LibraryRemix

How could I not want one of these?  I’ve spent a lifetime collecting (both artifacts and facts) while I embrace the future as it rushes forward.  This is a REMIX…and while it’s practical value is pretty limited, it’s a beautiful inspiration!

The graphic, from the James Irvine Foundation’s Convergence Report says it all!

The video below is interesting on a couple of counts.  Obviously, the message intrigues (perhaps scares) us.  It’s a different world than many professionals (and parents) are immersed in.  While we may facebook, our use is more deliberate…less social than that of the young person who’s grown up in a social media environment.  Then…there is the fact that this is a BOOK REPORT. Can you imagine if our students demonstrated their understanding in this way….non-linear,

From a blog associated with the new book, GroundSwell, the post Social Technographics: Conversationalists get onto the ladder shows how twitter and facebook status updaters are figuring into the the world of social media. Reminds me alot of Gladwell’s Tipping Point.

"Conversationalists" are now on the ladder of social media

The author’s note that these “conversationalists” are an intriguing lot with a definate stake in market trends. I can’t help but come back to my own professional observations of how market and classroom align in today’s marketplace of information and media. Consider the following suggestions offered in the blog:

“Convince your boss this stuff is for real, and that if you haven’t jumped on it, you’re late.”

There is a hum (or drum) in education now pushing administrators to recognize social media not just as a tool that could be harvested, but as a new way of communicating that MUST be engaged if we are to remain relevant in society.

“Profile your customer base, and see what they’re ready for, before planning a project to reach out to them.”

Know your students. They don’t learn the same way we did, even 15 years ago. The dilemma in education? Student’s today are technologically MORE ready than we are! At the same time, they’re social aptitude has slipped they navigate through the online social network “willy-nilly.” Shouldn’t we be there with them…to teach, to model?

“Segment your audience; build different strategies for different segments. (Social is so prevalent now that a single approach for your company is probably too broad.)”

Differentiate your approach to reach different learners. We’ve embraced that in the classroom, but too often we settle for seeing “technology” AS an approach, rather than as a space in need of these differentiated approaches. All said, it comes down to…SCAFFOLDING!

I have to say that while the concept of Google’s “real-time” search results in seductive at first (and a bit awe-inspiring to watch)…it’s real value in the classroom probably lies in its potential for illustrating the rapidly cycling, ephemeral quality of information on the web.  The updates cycle so quickly when “latest” is chosen, it’s difficult to remain oriented.  Considering that orientation with information has proven, already, to be a challenge for learners, I can’t imagine how this is going to make things better.  Some things are just too “gee-whiz.”

Disney is well known for it’s jealous protection of their works, even in educational settings.  Using micro-moments from those same works to teach us about both copyright and fair use is both unique and irreverent. Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University’s approach manages to educate, while at the same time offering subtle critical commentary of the most ardent adversary of this remix culture we live in. Original video posting can be found here.

iPoetry in the Classroom with University of Wisconsin graduate students Jen Scott Curwood and Damiana Gibbons and Lora Cowell, Library Media Specialist at Hartford Union High School.

In examining the role that digital poetry can play in helping to foster identity development, critical thinking, and content area learning for students, teachers are encouraged to create their own digital poems integrating visual images, text, music, and narration. Common software programs used for these projects include:  iMovie, GarageBand, iPhoto, Windows Movie Maker, Photoshop, PowerPoint, etc. Furthermore, a growing canon of Web 2.0 tools supplement and even expand the possibilities for teachers and students wishing to engage in this type of multi-modal authoring.  Many are listed below.

1…plan

…choose your poem

Maybe you brought your own, or have a favorite poem in mind.  If not, following are a few links that will help you select one quickly.

I, too, Sing America, Langston Hughes| Girl by Lisa Zaran | Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

…using storyboards

Download a storyboard generator, use an online comic strip generator, or work in print.  The storyboard we’ll be using today is from Xinsight.  Each panel represents a line in your poem you will be illustrating with images.  Indicate images with drawings or keyword concept you will use as a search term.

