Looking Towards the Future

Jennifer Colby mentioned in “2,445 Hour of Code” that by 2020 there will be 1 million more jobs available that will require computer skills.  2020 is not so far off as we are about to enter 2019, students needs to be at least introduced to these computer concepts and skills before they start thinking about what jobs are out there for them once they graduate.

Something that has stuck with me this semester is the different skills and thinking that can be acquired through makerspaces.  Makerspaces can be hands on or digital which is where the coding and computer programing can be introduced. Makerspaces allow for students to work independently or collaboratively on anything that involves tinkering and making. This allows for students to learn perseverance as they try to figure out the best way in which to create or build. They develop a growth mindset as they explore the possibilities in front of them within the space.  

Social media, blog shares, and digital curation is a way in which libraries can promote, explain, and provide resources for their makerspaces.  These are also great advocating tools for libraries to use to acquire funding for makerspaces through school and district budgets along with grants. Low tech makerspaces incorporates the same skills as a high tech makerspace, but the high tech makerspaces are where the computer skills are more prevalent.  Todd Burleson and Sally Smoller predicted maker and coding trends to keep accelerating in the coming years in “Librarians Share Their Predictions for Education Trends in 2017.”  As I continue to learn more about makerspaces and maker programs, I plan to use what I have learned in this semester to help get my own program going.

Colby, J. (2015). 2,445 hours of code: What I learned from facilitating hour of code events in high school libraries. Knowledge Quest, 43(5), 12-17.

Sullivan, Brittany. (2016 Dec). Librarians Share Their Predictions for Education Trends in 2017. OOM Scholastic. Retrieved from http://oomscholasticblog.com/post/librarians-share-their-predictions-education-trends-2017

Ullman, Ellen. (2018 Dec). What's in Your Makerspace? eSchool News. Image retrieved from https://www.eschoolnews.com/2018/10/17/whats-in-your-makerspace/

Aurasma & Augmented Reality

I have really enjoyed exploring the tool Aurasma this week!  I have heard of this tool before but I did not understand really what it was.  After this module, I know realize this is called augmented reality or AR.  I have never heard of AR until tonight.  As soon as the example of Pokemon Go (I partook in the craze two summers ago hunting Pokemon around Charleston and DC) I started to understand what augmented reality really is and what Aurasma does.  Augmented reality is when a virtual world or display is layered on top of the real world such as shown in the Pokemon Go example pictured to the right.  

Now using augmented reality in the classroom!  Aurasma is an education friendly tool for teachers and students to use to enhance the learning and understanding of concern concepts.  I also loved the idea Phil Goerner suggested about creating AR reviews and summaries using library book covers.  Marc Brea gives five suggestions on how to use Aurasma AR in the classroom in here.   But before one can dive into creating a bunch of 'auras,' check out this quick  video demonstration where to find the Aurasma tool and how to create an aura.  Aurasma is a free tool accessible through iTunes and the Google Play Store.  For more information on Aurasma and augmented reality, EdTech is here!

If you are still feeling a little confused about augmented reality, check out this clip to see Aurasma in action throughout different classrooms.  After watching this I am super excited to start playing with Aurasma myself!

Alive Studios LLC.  (2016 Apr).  Quick Aurasma Demo for Teachers.  YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYm3DRHRuzs

Brea, Marc.  (2014 Feb).  5 Ways to Use Aurasma in the Classroom.  Teq.  https://www.teq.com/news/5-ways-use-aurasma-classroom/

Durrett, Billy.  (2016 Sept).  Tibbr Geo:  Augmented Reality That Helps You Collect Intelligence Not Monsters.  TIBC Blog.  https://www.tibco.com/blog/2016/09/07/tibbr-geo-augmented-reality-that-helps-you-collect-intelligence-not-monsters/

Goerner, Phil.  (2016 Sept).  Augmented Reality.  What's Next?  School Library Journal p. 19-20.

Holland, Beth.  (2018).  How to Start Using Augmented Reality in Education.  EdTech Teacher.  https://edtechteacher.org/how-to-start-using-augmented-reality-in-the-classroom-from-beth-holland-on-edudemic/

NteacherN.  (2014 Apr).  Aurasma in Action.  YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pouZhLhm5p8

Makerspaces!

At the beginning of the school year last year makerspaces were a foreign concept to me. My first district wide librarian PD I attended, one of the topics was creating a Tinker Tubs cohort to rotate maker materials between participating libraries.  I could kind of gather what this concept was but I was still just guessing.  I joined the cohort because I had a feeling this would be something great.  We had 3 meeting throughout the year and Heather Mooresfield-Lang from USC led us through the concepts and aspects of makerspaces.  By the middle of the year I really started to understand what went into a makerspace and its purpose in the library.  Last year I created a maker cart by painting an old book cart.  I keep low tech maker materials on this cart at all times in a corner of my library for students to create and make.  I also have a bin I keep in the storage room with some medium tech materials for students to use to create and make upon request.  

