Monthly Archives: March 2014

LIBE 465 – Final Assignment Reflection

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Final Assignment-LIBE 465
Emily Rodgers (Klimchuk)

My website can be found here: http://emilyirodgers.wix.com/pretendlibrary

My planning sheet:

 

Background
I designed an elementary school library’s website.  This website is intended to be used by students and teachers at school and at home.

Website Creation
After attempting two other website platforms without great success, I stumbled upon Wix.  (Our librarian later told me she used Wix to create our district’s Book of the Year website.)  Wix is by far the most novice friendly website design program I have used.  I quickly figured out how to create, adjust, import and link in the Wix platform.

Information Architecture/Classification System
When designing my website, I wanted it to be organized, clutter-free and easy to navigate.  I stuck to the three-level rule and made sure I had a consistent navigation bar with broad labels in a consistent font, colour and style (Module 7).  I attempted to create a hierarchical organization structure but ran into a small problem with Wix.  I was not able to create a category on the navigation bar for a drop down menu without creating a page for the category.  For instance, I couldn’t create the About category that allowed a user to click on or hover over the About text for a drop down menu without creating an About page.  This led to me having to create an About page with hyperlinks to the pages accessed by the drop down menu – a bit redundant.

Module 7 discussed blind spots on websites.  I decided to make my library homepage a blog.  In this blog, I could post about book reviews, library promotions, book trailers and other exciting things in an attempt to draw the user in.  Users would be able to quickly see what was new, what the website was about and where to go for more information.  The side menu on the homepage has links to tags for related blog posts and links for Pinterest and Twitter.  One limitation in Wix is that it currently has no built in feature for blog comments. I think this feature would allow the website to function as more of a virtual learning commons where discussions could take place between teachers, students and staff.

I have added a few features to my website in an attempt to make my website more of a virtual learning commons.  I have provided links to the library’s twitter account as well as an app that displays the library’s twitter feed.  I have also added class blog pages in hopes that students could use the library website as a way to connect to classmates.  Unfortunately, I ran into another problem when creating the class blogs.  My intention was to have the blogs supported on a Wix page, however, Wix only allows one blog per website which I used for my homepage.  If I were to use this platform for an actual school website, I would either have to hyperlink to an outside blog site or change to a Weebly or WordPress site.

In my initial planning, I planned to put the catalog in the navigation bar as a hyperlink to the external site; however, Wix does not allow hyperlinks in the navigation bar.  I have had to include the catalog as a dropdown page in both Student Links and Teacher Links instead.

A few other things I think would make the site easier to navigate would be a side navigation bar on the How-To page as well as on the Staff Meeting Video page so that teacher’s could easily navigate to their desired video.  However, you can’t create this in Wix.

Resources
The resources I have chosen for students are appropriate for an elementary school setting.  Many of the resources are resources that our district subscribes to.  While it is not ideal to have password protected websites linked to the library website because it is one extra step users must take, I would make sure students were aware of the password sheets available in the library.  The teacher resources are ones that I have personally used and know to provide valuable information.  I added a Staff Meeting Video page because last year our principal would show us a video every staff meeting but there was no central place to keep the videos for later reference.

Conclusion
Despite some limitations with the Wix platform, I think I have managed to design a clean, hierarchal, user-friendly website.

Libe 477 – Final Post

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This is my final blog post in my TL diploma (but not my last post ever)! When I think back to where I started a year ago to where I am now, I have not only become more knowledgeable about library organization, cataloguing, Web 2.0 tools and resources but I have gained a new understanding of the education system and the learners I will be teaching, in the library or in the classroom, in the 21st century.

I am excited to be a beginning teacher at time when the education system and the BC Curriculum is being transformed. I have a new appreciation for inquiry based learning and how classroom teachers and librarians can support each and every student in being producers of knowledge who will contribute to the plethora of information available on the web (McArthur, 2009). I’m excited to “thin the walls [of the classroom] and open up all sorts of possibilities for exploration and collaboration” for both teachers and students (Richardson, 2012, p. 111).

