Author Archives: bronagh rogan

Vision of the Future Project: Struggles and Successes

When faced with deciding how to create my Vision of the Future project, I immediately wished I could write an essay. I enjoy writing, researching, and find that my brain processes and conveys information best, when able to write my thoughts out on paper; however, I knew this project had to be technologically challenging for the individual, and with that in mind, I decided to to try a format I hadn’t used before -Prezi. I chose Prezi not only because I hadn’t previously experimented with it, but because a fellow colleague used it to present about the “new curriculum” in September. I thoroughly enjoyed his Prezi, and found it visually captivating and informative, but in a supportive way (he spoke a lot, and used Prezi and a supplement to his talk). Furthermore, I liked how many intermediate students were using Prezi in class, and I wanted knowledge on the program in the event that I might have to assist them.

Initially I really liked a few things about Prezi. For starters, I liked how to jumps from slide to slide, in a zoom in zoom out kinda of way. I drew my attention to the next slide, and I think is more engaging than a simple swipe/flash to the next slide. I liked how it gave you the option to very easily upload an image or a video from the internet or from youtube. This element was very straightforward and simple. Lastly, I liked the editing abilities -it was easy to create a new slide, edit a previous slide, and view your work as you went.As I drafted my rough ideas for each slide, I was quite please with the progress, user-friendliness, and overall appearance.

As my project progressed, and I began to add in fine details and development my ideas, I found Prezi to be somewhat uncreative and limiting. There was no option to customize a template, or to inserts ones own photo, as the entire backdrop of all the slides. I couldn’t edit a header out of any of the slides, and I couldn’t customize the amount of text/image space a slide had. I wished there were more templates to choose from, considering you couldn’t customize any. The biggest trouble shoot was trying to my each slide brief enough to fit the character maximum, yet get my point across. In my head, I knew that if I was presenting this Prezi at a staff meeting or the like, it was act as a supplement to my own words and explanations, but as a stand alone, I felt I really would have liked to have been able to flush at some of the slides in more detail. Lastly, I had trouble formatting a wordle, and collage I made, into the Prezi. Because I could not delete the header from each slide, the head blocked the information I created in the wordle. As a result I couldn’t include it. So in this way, I found Prezi to be limiting to creativity and incorporation of other technologies.

I think if given the opportunity to present this Prezi, it will serve as a supplemental element to a presentation, and in that way, it was successful. I hope that my fellow peers viewing this project will be able to understand each slide, without further explanation.

Vision of the Future: Project Complete

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For me, I began this project with the intention that it would serve as a resource for fellow teachers and teacher librarians in elementary school settings. I hope that when the right opportunity presents itself, I can share this work with other teachers especially those who might not know where to start when it comes to incorporating technology into the classroom and specifically to help benefit reading engagement in students.

Looking back on the process I took to complete this project it is clear to me that this project also represents my learning over the course. I realized that I was consolidating all my knowledge of different apps, websites, and ideas whole at the same time using new technology (for me) such as Prezi, and iBrainstorm. Additionally I found that I didn’t even have to think twice when inviting and sharing links, videos and images whereas before this would’ve been quite the feat for me.

As far as the medium in which I chose to present this project goes, I might consider next time using Haiku Deck for a project that requires not only images and videos for engagement but also moreexplanations. I felt a little restricted as to how much I could write in each slide. Although this is beneficial for presenting because the Prezi would act as a partner to what I would be able to say, one might be left wanting more of an explanation if they were only viewing the Prezi without an oral presentation.

So at last, I present to you my Prezi. I hope it serves to give you ideas how to incorporate technology into your reading programs to foster a love for reading. The examples I suggest have been tested on my own students in the last couple of months and weeks, and I will continue to observe and discover what engages readers, and what does not.

https://prezi.com/kzlgezyp_xxn

Vision of the Future: Progress

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Since my last post about my “Vision of the Future” project, I have made some progress, and discovered some new apps and websites in my research, that will be useful for my project.

