For my final vision project, I chose to make a screencast video for the parents and students of my school. It is an introductory video, demonstrating some general features of our school’s new OPAC: Follet’s Destiny Quest. This video will focus on how to use the search feature. My long-term plan for this project is to make several screencast videos, each showing a few more in-depth features of the online library catalogue. Each of them will be posted to my school website library page.

Making this video was a bit more challenging than I thought. I know what you’re thinking….Carrie, the digital immigrant was having a tough time. Waaaaa, poor baby. Actually, the program I used, screencast-o-matic, was fairly intuitive and straight forward. My husband helped me work out a few of the issues, mainly how to post it on YouTube, but other than that, it worked well. My real challenge was the actual speaking part, trying to narrow my focus on what I wanted to talk about.

My first attempt was brutal. I just kept clicking on different features and blathering on about them. I wasn’t sure what I needed to demonstrate and then all of a sudden a light flashed and said my time was up at 15 minutes. And so went attempts # 2 – 9. But with each attempt, I learned a few things and jotted down notes about things I wanted to say and things I wanted to leave out. I set the stopwatch on my iPhone for 15 minutes and glanced at it frequently as I recorded. I was getting a bit worn out as the hours ticked by…

By attempt #10, the video covered pretty much what I wanted to cover. But it is definitely not perfect. I quickly realized as I was making the video(s), that the real problem lies in the fact that I don’t know how to use Destiny Quest very well. I still have way more questions than answers about its features, and therefore feel very inadequate as I am speaking! That is one of my primary goals for April – June when I get back to work next week: I want to book some training sessions and talk to some of the teacher-librarians in our district who are using Destiny much more proficiently than I am. Anyways, here it is in all its glory:

This is my final assignment of my final course for my teacher-librarian diploma. When I started this course, I was feeling rather exhausted, eager to finish up five years of online work! But then, as things got underway, I was learning new things and feeling proud of my accomplishments. I felt connected to Richardson’s book Why School, as it made me rethink the role of technology in curriculum and instruction. Aaron offered lots of encouragement and great ideas along the way. One of my purposes in taking this diploma was to increase my knowledge of technology and ways to integrate it in my school. I feel as if I have taken steps towards that end, and this course has added to that journey.

One of the “ahh-haa” moments is when I realized that professional development can take place anytime and anyplace, not just on a Pro-D day! My long-term goal for professional growth is not just to become knowledgable, but to become a school leader in technology. As retirement draws closer, I don’t want to become a coaster, gliding to the finish line. I really do want to go out with a bang! In order for this to become a reality, I will keep asking, confessing, admitting, trying, failing and ultimately, hopefully, succeeding!

Resources:

Richardon, W. (2012). Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Conferences Publishing. [EBOOK]

My final vision project:  To create a screencast instructional video showing some introductory features of Follett’s Destiny Quest online library catalogue for students/parents of my school. My long range plan is to make several of these videos over the next year, and post them on my school library website. Each screencast video would cover different aspects of the catalogue, helping families at home become more connected to what our library has to offer.

To create the video:  I am using Screencast-O-Matic. This tool was recommended to me by Aaron, for creating screen capture videos. In my last blog post, I showed a short clip of my first time using it, and it seemed pretty intuitive. It required the least amount of updates and downloads, which is HUGE for me. Why? Well, because I don’t do much of that on a regular basis, and sometimes in the midst of 10-15 step procedures, I get lost. Kinda like when you are making supper and need an ingredient from the deep freeze. On the way you notice that the dryer has stopped, so you fold the towels, do a quick sweep of the laundry room, and then head back into the kitchen. Of course, as soon as you get back to the kitchen, you realize something is amiss.

So far, so good, right? Truthfully, in many aspects of technology, I feel like I have emigrated to a country where I don’t understand the language the citizens are speaking or whom to ask for assistance. In reality, I probably understand more than I give myself credit for, but it sure doesn’t feel that way when I am at work, watching the 30-somethings navigate and integrate Web 2.0 effortlessly in their classrooms.

They’re all: “Troubles? No troubles here.”

I’m all: “I can’t remember. I must have wrote it down somewhere.”

A little Stuart is needed:

Anticipating the challenges ahead: I am sitting on the balcony of my resort suite in Palm Springs.  I am about to create a project worth 25% of my grade, but have limited access to all of the resources I need to complete it. I am using a borrowed laptop which has none of my contacts and bookmarks on it, connected to slow internet that only allows four devices to be registered at a time (3 teenagers + multi-device carrying hubby = zero internet time for me) and no U.S. data plan means that I am operating well below my usual sub-par technology levels.