There are many themes that ran throughout the TL diploma but one in particular resonated with me. The idea that creativity is not only valued but crucial to success in the 21st century excites me. Will Richardson said that education in the 21st century is not about delivery. “In one word, it’s about discovery” (Richardson, 2012, p. 60). Several Ted Talks that I have been exposed to through this diploma have also discussed creativity. I’m looking forward to helping foster creativity in students; in helping them explore their passions and connect with others around the world; in helping to maintain and expand on the curiosity students enter the school system with. It really is an exciting to be an educator and a student!

The final project in LIBE 477 has given me a first hand taste of an inquiry project. I started this project with fear and uncertainty. I had a vision for the future but it was in bits and pieces. I decided to focus on one specific area – using technology to document learning in math. I wanted my project to be something I could use in the classroom immediately and something that I could potentially share with my colleagues. The way I have designed my presentation will allow me to insert new videos of student made products once I have implemented the tools in my classroom. My initial feelings of uncertainty and fear have been replaced with a sense of accomplishment and a desire to use my learnings in my class.

Next year, it is my goal to start a class blog. I have not been able to overcome one challenge but I am working on adapting to it. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m not sure how I will export the videos and images students create on the iPads to the class blog if the iPads do not have an email or dropbox set up but at the moment, I plan on sharing my students’ products within our class with the projector. Small steps.

In trying out different apps to document learning I have thought of other ways to integrate these apps as tools to achieve learning outcomes. I will hopefully be able to have one iPad at our plant and butterfly observation station to document student learning. I will also be touching base with our buddy class to see if we can incorporate Book Creator into our sessions.

I leave you with my final project – a vision for how we can use iPads to document learning in Kindergarten math. I have uploaded my presentation to Slideshare. There are embedded videos in my powerpoint and to view them you must download the presentation.

Works Cited:

Finish Line. (2011). [image online] Available at: http://akshatrathi.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/the-art-of-finishing/ [Accessed: 28 Mar 2014].

Laplante, L. (2013). Hackschooling Makes Me Happy. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h11u3vtcpaY [Accessed: 28 Mar 2014].

McArthur Foundation. (2009). Re-thinking learning: the 21st Century Learner. Retrieved February 22, 2014 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw UBC library course reserve.

Richardson, W. (2012). Why school. New York, NY: TED Conferences.

Robinson, S. K. (2007). Do Schools Kill Creativity?. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY [Accessed: 28 Mar 2014].

LIBE 477 – Final Vision Contents

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After reading my previous two blog posts, you will know that I am attempting to design a presentation that can be shared with my colleagues that will highlight the benefits of using the iPad to share student’s learning in math.

I decided to create a powerpoint presentation that can be uploaded and shared with Slideshare.  I chose this format for several reasons.  One, I wanted something that could be easily edited in the future when I had better examples of student work to share and two I am fairly comfortable with powerpoint and wanted to spend more time learning the apps than figuring out a new presentation tool.  Prior to deciding to use Slideshare, I considered doing a Prezi as Prezi seems like a web 2.0 tool a lot of people are using.   When I really thought about the purpose of my presentation and what I wanted to include I decided that a powerpoint would suffice. I have used Prezi to do a presentation in the past and was not overly impressed with the style of presentation it creates.

My powerpoint presentation allows me to embed videos that I have found on the web and videos I created of sample products.  However, I discovered when I tried to upload a sample powerpoint to Slideshare the embedded videos won’t play.  A user needs to download my presentation before they can watch the videos.

I selected several apps I wanted to test out for my powerpoint presentation (I wanted to include three samples).  I do not have my own iPad and the school is closed for spring break so I borrowed a family member’s.  I wanted to try out Draw and Tell and Explain Everything because I knew we had them on our school’s iPads but I soon discovered that they cost money.  Since I don’t own this iPad I know I would never use these apps again so I changed my plans and decided to try out several free apps.  Because I was using a family member’s personal iPad an email was set up and I could easily email the videos I created to myself which I could then embed in my presentation.  However, I can see how I could run into a problem if I had used my school’s iPads.  An email address is not set up on the iPads and we have not downloaded dropbox.  If I was to get dropbox approved for the iPads, would I then need to make sure I signed out the same iPads every time so that I would need to set up our class dropbox on every iPad?  I’m not sure how I would get the videos off the school iPads onto a class blog.  Any ideas?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have one iPad for the class or even a class computer!  Think of the possibilities.

