Katkin’s weBLOG

Over the past three months, our EDES 501 class has had the opportunity to explore a wide variety of new Web 2.0 tools. For many of us, these tools are fairly new and learning about them in depth through our course blogs has given us a great advantage in understanding the Web 2.0 environment. In our own schools, we are eager to share our new knowledge and put these new tools to use.  However, despite our own personal enthusiasm for these tools and applications, we need to be prepared that not everyone will embrace the Web 2.0 environment as eagerly as we have for many weeks.  In some ways, as “digital immigrants,” we have acquired a new language that is not spoken in many of our schools.  It is very possible that we may find ourselves alone, despite our willingness to share new understandings of how best to integrate these new tools into current practices.

In considering which of these new tools I plan to introduce to my staff, I am faced with the following dilemma. As I have previously mentioned during the course, our school division (like many others) employs a proxy server that filters web content to our schools. As much as I would like to introduce photo sharing sites like Flickr or multimedia sharing sites such as VoiceThread, I realize that these sites are not available for use in our schools at this time. Even if I was able to demonstrate how these sites might be used in a classroom setting, I don’t think it would be wise to tantalize colleagues with cool tools that are not at their disposal for school use.

As well, I believe that if I am to advocate for increased access to Web 2.0 tools in our schools, it is important that I first exhaust the teaching and learning potential for those tools that are already available for use through our Sharepoint portal.  From our portal, we are able to use blogs, wikis and podcasts within a secure environment.  Although this may seem to be a rather artificial setting, teachers and students can practise their information skills in a Web 2.0-like environment from within the privacy of the divisional portal.  What we are able to negotiate in terms of releasing some of our restrictions in the future will depend, in part, on how well demonstrate our use of the tools that we do have.  I believe that it will be necessary to prove that we have reached a certain level of expertise with the tools in the portal, before we can reasonably ask for consideration of a wider audience. 

The tool that I would initially choose to explore with staff would be the wiki. The main advantage is that it is readily available for everyone to use – students, teachers and other divisional staff – through their “My site” space from within the divisional portal.  The wiki environment is non-threatening and gives all learners a level playing field.  In “Exploring the wiki world: the new face of collaboration,” Sarah Ann Long acknowledges that wikis work well because “the participation of many increases the likelihood of buy-in by all concerned, as well as the possibility of a better product in the end… It is the old adage, “many heads are better than one.” 

In my own work, I am already introducing wikis to school library personnel, as a means of collaboratively planning professional development opportunities for both teacher-librarians and library assistants.  From my “My site” space, I am able to invite interested library personel to participate in the planning by assigning them permissions as “contributors.” In this way, everyone can provide input and the PD committee can review what the library staff needs and interests are in regards to planning their professional development activities.  At present, I use two separate wikis – one for teacher-librarians, and another for library assistants and technicians.  All library staff may read both wikis, but only members of each group may make changes by editing the content.  By using wikis in this manner, I hope to give all library staff members the opportunity to learn how to use this new tool, but within the framework of an authentic purpose.  We need to develop an ongoing professional learning plan, so we are using this new tool to manage and discuss content that we might otherwise be organizing by email or through monthly meetings.  Using the wiki with real purpose is key to adopting its use in other areas.

Wikis and the school library

In her article and powerpoint presentation entitled “Wikis in school libraries,” Dana Dukic observes that “among [all the] different Web 2.0 applications wikis are particularly attractive for school libraries” and I couldn’t agree more. Not only are wikis easy to use, but they are also so versatile that they can be effective for many different purposes in the school library:

• creating online tutorials (information skills)
• collaborative projects (research, problem solving, writing, journaling, portfolios, study guides)
• creating lists collaboratively (collection development, book lists, theme lists, summer reading lists)
• writing book reviews (peer reviews and recommendations)
• building a database of professional resources (online articles, slideshows, websites)
• professional development (Schlib)

In “An information skills workout: wikis and collaborative writing,” by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, the authors also suggest examining “your school and library collection development and technology use policies as they apply to the wiki environment.”  Even though wikis are wonderful collaborative spaces that students and teachers can use to synthesize new knowledge, it is also important for users to be savvy to issues such as the quality of peer editing, plagiarism, and the use of personal information such as real names and photos.  My next step might be to include a policy statement for wiki use that reflects and references our own divisional “IT Acceptable Use & Safety” document.

Implications for teaching and learning of adults (andragogy)

Teachers have very demanding jobs that require that they take on many different roles during the school day – teacher, facilitator, role-model, counsellor, parent, reader, writer, mathematician, scientist, historian, artist and technology expert, to name a few.  With all that they need to do in their jobs, added responsibilities and new ways of thinking are not always as welcome as we might like to think.  When change is on the horizon, it can be difficult for individuals to embrace new developments, unless the necessary support systems are firmly in place.

This is especially true of new technologies that impact the way teachers teach and students learn. If teachers cannot envision how they might use these new technologies in their current practice, they may be reluctant to try unfamiliar methods and new tools.  If they perceive these changes as unrelated to their work with students, feelings of resistance can quickly surface.   All learners, both students and adults, can transition through change more easily when they are able to identify a worthwhile purpose and a true understanding for the implementation of new trends or policies.

In order to support our school library staff in learning how to use these new Web 2.0 tools, we have worked together with the instructional technology department to offer mini sessions in blogging and using wikis.  Sometimes these sessions are embedded into other PD events and other times they are offered after classes at different schools.  In “The Read/Write School Library,”author Michael Stephens advocates “hands-on staff development workshops” to help teachers learn these new tools.  He advises that, if possible, it’s “even better to bring the course to teachers and administrators [to foster] the buy-in necessary to facilitate a 2.0 framework.”  If we expect our teachers to invest their time in learning new tools like wikis, we also need to ensure that they understand how to use them effectively in concert with our divisional priorities of teaching and learning.

