Readings I Enjoyed

One of the readings I enjoyed this semester was Chapter 1 from Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Figure 1-1 on page 2 about the differences in learning in the past before computers and now with the new technology was interesting. Traditionally instruction was "teacher-centered instruction" (Shelley, 2008, p.2) and now it is moving towards "student-centered learning" (Shelley, 2008, p.2). Work was "isolated work" (Shelley, 2008, p.2) and now is moving towards "collaborative work" (Shelley, 2008, p.2). Also learning was "passive learning" (Shelley, 2008, p.2) and is now moving towards "active/exploratory/inquiry-based learning" (Shelley, 2008, p.2). I think allowing the students to have more say and be more active in what they are learning is a good approach to learning. Considering I grew up with the traditional way of learning before computers were even in the classrooms, it is interesting to see how learning is changing with the new technology available. I remember taking a computer programming course my senior year in high school. When I started at college I had to type papers with a typewriter. During my last few years at college (different college than where I started college) I bought my first computer and found out how much easier it was to type a paper on the computer. I am not really that old so it shows you how fast technology has changed and the impact it has had on education. It was interesting reading the section about how the different people at a high school use computers in their daily lives. I enjoyed reading Chapter 1 about technology and about the students who are growing up using the technology daily. I am understanding better the technological world that my children (13 years old and 17 years old) are growing up in. I already had thought about how the college experience for my daughter will be different from when I went to college. I was thinking about how their social experiences will be different since they can easily keep in contact with their friends back home. I had not thought about how the educational experience at college will be very different too. (My daughter has just started looking at colleges since she is in her junior year of high school.) I am already realizing that my children's experiences at elementary, junior high, and high school have been very different from my experiences with school because of all the new technology. Another reading I enjoyed was Chapter 7 from Library 2.0 and Beyond about online social networking. Since I am just becoming familiar with social networks online, I found the descriptions about social networks online and the tips for librarians to create an online presence informative. I just joined Facebook this past summer because a friend I went to college with is keeping in touch with friends via Facebook. I have learned a lot this semester about new technology and am feeling more comfortable using new technology.

Courtney, N. C. (Ed.). (2007). Library 2.0 and beyond. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Shelley, G. B., Cashman, T. J., Gunter, R.E., & Gunter, G. A. (2008). Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom. Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.

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Katy Reading a Book

Comments about readings

Chapter 13 of our textbook Technology and the School Library by Odin L. Jurkowski talks about professional development. "Librarians, of all people, understand the need for lifelong learning" (Jurkowski, 2006, p183). I love learning so studying to become a librarian is ideal for me. I remember years ago reading about how some colleges allow senior citizens to audit their classes for free. I remember thinking that I could see myself taking college courses when I was a senior citizen. Talk about lifelong learning. As I am taking my graduate classes now and seeing how much technology there is since I graduated from college, I definitely realize the need to be continually learning about new technology. Jurkowski suggests some good ideas for running a teachers' inservice workshop.

Jurkowski, O. L. (2006). Technology and the school library. Landham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Assistive Technology, Module 5, Curriculum Connections

It was interesting to take a look at the list of books written about characters who have disabilities. Books would be a great way to help people understand people who have disabilities. Children would be able to read about how children with disabilities are similiar to them (by having some of the same feelings and by liking some of the same things and activities). Children will also be able to read about the challenges children with disabilities face to do many of the activities that we take for granted. I would like to read some of the books on the list. Searching the internet for lesson plans explaining disabilities to students, I found this website www.adl.org/education/curriculum_connections/fall_2005 with lesson plans for different ages. I have learned that there is a lot of assistive technology available to help people with their challenges. As my son and I explore the possibilities for him to use assistive technology for his learning, I will try my best to recognize and explain his strengths and challenges to the assistive technology specialist. There may be something that is challenging for my son that we do not realize could be helped with assistive technology. I would recommend that teachers and librarians view the assistive technology tutorial. From personal experience, I understand the importance of teachers and librarians understanding disabilities and understanding that there is assistive technology out there that could help their students.