While some of the apps I tried were not what I expected by trial and error I discovered several ways I could use these tools throughout my instruction.  I’m planning on using Skitch for our plant and butterfly unit as well as in the block centre.  Book creator was a little complicated for simply documenting a math activity but I could see this being used with our buddies.

Overall, I haven’t run into any major problems but I do wonder how I can share work from school iPads and export the products to a class blog without dropbox or an email being set up.  How do other schools do this?  Do they have one email account or several?  Do they have one dropbox or several class ones?

LIBE 477 – Final Vision Rationale

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In my last post, I decided I was going to focus on finding a meaningful way to incorporate iPads into our math lessons.  I want to focus on using iPads to share and demonstrate students’ learning in math with the class and the world beyond our four walls.

Assessment for learning is a buzz term in our district and in education right now.  According to the BC draft curriculum for digital literacy we are “[moving] toward meaningful descriptions/collections demonstrations of student learning” (Ministry of Education, 2014).  Using iPads for documentation and sharing will allow students an opportunity to reflect on their learning.

In the 21st century students must “develop proficiency with the tools of technology,” “design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes” and “create, critique, analyze and evaluate multimedia texts” (NCTE, 2013).  Using iPads to document learning in math will not only develop these skills but it will also allow students to “ask questions, work with others to find answers, do real work for real audiences and add to the storehouse of knowledge that the Web is becoming” (Richardson, 2012, p.61).

I was reading a blog post on langwitches.org about iPads in a Kindergarten classroom.  The students drew a picture for a subtraction story, used the Show Me app to take a picture on the iPad and then recorded their voice explaining their story.  The teacher posed some interesting questions for the reader.  One question in particular was “could the same [learning] have been accomplished by keeping students’ illustrations analog?” (Langwitches, 2012).  My initial response was yes, the students could have stood in front of the class and explained their picture.  This made me question the intention of my project.  However, after some reflection I realized the iPads added to the learning in a way analog illustrations did not.  The students put their stories on their blog for other people to see and comment on.  The students were practicing using digital tools at a level appropriate for their ability and the work could be used as part of a student portfolio because their voice had been recorded.  Students could revisit their work at any time and reflect on their learning.

For my project, I will be exploring a few apps that will allow students to document their learning and I will create some sort of presentation, perhaps a Slideshare or Prezi, that will allow me to communicate my learnings to my teacher colleagues, in particular those who teach Kindergarten.  This presentation will communicate my vision for 21st century education as it pertains to math, technology and documentation. In my presentation I want to explicitly explain how using iPads in the classroom for documentation in math can benefit the students, teachers and even parents.  I want to explain how the skills developed by using iPads for documentation are critical in the 21st century.  I hope my presentation will inspire others to look at the ways they are using iPads in the classroom.

 

Works Cited

Kindergarten Math on the iPad…Many Questions…. (2012, June 14, 2012). Langwitches Blog, [web log] Retrieved from: http://langwitches.org/blog/2012/06/14/kindergarten-math-on-the-ipad/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

Ministry of Education. (2014). Draft digital literacy standards. BC: BC Government, p. http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/dist_learning/dig_lit_standards.htm.

NCTE Executive Committee. (2013). Ncte definition of 21st century literacies. [report] p. http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition.

Richardson, W. (2012). Why school. New York, NY: TED Conferences.

LIBE 477 – Final Vision Project Scope

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Kobe drawing

Image from Flickr

In LIBE 477, we have been asked to create our vision for the future of 21st century education.  Our project can be tailored to any audience we choose and can focus on a topic within the broader topic that is relevant to us.