Teacher-librarians as change agents

In order to assist teachers and other school staff to explore the potential of the Web 2.0 environment, teacher-librarians are able to offer support and instruction in adopting these new tools for learning. In their article “Change agentry: an essential role for library media specialists, Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Violet Harada describe how teacher-librarians are well-equipped to act as “change agents” in supporting staff during times of unsettling change:

1. “Big Picture” overview (teacher-librarians work with everyone in the school which gives them a unique perspective including “a broad view of the curriculum, student learning needs, teaching styles, resources and technology use.” Not only are they poised to identify problems that might arise, they are also able to assist staff in working through their concerns)
2. Collaboration (teacher-librarians are “experienced collaborators” and have expertise in “collaborative planning, teaching, and assessment”)
3. Flexibility (teacher-librarians have “the flexibility and time to model effective teaching practices and to act as coaches and mentors” – they can work with teachers by co-teaching, modelling new strategies and helping teachers to improve their own teaching practices)
4. Continuous learning (teacher-librarians are always learning and “must stay current with educational trends, emerging technologies, new resources and community connections”)
5. Instructional partnerships (teacher-librarians are not involved in teacher evaluation, like administrators, so they are viewed more as colleagues, and teachers are more willing to share their concerns with them)

Source: Hughes-Hassell, S. & Harada, Violet H. (2007) “Change agentry: an essential role for library media specialists,” School Reform and the school library media specialist. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Integrating new technologies

As all these new technologies begin to impact how we teach and learn in our schools, teacher-librarians are in an important position to help colleagues and administrators navigate this new Web 2.0 landscape. As “change agents,” teacher-librarians may act as “caregivers, faclitators, coaches, enablers, negotiators, or catalysts” (Hughes-Hassell & Harada, 2007) that provide support to teachers in their daily work during periods of change and shifts in the information landscape.

In collaboration with our instructional technology coordinator, our teacher-librarians have been recruited to act as “change agents” by working together with classroom teachers to support inquiry-based learning experiences and the implementation of our ICT continuum. We began this process in spring of last year by using three separate wiki environments, set up by our instructional technology coordinator, as planning spaces for three groups of teacher-librarians. Each group used a wiki to collaborate on creating a list of ICT skills students should be able to manage at K-3, 4-6 and 7/8 grade levels.

Sample excerpt from grades 4-6 teacher-librarian planning wiki:

Please add items that you feel would be important to have on the grades 4-6 ICT continuum.  What should students in this age group be able to do with ICT in order to support inquiry?

Cognitive Domain

• use search engine appropriately within customized search
• refine word searches (keywords, boolean)
• demonstrate knowledge of various search engines
• understand the various domain naming conventions (extentions such as .org .net .edu)
• note-making skills (avoid plagiarism)
• use of graphic organizers (Inspiration)
• use of applications other than word processing (excel, powerpoint, tables, one note)
• how to navigate between two open programs and/or panes
• purposeful use of Intranet email
• how to import files (audio, video, music, picture images)
• how to use the iPAC or online library catalogue to search for resources
• use printer etiquette and understand printer status
• navigate the “hand in” and “hand out” folders on the desktop
• use electrontic databases for research (World Book Online, eLibrary, visual thesaurus)
• understand the use of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and wikis
• recognize the limitations of Wikipedia

Affective Domain

• applies “Acceptable Use” document
• cyber safety
• evaluates the authority of online resources
• respects copyright and acknowledges authorship of intellectual property (crediting sources)
• ethics (plagiarism, cyber bullying, hatred promoting sites, licenced software)
• collaboration over distance

The teacher-librarians were able to add, remove and amalgamate ideas that eventually resulted in organizing all their outcomes for student learning into two domains, the cognitive and the affective, complementing our Literacy with ICTcontinuum in Manitoba.  After using the wiki to organize their thinking, the teacher-librarians began the process of creating and integrating specific ICT lessons into the inquiry model (Alberta Learning’s Focus on Inquiry) used for student research.

This fall, our teacher-librarians began planning an inquiry-based learning experience, with a classroom teacher from their school, that included implementing the “big ideas” of the ICT continuum, as well as Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis and podcasts.   This initiative was supported by professional development sessions in questioning and building a culture of inquiry.   Release time for planning was also provided in which both teacher-librarians and their classroom teacher partners could collaborate in exploring new Web 2.0 tools within the portal and consider how they might use these tools within the context of their inquiry project.

Over the months of October and November, the projects have been taking place in the schools and we are eager to find out how the learning of both the adults and students has evolved.  In January, our group will meet again to share our experiences in how these new tools were used to support student inquiry and encourage student engagement.  The School Board has expressed an interest in this project, and we will certainly take the opportunity to share our personal reflections on the process with members of the Board.  We hope to offer a similar project in the spring, with a new group of classroom teachers.

Envisioning the big picture while supporting divisional priorities for student learning

In many ways, the role of the teacher-librarian seems to be gaining momentum like never before.  With the predominence of technology in our everyday lives, information skills that comprise our school library programs have re-newed value and interest in this new information landscape where anyone can create and publish content for the world to view.  By teaming teacher-librarians and classroom teachers together as instructional partners, there is increased opportunity for students and staff to benefit from these powerful collaborations.  It is our hope that these partnerships will advocate the use of new learning tools and generate further interest in the Web 2.0 culture.

