10 Things Every Teacher Should Know About Technology

1. Be willing to experiment with technology. Have an open mind about it.

2. Take some time to learn what is available for you to use, and practice using it. Take classes or ask for recommendations from people you think are "techie".

3. Ask your librarian for help if you need it!

4. Don't be scared of technology- embrace it and let it help make your life easier.

5. Use it to enhance your lessons and to simplify grading.

6. Let students explore on their own, but be available to provide guidance.

7. Get to know your school's technology specialists and be on friendly terms with them- they will be very useful to you.

8. Accept that some of your students may know more than you do- use this to your advantage rather than feeling bad about it.

9. Accept that technology is constantly changing and you will need to work hard to keep up.

10. Realize that not all parents will be on board if you are doing something that they might consider to be risky, such as blogs. Give them plenty of information about what you are doing and why to allay their fears.


I didn't really change anything from my previous list done at the beginning of class- I just expanded on a few things (in boldface). The biggest thing that changed for me was my perception of new technologies- I am now more comfortable in experimenting with different applications, whereas before, I wouldn't even had tried. I am also a lot more aware of what is out there and how I might be able to use it in the library or in my daily life.

Online Public Access Catalogs

This was an interesting week for me. I had never thought much about OPAC systems (other than the one we use at school) until I was forced to look at different types. I never knew there were so many types and options out there. We use Follett Circulation Plus at my school and I felt that it was fine until now because I didn't know what other systems were like. Now that I have seen different systems, I'm not sure that what we have is the best. I chose to research Alexandria and there were a lot of things I liked about it- mainly it seemed very suited to very young users (I work in a K-3 school) with it large, clear icons for easy searching. I also liked that it had cover art for many titles, summaries, reviews, e-books, and related websites. We don't have the web option at the elementary level, but do at the middle and high school. I never even knew about that until this week and I think that it's great to be able to connect to a related website right away. I found out my information about Alexandria from their website and through the listerv on MSLA, which I finally joined. I have to admit that I didn't speak with a rep or find out how much the system cost because the librarian I work with didn't want me to contact them directly because we are not in a position financially to change systems and she didn't want them calling and bugging her all the time once they thought we might be interested in it. But I was able to try it out online and I thought that it had a lot of great features. Like I said, Follett does what we need it to do, but Alexandria looks a lot more fun and exciting and has a lot more great features.

Cataloging, Week 2

After finishing the reading, I am definitely feeling more confident in my understanding of cataloging. Thanks, Barb, for commenting that I don't need to memorize everything. I realize now that the book is there to be used as a reference for those times when we need to make a new record for something. I am glad that I now know that I can go to different websites, such as the Library of Congress one to be able to get a surrogate record if I should ever need one, since as I said in my previous post, Follett makes it pretty easy and I haven't had to get too deep into actual cataloging. After reading this book, I am anxious to get back to school tomorrow to look at records in our library and to actually be able to understand what all of those little numbers and letters mean! Looking at examples will also help me more with my whole understanding of cataloging. Now, on to a greater understanding of OPAC! I guess I never really thought about how the two are so closely connected.

Cataloging

Okay...I'm feeling pretty confused. I never realized there was so much to this cataloging stuff. I'm a pretty organized person and I like order so it seems like this should come easy to me, but it's not, yet. It seems amazingly complicated, with lots of memorization required. I guess once I get it and start to use it, it will become easier. So far, in the school where I've worked, cataloging has been very easy for me- I just need to search by ISBN, title or author, and usually I will find the record (we have Follett) and download it. I've also created a few very simple records myself when I couldn't find one on Follett, but they have just very basic information. I've seen MARC records many times, but never understood what all those tags and numbers mean. Maybe after I finish next week's reading, it will click in my head. I hope so. At least I'm understanding the Dewey Decimal Classification system fairly well.

Internet Safety

This week, it's all about internet safety. Here are some links that I thought would be useful.

1.dmoz Open Directory Project
http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Computers/Internet/Safety/

This site has a huge list of links that offer parents, teens and children resources, games, comics, videos etc. The topics range from chatting to cyberbullying to privacy. One could spends days seeing everything on this site.

