our account just under 3 years ago to share pictures of our first daughter and I played with it a bit then and have not really gone back. Now our second baby is coming so hopefully I can be the one who organizes the photos when he arrives.

My Own Personal Learning

My husband has kept it up, but we have not posted any recent pictures since last summer. My poor family and friends have not seen pictures since then so I am glad that I can now post and create more albums to share with them. Now I can access the site and upload pictures with more confidence and ease. I learned how to upload more pictures than just one a time…I almost figured it out and my husband helped me at the end. I had to download the application Flickr Uploadr and then place it into applications in my Macintosh files. I am new to using my husband’s MAC too so I am still fiddling around with its operating system. I did not know what to do with it after I downloaded the file so that is were my husband filled me in. Then I could just drag a bunch of photos and download them at once instead of having to do one at a time and wait for each one to download…that was frustrating. Flickr also makes it so easy to organize your photos in sets and create titles and tags so that you can link similar photos. I am glad to say that I am back and will keep our Flickr account active and my friends and family will be much happier and we will be more connected.

Next step is to get back on Skype to connect with a few long distance friends.

Teaching and Learning

Going back to Flickr and really exploring the site has made me realize all the social networking possibilities it has and also the great educational potential. I visited the explore tab and it lead me to all kinds a great links. I liked the calendar option and you can see photos taken on any given day in the month. This would be neat to set up with students. They could post a months worth of pictures, each day they could decide on an important event during the school day or represent something they learned and by the end of the month they could share it with their parents, teachers or other students. Students could explore the calendar freely and check out their classmates’ photos and make comments.

It also has a link to the Commons and Creative Commons where you can search for images on any topic, there is a general description of the photo and all are able to contribute “information and knowledge” in relation to the image. You are also able to use the photos as long as you credit the source. The Creative Commons allows you to use photos under certain types of copyright licenses and regulations, which are clearly stipulated, on the site. This is a great source for finding pictures to add to projects.

You can also create your own groups, which is like an RSS feed for images. My husband belongs to the group “Bomb it” which sends him photos of graffiti art from all over the world. I would like to consider joining another group…possibly wild life, my daughter would love it. This is a great option for students if they are looking for particular images for projects or research.

I also like the map feature within the Explore tab. It links you to groups around the globe, Richardson comments about the ability to share photos with others around the world, “what if you and your students could annotate them with your own descriptions and observations…and become part of a community that contributes images of similar topics for you to consume?” (Richardson, pg.101) There are great learning possibilities and much to gain by being exposed to images that are intriguing, worthy of comment, aesthetically pleasing and different from your experiences. You can also add videos on Flickr, which allows for even more possibilities.

You can create all types of products with your photos such as: Photo Cards, Books, Calendars, Collage Gifts, Gallery Wrapped Canvas Prints of your photos, mugs and t-shirts. This would be a personally useful tool for gifts or for your own keepsakes.

Other educational ideas I had for using Flickr in the classroom or library would be:

-To create Personal Introductions through a Photo Presentation of yourself to share with other students.

-Create photo journals on particular subjects, e.g. animals, current event

-Create Character Photo Journals based on real life or fictional characters

-Create an art show or gallery of images on a particular theme.

There are so many possibilities that will allow students to be creative and to share their knowledge in visual ways. I look forward to being able to incorporate some of these ideas when working with students in the future.

If you check out my Flickr page I have created two new sets of photos, they are called:

-Hollywood, California - Emmy Weekend -- my husband was awarded his first Emmy nomination for a television show he worked on...unfortunately he didn't win but it was an awesome weekend.

-Christmas in Toronto 2010 -- includes photos of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade and around the city.

LIBE 477 Special Topics in Teacher Librarianship -- Web 2.0

Hello Everyone,
As you can tell I am continuing my Blog created for a few other courses toward my teacher Librarian Diploma. I hope that it is not too difficult to navigate. Feel free to check out information from my other courses if you are visiting. This term I will be only using this blog for 477 so that should make it easier.

I chose Blogger.com because I have a Google e-mail account and use Google quite a bit...did not have to create another username and password...hooray! I liked the way the blog was set up and it was quite easy to post and maintain this site. I was quite surprised at how easy it was when I first started. This is my first blog and I do not consider myself too technologically advanced; I am still exploring and figuring out all the different options available; but slowly I am getting there...where? I'm not sure yet but it has been fun along the way so far...a little frustrating at times but rewarding once you start figuring out how things work.