Assistive Technology, Module 4, Etiquette and Awareness

I took the disability quiz and did fine on it. How we speak about a person's disability really can make a difference in how we view a person and more importantly how a person views himself. It is very important not to define the person by their disability. I looked up my local independent living center's website and found out they offer services such as peer counseling, nursing home transition program, home modifications, and training in independent living skills such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and paying bills. Searching for Assistive Technology websites, I found the following useful sites:
http://www.kidstogether.org/
www.disability.gov/home/i_want_to/learn_about_assistive_technology
http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/
www.perkins.org/vision-loss/assistive-technology
www.library.american.edu/about/policies/assistive_tech.html
The last website is the website of American University Library in Washington, D.C. It was interesting to find out the library has a full-time Assistive Technology Specialist. Besides learning about assistive technology as a future librarian, I am also learning what is out there and how it can help my son. He has already gone for an Assistive Technology evaluation and we will be going back again one or two more times in order to see the different types of assistive technology available to help him with his writing. The technician ( I am not sure what the proper term is for someone who is conducting an Assistive Technology evaluation) is very patient and is taking the time needed to be sure my son is comfortable with the assistive technology. She is going to have us come back several times because she does not want to overwhelm him. It has been interesting learning about Assistive Technology in this class.

Assistive Technology, Module 3 - Software

iCommunicator (http://www.icommunicator.com/) looks like a wonderful tool for the deaf or hard of hearing. Having speech not only shown as text but also as video sign language on the computer really makes this tool valuable. Also being able to type something that is then turned into speech also helps the person communicate with someone who does not know sign language.



I was impressed with the video about the Dragon NaturallySpeaking where the software will type what the person says. My son saw a demonstration of a similiar program (not sure which program it was because I was talking with the technician while her assistant showed him the program) when we went to an Assistive Technology Evaluation for my son. Right now my son dictates to me or to an aide. Having a program such as this one would help him to be more independent.



It was interesting reading the stories of people using the Kurzweil 3000 (http://www.kurweiledu.com/). I am finding that the most interesting way to learn about assistive technology is by reading about and watching videos of people who are using assistive technology and finding out how their lives have improved because of the assistive technology.

I downloaded the 30 day free trial of Inspiration. This software is a great way to create outlines or diagrams. I was able to quickly make up a simple diagram showing the ways my family can include more fruits and vegetables with their meals.

My 30 day trial of Kurzweil 3000 is still downloading so I will have to take a look at that software later.

I am having trouble seeing the videos of the accessibility features already built into my computer's operating system. Those videos sound like they will be very informative.

InfoEyes looks like a great resource for people with low-vision. They can set up a time to actually talk with a librarian through an internet chat room.

As I am learning more about assistive technology, I am realizing the importance for librarians to be aware of the different types of disabilities and challenges their patrons may have and what is available to assist them to be able to use the resources the library has to offer. I can see it being a challenge to figure out what types of assistive technology to get for the library since we may not know what types of disabilities our patrons are dealing with and we probably cannot ask them in some sort of survey due to privacy issues. If we are working in a school library, then we would have access to student IEP's. It had not occurred to me that the school librarian should also be looking at the IEP's of students until we discussed it during one of our chats for my graduate class. It makes sense that we should know about the challenges our patrons face. Maybe in the public library there would be a way for us to advertise the different assistive technologies that we have in the library and also a way for us to discreetly mention that we can work with you to help you access the library's resources.

Assistive Technology, Module 2, Hardware Solutions

On www.enablemart.com I found touch screens that would make it easier for patrons to interact with the computer. Having an amplification system available for a patron who is hard of hearing would help that person hear the librarian and hear during a program being presentated at the library. A keyboard designed for one hand would help a patron who only has the use of one hand. Foot switches connected to a computer would be an option for patrons who have limited or no fine motor control with their hands. I had no idea of all the different kinds of assistive technology that exists until I started exploring assistive technology for this class. I found the videos where we saw actual people using assistive technology to be especially helpful in learning about assistive technology. Since computers and the internet are now an integral part of many people's lives today, it is important that there are assistive technology solutions such as large print keyboards, one handed keyboards, and foot switches to enable people with disabilities to access computers and the internet. It was interesting learning about video magnifiers. My son has a card game that he wants me to play. I have to have him read the cards to me because the print is so small. I did try using a magnifying glass one time when I was playing with him. It is is also getting harder for me to read the small print on labels. Fortunately I have no problem reading regular size print. I am gaining a better understanding of what it must be like for patrons with low vision.

