Is your School Trending?

Social networking has taken the world by storm. Every commercial on TV is followed with “Like us on Facebook.” Every Show you watch has a hashtag and topic in the corner to help in Tweeting. But is there a place for social networking in the school. I think the answer is yes. When used appropriately social networking can be a very useful tool for reaching a large amount of student or faculty at one time.
How can social networking be used in schools? If your district is like mine, most sites are blocked. While it cannot be used in school, a teacher can create a Facebook or twitter account from home, and allow her students access to it. This must be done very carefully and monitored with an eagle’s eye. On this site the teacher can post discussion questions about the days lesson and students can respond through the comments feature. Also, the students could ask questions of the teacher through these sites.
My district has a twitter @cobbschools where they tweet things like school closings due to weather and reports from board meetings. However, we cannot access this site at school from a district computer. It can be accessed from a smart phone or home computer.
My school also uses Follett’s Destiny which has a social networking feature. Students can send “friend requests” and book recommendations to peers. This site is often abused. I know just in my class alone I have reported 3 students for using it as a messaging program instead of its intended use. This is why teaching students digital citizenship is so important in schools today. Social Networking is a great tool when used appropriately and for the intended purposes.

Social Networking Is Where It's At

Test Your Iconic Symbols Knowledge!

Did you identify all of the above symbols? McDonalds, Mickey Mouse, Batman, and Nike are all pretty recognizable for most of us, but there are some that might not be so easy.

Try your hand at the ones below.

Did you guess Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, and MySpace? If you did, you are probably among the growing group of people, including the youth, who use these social networking sites on a regular basis.

For our students today, these sites are a normal part of their existence. Most could not address an envelope if they were asked to, because email, text, and social networks have taken the place of snail mail and a regular ole phone call. Come on and admit it. Most of you hate when your phone rings with someone delivering trivial information. Just send a text, right? We have the apps on our phones, the sites bookmarked on our computers, and the time to communicate with a large group of people quickly in between our daily task, so why is it that most schools refuse to allow students to use these sites for educational purposes despite research proving the value of such tools?

The American Association of School Librarians, or AASL, completed a longitudinal study in which they looked at the 21st Century Learner and the tools that these students learned the best using. Not surprising, 53% of this generation’s learners use some sort of collaboration when learning is at its best. Students immensely enjoy collaborating with peers and using technology rather than paper and pen. There are numerous ways educators, including SLMS, can use these social networking sites to deliver information and lessons, collect student work, and provide feedback to students. School or class pages on Facebook, a list of wonderful resource tools on Delicious, a reading list on LibraryThing, and followers on Twitter could be used for group discussions, collaborated work, and troubleshooting. A student using these social networking sites does not have to wait until the next day to ask a question; simply posting the question online with guarantee an almost immediate answer from someone. Chances are another student can answer the question and teach someone else.

The sheer fact that technology is involved will likely encourage students to join in the work. Reading a short story might not be so painful if it is online with images and even external tools. Much like how EReaders work, posts on these Social Networking sites can easily be hyperlinked by the teacher with additional resources, images, and websites for enhanced learning. I know I use my word “look up” option on my IPad frequently, and students may very well, too. My students would never in a million years get up and walk across the classroom to grab a *gasp* dictionary; I admit I never kept a dictionary handy when I read my non-electronic books. For the students who are unsure of themselves in class or for the ones who simply are shy and soft spoken, online options are wonderful opportunities for them to express themselves without the fear of public speaking.

Of the many concerns that come with Social Networking, internet safety is perhaps the largest. This legitimate fear has made many school districts, including Coweta County where I teach, filter or block these social sites for students. In order for us to enjoy technology, there are people out there who have created numerous ways to protect our students as they use these tools in and out of school. Resources like Connect Safely – Smart Socializing Starts Here, GetNetWise, and Stay Safe.org for Teenagers are geared towards teaching young children, adolescences, and young adults to use the internet and social networking sites safely and wisely without putting themselves in danger by releasing too much personal information. By using sites likes these, we as educators can teach our students to become their own filters while using Social Networking sites to enhance their learning.