I’ve since narrowed the audience for my project down to elementary school teachers, as I’m focusing on fostering a love of reading in elementary school students. I hope that my Prezi will be something I can share as a resource to other teachers, who might not know how to utilize technology to foster reading engagement/enjoyment. My ideas are simple and my suggestions are manageable; I feel that my project will speak to those teachers who might feel intimidated and unsure of where to start, when it comes to incorporating technology into their classrooms.

I am feeling a little unsure of the medium I used to present my project. I chose Prezi partly because I hadn’t used it before and wanted to gain some experience using an app that I see many students using. Although it will be perfect for sharing with other staff members, perhaps at a staff meeting or professional development day, it does have its limiting factors. For example, I’ve noticed that I can’t change the template within each slide. I do have a few options of templates to choose from -text, text and picture/video, but I cannot customize slides to suit my individual needs. As a result I’m finding I have to be selective with what I include in each slide and there isn’t a lot of room for elaboration. I’m thinking a paper format for this project would enable me to explain and share more, but I realise a Prezi format will be much more conducive for sharing beyond this course. To get past this obstacle I’ve created more slides with fewer/narrower topics rather than my rough draft (which was done on paper), with had a lot on each slide/broader topics (I hope that makes sense).

I’ve tried to challenge myself and use different apps within Prezi. So far I’ve made a mind map and also a wordle. I feel a bit worried that others might have much more technologically difficult projects, in comparison to my own, but I am reminding myself it has to be innovative for the individual.

In working on this vision project I have noticed that I have learned a lot about technology and even better, I am excited to keeping trying and learning to do more.

Below is a picture of my Prezi in the making…

Sorry for the late post!

Vision Project: Fostering a Love for Reading

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Thinking back over all the topics we discussed throughout the course, I tried to choose a topic that would directly effect myself, the students, and my fellow colleagues at school. I narrowed it down to two topics: blogging (interactively with students, how teachers can learn to blog, benefits etc.) and fostering a love for reading. I decided on fostering a love for reading through technology. I decided on this topic simply because I want to immediately begin employing strategies and investigating what works and what doesn’t work, when using technology to promote reading at a school wide level.

I hope to create either a Prezi or a Haiku Deck, to present my Vision for the Future project. I envision the project to be a resource that teachers can refer back to for suggestions. I hope to discover and promote the use of websites, apps, blogging, and other resources that encourage students to read in untraditional ways. I also want to link my presentation to my blog, for easy retrieval.

(click image to visit Prezi)

I’m hoping to gain insight from educators and experts in the field of literacy and technology, and be able to link my findings back to some of the readings we did throughout the course. I don’t want the presentation to be too wordy, so I will try to format important ideas and suggestions in creative ways.

At this point I have a lot of ideas for potential apps and websites that would foster a love for reading in schools, however I want to focus my discovery around technologies that I am at this point unaware of.

Lastly, I want to have a component about how technology can foster a love for reading actual “physical” books, instead of just using technology to read (if that makes sense?). My ultimate goal is to find ways to foster a love of reading in students, by directly and indirectly using technology.

reflections from inquiry

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In reflecting on the past few weeks of inquiry, it is hard to pick one aspect as being most beneficial as a takeaway. I have found a lot of helpful and creative elements that I will take away with me from the course so far.

To start, I have found reading fellow classmates blogs and the practice of blogging myself very valuable. As silly as it may sound, I used to view blogging as a very intimidating activity and because I hadn’t read many blogs before (apart from some travel blogs of those touring around the world) I didn’t realize the value in not only writing blogs, but reading blogs. I didn’t realise they were just to share information as much as they are. I guess I assumed it was more of an online diary type tool. Because of the act of blogging, I’ve discovered many new apps, ideas and literature from my fellow classmates. Furthermore, I’m encouraged to start my own blog for the classroom, which is a task I see as manageable with my schedule and beneficial to my teaching practice. As well, the technology skills I’ve taken away from blogging are still very basic yet I feel as though I have learned a lot to do with linking, embedding videos, and the like.

Secondly, I found the inquiry about developing my own ICT skills helpful because it really made me consider what can I do, what am I willing to try to do and what will I actually do. I really liked how we were forced to answer what would we do after this course is over. Having to answer a question like makes me personally feel accountable that I uphold what I say I will continue to do. Likewise, I enjoyed learning about PLN’s. I think I learned the most in this inquiry from my classmates because I wasn’t very familiar with PLNs before this topic was brought about. Although I soon realized I had PLNs, it’s definitely something that I want to work towards developing and utilizing throughout my teaching career.

