VoiceThread & iMovie

Earlier this week I showed VoiceThread to an Art 20 class.  Their assignment is to add comments about art work that they created…VoiceThread would work fantastic for this!  However, part of the assignment was to share the music lyrics that influenced the art work – suddenly VoiceThread isn’t the best option.  I recommended iMovie (they can add what ever they want on two separate audio tracks to combine with the pictures.)  Worked great!  The only snag we ran into was getting iTunes to recognize iPods that were formatted for a PC not a Mac – still working on this one.  I know we have done it in the past, but baby brain hit again and I can’t remember how!

In other news, our library has been incredibly busy lately with students working on multi-media productions.  Two French 9 groups are finishing movies created, of course, in French.  (They also made movie posters for their movies using Flickr Toys.)  this project has been going on (not every day) since the week before Easter, and the students are doing great work.  We also have my Drama 9 class and a Social Studies 9 class creating commercials/videos that examine virtues of respect.  Some of these projects are brilliant – one has already been entered into the North Battleford Flick Fest.  (Thanks to the North Battleford Library for accepting a late entry   We also have English 30 classes and Music classes working in GarageBand (the English class is podcasting.)  Add to that individual projects being completed for teachers, and our four editing rooms (and one MacBook) are very busy!  We had a few this week with students forgetting to book editing rooms, as well as some double bookings.  We have become a victim of our success!

Yesterday our school representatives met with Randy Fox and Donna DesRoches to talk about the laptop project.  We thought that perhaps with the success of our multimedia productions, MacBooks would be the best option for us at this time.  We didn’t get a “yes” but we also didn’t get a “no,” so I remain hopeful.

Until next time…

Playing around with VoiceThread

This afternoon I played around with VoiceThread to see what it could do.  Hopefully it will work wonderfully for an Art assignment one of the teachers is planning to do after Easter…

Here is the voice thread that I created.

from voicethread.com posted with vodpod

Family & Saskatchewan – Remix!

This took a lot longer than I thought it would.  There seems to be some issues with WordPress embedding videos.  I had a hard time getting the embedding code to work from Animoto, but didn’t have any problems using the embedded code from YouTube.  I’m still thinking that it’s worth the $30 per year to create full length videos instead of the 30 second ones that you can do for free.

Avoiding work…by working!

Currently I am avoiding my inbox and all of the things that I should be doing right now, and instead am getting excited about a neat web 2.0 tool that I found through, hm hm, a blog (http://thebigquestion.edublogs.org/.) The tool is Animoto and it is a tool to create videos/music videos using either your own images or ones that you find on the Internet…

Okay, so I ran into some technical difficulties using Animoto, mostly that it takes longer than I thought it would to render, but also trying to get the videos that I created onto WordPress. I found that the easiest way (if it works) is by using a plugin for Firefox called Vodpod that should allow the user to upload video directly to their WordPress blogs without any hassle at all! Definitely a tool to check out though… My next post should be a video that I created using images of my two favourite things, family and Saskatchewan!

Bigger, Faster, Better: The Every Increasing Chance of Death by Landfill

| View | Upload your own

Attempting to write this environmentally conscience post for the past few days has allowed me to really consider how I use technology, and how acceptable I have become of technology in my world. However, one aspect of technology that I rarely think about is its impact on our environment, and how our “Bigger, Faster, Better” mentality is putting us at risk of filling landfills with technology cast-offs. Yesterday a few of us met with Donna DesRoches and the fact that I’m a “paper” person was reaffirmed. But in reality, how environmentally unfriendly is using paper when it is compared to the waste that technology has created? Part of the purpose of this blog is to also attempt to upload pictures. The few pictures that I have included are just an example of what moved me to write a piece on technology’s impact on the environment.

Predicted as a problem more than fifteen years ago, Computer Shopper stated, “The impact of computers and their peripherals on the environment is being considered increasingly by users and vendors as the machines proliferate. About 15 million used PCs are bound to be thrown away in 1992…”[1] Wow, 15 million huh. I am curious to know what the current statistics would be as to the volume of waste created by obsolete technology in the last five years alone. Not to mention my own personal contribution of devices to Saskatchewan landfills. Let me think, in the past five years I’ve gone through three cell phones, two regular phones, two computers, two DVD players, one television, two cars, one wireless modem, two printers, numerous printer cartridges, and the list goes on… Granted not all of these devices ended in a landfill. My parents are perfectly happy with my technology hand-me-downs, and other family members have also benefited from my desire to upgrade or replace what no longer works.

However, other solutions must exist. I know that our school has attempted to send many items to Sarcan, but even they seem to be at a loss for the sheer volume of technology needing to be recycled. Perhaps the answer is art? One of my colleagues mentioned that they had ambitions to create either an aquarium or plant stand with the computer he had no other use for (to be perfectly honest this was said in jest to the perceived usability of the Dell computers in comparison to what they already had,) but why not! At least it’s a creative way to deal with a problem that isn’t going away.

Rather than preach advice for what we can do (which I might, had I the answers) and with no end in sight to the advances possible in technology, I choose instead to just be aware of my impact on the earth, and how recycling technology, especially computers, is a problem that must be dealt with.

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[1] Crane, Abigail. “Computers, the environment, and you: paying the price of progress.” Computer Shopper 12.n8 (August 1992): 854(2). General OneFile. Gale. Saskatchewan Schools – Region 6. 5 Mar. 2008
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>.