Media Center Websites

Since most students use the internet regularly, every media center should have an online tool such as a website, blog, or wiki.  I like the organization of websites versus the other online options so, I have highlighted some important dos and don’ts for your media center website.

Do

Update the website regularly.  
Include contact information for the media center and media specialist.

·         Include a navigation bar. 

·         Organize links according age appropriateness and subject matter.

·         Highlight news, information, online resources, lesson ideas, policies and proce

Media Center Webpages: A Useful Tool or an Outdated Site?

Websites are used for a variety of purposes. They deliver information, entertain viewers, and provide a window looking into companies, organizations, and groups. School websites are no different, and many schools are able to provide their students, parents, and teachers with a massive amount of information that is long-standing and does not require much altering on a regular basis. For school media centers, a webpage is one way to get basic information to their patrons in an organized manner. Online catalogs, policies, media center hours, and the like are just a few pieces of information that SLMS can publish online with the hopes that patrons with questions can find their answers. Resources on this topic stress several important pieces of information.

• Use bullets to help views find important information
• Choose fonts wisely - use a bigger font for headings and smaller fonts for supporting information
• Use images that are eye-catching and make them into links that are relevant
• Keep writings short - students may shy away from reading long writings

While these websites are great, I was left with the nagging feeling that there had to be a quicker way to update information as media centers change. For Coweta County and other districts, it can take up to 24 hours for websites on the server to be updated, but what happens if a media specialist wants immediately wants to showcase new titles that have arrived, a literary event happening in the community, or award avid readers with an accolade? It would take a full day for the information to become live, but if the media specialist chose to run his or her site in a different format, the information would immediately be accessible and students could be updated through various means.

With tools out there like Blogger, Edmodo, Facebook, and Twitter, a media specialist could run an account for his or her media center that contains the same information a website does but with "followers." Those followers, teachers, parents, and students, could be instantly updated when new titles are added to the shelves, teachers could easily collaborate with the SLMS through posts, and parents could be kept informed of upcoming events. This method would come with a great reward - it is changing constantly, requires students to use their beloved technology, and is instant.

One thing about this generation of students is they do not like to be bored. Doing the same thing day in and day out wears on them, and we as educators need to strive to find ways to keep them actively engaged and this includes the internet. Today, we gravitate towards sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter because there is always something changing. Each new visit promises something new, and without that constant change, we will give up on that site. A media center website is no different. If we can show students that their media program is a living, breathing center then they may be encouraged to come inside. New books, new technology, and new ways of delivering information to a technology-driven generation may be the key to more students visiting their media centers.

Wikis

Personally, my experience with Wikis has been extremely negative in terms of actively participating in collaboratively creating and maintaining a Wiki. My lack of knowledge about developing a Wiki led me to remain frustrated throughout the entire process. Just when I thought the Wiki looked perfect, I would click the save button and all of sudden everything on the page was rearranged. On the other hand, my experience with the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, has been extremely positive. This is a Wiki that you can always rely on for reliable information which is easily accessible. While all of my Wiki experiences have not been terribly positive, I know that as a teacher and/or media specialist I cannot allow my personal beliefs to interfere with technology that may be beneficial to students.

My initial thought about the use of Wikis in the library is that maybe the most effective concept is for the media specialist to create a Wiki which serves as a resource bank, providing teachers with ideas of how to use Wikis in the classroom. As teachers develop original ways of using Wikis in the classroom, they simply add the idea to the school Wiki. The Wiki would serve as a collaborative space for how to integrate the Wiki technology into the classroom. Since adults would be the only editors, the media specialist would only have to invest minimal time monitoring the Wiki.

When first creating the Wiki, the media specialist could provide examples for various grade levels and different subject areas. Some examples may include using a Wiki for students to brainstorm science project ideas. It has been my experience that one of the most difficult aspects of the science project process is identifying a question to be tested. Upper elementary, middle, and high school teachers could create a Wiki for students to post science fair topic ideas. Some students have numerous ideas while others have a difficult time generating ideas. A Wiki would allow students to have a resource bank created by peers. Another idea is to create a Wiki for Literature Circle conversations. Students can post and answer questions about the book being discussed.