Assistive Technology, Module 1 - Job Accommodation Network and National Center for Learning Disabilities

It is interesting learning about the different ways to help people with learning disabilities. I will actually be taking my son for an assistive technology evaluation in a couple of weeks. We will be looking at ways to help him with his writing. Therefore I was curious what these websites had to say about writing. Having a student give answers verbally and have the student dictate answers to someone are two accommondations that my son has used. I found out that it is not that easy to write or type someone's answer when they are dictating their answer to you. Many times I would have to ask my son to repeat what he just said. Hopefully we can find a way to help him with his writing that would also give him more independence. Since I am interested in becoming a children's librarian, I took a look at ways to help students with reading. Having a reading pen available would be helpful for students who have difficulty with reading or with vision. The pen says the word as a person scans the word. Another suggestion was to provide books with larger print for students with vision problems. When we think of large print books we think of the large print books for adults. What about large print books for children? The books for younger children are usually larger print but the chapter books are the smaller print. I can see how important it is for librarians to have a good understanding about different disabilities.

Assistive Technology, Module 1 - National Federation of the Blind

If I were going to be teaching a blind student, I would want to introduce Braille to the whole class by labeling things in Braille and by having books written in Braille available for anyone in the class to look at. It might be interesting to have a lesson on both Braille and sign language at the same time in order to point out different ways people have of communicating with each other. In fact I could even include a different language such as Spanish. I could have people visit the class or library who are knowledgeable about the different languages.

Week 9, Thing #23 Reflections

I have enjoyed this adventure of learning about new technology these last 9 weeks. Creating an avatar was a lot of fun. I discovered an interesting blog written by an artist who also shared some of her artwork on the blog. Finding out all the different ways of using YouTube was a great week. It was neat finding out that my father uses YouTube to watch the lectures of other university physics professors. With YouTube I was able to watch videos about therapy dogs coming to the library to listen to children read. I love the video I found with pictures of therapy dogs and children reading to them. Since I graduated from college years before the internet, my knowledge of new technology was very limited before this class. Working on a few things each week was a great way to learn about a lot of technology without being overwhelmed. I would describe this course as a fun and exciting way to learn about new technology. I would definitely consider taking another course in the future.

Week 9, Thing #22 ebooks and Audio ebooks

On Project Gutenburg's website I found an ebook about parenting written in 1871. It was interesting reading about parenting advice from so long ago. On LibriVox it looks like anyone can volunteer to read chapters of books for the ebooks. That might be something fun to do. I did discover that my local library does have audio ebooks. I easily found the books from a link on the library's website. The virtual library has a tutorial that explains about audio ebooks and how to check them out from your library.

Week 9, Thing #21 Podcasts

I found many podcasts of childrens' stories being read. One podcast was of children reading stories. The podcast I added to my Bloglines account was a podcast about the benefits of sleep. I am always looking for information about being healthy and this podcast sounded interesting. I am wondering how much time people spend each week listening to podcasts. We have so many choices now for how to get information. Do we want to listen to a podcast, watch a video, or read a blog? I am curious as to which of these ways is the most popular. My first thought is that I would not be listening to podcasts very often. I may be thinking that way because right now I am very busy with taking care of my family and working on my graduate classes. Maybe I also feel this way because podcasts are new to me. I do like the fact that I can put the podcasts in my Bloglines account.

Week 9, Thing #20 YouTube

This week I have discovered some great uses for YouTube. My son (who is a 7th grader) is studying microscopes. Looking on YouTube I found some videos including two which demonstated the right way (and wrong way!) to use a microscope. These videos were actually created by a 7th grade teacher for use in her science classes. My son thought the video about the wrong way to use a microscope was funny. My father is a physics professor at a university. The other night my parents were visiting and I happened to mention learning about YouTube this week. My father shared with me that he will watch videos on YouTube of lectures by professors from other universities. He explained that he wants to see the different approaches to teaching a particular subject, how the professor introduces the subject, what does the professor emphasize, and what does the professor have on the blackboard or whiteboard. Sometimes the professors will do demonstrations. I did ask my dad if he had ever videotaped any of his lectures and he said no. Later I did take a look at some of the physics lectures on YouTube. Then my discovery of uses of YouTube continued as I took my 11th grade daughter to a college for an open house. During the overview of the music department, the college had a video of one of their choir performances projected on the screen at the front of the room. When they closed out the video I saw that it was a video from YouTube! Tonight my daughter was going to a dance. Her boyfriend asked me if I knew how to tie a tie. I am not sure if I have ever tied a tie before. Anyways I decided to search YouTube for a video. I found a video that showed how to tie a tie step by step. While my daughter's boyfriend ended up not watching the video, it was interesting to discover yet another use for YouTube. While searching the videos on YouTube, I discovered I could watch clips of Broadway musicals. I also looked at some videos on storytimes at the library. Just like how my father watches other professors' lectures to inspire him, I realized I can watch other librarians' storytimes to inspire me since I am interested in being a children's librarian. I also decided to look at videos about therapy dogs that visit libraries to listen to kids read.