In our division, school library staff are working collaboratively with instructional technology leaders to realize our mutual goals in supporting our divisional priorities for student learning.  The purpose of our divisional inquiry project is multifold -  to increase the profile of the teacher-librarian as an instructional partner in our schools; to provide leadership in inquiry-based learning; to support teachers in implementing the ICT continuum into their practise; to assist teachers in understanding new technologies and how they might best use them in their classooms; and ultimately to enhance teaching and support student learning in our school division.  These are worthy goals that make it an exciting time to be a teacher-librarian in our schools.

In “The Read/Write School Library,” Micheal Stephens quotes David Warlick as declaring “that today’s students experience a rich, collaborative world – until they enter school.  The same goes for libraries.”  He goes on to ask “Can blocking social networking sites do students any good as they navigate the information world?… How then can school librarians and others who serve digital natives begin to engage these technologies?”    These will be the future challenges for school library staff as we eventually become more immersed in the Web 2.0 culture.

In January of this year, I quite figuratively stumbled into a session with David Warlick at the Ontario Library Association’s 2008 Super Conference in Toronto. I had arrived for my Friday morning session only to discover that it had been cancelled because the presenter had taken ill during the night. The convenor at the door suggested we attend David Warlick’s presentation over in the next venue because he had a large ballroom and could probably fit a few more in. It seemed to be the thing to do, so I followed along with the other displaced conference delegates.

When I arrived, I discovered that the ballroom was indeed large, but there was a reason for that – there was almost nowhere left to sit, except the front row. I began to wonder who was this man and why hadn’t I ever heard of him before? Over the next hour and fifteen minutes, my questions were answered and I was already scoping out how I could juggle my conference program to hear his next session with online education expert Stephen Heppell.

David Warlick’s presentation entitled Harnessing the changing shape of information was probably the beginning of my journey to understanding what it means to be literate in the 21st century. The idea that I was a 20th century teacher, raised on 19th century pedagogy, entrusted with preparing 21st century learners for “a future that we can not clearly describe” was daunting, to say the least. As I sat in that front row, just how much teaching and learning was changing, started to unfold.

During the conference, I noticed that many of the presenters, Warlick included, were very interested in attending other sessions when they were not presenting. So it was not unusual to be sitting next to or behind someone who had been on stage in your previous session. I surmised that the presenters’ lounge must have been empty most of the time. It was apparent that the delegates were not the only ones attending this conference to learn.

When I checked out David Warlick’s 2¢ worth blog after returning home, I was very interested to read the blog entries he had posted during the conference, including a live blog reaction to Stephen Heppell’s opening plenary session, Learning at the crossroads. Blogging as a vehicle for initiating, customizing and sustaining professional development was already well underway.

Professional Development in the 21st century

David Warlick refers to the 21st century as the “age of learning.” He uses the term “learning literacy” to describe the information environment to help yourself learn what you need to know, to do what you need to do (from “Together for learning: Transforming school libraries in Ontario, 2008 Draft).

Similarly, in The world is flat, Thomas Friedman states “the first and most important ability you can develop in a flat world is the ability to ‘learn how to learn’ – to constantly absorb, and teach yourself new ways of doing old things or new ways of doing new things… In such a world, it is not only what you know but how you learn that will set you apart.”

In the 21st century, professional development is also becoming more personal and more accessible through organizations like the OLA’s Education Institute where you can choose the mode of delivery that best meets your needs – PD online, audio, web, face-to-face or even “to-go” such as a podcast. “Professional development that doesn’t break the bank,” presented by Carolyn Minor, Sherri Vokey, and Kathleen Williams, and sponsored by the Manitoba Library Association, discusses how important professional development is in changing times. The presenters refer to blogs as “cost savvy and timely options” for professional development. Blogs are also an appealing format for professional learning because they can be scanned for the most up-to-date news and there are so many opportunities to learn generated from their content.

In “Supporting teachers’ development of extended social networks for teaching and learning,” (from Web 2.0: new tools, new schools), Christine Greenhow states that “if we hope teaching practises will shift to benefit from Web 2.0 technologies, we ought to reexamine our own professional development models and the examples we are providing” (p.109). She adds that “our professional development models should involve teachers in how we use and struggle to use such tools meaningfully and how we ourselves wrestle with and resolve such issues” (p.110). If teachers are to use these new tools to their full potential, they will need to do more than just use them in their lessons for students. They will need to examine how these tools can support student learning and enhance their own teaching. According to Solomon and Schrum, the best way to do this is for teachers “to use the technology to learn how to use the technology” (p.111).

Blogging and Professional Development

In Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, Will Richardson refers to blogs as a “truly constructivist tool for learning.” Teachers can use blogs to create their own content which becomes part of the web and used by others. Blogs “expand the walls of the classroom” and allow teachers to engage in more powerful collaborations with educators all over the world. Blogs can be organized and archived, for future use and professional development. Since they are searchable, teachers can easily access the information they need. Blogs give teachers “a voice in the conversation” from wherever they are in the world. They give teachers the opportunity to analyze what they read and synthesize new ideas.

In Staff development 2.0, David Jakes predicts that professional development for teachers will need to “evolve with changing technology,” with an “emphasis on accountability and customized learning.” He believes that web tools like blogs “make it possible for educators to define their own personal learning environments.”

As a professional development facilitator, the blog is a versatile and economical Web 2.0 tool that teachers can use to further their own personal learning. David Jakes refers to Web 2.0 resources like blogs as “the raw material for rapid personal growth, because they allow educators to see what others are writing, reading and finding on the web.”