My plan for this week: In order for me to create a video, I need to spend more time looking at Destiny Quest tutorials, so that I can understand it better. I plan on using Pinterest, Teachertube, Youtube, and Follett Community. I am hoping to have a bit more computer time when we go to San Diego this weekend. The rest of the family will be out surfing, and I’ll hole myself up for a day or two and get to work! Once I have an outline made of what I want to cover on my video, I will get to work on creating it. I don’t anticipate too many challenges, as the test video I made went fairly well. If I get really stuck, I may email a few of my Destiny colleagues, although being that they are also on Spring Break, I pretty much think I’m on my own. Wish me luck!

Step One: Reread Aaron’s response to my Final Vision Blog Post #1. He suggests to look at screenr.com or screencastomatic and also do a google search for “how to make a screen capture video.”

Step Two: Look at screenr.com and add it to my bookmark bar. So far, so good, this is going to be a snap.

Step Three: Google search “how to make a screen capture video.” Click on first option, notice disconcertingly that it is a 15 minute long YouTube clip. Begin watching clip. Man speaking loses me in first 30 seconds, after asking me to download several things, each of which have about fifteen different features I need to familiarize myself with. I hit the pause button and start writing down the steps as I go and am instantly overwhelmed.

Step Four: Go to bed. Head hurts. Next day dawns and look at screenr.com and start again. Oops, can’t download Java version I need…computer is apparently too old. Now, go to “screencastomatic” and it says “no downloads needed.” Is it too good to be true? Not sure, but I’m going to give it a whirl.

Step Five: I gave it a whirl and it works! I was able to do a screen capture test video of my Watson Elementary website. I am going to show you my very first attempt, unscripted, OF COURSE not my finished product, but I just wanted to see if it actually was going to work. Here it is, in all it’s glory. (My voice sounds awful. Note to self: enthusiastic, upbeat voice will be more effective than an exhausted,  this is HARD work for us boomers born in the 60’s, type of voice!)

Step Six: The whos & whys. My intended audience is students and their parents. My goal is to get them familiar with Destiny Quest, so that they are accessing our collection frequently and enjoying what the Watson Library has to offer them. I am hoping to make a series of screen casts, each about the different features of our OPAC. The first one (for this course) is going to be a general, introductory one. I have chosen this target audience because my end goal for everything I do as a teacher is to benefit the students and families of our school community. I love helping them become tuned into books, literature and learning. My project will enable families to have access to our collection, will help parents suggest titles for their kids, show research projects for classes and help parents with homework, etc.

I didn’t choose my fellow teacher-librarians as my target audience, as I don’t know enough about Destiny Quest to do so. I didn’t choose my school staff for the same reason. However, I am hoping that once my series of videos is complete, other teacher-librarians may choose to borrow them as great introductory teaching tools for their schools!

That title was just to get your attention, doesn’t have anything to do with my future professionally.  I am going to California next Friday for two weeks so it is hard to think about much beyond that.

But back to my professional future…

In my very first blog post, I decided to make my inquiry focus of this course Destiny Quest. My mind has been spinning for weeks about this final vision project, and how to create a virtual document around my topic. I am all about developing a reading culture, so this is a stretch for me.

I have decided to create an instructional video for parents/students on how to use Destiny Quest. I would put the video on my school website library link. This is what my Watson Library website currently looks like. Obviously, it needs some work and I think an instructional video would be a nice touch. I would talk families through the log-in process and get them excited about accessing the collection from home and introductory features.

Here is an example of an instructional video I found on Youtube. It is called Destiny Quest Overview. Mine would be not quite as detailed, more basic, and a bit more upbeat with voice tone. As I have never made a video before, this will definitely be out of my comfort zone. In the next week, I will be taking a closer look at making instructional videos, create a list of the important things I want to cover in the video, and begin creating it. Longterm, I can envision making this an introductory video, then over time adding more videos, each covering a more advanced aspect of Destiny Quest. 

In Phase 2, we looked at building a reading culture, professional development, being a technology leader, developing libraries overseas, and the use of mobile devices in schools.

My key takeaway after exploring all these topics would be the importance of creating a PLN. This is something that for a variety of reasons, I haven’t made a priority. The season of my life was so busy when I started my first teacher-librarian position (a 2-year old, a 3-year old and a 5-year old), that I fell into a survival mode, learning what I needed to to be successful in my job, but not reaching forward with professional development. That changed when I started my diploma five years ago. The learning curve is very steep.  I can relate to Dallas, (Gillingham, 2015) who didn’t know what “ICT” meant before taking this course…I was the same for “PLN.”

I realize how important it is to keep growing, sharing and collaborating as a teacher-librarian. As mentioned in a previous post, I am a “yes” person at my school. This is true in all aspects except professional development. One of the main reasons is because most of the pro-d days are on Fridays, which is my job share partner’s day. What I have learned in this course, however, is that you don’t have to be at a pro-d event to network and grow. When you create an online PLN, the options are limitless, you can custom fit it to your particular needs and passions. This was a bit of an “ah ha” moment for me, and has made professional development more do-able for me.