Students getting creative and collaborating -something I would like to do more of!

Lastly, I’m really glad that we were able to research into different libraries around the world in developing countries. Social responsibility is something I am passionate about and hope to include in my teaching as much as possible. It was really nice to see how technology intertwined with this subject and to read about all the great initiatives that are happening globally. Not only did it fill me with a lot of hope, it also made me really appreciate what we have in our school districts. It is sometimes easy in this day and age to wish our schools had this resource or that book, but when looking at what people around the world are making do with, it sure makes you grateful and inspired to get more creative with what you have.

Thank you classmates for sharing your great ideas, reflections and skills with me throughout our inquiry period of this class. Great job on your blogs so far!

phones: a future for literacy ?

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Virtual Libraries in Developing Countries

The first article I found tells of one mans efforts to build libraries in developing countries. He created a non-profit society, Room to Read, to carry out this mission. Since its creation, Room to Read has established libraries in many countries, including Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Zambia;

http://www.edutopia.org/global-education-libraries-developing-countries

My research led me to what happened in Nigeria surrounding virtual libraries. An initiative to build a virtual library for a Nigerian university began in 2000. The need was identified to stock their libraries with improved and up to date literature, a need that was not being met by paper books. So, conversation began around using ICTs to bring about better education for its students. A major problem they immediately began to debate was who would front the cost of connectivity and access to information electronically. Because this initiative began so long ago I began looking into Nigerian libraries and university institutions to see what progress had been made since this article was written.

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2646&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

I also found an article about the library services offered in rural areas of Nigeria; it mainly suggested that the existence of libraries in Nigeria were hindered due to illiteracy, lack of information and ICT, lack of infrastructure, and poverty. A bookmobile program was introduced in Nigeria in the 60’s however after a successful inception, it did not remain in place for any extended period of time.

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/posigha2.htm

In looking for initiatives happening more currently, I came across an organisation called the Elsevier Foundation –a foundation that gives grants to developing nations’ libraries. One of their initiatives is called the “E-Library Training Initiative”. It provides online research skills and training to librarians in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. They in turn take the knowledge they’ve learned from their studies, and bring it back to the professionals and students of their own communities. So far, the Elsevier Foundation has helped these nations gain access to 6500 online journals and databases. To hear about the people it has positively effected, take a look at the video below.

https://youtu.be/ErHzxcuYlnY

After searching for information about mobile devices specifically, and how these devices can support developing nations, I came across an article about a “mobile reading revolution.” A year long Unesco study of seven developing African countries, found that 62% of their respondents read more because of their mobile phones. Furthermore, the respondents said they read to their children off their mobile devices. The study concluded that reading on ones mobile devices, let to a “promising if still underutilized pathway to text” (Flood, Mobile Reading Revolution). As I became specifically interested in what was happening in Nigeria, I learned that mobile books cost Nigerian citizens on average 1 to 2 cents, while a paperback book cost 1 to 5 dollars. This seems very promising for the education of people in developing countries like Nigeria. Within this article, Unesco cited U.N. data, that claims of the seven billion people living on earth, “more than six billion now have access to a working mobile phone” (Flood, Mobile Reading Revolution). This data was shocking to me as I felt an immediate sense of promise towards the number of people that potentially have access to a medium of which to read.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/23/mobile-reading-revolution-unesco-study-phones-africa-subcontinent

The above article led me to a partner of Unesco, Worldreader, which aims to bring digital books to citizens around the world. Worldreaders mission is to show people the capacity their cellphone, to act as a digital library. Their goal is to bring digital books to every child, by building on digital platforms and mobile connectivity to make their books available in places where they would not otherwise easily exist.

http://www.worldreader.org

Of all the research I did, I found Worldreader to be the most promising and forward moving initiative of all. Looking at ones mobile device as a library brimming with literature and information is not only innovative and engaging, it is hopeful and exciting for the future of literacy in ALL nations of the world.