Advantages of blogging for professional development

• connectivity (blogs encourage teachers to connect with and learn from their colleagues, no matter where they are, as long as they have Internet access)
• expert advice (blogs give teachers the opportunity to contact experts in the field of education because distance is no longer a barrier)
• professional conversation (blogs promote dialogue and discussion among educators, ideas can be “refined, developed or expanded”)
• professional learning networks (blogs allow teachers to build their own PLNs where they can focus on a topic of interest, ask questions, learn from each other, and comment on each others’ thoughts; professional development viewed as organic and ongoing, rather than as a “one-shot experience”)
• transparency (”blogs enable us to see others’ thinking – or lack of thinking” – Michael Guhlin from Blogs: webs of connected learning)
• hyperlinking (blogs use hyperlinking to bring teachers to new sites and new ideas; hyperlinking allows teachers to build a personal library of favorite online resources, as well as gain easy access to the blogs and ideas of others
• RSS (blogs can subscribe to RSS feeds, providing teachers with the most recent information on a subject of interest)
• access (blogs often provide teachers with “access to conference sessions or meetings that they may not be able to attend”)
• reflection (blogs encourage reflection which is “critical to professional growth and development” – David Jakes from Staff development 2.0)
• economical (blogging is a cost efficient alternative to attending expensive conferences)

(Source: Solomon, G and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: ISTE).

A quality exemplar from “The Fischbowl”

In a June 2006 weblogg-ed entry entitled “Blogs for professional development,” Will Richardson refers to Karl Fisch, the Director of Technology at Arapahoe High School in Centennial Colorado. In his post, Richardson describes how teachers at Arapahoe High School have crafted “a staff development program with real vision, and how blogs have become pretty central to how Karl Fisch and his teachers reflect on their practise and create community around common goals.” The Fischbowl is “a staff development blog for teachers exploring constructivism and 21st century learning skills.” As a structure for professional development, the Fischbowl succeeds because…

• program is funded by several grants
• teachers receive release time to meet and focus on their goals
• teachers are encouraged to reexamine their beliefs about education, question how they are teaching, and reflect on their current practice
• teachers learn to work together better in order to support student learning
• teachers freely discuss issues students are facing in times of change
• teachers maintain both personal and class blogs to document their learning

Revelations

Learn to blog

I am learning to blog which allows me… to self-direct and take responsibility for my own learning, to create a blogroll of blogs I follow, to use RSS to receive the newest information, to bookmark my favorite sites, to hyperlink to new knowledge, to personalize my electronic space, to organize my information, and to think both critically and creatively.

Blog to learn

I am blogging to learn which allows me… to connect with others, to share with others, to voice my ideas, to listen to what others are saying, to comment on what I read, to build professional learning communities, to collaborate with others, to appreciate the opinions of others, to challenge old ways of teaching, to consider new possibilities, and to reflect on my practise.

Learning to learn

The opportunity to blog this fall has afforded many online professional development opportunities that have resulted from the research of my classmates and professor, as well as my own. The reciprocity of the Web 2.0 landscape enables us to learn from so many different sources and in so many different ways. The network of links, media and web sites that builds and evolves from a personal blog is unique, yet shared… vast, yet fruitful.

The theme of the Ontario Library Association’s 2009 Super Conference is “You live. You learn” and will focus on “three vital stages of learning,” all of which can be facilitated through personal blogging and reading the blogs of others:

1. learning to learn
2. deepening and broadening learning
3. self-directed learning

This year when I return to the 2009 Super Conference, I will be better prepared to make the most of this learning experience. I will take re-newed interest in the conference blog, not only as a follower, but as a participant, as well. I know that the presenters’ names will hold more meaning this time and I will know who Will Richardson is when I enter the Friday session to hear the presentation entitled “A web of connections: why the read/write web changes everything.”

About this time of year, our traditional mailboxes become overflowing with renewal notices for our favorite magazine subscriptions. If you’re like me, you start off wondering, “How could this be? Didn’t I just pay that subscription? How could it be up so soon?” … and then you realize, no these aren’t your annual renewal notices… these are your “free” holiday gift subscriptions!

This holiday season, subscribe to “Macleans” and give the gift of news. Subscribe to “National Geographic” and give the gift of the world. Subscribe to “The Beaver” and give the gift of history. No charge for postage. No charge for delivery. No charge for handling. No charge of any kind… and receive a free gift subscription for a friend or relative as our holiday gift …that is, if you renew your own subscription half a year in advance! Can a free gift subscription ever offer real simple syndication?

Well, maybe… As Reid Goldsborough says at the beginning of his article entitled “Personal Computing: Keeping up with RSS” – “Imagine having delivered to you just the information that you need as soon as it becomes available.”

Now doesn’t that seem like a free gift worth the subscription?

What is real simple syndication (RSS)?

Real simple syndication, or more commonly known as RSS, is a free Web 2.0 tool that allows frequent users of the Internet to manage the vast amounts of information that comes their way. RSS is particularly helpful at keeping you informed of content on the web that is constantly changing. The evolution of the Read/Write Web has seen such an increase in the content produced on the Internet, that the need to be able to effectively manage reading all your favorite blogs, news feeds and websites has become a necessity. Today many websites and most blogs have an RSS feed to which interested readers can subscribe. In order to organize what you read online using RSS, all you need to do is choose an aggregator, select the feeds that interest you, subscribe and read the content that comes directly your way. Sites where a feed is available are often indicated with RSS or XML icons.

What are blog aggregators?