I am now a part of the Tinker Tub cohort for a second year where I have access to many more materials and I am collaborating with a 6th grade science teacher each month in different maker activities.  I am super excited for this opportunity to bring these district materials to my library for short periods of time, but I am still hesitant about how to create and implement a maker program in my library.  This week I decided to look at blogs focusing on the different elements of getting makerspace going to help me gather more ideas and gain more confidence in developing maker activities.  

A T&L Advisor blog titled 10 Tips for Launching Your Makerspace is extremely helpful.  This blog helped me realize I am doing somethings to work towards making a maker program, but there is much more that needs to be done.  A successful makerspace is launched by:
1) Picking a project
2) Finding your tribe
3) Taking stock
4) Finding a partner
5) Enlisting the community
6) Expanding your network
7) Keeping it simple
8) Telling your story
9) Failing forward
10) Propagating a maker culture 
A makerspace is not just the space and not just the materials, but how the materials and space are used to create an innovative and growth mindset culture.  There are so many great benefits makerspaces bring to the learning environment.  I am going to continue to work towards cultivating a bigger maker mindset in my library as the year continues and I get to further explore everything available to myself and my school through my cohort.  

Chun, Tracy.  Lowe, Bobbie.  (2018 July 27).  Top 10 tips for Launching Your Makerspace.  Tech & Learning.  https://www.techlearning.com/tl-advisor-blog/top-10-tips-for-launching-your-makerspace 

Makerspace & Literacy.  (2016).  Explorations in Literacy.  Image retrieved from https://explorationsinliteracyblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/maker-space-literacy/ 

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying, what a hot topic this is in today's world.  Children are introduced to technology, the internet, and social media before they can even walk.  I know someone who created an Instagram account this year for her baby who is not even 1 yet.  People have social media accounts for their pets, this is the world we live in now.  With the introduction of social media to children at such a young age, they do not comprehend the what is appropriate, what is unkind, and what can be damaging to them and their peers when something is posted.  At the middle school I used to work at, a group of 7th and 8th graders go into real trouble by circulating revealing pictures of each other.  This is something they have seen on TV, read about on the internet, and so on.  They did not realize the consequences of their actions such as the possibility of being charged with 'distribution of child pornography.'  In many incidences where students got in trouble for posting things on social media, many of them did not think through or even realize how this could be perceived  by others and also impact their future at such a young age.  I liked reading about the school district in Illinois that does a digital citizenship project between to schools allowing students to produce a relevant, meaningful product that actually gets them thinking about digital citizenship along with cyberbullying to realize the impacts different actions can have.  I like this image a lot that I posted above, THINK before you post or even write an email.  

What stood out to me this week is how cyberbullying is not just in a k-12 school.  Cyberbullying mostly refers to young people attacking each other but this is not an issue only faced by the youth in this country.  In this week's Seven Digital Deadly Sins resource, the wrath page  focused on cyberbullying and anger on the internet.  Looking at the internet anger piece along with the going through the questions about email confrontation, I started thinking about how adults cyberbully each other as well through email, social media, getting into a comment argument on a post or article on a web page.  We do need to focus a lot on the educating the youth about digital citizenship, but adults need to be educated as well.  Many of them did not have the internet until they were in the middle of their life, there was no school programs to help them understand to THINK before posting.  Many adults probably do not even realize the extent of the internet or the idea of the Six Degrees of Separation.  

As school librarians we need to focus on the youth in this country, they will be the future leaders in this Age of Technology.  I like how the Illinois school district really got their students involved in a project.  As librarians, we can work with guidance counselors to help them bring in digital citizenship discussions to their guidance orientations each year.  We can work with computer and technology teachers to help the integrate digital citizenship into their curriculum.   We can also collaborate with core teachers such as ELA to create digital citizenship lessons they can use in their classrooms or in the library with their students.  This week is Digital Citizenship Week, a library program could be put together a head of time to promote and highlight different concepts of digital citizenship.  There are many ways we as librarians can get involved in educating about digital citizenship to our students, the internet is full of resources.  

Guardian, The.  Nation Film Board of Canada.  (2014).  Seven Digital Deadly Sins.  http://sins.nfb.ca/#/Grid

Medford Area Middle School.  (2018).  Digital Citizenship/ Technology Skills.  Picture retrieved form https://www.medford.k12.wi.us/schools/middle/academics/digital-citizenship.cfm

Orech, J. (2012). How it's done: Incorporating digital citizenship into your everyday curriculum. Tech & Learning, 33(1), 16-18.

Smith, David.  (2008).  Proof!  Just six degrees of separation between us.  The Guardian.  https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/aug/03/internet.email

Flipgrid!

This week I chose to explore Flipgrid!  Flipgrid is a video platform where short videos can be uploaded from many different devices.  To find the correct grid on must enter a code similar to finding your correct Google classroom.  Students can interact with each other through commenting and discussing each other's videos within a specific grid. 

