Friday, July 29, 2016
Blog Post 4:
Vasinda
and McLeod (2011) state that the 21st century is here and that our
students already know the technology and teachers need to catch up. Technology
in education is a great thing because it can grab students’ attention and keep
them motivated to want to learn more. But keep in mind that the technology
should not drive the instruction. Vasinda and McLeod (2011) stress the
importance of the technology enhancing and making the instruction better. They
suggest that teachers start with the best practices backed by research then find
the technology that will best enhance it. Standard agrees with this in her
article as well (Standard, 2013).
This is the struggle that librarian will have to face as
they try to implement the standards the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE, 2016) set for teachers and librarians. When they look at the
five standards not to just focus on the “cool” tech but also the depth and
rigor with instruction that these standards call for. No one standard should
overshadow the others as they are all equally important. If you only focus on
the creativity in standard one (which a lot of teachers do), you leave out the
depth and complexity of the learning in standard two, and the digital citizenship
in standard four (ISTE, 2016).
There are also standards set by American Association of
Librarians for students that are similar but are much more detailed in the
focus on the technology and the instruction with the technology (AASL, 2007).
Moreillon (2009) says that only with teams of teachers as well as the whole school
together, can teachers and librarians reach the standards of the AASL (2007).
This is the critical change for librarians. Collaboration between students and
between teacher and librarians, new technology, and changing views on the role
of librarians Standard (2013) says, is an exciting but scary thing, due to so
little information on these new technologies and how to use them with students.
Librarians should implement lessons based on collaboration with teachers and
find or use technology that will best fit the students and enhance the lesson.
Going beyond surface level knowledge of technology needs to be reached (not
just showing how to use the technology and never going back to it). Inquiry and
evidence based learning will help make this happen (Morellion, 2009). By using
the technology to gain more knowledge and showing proof of knowledge through
products or projects takes the students beyond surface level knowledge of
technology.
By being knowledgeable of all the standards set for
teachers and students, librarians need to have a plan of action on how to
implement them. Jumping in and trying to do everything at once will not be
effective for the student or the librarians. By taking small steps, making mistakes,
and learning from the mistakes, Standard (2013) says will get you to your goal.
Keeping up with the new technology through professional development and
discussions with teachers and students will also be important to reaching the
standards set by ISTE (2016) and AASL (2007). The school librarian’s role in implementing
technology will continue to evolve. Librarians will need to continue to evolve
with it.
References
American
Association of School Librarians. (2007). Standards for the 21st century
learner [Brochure]. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
International
Society for Technology in Education Standards. (2016). Standards for teachers.
Retrieved from
http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-teachers
Moreillon, J.
(2009). Reading & the library program: An expanded role for the
21st-Century SLMs. Knowledge Quest, 38(2), 24-30
Standard, A.
(2013). Trapped on the Ipad crazy train? Five simple steps to regain your
sanity. Library Media Connection, 32(3), 40-42.
Vasinda, S., &
McLeod, J. (2011). Extending readers theatre: A powerful and purposeful match with
podcasting. Reading Teacher, 64(7), 486-497 doi:10.1598/RT.64.7.2
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Blog Post 3:: Technology Implementation Strategies-Augmented Reality (AR)
I have seen Augmented Reality in a classroom setting through a blog called Kleinspiration (Klein, 2013) a few years go. Augmented Reality connects content such as books or pictures to things on the internet such as videos or documents you have made to give more information about the content. Sometimes this includes 3D images as well. I hadn't had a chance to use it in my class until last year, however I wasn't successful with implementing with the students due to some technical issues. So as a teacher and librarian I hope to be able to use this program for devices like tablets and smart phones more often.
I was unaware that there were two types of Augmented Reality using location (activated like using GPS when near area using Augmented Reality) or picture activated. Meredith (2014) talks about how location based Augmented Reality is limited due to security inside buildings so it is only outside. However this hopefully will not be a problem in later years. So my focus will be on picture based Augmented Reality in the classroom or library.
Meredith (2015) gives some really good suggestions with using Augmented Reality in the library particularly with students that are non-readers and emergent readers. One way is giving book suggestions for a book that the student has already read that is similar. The kinder student would scan the book cover using a mobile device and it would bring up a list of books that are similar or a website with suggestions. I think this would be great idea but the librarian would need to do quite a bit of research and linking of books to each other before this could be implemented. Unless someone already has this set up it will be a very lengthy process time wise. I do feel that it would be helpful despite the heavy time factor.
Another suggestion was using Augmented Reality in a book to give more information as you read. So if a student was reading a book about great white sharks there would be link for a video on a page in the book. Or it could bring up a list of other books you may want to look into. I think this would be one easy way to implement this technology by starting with popular books and then work to less popular.
The last suggestion I would use is using Augmented Reality to guide how to choose books. You could have pictures on top of bookshelves or even links on covers of books that could give a book review or book trailer. I think this also would be easy to implement and have a small time factor for elementary libraries.
Meredith (2015) briefly touches on using Augmented Reality for directional reference (where is ___ in the library), promoting events in the library and skill instruction. There has been little research on these with young students but they have been successful in adult libraries. There are also downsides as with most technology. The technology may not work when you want it to, programs need to be bought or made to bring up what you wanted, and students may get overwhelmed by all the going back and forth,; are just a few of the possible problems librarians and students may face.
Despite the possible problems I think this is a great way to get students engaged and involved not only in the library but with reading and school work.
References:
Klein, E. (2013). Tons of classroom examples using augmented reality with @aurasma – a complete how-to guide! Retrieved from http://kleinspiration.com/using-augmented-reality-via-aurasma-in/
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