A blog aggregator is a “news reader” that manages the blogs you subscribe to in one central location. It can be time consuming to visit all your favorite blogs and sites on a regular basis, looking for new information or postings. Any time there is any change to web content that you are following, your RSS reader will retrieve them and collect the new information until you are ready to read it. Even though you can download news reader programs to your computer, web-based aggregators like Google Reader and Bloglines help you stay up-to-date from any computer. Using aggregators saves time because they put you more in control of what you read and when you read it.

This week, I tried both Bloglines and Google Reader, but I chose to commit to Google Reader as my aggregator of choice. As an “edublogger,” I have also come to rely on the advice of Sue Waters at Edublog.com and she advocates the use of Google Reader. My Google Reader Account makes it easy for me to organize my feeds into folders and scan the “headlines” at a glance. I can “star” posts that I may want to return to and I can email ones I want to share. I can even designate my feeds as private or public.

One of my favorite features of the aggregator is that it takes note of what feeds I am following and it makes suggestions for new feeds, based on what it sees I’m interested in. So far, I have been very impressed with some of the choices it has been recommending for my consideration. It’s not unlike having a personal RSS shopper.

Implications for teaching and learning

Anyone who uses the Internet on a regular basis knows how difficult it can be to “tame the beast.” As web content continues to grow by leaps and bounds, our students will need to be able to manage new information using RSS subscriptions and web-based readers. In Will Richardson’s book Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, Manitoba teacher, Clarence Fisher is quoted from his blog as saying that “an aggregator is like a personal information filter. Without it the Web is a big and scary place.” He believes that teachers must begin to see themselves as personal online guides for their students and help them to learn “to fill their aggregators with content that is relevant and useful for them.”

For educators that use student blogging as a learning tool, RSS can be a real time saver in moderating content. By simply subscribing to your students’ blogs, keeping up-to-date in reading daily content from a class or classes becomes significantly easier and more manageable.

Students might find RSS subscriptions useful when researching a topic, especially current events where the content is frequently being updated. By setting up an RSS feed to an aggregator, the information comes to the student, rather than the student having to locate that information on their own.

In an age where learning how to learn and self-directed learning are taking centre stage, using RSS feeds to gather current information has become a necessity for educators. It can even facilitate our own customized professional development plans. I can see an immediate use for RSS as a support to my personal growth plan. Sue Waters provides an excellent list of top Edubloggers (compiled by Aseem Banshah) as a means of getting started at subscribing to quality feeds.

In regards to using RSS in schools with our students, I wonder what kind of a role our divisional filter will play? We are preparing to move into Sharepoint which does use RSS feeds, but to what degree it will allow or filter outside subscriptions remains to be seen. It may be that our students and staff use RSS in our schools, but within the confines of the Sharepoint portal.

RRS technology is also surfacing within our educational databases like Ebscohost and Proquest. Database users now have the option to use RSS from within a database search. Imagine subscribing to your initial search and being updated any time a new article becomes available on the topic of your original search. In “The POWER of RSS: instant information updating based on quality searches,” author Stephen Cohen calls RSS “a hip technology” and believes that the addition of RSS feeds may help librarians in “selling” subscription databases more readily to students. Our school divisions invest substantial funds into the purchase of subscription databases, not to mention the high quality of these types of resources, therefore it is important to keep them at the forefront… and RSS can help libraries keep these types of resources within our patrons’ radar.

Revelations

At first venture into using RSS feeds, it seems rather straightforward – you want to keep track of certain blogs or sites that interest you and your reader brings that information to you by way of subscription. The revelation is that this is, but only a very small part, of the potential that is RSS. You can also subscribe to news feeds, comments to your posts or those of others, as well as view other people’s bookmarks… and it all comes right to your own front door.

In her edublog post entitled “Are you making your life easier by using RSS?“, Sue Waters states that “RSS makes your life easy but for people new to RSS, its easy to overlook it’s importance… how to use if effectively should be a priority.” She also goes on to say that it is important for users to experience RSS “first hand” to really develop an understanding how you can use it best to meet your needs. I would agree that knowing about RSS and actually using it, are two different understandings

We have all been doing a great deal of online reading this term and RSS can make this happen more efficiently. There is so much worth reading, but the feeds we choose to subscribe to are those that we value most. In the December 2007 issue of “Teacher-Librarian, Esther Rosenfeld refers to RSS subscriptions as being necessary to “staying up-to-date in the blogoshere.” She differentiates between what’s important to read online and what’s “worth reading on a regular basis” online. The latter being most worthy of our attention through RSS subscriptions.

I know that I have just scratched the surface in terms of what the potential is for using RSS feeds. It will be important to continue to pursue the possibilities and look for opportunities to incorporate them into my daily practise online. I would agree with Stephen Cohen when he makes the following observation in “The POWER of RSS: instant information updating based on quality searches” – “While not a new technology in internet terms (RSS has been around since 1997), it is one that will continue to evolve and its usuage will only increase. RSS truly is Real Simple Syndication.”

Social networking isn’t really a new concept. For hundreds of years, we have been making connections with each other in one way or another. For example, let’s consider Jane Austen’s world at the turn of the 19th century when social networking was a real art form and everything depended, to some extent, on your interpersonal skills and your place in society – your profession, your income, your marriage, and even your friendships.

In “What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew,” Daniel Pool describes the “calling cards” of the 1800s and how people used these cards to “get into society.” People “wanted to claim members of the elite as their friends” and become “part of the social world of those who were the social world.” In some cases, the calling card was used “to screen those who would be allowed some entrée from those who would not.”

Sound familiar?