Here is a YouTube video I found with some great pictures of children reading to therapy dogs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apkOXPukHNI

I chose this video because having therapy dogs come to the library sounds like a great idea to me. I was curious to see actual videos and pictures of therapy dogs in the library. This particular video is a cute way to showcase therapy dogs in the library. A video such as this video would be a great addition to a library website. Taking videos of actual activities that happen in your library, putting them on YouTube, and then having the videos on your library website would give patrons an actual feel for what the different activities look like. Other options for YouTube videos on your library website might be for booktalks or for a video tour of the library.

Week 8, Thing #19 LibraryThing

Here are my books on LibraryThing. www.librarything.com/catalog/CyndyK
LibraryThing looks like a great website for someone who loves books (like me!). For the 5 books I chose the number of other people having the same book in their libraries was 18 people, 84 people, 10 people, 5 people, and 2 people. It was very easy to add books to my library once I knew the title of the book. I may decide to create a list of books I want to read. That way when I hear about or read about a book that sounds interesting, I can put the book in my library of books to read.

Week 8, Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools

The previous post is from a document I created in Zoho Writer. It was very easy to sign up for Zoho Writer, create a document, and post it to my blog. I also noticed that you could post the document to your blog as a draft if you wanted to.

Cyndy - test document

Wow, Zoho Writer sounds like a great tool.    Being able to access your document from any computer would be a plus.  Also being able to work on a document with someone else is a valuable feature of Zoho. 

Week 7, Thing #17 Sandbox Wiki

Taking a look at the California Curriculum Connections wiki, I found some interesting websites that were suggested by others. I definitely want to spend more time with www.voki.com where you can create a talking avatar. www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq/game1 has fun games about geography. Also www.travelpod.com is a website where people can create travel blogs about the places they visit. It might be an interesting way to learn about a country or city. www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/best has crossword puzzles about a variety of subjects. I thought it was interesting that you had the option of printing the crossword puzzles or of doing the crossword puzzle online. Doing a crossword puzzle is a different and fun way of studying about a subject. From looking at the California Curriculum Connections wiki I have found some interesting websites. Wikis are a great way for people to share information with each other. Not only is http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com an informative website about webtools, but the wiki also is an example of what can be done with the design of a wiki. The first page looks like a scrapbook page with pictures and even a video among the pictures. Since I like scrapbooking, I found this page to be very interesting and eye-catching. To answer the question of how might I use wikis, I have decided to think of ideas for a children's librarian in a public library since I am interested in someday being a children's librarian. One idea that I have is to create a wiki for the parents of the children who visit the library. The parents could put pictures on the wiki of them reading to their children or of their children reading. Parents could contribute ideas about reading at home with their children. The librarian could also offer suggestions about reading to children. The wiki could include book suggestions and reviews by librarians and by parents. I am just mentioning parents editing the wiki as opposed to parents and children editing the wiki because I am thinking about younger children such as preschool age. For older children, I could have a wiki where they could tell about their favorite books. I also may want to include a section for parents on ideas to keep their children reading even as they get older.