Jean MacLeod, in her blog, says that “PLNs are simply a Web 2.0 way of tapping into collective knowledge, and getting feedback from people with similar interests” (MacLeod, 2013). This makes sense to me. I like the heart picture she used above to depict PLNs. There are so many choices and paths to connect with others. The key is to choose a few tools and jump right in. No more excuses, JUST DO IT!

Here are a few online tools I have been using to develop my PLN:

The Daring Librarian

www.teachertube.com

The Blue Skunk Blog

References:

Gillingham, D. (2015). Mobile Engagement. Mrsgillingham. (Blog). Retrieved from: https://mrsgillingham.wordpress.com/

MacLeod, J. (2013). My #PLN Gets Personal. Okanagan Schools – Michigan. (Blog). Retrieved from: http://oaklandschoolsmi.com/2013/08/08/pln/

Several years back, I partnered with the local Rotary Club to help start a library in a Nigerian school. I sent out a newsletter to our school community, asking for quality new and used book donations. I also weeded out my library and gave books that were in good condition but no longer used by my students. I had strict guidelines about the type of books included in the donation boxes: no grossly outdated books, no books with violence or war, no ripped or torn books, and no books with culturally confusing content. The students at my school were so excited about the project, they loved the thought of giving their books to help others. Of course, over the years, perceptions have changed about building libraries in developing nations. Do they really want our discards? Do they need actual paper books? Why not just give them each a mobile device and not bother with a brick and mortar structure?

In Deena Dulgerian’s blog post for the Borgen Project, she notes that while American libraries have lost much of their appeal, their usage is only just beginning in developing countries.  Libraries are a vital meeting place and safe haven for many in developing countries. A place to check out books, use the computer, meet socially, and receive much needed resources and services. I believe that mobile devices have a place in these libraries. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the leaders in worldwide literacy, and is currently piloting a program in Kenya, using devices in public and community libraries preloaded with relevant information. But for 60% of the world without access to the internet, quality books, caring staff and a safe place to meet and read is a good start.

As a teacher-librarian, continuing to build my collection of e-books, giving students access to the collection from home with Destiny Quest OPAC, and leading the charge for improved technology, upgrades and access in my school, are just some of the ways that I can help students. Many of the mobile devices that they bring to school are of such poor quality, however, that it is difficult to access the information. I think uniformity and quality of devices would lead to smoother lesson plans and increased learning outcomes. The Los Angeles Unified School District is giving 640,000 students ipads this year in an effort to prepare students for life after graduation, where every job will require some level of technological skill. It is quite obvious that we need to copy this initiative in our district!

In an age where teacher-librarians are disappearing like leftovers in a kitchen of teenagers, we must make ourselves irreplaceable, indispensable, and invaluable. We must be more than “keepers of the books.” We need to be strong leaders, comfortable with technology and web 2.0 tools, ready to instruct and support those on our staff.

In our Inquiry Post #2, I enjoyed reading Lia’s blog, where she talks about her principal hosting weekly “Teacher Talk” sessions before school. It got me thinking about the concept of hosting a book club using our class text, Why School?  (Richardson, 2012).  We could discuss a chapter/section each week. We could use our Discussion #3 question from this class, for example, as a jumping off point: “After reading ‘Part II: New School’, which practices and ideas could you drop from your current teaching practice, and which would you be interested in exploring?” I think that this would be a non-threatening, non-judgemental, low-key way of connecting with teachers at the level they are at.

A second idea I have is using one of our after-school-collab sessions to demonstrate the features of our new Destiny Quest OPAC. In particular, I would like to show teachers how seamless it is to organize their research projects on Destiny. I couldn’t host it this school year, but I am hoping that by September, I will be more adept at using the OPAC and be confident enough to teach it to staff.  Collab is a huge deal in my school, and the Collab team is always looking for ideas. If I let the Collab team know now that I am interested in doing a Destiny session in the fall, it would force me to spend my spare time working out the bugs, learning the program, and getting comfortable teaching it. I know that many teachers would appreciate the instruction and support. Getting them on board will increase its usage and make our educational community even stronger. Here is a sample video that I could begin a Collab session with:

A third way that I can support the staff is to continue to keep Accelerated Reader running in our school. There are several teachers that use the program and need me to support it. There are also many children who love the challenge and rewards it offers. I maintain all aspects of the program and assist students in their online quiz taking, book selection, etc. Tomorrow, I am meeting with a new staff member to show him the basics of the program (login in, password, star reader assessments and so forth).

My philosophy with all aspects of staff development is always, “How can I help?” And my response to staff queries is always “yes” or “I’m not sure about that, but I’ll find out!” Supporting staff ICT needs is always dependent on the quality of technology at any given school. That can make it very frustrating at times, as many in our class have alluded to.

References:

Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Conferences Publishing. (EBOOK)