What is meant by online social networking?

In their article “InfoTech: want to be my friend? What you need to know about social technologies,” Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson describe social networking as “a particular application of social software” that “facilitates the creation of informal and formal connections among people with similar interests to form online communities.”

In Lee Lefever’s video, “Social networking in plain English,” we learn that the difference between social networks in the real world and online, is that in the real world, connections between people are hidden. All members of an online network can see each other and bring useful opportunities for networking with others to the forefront. These networks make connections between people “visible, and therefore more useful.”

Michael Stephens makes an interesting observation in “Social networking services,” when he says that “many people have discovered a way to extend their lives online – to engage with others, to talk, and to get a response.”  In response, one might ask – Does participation in an online social network guarantee one’s own mortality?

Common characteristics of social networking sites

• users need to register as members to view and participate on these sites
• users enter information into their personal profile
• users can connect with other members who have similar interests
• users can be invited to join a group or become “a friend”
• user-generated content (music, video, mashups)
• online communication can be “live” or “delayed”
• one-to-one communication (email, instant messaging, comments)
• one-to-many options (web site profiles, blogs)
• many-to-many participation (online collaboration, wikis, polls, surveys)
• most sites include “digital sharing areas” for social bookmarking, photos, video, and audio
• users can set privacy permissions as to who has access to their personal information and media
• international membership

Advantages of social networking

• family and friends can connect online, from all over the world
• most teens use these sites to stay in touch with friends (both locally and at a distance)
• opportunity to establish “support networks” for specific needs (allows you to connect with the friends of friends, and so on…)
• collaborative, participatory environment can promote creativity
• users have access to new information and personal contacts like never before
• gives students who are too shy to speak up in class a chance to find their voice
• opportunity “to create personal and meaningful content”
• “transforms learning” as users have access to a wide network of information and personal contacts

(Source: Hayes, Sandi. (2007). The MySpace culture).

Disadvantages of social networking

• loss of face-to-face communication
• risk of building a network of friends you don’t actually have and have never met
• cyberbullying (posting threats or insults to a wide audience, offensive postings by “friends”)
• inexperienced young users who lack online information skills (internet safety, sharing personal information, evaluating online content, intellectual property, ethics and responsibility)
• publishing of inappropriate material online
• invasion of privacy (too easy to post personal info, photos, and video)
• new legal concerns for schools in regards to inappropriate conduct by students, outside school hours
• often blocked from school use, which makes it difficult to educate students in how to use these networks safely
• copyright and plagiarism concerns
• can slow down productivity, both at home and at work

(Source: Brydolf, Carol. (2007). Minding MySpace: balancing the benefits and risks of students’ online social networks).

Why online social networks attract our students

• enjoy socializing with their friends online
• participatory environment and the opportunity to be involved in authentic experiences
• sense of belonging to a community
• opportunity to meet new people with similar interests from all over the world
• allows them to have immediate contact with others
• allows them to gather information and share ideas
• enjoy a sense of freedom, independence, adventure and risk-taking

(Source: Lamb, Annette and Larry Johnson. (2006). InfoTech: want to be my friend? What you need to know about social technologies).  

My top 5

Facebook is considered to be not only the “world’s largest social network,” but the “fasted growing” one as well (Source: comScore).  Originally developed for use in colleges, Facebook is now frequented by a wide variety of users who join networks “by city, workplace, school, and region, to connect and interact with other people” (Source: Wikipedia).  Even though Facebook has come under public scrutiny, it maintains a strong privacy policy that gives users control over who may view their personal profiles and how much they can see.  Membership on Facebook continues to grow rapidly, due to the availability of translated versions of the site that are now attracting a wider international audience.

MySpace describes itself as a “lifestyle portal for connecting with friends.”  After several years as the leading social networking site, it is currently ranked second in popularity next to Facebook.  Wikipedia describes MySpace as “an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos. It appeals to teens, but has also evolved into attracting a more adult clientele.

Linkedin describes itself as a “business oriented” social networking site and is primarily used for professional networking.  This social networking site encourages users to maintain a ”contact network” for business purposes.  People are referred to as “connections,” rather than “friends.”  Linkedin helps users to find jobs, search for potential employers, use their contacts to make introductions to new employers and provide job recommendations.

LibraryThing is “a social cataloguing web application” that allows users “to catalog personal collections, to keep reading lists, and to meet other users who have the same books” (Wikipedia).  Users, also known as “thingamabrarians,” can choose to keep their catalogue private, but most prefer to leave it public so that they can connect with others who have the same reading preferences.

Ning is unique in that it allows anyone to create their own custom, personal network or web site.  As a social network, the ning appeals to users who want “to create networks around specific interests” (Wikipedia).  It is an especially good choice for those users with limited technical expertise because it uses customized templates, and allows the creator to monitor content and set permissions.  Ning is popular with educators in developing educational resources.  In the article “Expanding your professional network with Nings,” by Esther Rosenfeld, the author states that “Ning has great potential value as an educational tool, especially for professional development and building professional connections.”  She also suggests using Ning to lead book discussions or as a meeting place for your teacher-librarian group.

Implications for teaching and learning

A 2007 study, from the Pew Research Centre, reported that approximately half of online users, aged 12-17, have social networking accounts.  A more recent study from Grunwald Associates suggests that the numbers of users has continued to increase, attracting children as young as nine years of age to social networking sites.  Knowing what we know about how some students portray themselves online or how they can publish and broadcast cruel content about others, perhaps teachers have good reason to be wary of advocating the use of social networks for teaching and learning.

