Thing #5 - Microblogging

For your blog post, describe your experiences with Facebook and Twitter. Give suggestions as to how these resouces could aid students in and out of the classroom. Give ideas for using back-channeling at school.

My experience using Facebook and Twitter is limited at this time, but from what my friends, family and colleagues say and judging from the many links provided by Library 2Play, these two forms of microblogging are becoming the new way to communicate and keep in touch with people around the world. According to what I read, this is how students prefer to communicate today and if we want to reach them as educators, then we need to learn how to use these tools and how to access them in order for us to be truly innovative. Students who are studying a topic in government or social studies can actually twitter someone in Washington to directly ask them how they feel about a particular issue.

Back-channeling can be used to help engage students in a skype presentation, or an online conference or even when they are viewing a film. In this way, the presenter and viewer can become more in sync. Also, according to the links posted, this method allows the playing field to be levelled between the speaker and the audience. It also gives a voice to those students who might not participate verbally, but don't mind texting in their opinions, questions or suggestions.

#4- Uploading Videos

What would be some advantages of having teaching/learning videos available on online at sites like these?What about student created work -- would there be advantages to having it uploaded?

Some of the advantages of having teaching/learning videos available online at sites such as YouTube and TeacherTube is that they can be shared throughout the school, district, city and globe making the classroom a truly virtual world where ideas are no longer enclosed by walls. Creating these videos in and outside the classroom/library will enable students to take ownership of what they have learned and synthesize it using technology much like they will have to when they leave school. Another huge advantage is that students and teachers can find videos on just about any topic which will help them further enhance their knowledge of that subject. As many teachers know, when you teach a topic, you really learn it. Students who create videos that teach others about a topic are probably learning it better than those students who just sit back and listen to the teacher deliver a lecture.

Thing #3 - Skype

Skype can be used in a myriad of ways to connect students around the world. Students in the library could maybe even set up a book club where they get to discuss the same book using Skype. That would be so interesting for the students.

Thing 2 - Wordsift and or Wordle

Students can spend time exploring this site in order to extend their knowledge of math, science, social studies and language arts. I especially think the word lists based on subjects taught in school are extremely valuable for both students and teachers. These lists can be used as starting points to create a modern word wall or wordle instead.

Thing 1

I was amazed at how the student had integrated their knowledge on the topic of the American Pyche using Web 2.0 to synthesize the information he gathered using the internet and other live sources through blogs. I also like the fact that he could access top notch universities on the topic that used to be closed to the public in the past. I think the role of the teacher and librarian is interchangeable in this student's assignment. However, if the teacher is not tech savvy, she can collaborate with the librarian to help student become connected to all sources.