References:

Bernard, Sara. Room to Read: Building Libraries, Schools, and Computer Labs in Developing Countries. http://www.edutopia.org Web. 27 Oct. 2015

Y.Z. Ya’U. Nigerian Virtual Library. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2646&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Web. 27 Oct. 2015

Flood, Alison. Mobile Reading Revolution. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/23/mobile-reading-revolution-unesco-study-phones-africa-subcontinent. Web. 27 Oct. 2015

Worldreader. What We Do. http://www.worldreader.org. Web. 27 Oct. 2015

Worldreader. Girl reading mobile phone. Image. 27 Oct. 2015

Sharing is Caring

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Supporting Teachers ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy: On-going Pro-D

Teacher Librarian as a Person

I would argue a large component of being able to share our learning with the rest of our staff and wider community, starts by looking within yourself and deciding what kind of Teacher-Librarian you wish to be. By nature, the librarian position can be isolating if you let it. You are likely one of a kind at the school and you might even be located further from the classroom “wings” of the school. Teachers may be more inclined to collaborate with similar grade level teachers, while forgetting about the librarian as a major resource of which to collaborate. As a result, being able to share your wealth of knowledge starts with you! As TL’s, we must put ourselves out there, and really promote our willingness to share, collaborate and learn together. This is has been a challenge of mine, as I am not overly confident yet in my skills as a librarian, being only two months into the position; however, I am outgoing by nature and have taken it upon myself to become friends with many of the staff members. This alone will enable me to share my knowledge with others, when I am in a position to do so.

In the meantime, if you are a new librarian like myself, we still have options! Join as many committees as you can manage, and start learning from others. As new teachers this is our time to “take” from other teachers, so one day, we can be in a position to give. Decide you are going to be known by all the staff, and make a point in asking to collaborate. Even it that collaboration means doing book talks, or research skills lessons, you are still contributing.

Teacher Librarian as a School Leader

As ones career develops as a teacher-librarian, it is very possible to be seen as a school leader. Not only do we come into contact with essentially all of the students on a weekly, if not daily basis, but we also coordinate the heart of the school: the library. We have the power to make the library a place where everyone wants to come to learn. We shape the collection, and ultimately decide what enters, leaves, and is central to the collection. We create the physical space, and determine what “makerspace” and technology related activities are available. We also set the tone for how flexible or inflexible the library is on a whole. In a society with ever evolving technology, we as TLs really have the opportunity to be extraordinarily useful and innovative. Developing our own ICT skills, so we can share those skills with others, is what will truly make us leaders. Teachers should be able to use the TL as a technology resource to improve their own practice. But how?

What can I do now?

The first step in sharing is to educate yourself. Educate yourself on every technological app you can. Decide what you think will be useful for the teachers of particular grades. Be aware of the curriculum so you can anticipate what a teacher might want to know/do for his or her students.

Find out a medium you like, for which you can share your knowledge. Then, become an expert at it. Whether you use a blog, host a lunchtime meeting, lead a Pro-D workshop, or rely on social media or app, get your information out there. It is then in the teachers hands to decide to utilize your services or not.

Two alternatives to powerpoint which I like are:

https://www.haikudeck.com

For a more animated presentation, try Powtoon as a way to share with students or staff.

Becoming a great librarian will not happen over night, but there are many steps you can take, starting with your own demeanour, to move in a positive direction. Make yourself available, and educate yourself with every opportunity you get, so you can be a confident and beneficial resource for staff and students alike.

Times are changing….and its important we keep up with those changes.

The good old days?

Goals for the year:

Keep throwing myself into every tech-related club and meeting that arises. Exposure, exposure, exposure!

Create something of my own, related to a repertoire of educational apps that teachers can easily use.

References

Atkinson, John. Library cartoon. http://wronghands1.com. Web. 23. Oct. 2015

www.haikudeck.com: App. 23 Oct. 2015

www.powtoon.com: Web. 23 Oct. 2015

conquering technology fears

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Developing my own ICT skills and networks has been a goal of mine that was just set in motion this September. It began when in a couple main ways. First I was hassled a bit by my family members, for being “technologically inept.” Initially this did not bother me, until I felt I was missing out on certain opportunities and luxuries such as Apple T.V., iPhone possibilities, and the list goes on. Secondly, I felt the shift in education, towards technology, and I realised with a sinking worry that it was vital for my teaching practice to adapt. With these feelings as a backdrop for creating my own support system and developing my skills, I have simply jumped right into every tech related opportunity that presents itself.