However, there are many great opportunities for improving student learning, if social networking is advocated in a positive way:

• many of these sites offer opportunities to blog and write for a real audience
• students can build their own personal libraries of books, music and vides
• students can share their own self-generated content with others who can provide real feedback
• opportunities for students to develop online critical thinking and communication skills
• students can establish safe and more effective posting practises

In “What can MySpace teach us in school libraries?” Stephen Abram reminds us that since “learning is essentially a social activity,” educators need to give more serious consideration to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.  Meredith Farkas, in “Your stuff, their spaces,” would seem to agree when she talks about how libraries can use social networks to reach their patrons.  Quite simply, “you need to go, where the users are.”  In fact, librarians and libraries are already using networks like Facebook and MySpace to promote library services, advertise events, create online book clubs and organize study groups.  Librarians might also review profiles of patrons to develop a greater understanding of their needs, their preferences and their reading habits.  If our students are going to be frequent participants on social networking sites, Michael Stephens (”Social networking servivces”) cautions that “we [librarians] may want to be present there – ready to discuss and answer questions.”

In “Together for learning:Transforming school libraries in Ontario,” the inclusion of character development complements how teacher-librarians might educate students in using social networking services. There is new emphasis on practising safe and ethical behaviours online, demonstrating academic honesty, valuing other individuals (ideas and cultures), respecting intellectual property, using social tools responsibly, respecting intellectual freedom, and respecting privacy.  In “Scaffolding the new social literacies,” author Stephen Abram reminds us that “those schools that block social sites rather than taking advantage of a teachable moment are missing something.”  He adds that “smart schools will offer more balanced viewpoints and information.”

Reflections

As part of my research on social networking this week, I carried out my own informal search on how people within my personal network use these online services.  On Facebook, I browsed for the profiles of several library colleagues and found that many of the younger members of our library staff are indeed represented, while older, more established members, are not – no real surprise.  I browsed for teenaged children of my friends and quickly found their profiles, usually photographed with groups of friends.  I was surprised to learn, that in some cases, even though they were aware that their son or daughter was on Facebook, they hadn’t actually viewed their own child’s site.  I also found a cousin of mine on both Facebook and Linkedin, with two very different personal profiles.  While the Facebook entry was casual and included photos of his family, his Linkedin profile was highly polished with a formal studio portrait for his photo.  The different uses of the two networks were well defined by how he represented himself in each environment.

I wouldn’t call myself a “social butterfly” by any means, but after having joined Joyce Valenza’s Teacher Librarian Network on Ning, I am beginning to understand the appeal of social networking sites, especially in regards to establishing a wide-reaching professional development network. Ning means “peace” and that’s exactly what this site gave me.  I felt somewhat anxious about joining a social network site like Facebook or MySpace, so the opportunity to find and join a ning that I could actually sustain membership in, even after the course was over, was a welcome relief.  If I’m going to commit to a social networking site, I want it to be something that I will use and contribute to beyond my initial registration.

Teacher-librarians can sometimes find themselves rather isolated in a school, so I’m pleased to learn that these sites exist… and there are online places where we can network and connect with others who have similar teaching assignments, but different experiences.  Edward Albro (”Ning and Nexo: Do-it-yourself social networks”) tells us that even though Facebook and MySpace have led the way, the next step will be “social networks that you start yourself”… and for me, that would mean a Ning.

Our voice is our personal way of expressing ourselves, and sharing our ideas and personal thoughts. As I listened to the voicethreads of educators sharing ideas on how they would use social media technology in their classrooms, I was entralled to hear all the different voices and accents verbalizing their project ideas and planning as to how they might implement these tools in their curriculum. I was immediately struck by the realization of just how far reaching social media software extends around the world.

Social media gives all users an identity online and the opportunity to express themselves using their “voice.” In the article “Using social media to teach social media,” author Howard Rheingold talks about how “moving from a private to a public voice can help students turn their self-expression into a form of public participation.” When voices have a forum in which to dialogue and be heard, we are building the foundation for what might eventually evolve into “public opinion.”

What is social media?

In the article “Social media debate” by David Meerman Scott, social media is described as “the way people share ideas, content, thoughts, and relationships online. It differs from mainstream media, such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, “in that anyone can create, comment, and add to [the] content” in a variety of forms (text, audio, video, images). It can also be “changed on-the-fly” if it needs to be. Users of social media software can “comment on an item and see in real time how popular an article or video is and how many times it has been linked to or voted on.” It is also possible to “syndicate social media via RSS and mash it up (a video in a blog post, for example).”

In the online video “Social media in Plain English,” Lee Lefever describes three ways in which social media can help users to share their thoughts: describe, rate and comment. Lefever stresses the importance of social media in providing users with real feedback which can be invaluable to a business in terms of producing a better product, to meet the needs of the customer

In “Are you ready for social software,” S. Boyd identifies three main characteristics of social software:

1. Interaction (between individuals or groups, in collaborative workspaces online)

2. Feedback (enjoy having their voices heard, using online guest books, comment spaces, surveys and rating systems)

3. Connections (opportunity to build new relationships, establishing new contacts, identify others with similar interests and expriences

According to Howard Rheingold, social media such as blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, RSS, tags, podcasts, mashups, digital storytelling, virtual environments, tagging and others, all share the following three common characteristics:

1. all participants have the opportunity “to broadcast as well as receive” (“text, images, audio, video, software, data, discussions, tags or links, to and from every other person”)

2. power of social media “emerges from the active participation of many people” who, in a sense, form their own community

3. social media networks “enable broader, faster, and lower cost coordination of activities

When it comes to whether or not we should be taking advantage of these free online services, the opportunity to connect with those we don’t know has overshadowed how we might use these new tools. In the article “InfoTech: want to be my friend? What you need to know about social technologies,” Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson also argue that the news media has been quick to point out all the dangers of social networking software, but has neglected to recognize the increased “opportunities that this technology provides children and young adults to share ideas, debate issues, and make global connections.” According to Lamb and Johnson, social technology “refers to computer-mediated communication environments that connect people for cooperation, collaboration, and information sharing.”