Week 7, Thing #16 Wikis

It was very helpful to see examples of how schools and libraries are using wikis. Considering that the first time I worked on a wiki was for a class project in one of my graduate classes last year, I am not that familiar with wikis. The wiki did help with the collaboration between classmates. On other class projects I have had to send emails back and forth. We would have to be aware of which document was the current document we were adding information to. It was much easier to just go to the wiki and add information to the wiki. Then we always knew we were working with the current document. I asked my daughter if she is using wikis in her class. For her 11th grade English class they are using a wiki. Taking a look at the wiki, each student has their own page where they can work on their own assignment. It sounds like my daughter's teacher is using the page to make it easier for the students to hand in their papers and to also give students the chance to see other students' work. I did not see any collaboration between students for that particular class. Looking at other school wikis I discovered that wikis can be a place for teachers to include information about homework, information about assignments, and links to other resources in addition to being a place for students' to post their work. It was also interesting exploring the different possibilities of wikis for libraries. Wikis sound like a great place to put documents such as reader's advisories, pathfinders, and book reviews. Even if the document is something that will be updated only by library staff, a wiki would make it easier for people to find and update the current document. Having a wiki that patrons could also edit such as book reviews would help to include patrons' ideas about books. I enjoyed seeing the example of a wiki for a summer reading club for adults where patrons could add their reviews of the books they were reading. http://booklovers.pbworks.com/ This site was also an example of how things kept changing due to technology. The next year instead of using a wiki for the book reviews, the patrons were able to add their reviews to the library catalog. I am thinking a library might still want to have a wiki for book reviews for a summer reading club even if the patrons can add the reviews to the library catalog if the purpose is to build a community among the adults in the summer reading club. With the different kinds of technology, I think a librarian must first decide on the purpose for using the technology in order to determine whether or not the technology would be the best way to meet that purpose. Once a librarian decides upon a purpose that a wiki may fulfill, then it would be easier to determine who is allowed to edit the wiki and how to market the wiki so that the potential users know about the wiki.

Week 6, Thing #15 Copyright, Creative Commons, What's Coming Down the Web 2.0 Road

I understand the importance of copyright. It does get confusing though wondering when it is ok to use something and when it is not. The Creative Commons copyright license sounds like a good way to allow some uses while still allowing the creator to retain some rights. Having the creator decide whether or not to get a Creative Commons copyright license still allows the creator to have control over the copyright decisions.

It was interesting reading about the perspectives on Library 2.0 especially since I grew up without the internet. Before starting my graduate studies, I had no idea how important technology and the internet was becoming to education and to the library. I will take a moment to reflect upon Michael Stephens' perspective in his article "Into a new world of librarianship" found at www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm. Talking about a Librarian 2.0, Michael Stephens says "This librarian bases all planning and proposals for services, materials and outreach on user needs and wants." To me it makes sense that everything to do with the library revolves around the library user. Now with the technology available it is easier to find out from the library users exactly what those needs and wants are. Michael Stephens mentions librarians using Instant Messaging, Wikis, Weblogs, and/or MySpace profiles to connect with their users online. Since I am just beginning to explore the possibilities of the internet and I have not grown up using these tools, it probably would not have occurred to me to consider connecting to library users using these tools. Michael Stephens brought up a good point about the librarian needing to make fast decisions since technology is changing at a rapid pace.

Library 2.0 means more to me than just incorporating technology into the library. It means involving the library users by listening to what the library users want from their library. With Library 2.0 I think there will be opportunity for constant dialogue between the library and its users. While I think libraries have always revolved around the user, it is even more important now to involve the user. With all the new and rapidly changing technology and all the information out there, it is more difficult to predict what library users want from their libraries. Even the library users may not be able to predict what their wants and needs may be a few years from now. Therefore it is essential to keep up with an ongoing dialogue between the library and its users.

Schools and school libraries should also be embracing Library 2.0. Schools cannot ignore the fact that technology is changing the way students find information and even the way they live their lives. School libraries need to be having a dialogue with their students to find out what they want from their library. The school libraries should also include administrators (since they make decisions that affect the library), teachers, parents, and even the community in this dialogue.

thoughts on tagging

Tagging is a very useful and easy feature to use on the different sites such as Flickr, Del.icio.us, and Technorati. Tagging helps people organize and find information in their own accounts by allowing them to decide how to tag the different photos, bookmarks, or blog posts. It does not take up too much more of their time to quickly add tags when they are creating or adding the individual items to their accounts. Not only do they now have some organization in their own account but everyone can take advantage of that organization. It is easy for people to find other items tagged by other people with the same tag. No one person is left with the huge and time consuming task of trying to organize all of the blog posts, pictures, or bookmarks. On the other hand, a disadvantage of tagging is that you would not necessarily have good recall because you might not find the items tagged with a synonym of the word you are using. You would have to try to think of all the possible tags for the subject you are looking for. On the other hand if you are looking for some blog posts, some pictures, or some bookmarks about a subject instead of everything about that subject on Technorati, Flickr, or Del.icio.us, then what the tag returns might be enough to meet your needs.