Currently I am kindergarten teacher and will most likely be one for the next few years.  I have decided that I want to complete a project that I can use in my classroom immediately.  I started my new position in December and have just introduced the iPads to the students in the beginning of February.  I started small and incorporated them into our Math Centres.  I taught the students how to search for apps and choose between a list of pre-selected apps that practice math concepts they have already explored with manipulatives.  To say the students are engaged when using the iPads would be an understatement.  They are mesmerized and are for more capable than I initially gave them credit for.  However, I know that the iPads could be used to transform their learning in addition to allowing them to practice math concepts.  I wonder how I could incorporate iPads into students’ mathematical learning in a more meaningful way?  When I was thinking of this question, I thought of the groups of students who instead of using the iPads are scattered around the classroom using manipulatives to explore math concepts.  Often the students who are building, creating, collaborating and producing products with hands-on manipulatives are doing exactly what we want users of technology to be doing – building, creating, collaborating and producing!  While the iPad group is content playing their practice games, the manipulative group is busy trying to find someone to share their new found knowledge with.  Sharing is such a huge part of the 21st century.  We want our students to be producers of knowledge; to share their knowledge with the world.  I have often reflected that I don’t gather the students around enough to examine and discuss students’ creations.  My inquiry project will be an exploration of how I can incorporate iPads into our math centres in a meaningful way that will allow students to share their learning with the class and potentially the world beyond our four walls.

 

As a side note on the journey of this inquiry project:

I never really understood how those students felt who weren’t able to get started on a project. I’m not going to lie.  I often felt that they were just stubborn and didn’t want to work but as I am attempting to start this project Carol Kuhlthau’s stages of inquiry came to my mind (which I had learned about in a course last semester).  Perhaps these students were stuck!  They had no idea where to start and the thought of an open topic paralyzed them!  At the thought of doing an inquiry project for my vision for the future I felt apprehension, uncertainty, anxiety and doubt (hence the reason it took me so long to get this post up).  All of these feelings are common in the first three stages of Kuhlthau’s model. While I have felt these emotions when embarking on other projects I have never felt them to the extent I felt for this project.  I’m sure by the end of this project I will feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment as Kuhlthau’s model suggests.  This project really feels like a capstone project for this whole diploma by bringing everything I have learned about inquiry, 21st century and digital literacy together.  I’m glad this is one of my last courses I chose to take.

Works Cited:

Kwan, M. (2010). Kobe drawing. [image online] Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aperturismo/4488285832/ [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014].

Library.humboldt.edu. (2014). Humboldt state university library: at your fingertips — information competence in the professions. [online] Retrieved from: http://library.humboldt.edu/ic/general_competency/kuhlthau.html [Accessed: 16 Mar 2014].

 

LIBE 465 – Journal Reflection #3 Website Taxonomy

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I chose to analyze RW & Co’s website because I like to shop from this website.  (I first attempted to make a heirarchal organization for Pinterest but gave up after a few levels because I couldn’t draw an image that showcased how cyclical the clicking of an image is.)

In my opinion, a user of RW & Co’s website can quickly understand the story being told (which changes depending on the season).  The homepage is simple and allows the reader to quickly scan several eye-catching categories that link back to the general navigation page on level 2.  Faulkner descibres how “categorization helps [users] navigate [a] website much faster” (2011).  RW & Co’s website is a flat hierarchal structure that only involves 3 vertical levels in all but one category.  The sales category has four levels but despite adding another level this category is still easy to navigate. Without the additional level in the sales category, the items would be more difficult to find.  RW & Co’s labels are “specific” and “[easy] to understand” (Whitenton, 2013).   The navigation bar on the top and bottom of homepage remains consitent on any page the user navigates too and the second level with the clothing navigation remains consistent when the user is looking at clothing images.  By doing this, the user does not have to continually hit the back button or start over again to navigate to a new category of clothing.

Faulkner and Hayton have an interesting debate about the left justification of a navigation bar (2011).  RW & Co’s website uses an “inverted-L navigation” which is consistent with most other shopping websites (Faulkner & Hayton, 2011).  This consistency may allow the user to “recognize and categorise conventional elements before they examine the content” which may “make it easier for users to navigate the website” (Faulkner & Hayton, 2011).  Faulkner and Hayton point out that research has not consistently shown that left-navigation assists users  and that “users readily adapt” (2011).  While, I believe a left justification helps me navigate shopping websites because I am familiar with this set-up for this genre of websites, I also read several blogs.  The blogs I read are set up with a right-navigation bar.  I think consistency among different website genres helps users navigate websites.  With that said, I think I could easily adapt to a new set-up because I am quite comfortable with the Internet.