I am looking forward to exploring the various Web 2.0 tools here and sharing our experiences. So far in the course I have been exposed to so much and we have just started. I am looking for ward to exploring all the other tools and hope that my confidence will build as we move forward in the course.
blog soon...
Linda

From Lesson #6 – Wikipedia VS Established Encyclopedias

What is your opinion about established vs. free citizen-built encyclopedias such as Wikipedia? Consider how information environments are evolving and also think about the challenges for developing information literacy skills.

After reading the articles “Can We Make Peace With Wikipedia” by Chris Harris and “Wikipedia and Britannica -- The Kid’s All Right (And So’s the Old Man)” by Paula Berinstein I came to have a better understanding of the service that Wikipedia and other citizen-built encyclopedias can provide. I did not realize the editing process in which the Wikipedia site adheres to and even though misinformation may occur within the on-line encyclopedias, eventually there are reviewers that will catch it and correct it. Information environments are definitely changing at a rapid pace and the popularity of Wikipedia cannot be denied. I agree with Chris Harris when he says, “It would be much more productive to teach colleagues, students and parents how to best use Wikipedia. Instead of appearing to be ‘behind the times’ when it comes to new information sources…if we can’t beat’em let’s join’em – as leaders in promoting the proper use of Wikipedia.” (Harris, 2007, p.26) As many others have said these types of sites can be a good starting place for beginning your research and getting a general idea about your topic. It is important to confirm the information found here with more reputable sources and this is in itself a great way to teach the students skills in analyzing and thinking more critically when searching for accurate information. Usually teachers will not accept Wikipedia as their only reference sources so students need to broaden their scope and using Wikipedia may actually help them to become familiar with other on-line encyclopedias and information sources. Also Berinstein made a good point when discussing bias within Wikipedia and Britannica and that is that we will find bias everywhere, sometimes even in the most reputable and scholarly published works therefore it is a good place to teach students to keep thinking critically and not to trust everything they read without question.

From Lesson #7 – Dictionaries

Dictionaries are often a source of frustration in the school library. What problems are inherent in print versions? What "special" dictionaries are essential in Canadian schools?

I just remembered someone writing about having a massive, monster-sized dictionary sitting on a pedestal in their school library. One of the libraries I worked in still has one!! The students got a kick out of opening it up and finding some strange definition of unfamiliar words in it.
Yes, dictionaries can be overwhelming for students and time consuming when attempting to grasp the concept of alphabetized searching. I am tutoring a grade 3 students currently and am encouraging him to use the dictionary but if spelling is not your forte this becomes a difficult task but he is improving in his searching abilities and it is strengthening his spelling. I have also introduced him to the thesaurus, an invaluable source in my opinion...I love them and it is such a great way to expand student’s vocabulary.
When considering dictionaries a major concern is accommodating reading levels so wide-ranging and varied dictionaries are beneficial to have in your library. As mentioned in Riedling, “an elementary level dictionary should include words likely to be used in reading and writing by an elementary school student.” (Riedling, 2005, p.59) Some examples may include:

1) Canadian Oxford Dictionary and Concise Oxford Dictionary
2) Random House English Dictionary
Note: I like to have 2 different styles to choose from and an abridged and unabridged version.3) Merriam-Webster dictionary due to its “almost anything goes” stance. (Riedling, 2005, p.58)
4) French-English Dictionary
5) Picture Dictionary for primary students
6) Roget's International Thesaurus
7) Special topic or subject dictionaries e.g. rhyming, slang and quotations dictionaries are great, natural history, sports, bibliographical or science dictionaries for example.

It is also useful to include on-line or web-based dictionaries because sometimes they have the ability to be updated more frequently and it is a quick and easy tool for students to use and access. Some examples I found in Reference Skills by Ann Riedling were Dictionary.com which I thought would be a good choice for elementary schools because it includes Fun and Games and Thesaurus.com, Merriam-Webster Online as a reputable and extensive site and Net Lingo, the Internet Language Dictionary. When considering dictionary choices it is also important to consider Canadian language-based dictionaries due to differentiated spelling compared to the U.S. versions, most dictionaries provide both spellings to choose from.