Opportunities at school I have involved myself in include an upcoming coding group, where we will be teaching ourselves to code, alongside the students. I have not the slightest clue about where to start with coding, but one teacher managed to teach his 4 year old daughter how to code, so I am pretty sure I will be able to develop somewhat of a skill set. move the turtle and hopscotch are apps that teach kids (and adults) how to code, in an interactive and fun way. If you want more information about the benefits of coding just click the linked word for a (U.S.) site that promotes the benefits of learning computer sciences.

Secondly, I have joined the Fresh Grade group, where we are experimenting with Fresh Grade in our classrooms, and hoping to implement this program as a main source of assessment next term. We meet every Friday and troubleshoot, share experiences and grievances, and just explore the program. If you aren’t familiar with Fresh Grade, you can use this program through an App on your iPad/iPhone, or you can access it through the website: https://www.freshgrade.com

Thirdly, I have been learning from the 1.0 T.L. at my school, who as I have mentioned, is a wealth of information when it comes to ICT. She inspires me because she too decided to take this jump into technology on her own accord, and has successfully and whole-heartedly embraced it.

A goal of mine is to understand and use Twitter in education; so far I have discovered hashtags to begin exploring librarian tweets within the province and district. Here are a few from the Surrey School district. Perhaps you have some recommendations for me?

To summarize, I am opening doors I used to shy away from, in fear of not knowing how, or not wanting to rely on technology, when I have had difficulties in the past. Encouragement for me comes in the form of the students I teach, who explore the unknown and conquer challenges everyday. I just realised that why should I expect them to take chances, and not expect myself to do the same! This course has challenged me to improve my technology skills, and through the process I am really enjoying it. I think the enjoyment I am experiencing will encourage me to continue developing my skills when the course is over.

REFERENCES

Move the Turtle. https://www.movetheturtle.com: 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

Hopscotch. https://www.gethopscotch.com. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Code. https://code.org: Code.org, 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Fresh Grade. https://www.freshgrade.com: Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Watson, Jessica. Grandma Holding iPad. https://www.sheknows.com: 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

ICT & Fostering a Love for Reading

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At the learning commons at Katzie, we try to foster a love of reading through ICT and non ICT strategies. The 1.0 FTE librarian is a wealth of information for ICT tools, and has taught me many new approaches to fostering the love of reading, in such a short time already.

One strategy we use that I find unique is the use QR codes to access the learning commons blog. The students seem very excited to scan our QR code with their iPads, and see where it takes them. From here we have them search around the learning commons blog for a question we may have posted or a link we may have shared to a reading related game. We also have them look up information about the author of a book we just read together. For example, we are reading Kenneth Oppel’s A Bad Case of Ghosts, and we had the grade 2-3 students scan a QR code, find the Authour section of the blog, find O for Oppell, and then explore his page. We saw looks of wonder and excitement as they explored the authors website, and many students wanted to know of more books we have by this author. We then sent them home with paper bookmarks with the learning commons QR code on the back, so they can easily access our site at home. Simple things like giving the students a challenge to discover where an author is from, helps them understand there is a person behind every book, and I believe this fosters student engagement.

Here is a picture of Kindergarten students enjoying the use of iPads to listen to Stella and Sam. They have not yet mastered their ability to reading independently, but they show their love for reading by listening to and interacting with this App.

Here is a link to the Katzie learning commons blog, created by the 1.0 librarian at our school. Our librarian who manages this offers and shares many great ICT ideas.

http://katzielc.blogspot.ca

Another strategy we use frequently is Tumblebooks and audio books. Students enjoyed hearing the fun Spanish accents of “Caramba” that would have been challenging for me to replicate. They also liked viewing various thanksgiving related books on Tumblebooks.