Voicethread

A VoiceThread is “a collaborative, multimedia slide show” that shares images, documents, and videos with others. VoiceThread is unique in that it allows users to record “live annotations” while recording a presentation. In fact, there are five different ways to leave comments – by using your voice with a microphone, by using your voice on a phone, by typing the text of your response, by adding a graphic notation or by recording your audio or video file (such as a webcam). Friends, family, students and colleagues can similarly leave messages, using one or several of the same five ways.

A unique feature of Voicethreads is the ability for users to doodle while commenting. This allows users to draw attention to an area of a photo, to place greater emphasis on something they are making reference to in their comment. VoiceThreads can also be embedded on web sites, and exported to MP3 players or DVDs. A real advantage of using voicethreads, is that users can access and edit their content at any time, from anywhere in the world because everything is collected and shared from one place. This also means that whenever a voicethread is edited by a user, it will be updated and the new version becomes automatically available wherever it is accessed from online.

There are numerous wikis devoted to discussing the possibilities of using “Voicethreads” for student projects and professional development, as well as ideas for “best practises” on how to implement this software into school curriculums. “Voicethread4education,” “Think Machine: Think Voicethreads” and the Voicethread Ning, are but to name a few.

I found the Voicethread site easy to use and the online tutorials were most helpful. If educators are concerned about using Voicethreads on the open Internet, there is also “a web-based communications network for K-12 students available with the cost of a membership.

Implications for teaching and learning

In the article “InfoTech: want to be my friend? What you need to know about social technologies,” Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson describe why technology plays such an important role in the lives of our students. The authors remind us that this is “the first generation to grow up with interactive media, [and} they comfortably manipulate, remix, and share content.” Lamb and Johnson state that another reason social media is so popular with students is that “they want to feel part of what is happening in the world” and be actively involved in areas outside their immediate community. Relationships and having a sense of “belonging” are also important to young people.

In “Using social media to teach social media,” Howard Rheingold makes an interesting observation about 21st century learners in our schools. He says: “These young citizens are both self-guided and in need of guidance.” Students can use social media “to inform publics, advocate positions, contest claims, and organize action around issues they care about” (Rheingold, 2008). So in teaching social media, we can show students how they can use their voice, in collaboration with others of like mind, to effect positive change… which is a very powerful skill to foster among our youth.

In their new book, “The new learning commons: where learners win!” authors David Loertscher, Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan state that “learners may have mastered the skills of social networking for communicating with friends, but it is only when they blend them in the direction of their academic skills that they begin to develop the globally competitive skills they will need.” In the “Pew Internet and American Life Project (2006),” researcher Lee Rainie “notes that 57% of teens contribute to online common areas with creations such as artwork, audio and video, photos, and creative writing.” It would only follow that educators look for opportunities to use the social media tools that students are already familiar with using, in order to guide their learning in curricular content areas as well

After exploring Voicethread this week, I can easily see why this Web 2.0 tool has appeared on so many users “Top 10 Tools in 2008″ lists. The implications for teaching and learning in our schools are huge. As an “online media album,” Voicethread has the potential to engage learners in all sorts of new and wonderful ways.

In terms of digital storytelling, Voicethreads is a powerful tool for students to use to share their own stories, discuss books they are reading and respond to oral histories or current events. One interesting example I came across, documented a family vacation across the country, describing each stop with a photo and recorded description. This technique could also work well to document class field trips and share the experience with parents or an administrator. Other examples included students uploading their own artwork and then asking others to critique their work. Using the magnifying feature, this could also work for pieces of student writing.

Voicethreads would also be an effective tool in delivering professional development or reflecting on a PD experience. Our library assistants participated in an inter-school visitation project last week and I asked them to document their visits digitally. My original intention was to create an electronic slide show in the portal, but using voicethreads, I can now envision the library assistants providing their own voice and adding comments, reflecting on the experience with each other. What a powerful advocacy tool this could become in promoting their important work to school and divisional administrators!

Reflections

In “Best practices for social software in libraries,” Michael Stephens advises that it is important to implement “carefully chosen social tools that further the mission and vision of the library.” In other words, you don’t need to “take on” every new Web 2.0 tool that you come across, but rather “choose those that might best serve the needs of your users.” It makes sense that if a new tool addresses a student or staff need, chances are it will become part of our instructinal repertoire. Last week, Group 1 was discussing how there are certain Web 2.0 tools that we will probably return to again and again. Voicethreads is now at the top of my list.

This week, I chose to use several photographs of my mother as a child to create a voicethread entitled “A praire childhood.” My mother is 86 years old and struggles with chronic dementia. After exploring this week’s social media tools, I thought this might be a good opportunity to involve her in a project where I could use the help and she could feel successful in providing the background content. Together, we looked through an old album of photographs, and I selected several pictures that she was able to tell me about in detail. I was then able to record my comments based on the information she could remember growing up on her family farm. If she had felt more comfortable with the technology, it would have been really interesting to record her own recollections for each photo, using her voice, or even a blend of both our voices in dialogue. Even so, it was a very personal experience for both of us.

A Prairie Childhood