Group Wiki Project: reflections

I am a believer in learning through play but must admit that, in the past, I have had a difficult time with the educational relevance of videogames. This is mostly due to my own personal experience with a gamer who is very close to me: my eldest son. On-line games have been a touchy subject in our home and we have battled with our child for many years. Teaching moderation is not an easy thing. My son has had stretches of time where I know he is addicted to the on-line game he plays. Those have been very upsetting and scary! After reading Sanford’s article, I could not believe the irony: the whole gaming topic was a tough one for me to even consider but I had to put my best foot forward, remove my emotions from the subject and see what would happen.
As the school library is often considered the “hub of the community”, I feel that the teacher-librarian‘s job must shift in order for “the community” to stay current with the changes in our world. When it comes to teaching, active learning is a concept that I support wholeheartedly. Will putting those two ideas together (staying current + active learning) equal “videogames in the library”? In order for teaching to be effective, it needs to be dynamic and since learning is a complex process, this idea is one to consider. If a student is studying Ancient Rome, playing a game called Ancient Civilizations would teach him/her a thing or two about the subject at hand. The student would inevitably absorb information without realizing it. In this case, yes, I would supplement my teaching with this type of videogame. I would say that moderation is important though, as the addictive qualities of these types of games have been well documented. I do believe that the pros outweigh the cons as far as this topic goes. Game playing involves interacting and if one is interacting with the subject being taught, that is a very good thing. There is value in this type of learning and it can be added to a teacher’s repertoire of teaching tools.
Speaking of teaching tools, I am teaching European Geography in one of my library blocks and found that my current “tools” were not working. The concept of teaching students about our world, in combination with teaching them to use reference materials was a sound one at the start. Unfortunately, I ran into trouble pretty quickly when preparing one of the first few lessons and realized that our large school maps were out of date. Next, I checked the atlases … also out of date and these books were not even that old! My next lesson became one on showing my students how borders are always changing … new countries are formed while old ones no longer exist … this was clearly a lesson that I could not resist. My students found it fascinating! Information on filling out a current map of Europe was to follow and, the next Thursday, we went to the computer lab and found what we needed on the internet … I knew that this tool would not let me down. While filling in our maps, my mind wandered to Sanford’s idea of learning through play and videogames in the library. Even though my students could find their data on a few different school approved websites, these sites were, I must admit, boring. I wondered if there was a more exciting way to complete our maps… a site that would offer some form of active learning. I could think of a few sites that would work for my lesson … but many are deemed educationally unsound, at the moment, and are not available on our school computers. I will look into this further and will definitely try to supplement this lesson with some type of interactive learning idea … perhaps an on-line game. Putting the idea of learning through (video) games into practice is a concept that I do consider and I see myself using this particular teaching tool in future lessons when appropriate.
Sanford’s article addresses the needs of 21st Century learners and the school library must adapt. To begin, we will need to review our “rules” regarding “safe” websites and decide how to govern these new teaching tools. Also, the reality is that many schools are lagging behind and are not keeping up with the technology that is available. One reason for this is funding but another is the resistance (by administration as well as parents) to change the traditional teaching tools. Slowly, but surely, society will embrace the changes in our schools and, as we all “shift” into the new world, hopefully we will all welcome the tools that become available.

Week 8: social networking beyond text: bomomo

You are right Joanne ... Bomomo is a fun site. What a cool way for students to create some funky art!

My attempt at ... The Olympic Rings!

week 7:social networking and tag clouds

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I am a visual person so , as a result, I really like tagging. I think that most of us are visual so these would appeal to many. I believe that Joyce Valenza ( previous lesson) used them on her school library site. Above, you see a screenshot of my tagging experience so far. It is very small on here ( I have to work on adding screenshots to my blog) but with some trial and error, I think I have figured out how tagging works.

Yes, another blog entry ... this one about Twitter

After reading the Twitter article on the iLibrarian site (by the way, I really like this site), I am amazed at the popularity of yet another social networking site. I am not sure why there are so many of these sites but I guess each one has its own unique features. Twitter is going strong and I can't help but feel that its popularity is based on the fact that it is a constant and current feed of (social) information. Like being able to connect with someone at anytime or any place. In an elementary school setting ... this would not really be my first SNS choice. The upper intermediate students could handle the flow of information but I think that the younger students would find Twitter overwhelming. Hmm ... will have to look into this.

delicious ... a social networking tool

What a great name ... and a great idea. Delicious is a very usable school library tool. A bookmarking service (fitting name for something to be used in a library setting) for web based information is a must. An example: I spoke with one of my classes yesterday about looking for more than one source of information on the internet ... we all agreed that all of the information out there can be somewhat overwhelming. As a social networking service, Delicious would be helpful here as a place to organize information and allow those with common goals/interests to put their heads together ... wow, think of how effective this could be.

Todd's article ... collecting info

Todd's article is very interesting. Once again, the role of the librarian is forefront in my mind and I feel that a large part of my job is to teach my students how to find information ... research skills. But how do I adjust my role, as the Web 2.0 world is a new one. Every one of my students is comfortable using a computer and I am pretty sure that he/she has, at some point, "googled" something ... looking for info . So, access to info is no problem ... but ... according to the info in Todd's article, this is where we (teachers) come in. Todd mentions that even though students do not hesitate to look things up on the internet, often this research is done in a somewhat "sloppy" manner ... skimming and power browsing (instead of reading thoroughly) for example, is very common. What about checking more than one source? How many students do this? The teacher-librarian steps in here and teaches proper information literacy. Teaching the "google generation" how to collect information is a must.

social networking

Facebook was introduced to me by some friends who were trying to organize a high school reunion. It did the job and easily organized a great party! Communicating is simple and fun with this tool and I even got my husband interested...but he is not completly sold on the idea yet. Truly speaking, I do not check "my facebook" very often as I prefer to phone my friends to catch up on things. But getting together and planning some get togethers has been great using this form of social networking. I do worry about the creepy side and have heard that once you are in, your info can be made available to anyone...even with security settings in place. My own children use it and also rely on it for their social lives.
In a school environment ... it would work ... but again the creepy side pops up here. Many parents are still uncomfortable with their children "talking" on line. A very strictly structured site might work and put parents at ease. The positives of a site where students can collaborate and post their thoughts could outweigh the negatives. Could these parents see the advantages of a community of learners ... each one contributing ideas? A teacher created forum might be the way to go.