If you aren’t familiar with tumble books herein a quick sample I found off youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cit5eq9f2w&sns=em

A study of two classes at a middle school in the Midwest of America, looked at literacy success rates dependent on teacher beliefs and practices. The study compared two teachers with relatively different teacher beliefs. The first teacher organised her students in homogenous reading level groups, and used a reading program she chose and implemented. The second teacher created book club groups, composed of students with varying reading levels. They engaged in multiple activities from listening to books on tape, to partner reading; students also chose their own reading material as long as it was appropriate for their reading level. The first teacher had students read 20 minutes silently, and write about random topics in their journals, whereas the second teacher modeled silent reading and read her own novel silently, for 10 out of the 20 minutes her students read for. As well, she connected journal topics to reading content and she linked themes they studied in science and socials, to what they read about as a class during teacher read aloud times.

It is rather obvious to see that the literacy success rates of the second teacher were more successful than those of the first. I think modeling silent reading is a great way to foster a love for reading. Although I have heard about this strategy, I have yet to implement it as a classroom teacher. As librarians we get to model a love for reading during read aloud; however, it would be interesting to see if a casual silent reading group at lunch, where the librarian also found a comfortable place to read alongside the students, would foster a love for reading. Although the second teacher did not use many ICT tools to foster a love for reading, I could see her practices open and conducive to new ICT ideas.

To end, here is a short video about one perspective on fostering a love for reading in the home!

Works Cited

Brock and Boyd. Fostering Meaningful Middle School Literacy Learning: Voices from the Middle, Volume 19, Number 1. Sept. 2011. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/VM/0191-sep2011/VM0191Fostering.pdf

student activism & technology

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Social responsibility is an important element of the B.C. curriculum. If students are socially responsible, they care about society in a global, communal sense, and understand their individual and collective potential to make positive impacts for the benefit of more than just themselves. If we as educators include social responsibility as a integral part of the curriculum, there have to be mediums in place for students to enact these curricular goals and make tangible differences. With this idea as a starting point for inquiry, I began searching for research or examples of how students used technology as a primary medium to create and spread their initiatives. I had the idea in mind that technologies such as apps and social media could be fostered to not only create a philanthropist movements, but also spread messages and have an impact globally.

Initially I found many websites and articles that supported the idea of technology use in classroom for positive learning environments; many articles contained information about the need for teachers to help their students use technology efficiently to aid in their learning process; however, I did not find many examples or research about the use of technology to promote socially responsible students. Many examples included bake sales, book and food drives, car washes, and fasts. These are certainly initiatives that promote social responsibility and contribute to helping society on a global level. But in reading “Why School”, which asked the question why hasn’t education embraced technologies like other sectors of our society have, I wondered if any teachers were using technology to explore the social responsibility competency of the curriculum.

Eventually, I came across the term “globally enabled social change” and the idea of “digital citizenship”. These keywords led me to ideas about citizens using technology to make a difference or build awareness about a particular cause. Some methods included utilizing hash tags and charitable pages, while other methods used facebook private pages as activist chat rooms for those living in undemocratic countries.

In looking for instances that specifically included youth that were given opportunities within their education to make a difference, I came across a few examples. Some examples included students who created apps that helped impoverished people living across the world, while other examples consisted of teachers who were using ipads to allow students to create stories through stop motion, prezi, and the like, to increase engagement, share ideas, and make a difference. The teacher stated, “my students are creative and interested in changing the world.” You can read more about that story here: http://digcitizen.tumblr.com

Overall, it seems as though there is an absent of literature to do with technology and social responsibility in education; although I found examples on blogs and websites, I did not find scholarly articles and journals that touched on this subject in a substantial way; however, I do not doubt for a second that social activism in education which utilizes technology, is not taking place. Massive contributions such as We Day take place yearly, and reach many students across the globe. I know that students change their avatars, update their facebook statuses, sign e-petitions, and make online donations, all to support whatever cause that matters to them.

I do believe that as educators adapt and incorporate technology in the classroom more importantly and frequently, students will naturally use technology to create, plan, organize, support and carry out movements that are important to them. Collective grievances, whether environmental, social, emotional, etc., creates a desire in people to act. Students have the power to male a difference together, and technology can and does serve as a great vehicle for that change.