From Lesson #9 – Geographic Sources

In this lesson, you learned about geographic sources. You learned about the evaluation of geographic materials, and the problem of staying current in today's world. Online atlases and gazetteers generally provide up-to-date information, and are good sources to keep in mind. Consider ease/clarity of navigation, currency of information, or, if appropriate historical significance and cost. Share your findings on the Discussion page.

There are so many resourceful opportunities available to students for finding geographical information either in print form or using on-line resources such as current world atlases, historical and thematic atlases, maps, gazetteers, geographical dictionaries, travel guidebooks, geographical thesauruses and on-line map resources just to name a few. At times keeping up to date with print resources in your library is a difficult task and the availability of on-line resources is so extensive and invaluable to any school library. I also never thought of contacting municipal government and regional agencies in order to request free, up-to-date maps. It is invaluable for any school library resources centre to take advantage of all the free on-line geographical resources available. The visuals alone are wondrous with the ability to view the earth, countries, cities, forests, desserts all by satellite maps. Students are in awe and love to look up places they know or want to visit, where their parents came from or places they would love to live. Thematic maps are amazing resources especially in combination with historical places or civilizations. I have helped students look at historical features of old city centres and their surroundings which may include rivers, desserts and soil conditions and how the geographical area contributed and effected the civilizations within ancient cities.

I have found that many geographical web sites are easier to navigate than other subject resource sites. Some great websites include: National Geographic and The Canadian Atlas Online. Both reputable sources, the maps allow you to zoom in for close up viewing and zoom out for a broader view of the landscape. They are both current and quite easy to navigate although you can get lost in all the information presented. The National Geographic offers many opportunities to explore on each of the pages with general headings always being offered at the top of the screen, such as Maps Home where you can zoom into different areas on the globe, MapMachine where you can look up any place name and view by road map, satellite, bird’s eye and 3D view, there are various Print Collections from around the world, Atlas Puzzles to solve and Atlas Explorer. The Canadian Atlas Online is a great reference of Canadian provinces and territories. It contains sections such as Explore the Maps, Explore by Themes, includes a Gazetteer and Glossary of terms, a Learning Centre, Games and Quizzes and a CG Kids Atlas version. I liked that you can choose from a variety of topics in the learning centre to explore.

From Lesson #12 – Teacher-Librarian’s Role

Is this Role Description indicative of the teacher-librarian's role in your school? What parts of the role description would be affected by limited time and budget? What parts of the role are absolutely essential regardless of time and budget?

This role description is an accurate depiction of the teacher-librarians role in the schools that I have worked in. Although this one role has been interpreted differently within each school. In many cases many of the librarians, myself included, have attempted to fulfill all of these elements but as we know it is just impossible to do so when your time is divided between two libraries. The parts of the role that are greatly affected by limited time and budget are “working cooperatively with teachers in developing information retrieval and critical thinking skills.” Collaborating on authentic resource-based activities takes time and planning. If librarians are only in a school 2.5 days per week, which is commonly the case, it is difficult to accommodate teachers in respect to planning time and the flexibility needed in scheduling blocks within the library to work on projects. It was difficult to accommodate teachers in a school that I worked in which had two librarians working six days a week. It really takes a lot of effort to work together with teachers and this really discourages them from taking time out of their already busy schedules in order to plan collaborative projects when it is not convenient. Keeping up with technology and teaching students’ literacy skills in relation to technology is primarily reliant on budgetary factors. School libraries must possess the proper technology in order to properly teach students how to use and explore educational on-line resources and programs. They must have access to a large white board or computer projection systems that allow them to visually share the information, they must also have enough computers in their library to accommodate students and they must have enough time to walk students through these types of resources and allow them time to explore and investigate. In relation to reference resources in the school library, at times it is impossible to select and acquire up-to-date materials on the annual budgets dedicated to purchasing resources. Librarians need to find creative ways to afford current and appropriate reference materials that fit the budget and accommodate the learning needs of the students. We are lucky in some ways to have access to on-line references and many school districts pay for subscriptions to a variety of web resources.

What is essential to your library program regardless of time and budget…maintaining the collection, teaching information literacy skills, promoting reading, language development and literature appreciation and managing the library facilities, services and budget in order to contribute to the stated goals of the school, school district and Ministry of Education. At times even keeping up with these is a struggle because we want to accomplish so much more than what is just required. We can achieve many goals if we continue to promote the importance of our role and let our colleagues know how these goals can create better learners and facilitate them in their teaching.