Wikis have many benefits, such as providing a connection among students who may have minimal interaction during the school day. Middle and high school students do not spend all day with the same students so Wikis provide students with a chance to work in a group without having to be in the same physical location. All you need is an internet connection and a Web browser. Another advantage is the ability to access the information from any location. While Wikis have many benefits for teachers and students, there are some drawbacks. Because students can edit the page, monitoring the Wiki can be time consuming and personnel intensive. Also, content can easily be deleted with the simple click of the mouse. Students will require the appropriate training to reap the rewards that Wikis can provide.

Wiki's are Wicked Cool!

Imagine being able to collaborate with your faculty without leaving your office. This is why wiki’s are so cool. Wiki’s are collaboration tools that anyone can edit (with rights), and a great way to share ideas. Sharing ideas is crucial to the success of our students. Teachers have to collaborate to most effectively reach the students in their school. Being able to collaborate at a distance would make things so much easier.
Wiki’s are not only for teachers. Students can use this technology for group projects, posting book reviews, and sharing ideas with the class. The following website has some great ideas for ways to use Wiki’s in the classroom or Media Center.
http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Wiki_in_a_K-12_classroom
The area I am most interested in exploring is how wiki’s can be effective for Elementary School Students. In the above website it mentions using a wiki as a way to run Literacy circles. The Students can use it as an avenue for discussion on the book. Creating book reviews, and making connections. The students would then take ownership of their work because it is posted for everyone to see.
As far as how wiki’s can be used in the media center, the ideas are endless. It could be a place for teachers to brag on lessons they received from the media specialist. This way other teachers would know what is going on in the media center and it could generate more interest. Also have an area where teachers and students can submit book reviews or even book talks they have recorded. It can also be used much like the literacy circle idea. IF the media center has a book club they could use it as means to discuss the book, and share ideas.
I feel like wiki’s are underused and underappreciated because people are afraid of the fact that anyone can edit it, and the information may not always be correct. In the elementary school setting I think it is important that student’s submissions be checked and approved before they can be posted. This is help students understand what good work is and how it can help other understand a topic. I also think it means really teaching students what a good digital citizen looks like and acts like in a digital community. The media specialist can do lessons on this before the class begins their wiki experience. There is so much potential here! This tool could lead to high level thinking in all grades and really showcase what students know!

Podcasting

Podcasting will change the media specialist from being viewed as the book keeper to being one of the coolest faculty members on campus!  

Podcasting is digital recording accessible via the internet.  There are endless opportunities for using this tool, and anyone can do it.  Begin with a short, simple recording.  As you begin to add additional features to your podcasts, I’m sure teachers and students will suggest innovative ideas and opportunities for everyone to become involved in many aspects of life on campus including academic and extracurricular topics.

The following ideas can be as simple or complicated as you are comfortable with.

A radio show can feature a host and various news anchors from the school and/or community.  Imagine students summing up a social studies unit on World War I with a report on location of a major battle.  Students will integrate social studies with writing, fluency, and research.  Other ideas may include highlighting school and community events, news, and weather. 

Booktalks recorded by a media specialist and other guests can be about three minutes, summarize books and include a recommendation.  The media specialist can highlight award winning books in addition to popular seasonal books including books about holidays and topics being taught in the classrooms.  Students may record book talks about their favorite books or series to entice their peers to explore new titles.  Students will be eager to tell the main idea, sequence events, and determine their recommendations.

Read alouds can be exciting for any age level.  You can read a portion of a selection to entice readers to check out a book, or you may want to read the entire selection on podcast(s).  This can promote fluency and ignite a love of reading.

Do-it-yourself podcasts can give instructions on ways to use the online research library or the online media catalog.  Online tutorials can be made available and explain steps in the process of long division, rounding, determining elapsed time, etc.   

Podcasting live programs such as parent workshops can parents with transportation or scheduling conflicts the opportunity to attain the information presented at a time that is convenient. 

The prospects for the use of podcasts by students, teachers, and community members are infinite.  Beginners should start with a small manageable podcast, and then advance to podcasts with more features, sound effects, and even images.  Have fun!