I decided to look more at Flipgrid this week because I would like to use it with my students, I have heard so much about Flipgrid from many librarians in my district who seem to love this tool.  I have not used Flipgrid before, but I got to see it in action this summer during PD where people from my district, the state of South Carolina, and throughout the United States filmed short videos encouraging us librarians to keep making an impact on our students this year.  

Ditch That Textbook posted an article "Catch the Flipgrid Fever" explains how to set up an account with your students and 15 ways in which you can use Flipgrid in the classroom.  I want to use Flipgrid next month for our school's Veteran's Day commemoration.  Idea #14 on Ditch That Textbook was to create thank you and appreciation videos.  I plan to create my first Flipgrid with students from around my school to volunteer to video themselves thanking our past and current service members and I can share this with our volunteers and the Air Force Base near by through email.  I would also like to use Flipgrid to show off different events and activities that take place in my library throughout the school year.  Students and teachers can highlight what they liked, what they remember, or what they did at each event or activity.  

Click on HERE for 20 more ideas on how to use Flipgrid in the classroom and catch #FlipgridFever.  

Arnold, Sean.  (2017).  20 Ways to Catch #FlipgridFever.  Brave the Attempt.  https://braveintheattempt.com/2017/08/18/20-ways-to-catch-flipgridfever/

Flipgrid.  (2018).  flipgrid.com

Miller, Matt.  (2018).  Catch the Flip Grid Fever!  15+ Ways to Use Flipgrid with your class!  Ditch that Textbook.  http://ditchthattextbook.com/2017/06/02/catch-the-flipgrid-fever-15-ways-to-use-flipgrid-in-your-class/

My Talk Tools

This week I have discovered the phone and tablet app MyTalkTools.  This app was created by a family who had trouble communicating with their son, he was born with Nager Syndrome.  This app allows a person to communicate with others by choosing words and images to piece together to form sentences.  

This tool was developed to people who could not speak clearly due to a severe disability, but this app can be versatile and help another population of students as well, students who are just learning English or ESOL students.  When I first saw this app I immediately thought of the large Spanish speaking student population at my school.  Many students struggle to communicate with their teachers due to the language barrier and they heavily rely on friends to translate.  We also have a student who just moved to the United States 2 months ago whose first languages are French and Arabic, he has no one to translate for him, having an app like MyTalkTool on hand can help these students communicate throughout the school day as they learn to speak English.  

This EdShelf page explains the app in detail along with pricing and different features.  The app can be accessed through an Apple or Android devices.  To learn more about MyTalkTools check out Smart Apps for Kids Top Pick review.

MyTalkTools.  (2018).  http://www.mytalktools.com/dnn/2/Home.aspx

MyTalkTools Mobile.  (2018).  EdShelf.  https://edshelf.com/tool/mytalktools-mobile/

Review: MyTalk Tools AAC offers customized option for those with communication challenges.  (2013).  Smart Apps for Kids.  http://www.smartappsforkids.com/2013/11/review-mytalk-tools-aac.html

Document Cameras in the Classroom

When I was in the classroom, I was a huge fan of document cameras.  I student taught for a year in a middle school where each classroom came with an Elmo.  When I got my first teaching job, my school did not provide document cameras to teachers.  After my first year teaching, I bought an inexpensive document camera that hooked up to my laptop and I am still happy with my purchase years later in the library.  I would use this technology to display an article or story we were reading so I could follow along with the class on the board, students could share their finished work with the class, I could go over the answers to an assignment on the board, I could provide examples of assignments and projects on the board, and so on.  

This classroom technology can be fit into the R.A.T. technology enabled learning model created by Dr. Joan Hughes. With or without the document camera my instruction as a teacher would be the same, but with the document camera I am able to replace walking around the room with examples and pointing to textbook pages allowing the focus to be on the board in a magnified view.  Document cameras amplified my instruction by allowing me to switch out what is being explained to the class quickly and I could share examples and student work efficiently without having to scan them to my computer.  Document cameras can transform lessons by allowing students to share their own work and ideas instantly allowing for discussion to happen with their peers.

I have focused on how documents cameras have fit the R.A.T. model in my own experiences, but there are many other ways in which this technology can be used in education.  If anyone is interested in gathering more ideas on how to use a document camera in a classroom or library, here are links to two articles.  

Bight Hub Education

Tech Hub

Putting Ed Tech into Practice.  (2011).  % Ways to Use a Document Camera in the Classroom.  http://www.teachhub.com/classroom-document-camera-uses

RAT diagram from ETS.  (2016).  Image retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/inf536reflections/2016/02/11/a-management-approach-to-implementing-new-technologies-and-pedagogies-in-the-classroom/rat-diagram-from-ets/ 

Wistrom, Elizabeth.  (2015).  How to Use Document Cameras in the Classroom.  https://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-elementary-school/63423-12-tips-for-using-document-cameras-in-todays-classrooms/