13
September
2007
I’ve created a blog for my Information Literacy class — http:\\chevinfolit.edublogs.org — and will give them their first blog assignment. They have to read the blog and answer the question via comment. I’m not going to activate the comments until after the assginement is due next week. I’m interested to see what they come up with.
Today’s class is all online. Through the Cheverus website, I have an online quiz covering what we discussed last week — the syllabus and computer usage policy. It’s a quick way to review the material.
Last year, I would have spent this class giving a lecture about the basics of how the internet works. Instead of having another class that almost entirely lecture, I changed it this year, making an online vocabulary sheet. I’ll have the define the terms and then we’ll have a discussion about how the interenet works — what are IP numbers, DNS, what are the distinctions between the internet and the world wide web. This way, they’ll have some of the answers and maybe new questions. I’m trying for a more Alice-like class atmosphere, with students looking up answers to each others questions and driving the conversation into new areas.
Wish me luck!
Posted under Info Lit Class
26
July
2007
It’s been a whirlwind (and, partially, a flood) of a week: RSS, wikis, blogs, picnik (my new favorite site), photoBooth (my new favorite Mac app), del.icio.us links and, a visit to the metaverse.
I have a pretty good tech background and some familarity with blogs, wikis, and RSS, so I wasn’t overwhelmed by the technical aspect. But even though I knew what they were, I’ve learned a lot about how to use them. For example, I had a del.icio.us account, but at the beginning of the week it only had one link in it. Even though I had a bloglines account, I wasn’t using very well it for professional development. I had some librarian sites, but now I have more Web 2.0 sites and a better understanding of how to use blogs to find other blogs and keep track of what I find. Also, I didn’t know you could subscribe to a Google news search. Very cool.
Del.icio.us is great. I didn’t really see the possiblities of using it in the classroom before this week. I’m definitely adding it to my Info Lit class.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted under Class Work
26
July
2007
Cheverus Reads…. — an online book club for the Cheverus community.
Why:
I’ve concentrated on the academic and research functions of the library and want to do more to promote reading. When I first started, I concentrated on filling the non-existent reference collection and then getting teachers and classes to use the library as a resource — now, it’s time to have some fun. I started buying more fiction and non-reference non-fiction (ie “fun” books) and have been planning to start a book club at Cheverus. Last year, I spent a lot of time filling in for the vacant IT position and interviewing to fill that position, so I didn’t get the book club off the ground.
After this week, I decided to start the book club in a 2.0 kinda way: make it a wiki. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted under Project
25
July
2007
This would combine book reviews with book discussion. I would allow registered users (students, parents, faculty, alumni) to create/edit pages about their favorite books and, also, discuss the books via the wiki discussion. I would start by making pages for new books in the library, the summer reading books, classic books and then hope the kids would start adding their own.
Posted under Project
24
July
2007
I’ve got a few ideas:
- Create a Research Standards wiki for Cheverus students. It would include information on finding good sources, evaluating webpages, writing, citing sources — sort of a style guide for research papers. This would combine the handouts/content from the Information Literacy class, the writing guide written by the History Department and other resources. We could include information on study skills and learning styles, too. Make it more of an Academic Toolbox. I would give the faculty access to change it and add to it, but I haven’t decided if the students could add also. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted under Project
24
July
2007
On the one hand, I wish I’d read this article — Blogs are not the enemy — before I commented on my classmates blogs because I don’t think I followed the guidelines for “commenting like a king or queen.” Maybe I’ll go back and make more substantive comments…. However, because I read this article about how blogs are not merely journals, but a new form of conversation almost immediately after writing my first blog posts, I felt like the author read my mind. Since I posted, I keep checking back to see if I have any comments yet (although, no one outside this class knows I have a blog, so it’s a little irrational on my part). I understand the pull of checking your site — this must be why my students are compulsive about Facebook and mySpace. What do you think? Feel free to comment below. 
Posted under Class Work
24
July
2007
Critical thinking and creativity are the common themes among a lot of the Web 2.0 reading I’ve done in the past two days. The National Educational Technology Standards for Students: The Next Generation could be summarized as creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking. David Warlick on his 2cts blog discusses a variety of books that educators are reading that are specifically about education — Reading and Becoming — but focus on communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. Wesley Fryer to the discussion with an article about the importance of free play in developing the skills of creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking — Unstructured practice can be a key to excellence — and he even quotes Angus King.
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Posted under Class Work
24
July
2007
I maintain a list of links on the Cheverus Library page and often send links to teachers for sites that they might find useful. In Web 2.0, I could see using del.icio.us in a few ways to change this. If the teachers subscribed to my del.icio.us account (or a Cheverus Library account that I could set up separately from my personal account) then they would automatically know when I added a new link. Using the tag button is even easier than the form I fill out to add to links to my library page.
One of the comments from the Learning Now article — Tag – You’re Delicious! — suggested setting up accounts for different departments so they could collaborate on a list of links. I could do that for a class or a department. I could encourage students working on group projects to gather their sources on del.icio.us and then they could share sources with each other. I wonder if the network would allow students to download the Quick Save buttons? Also, I wonder if there are buttons for IE.
(However, after using Firefox the past two days in this class, I am ready to dump IE for Firefox — my students would really enjoy that, since many of them download and use Firefox anyway (guess that answers my download question….))
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted under Class Work
24
July
2007
Macs are very cool with the built-in camera and microphone and PhotoBooth software. Here’s a photo of me as a comic book:
Posted under Class Work
23
July
2007
- Learn how to create an RSS feed for the Cheverus webpage.
- Develop a lesson plan for using a wikispace or blogs in Info Lit class.
- Upload all the Haiti photos to a Flickr account; share the photos with everyone on the trip.
- Join Facebook and learn how to use it to communicate with students.
- Start using del.icio.us to develop a list of links — maybe I can use it for school to allow students to add to the library links.
Posted under Class Work