2…gather images

...find copyright free images online

Today, you will locate and collect images for three sequential panels in your storyboard. Be sure to download these images to your computer (in a single, named folder).  The following link will help you in locating copyright free images.

Digital Stock: Still and Motion Images and Audio for the Classroom (HUHS)

Another option would be to generate images for your digital poetry.  Try Wordle (online)
 Read more... (375 words, estimated 1:30 minutes reading time)

iPoetry in the Classroom  with University of Wisconsin graduate students Jen Scott Curwood and Damiana Gibbons and Lora Cowell, Library Media Specialist at Hartford Union High School.

In examining the role that digital poetry can play in helping to foster identity development, critical thinking, and content area learning for students, teachers are encouraged to create their own digital poems integrating visual images, text, music, and narration. Common software programs used for these projects include:  iMovie, GarageBand, iPhoto, Windows Movie Maker, Photoshop, PowerPoint, etc. Furthermore, a growing canon of Web 2.0 tools supplement and even expand the possibilities for teachers and students wishing to engage in this type of multi-modal authoring.  Many are listed below.

1…plan

…using storyboards

Drawing Together | Storyboard Tool | Storyboard Advanced 

2…gather images

...find copyright free images online

Digital Stock: Still and Motion Images and Audio for the Classroom (HUHS)

…create type and data graphics

Wordle (online) | Many Eyes (online)

…create/edit your own images

SumoPaint (online) | Aviary (online) | Picasa PC / Mac (download)

3…select/create audio

…record/edit audio

Audacity (download recorder) | JamGlue (online mixer) | Looplabs (online mixer)

…publish powerpoints to the Web

authorSTREAM | ThinkFree

…create multimedia presentations

Flickr (online)
Upload and share.   Create slideshows, pocket albums, photocubes, and much more using Big Huge Labs

Picasa PC | Mac (download)
Edit images, share online. 

Shutterfly (online)
Upload, share, create and order projects such as books, cards, calendars. 

Photobucket (online) 
Upload, edit, create slideshows, video montages,and scrapbook pages. 

123 Slideshow (online) 
Easily create slideshows with upscale transition effects. 

Empressr (online) 
Upload images or use images from Photobucket, Flickr, Yahoo, or Google, insert text, video, and audio to create a flash movie. SAMPLE

Slideroll (online)
Upload pictures, add transitions, music, and text.  SAMPLE

 Capzles (online)
Upload and annotate images, video, text, presenting them in an interactive timeline. Great for collecting media from a variety of sources or publishing a group of projects edited offline into one collection. SAMPLE  Read more... (375 words, estimated 1:30 minutes reading time)

Students coming into the research lab these days are faced with more than the obvious distractions of email, gaming and off-topic content. Instructional time is also impinged upon by seemingly “productive” distractions…applications that encourage responsible behavior or engaged learning…but more often end up as one more thing the teacher must vie with for the student’s attention. A couple of cases in point.

Students spend copious amounts of time checking their grades online during the school day. Concerned and conscientious? It always surprises me, when what they are doing resembles more a game of chance…has the teacher entered a score yet? …has it changed the grade? …1% or 10%?. Coming into the lab with his class to research with his social studies class can have no bearing on Johnny’s math grade, but check that grade he must…and will…several times during the hour. Designed to provide teachers with a medium of communication that will empower their students (and parents), I have to wonder if the design of this experience has flaws we still need to address.

And then, there are the seemingly “on task” distractions online…the website or resource with all the “right” content, snuggled deeply within a variety of “other” elements. Ads and other static graphics aside (I, myself, use graphic elements to draw attention to tools or concepts on a web page), it’s the moving, “flashy”…just plain cool…elements I refer to. Today I watched as one student navigated an excellent/content rich site focused on the Chinese Cultural Revolution. What should have resulted in a flurry of fact gathering instead disintegrated into a flurry of clicking, as images swung in and out of view through a really neat (and really cumbersome) flash animation. It leaves one to ponder…is “cutting edge” simply to be measured in terms of “WOW!”?  Read more... (339 words, estimated 1:21 minutes reading time)