2. Safekids.com
http://www.safekids.com/
http://www.safekids.com/parentpledge.pdf
http://www.safekids.com/safekidscontract.pdf

This site has the above parent and child contracts that I thought would be a good starting point for parents when talking to their children about internet safety. There is also an online safety quiz, a safety song, and a few safety articles.

3. CIESE- The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education
http://www.k12science.org/internetsafety.html

This site realizes the need to balance student protection with the need for students to utilize technology to its fullest potential. The site advocates for the need for an Acceptable Use Policy, appropriate classroom websites, and contains a list of useful links, such as parent, children's, and librarian's internet guides, acceptable use policies and a k-8 curriculum guide with lesson plans.

4.AT&T Internet Safety Connections Game
http://www.att.com/Common/images/safety/game.html

A simple but informative game that asks kids to decide what to do in certain situations, such as what to do when you receive a request for personal information, when you are asked to meet someone in person or you receive a scary message.

5. The FBI's Parent's Guide to Internet Safety
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm

A comprehensive guide that gives an overview of internet safety, gives a list of signs that your child might be at risk online, answers the question of what to do if you suspect your child is communicating with an online predator, and tells you how to minimize the chances of your child being exploited by someone online.

6. Common Sense Media- The Internet Survival Guide for Parents
http://www.commonsense.com/internet-safety-tips/tips-for-kids.php

I like the straightforwardness of this site- it is clear and easy to read. I also like the page that gives recommended internet usage by age and stage. There is also a page with links to more resources.

7. Internet Safety Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZHq4CQekTY

I found this video to be very scary- I don't know that I would let really young children watch it, but it gives parents an idea of how quickly and easily a child can be fooled by someone online.

8. LoveToKnow Internet Safety Facts
http://safety.lovetoknow.com/Category:Internet_Safety_Facts

A comprehensive list of sites for a variety of internet safety facts and information, including a list of social networking games appropriate for children, information about cyber bullying, and lesson plans.

Professional Development

Since I have never attended any professional development workshops, it has been a little bit difficult to figure out how and what to present to teachers for this week's assignment. I've heard lots of complaints about PD, so hopefully, the presentation I prepare will be interesting and useful to teachers. I work in a K-3 school and maybe I'm not ambitious enough yet to try, but I feel that many of these Web 2.0 tools that we have looked at would be a little bit difficult for children so young to use. Or maybe it's not so much that the tools are difficult to use, but that it seems like they would be very time-consuming to teach to very young children, since they would probably need a lot of help and supervision while using them. Therefore, for my presentation, I am mostly showing teachers some of the tools that they themselves can use to make their lives easier, such as Delicious and TeacherTube. Maybe after teachers get comfortable with a few tools such as these, we could move on to tools that they could use with their students.

Web 2.0

The assignment this week was really tough for me. I don't have a lot of experience with curriculum yet, so it was a good learning experience for me. I like the idea of collaborating with a classroom teacher in a long-term project. It's not something I have observed yet and I can see how it could be a really meaningful experience, for both the students and the teachers. It is hard to choose only five favorite Web 2.0 tools, but I guess I would say StudyStack, Flickr, Blogs, YouTube, and Jing. All of them have such learning potential.

My experience in Module 2 was a positive one, though at times frustrating. I like to explore, but often don't feel like I know enough to even find all that is available. I feel like if I don't know what to look for, I certainly am not going to find it. But I got better at figuring things out and liked learning about all these new tools that we can use. Now we just need the time and the computer access to be able to share all this knowledge with teachers and students.

The only chance I had to look at an e-reader was last summer- my aunt owns a Kindle. She said she really likes it. I was intrigued by the ease of use and the fact that you can download a book so quickly, yet I have not purchased one for myself yet. I'm in no hurry. I would probably love it once I owned one, but for now, I'm happy just checking out books from my local library. Cost has been one of the reasons I haven't purchased one, but I would probably make up for that after just one trip to Barnes and Noble!