Overall, I think RW & Co’s website is well-designed and cannot find any major changes that would need to be made to make the website more efficient.  The only suggestion I might make is a further break down of clothing categories.  For instance, in the sweater category it might be helpful to be able to locate cardigans, pull overs or other types of sweaters or be able to search by colour.  Those are two features I like using on other shopping websites.

Works Cited:

Faulkner, X. & Hayton, C. (2011). When left might not be right. Journal Of Usability Studies, 6 (4), pp. 245–256.

RW&CO.. (2014). Welcome to rw&co. – fashion apparel for him and her. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.rw-co.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Rwco_CA-Site/default/Home-Page [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Whitenton, K. (2014). Flat vs. deep website hierarchies. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/flat-vs-deep-hierarchy/ [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

LIBE 477 – Looking Back

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Over the last 3 weeks or so our class has done a series of blog posts on the culture of reading in schools, developing a PLN, supporting teachers’ professional development and world libraries.  I believe the postings that resonated most with me were the ones about supporting teachers’ professional development.

Solving jigsaw puzzle

Flickr Creative Commons

All of the topics have helped me learn, grow and reflect as a professional educator, however, I think that I have been hesitant to support teachers’ professional development because I am still a new teacher and was uncertain what I had to offer my colleagues.  After doing my own post and reading my group members’ posts I can see that as a teacher-librarian there are many ways I can support my colleagues.
My key take-aways from my fellow bloggers are:

Ms. K Birkland:  Ms. Birkland provided an infographic, titled “Working Together Is Working Smarter” from AASL that outlines various ways teacher-librarians collaborate.  I think this graphic provides an interesting visual that showcases the many areas teacher-librarians “play a critical role” (AASL).

Mme. Leslie:  Mme. Leslie reminded me that every educator comes to the table with a different perspective and a different ability level.  She also reminded me that teacher-librarians “need to be good listeners” “in order to best respond to the needs of the staff” (Leslie, 2014).

Kacy Morgan: Kacy mentioned that teachers need time to explore the resources.  Perhaps, that means the teacher-librarian teaches a class something and instead of the teacher assisting, the teacher could learn with the students.  In a teacher’s already busy day, having 30 minutes to sit down and explore a resource with students might make a difference in their confidence and their ability to use this tool in their classroom.  Kacy also mentioned that students “can be your greatest assistant in learning technology” (Morgan, 2014).  My thought is that a teacher-librarian could set up a technology group who could be called upon to assist teachers in their classrooms.

Leisbet Beaudry:  Leisbet spoke about a workshop she attended that sparked a collaborative project with a grade 2 teacher.  This project continued the next year and the teacher had plans to show other teachers how this collaboration benefited the students and herself.  This example helped me understand that teachers are one of a teacher-librarians best marketing tools.  Start a small project with a teacher and that teacher will spread the word to other colleagues.  I don’t need to jump right in by running a professional development session.  I can start small by supporting one teacher and this may in turn bring me other teachers to support.

 

Works Cited:

American Association of School Librarians. (2014). Working together is working smarter. [image online] Available at: http://www.ala.org/aasl/research/ncle-infographic [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Beaudry, L. ( 2014,February 16, 2014). Supporting teachers learning ict.Beaudry Library Journey, [web log] Retrieved from: http://beaudrylibrary.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-teachers-learning-ict.html [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Ben-Avraham, Y. (2011). Solving jigsaw puzzle. [image online] Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/epublicist/8718123610/in/photostream/ [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Birkland ( 2014,February 28, 2014). Supporting teachers’ ict curriculum. Ms. K Birkland’s UBC Blog, [web log] Retrieved from: http://mskbirkland.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-teachers-ict-curriculum.html [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Leslie, J. ( 2014,February 21, 2014). Supporting others. Mme Leslie, [web log] Retrieved from: http://mmeleslie.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-others.html [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Morgan, K. ( 2014,February 19, 2014). We could all use a little help from our friends. Kacy Morgan LIBE, [web log] Retrieved from: http://kacymorganlibe.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/we-could-all-use-a-little-help-from-our-friends-inquiry-blog-post-3/ [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].