Discovery Eduacation Video

First of all, let me apologize for my neglect in writing blog posts to this blog.  I assure you, that my other blog, http://jennclimenhaga.wordpress.com/, actually gets updated on a regular basis, and I have been extremely satisfied with the experience.  However, trying to think of something intelligent to post to this blog seems to inhibit my ability to just write posts!  However, I am attempting to make up for my lackadaisical efforts by writing today, and explaining my adventure with a wonderful new resource, Discovery Education Streaming.  First of all, let me start from the beginning…

 In the fall, I sent a list containing videos that could possibly purchased from a distributor out to our science/biology/physics/chemistry teachers.  After some initial excitement, (mostly I think from teachers that were just happy to have me looking at updating the science collection) I received the list back with many of the videos circled as being a possible great addition to the library.  Unfortunately, all of the titles were $70.00 a piece, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to purchase them all.  However, after a little digging, I was able to find out the publisher of many of the videos, Discovery Education.  Right around the same time, we received the trial information for the site (thank you Donna) and I “discovered” that Discovery Education Streaming Video had many of the titles on-line.  Let’s just say that I was more than a little excited to share this information!

 Fast forward a few months to January’s exam week, when I had enough time to take another look at the site and play around.  I started by thinking of all of the simple things that I knew teachers were going to want to know how to do; searching, saving, and downloading, and trying it out for myself.  For the most part, I am quite impressed.  I like that the videos are broken into segments, I like that teachers can create unique lessons right on the site that are tailored to the videos, and most of all, I like that you can download the videos with remarkable ease onto your own computer.  That being said, I conclude that I really like Discovery Education Streaming video, and so far the comments I have heard have been extremely positive, with just one snag…

 Ah, downloading video…actually I didn’t have any problems downloading the video, so it should actually read: “Ah, burning downloaded videos to play in DVD players…”  And this is where the frustrations began.  After numerous programs being installed (and some uninstalled) onto my computer, I am still no farther ahead in finding a free burning program that will convert the file type downloaded (.asf) to one that I can burn and view in a DVD player.  So far, the only one that actually even worked was a trial version of Nero Vision.

 Yes, I realize that for the cost of just one of those DVD’s I was going to purchase in the fall, I could have a burning/converting program to do it all, but what can I say, I’m cheap!  In addition to that though, I’m learning.  Perhaps everyone needs a few snags here or there to really make them focus on the real capabilities of technology…

 

Balance

Oh, time to catch up on my journey with technology. Many times over the past few months I’ve thought of an interesting topic to starting writing my next blog entry. In fact, I’ve started it twice already, never getting more than a few sentences done at a time, both of which I’ve saved, and both of which I’m going to incorporate into this entry…

Number 1, titled “Communication Happens” started like this…

“Again, I’m partially altering my purpose of this blog to rant, explain, or otherwise inform to others about my position as a teacher librarian and how technology affects my job.”

However, whatever point I was going to rant about is gone out the window, as are any points I was going to make about my second start, titled “What does a 21^st century teacher librarian look like,” which started off with…

“Recently I was reading my October 2007 issue of Teacher Librarian, and a particular article caught my eye. You know you’re a 21^st century teacher librarian if… by Joyce Kasman Valenza highlights some of the thoughts that have crossed my mind in the past year…”

So perhaps this blog entry needs to be about something else…balance. As the first two partial entries show, I have great intentions of writing about topics that I find both interesting and important. I seriously believe that my role as teacher librarian is impacted by the increase of technology in our society today, and in particular, in the classroom. However, I find it hard to also be the person who should always be advocating for the use of technology in the school when so often I find myself frustrated and disappointed with it in my day to day dealings.

I have no fear of learning new technology. In fact one of the things that I love most about my job is the constant learning that I do. For example, today I learned that MPG files will not import properly into iMovie, that they have to be saved as the right file type (MPEG-1, or MPEG-4 will work,) and if you want to import a PowerPoint presentation into iMovie, you must first convert it using a program called Keynote. Keynote is an application like PowerPoint, but is designed for Mac’s. However what frustrates me is that now I have to tell a student that he must go home and save the thing he needed for today (isn’t it always last minute) as a different type of file so that he can finish his project tomorrow.

On the other hand, I like being able to “rescue” students when their accounts don’t work for unknown, random reasons. Being in possession of a USB thumb drive (and the knowledge of how to use it) gives me a revered like status here in the library, which I must admit, I sort of enjoy. However, having to email Tech for the umpteenth time, telling them “it happened again” when this happens is something I don’t particularly like.

In the October 2007 issue of Teacher Librarian, Joyce Valenza provides a list of twenty skills/actions that separate the 21^st teacher librarian from those of the past. One of the items on the list is providing open-source software alternatives and web-based applications to students and teachers who need them. Oops, pardon me, but didn’t that ability disappear in September when our school division bought stock in Microsoft? And about the web-based applications – wouldn’t it be great if we could all access tools like YouTube division wide? What about having something like Google Notebook, used by many classes in the school, as a add-on in Firefox, sorry Internet Explorer?

On a positive note, I also like students being really excited about an assignment that involves technology. Last week, the History IB teacher and I put together an assignment where students use either a free website http://kmi4schools.e2bn.net/news_template/ or Microsoft Word, to create newspapers announcing the unification of their country (which they also created based on historic 19^th century countries.) The assignment was well written, and the students had a blast.

So, back to balance. Balance of old school librarian and 21^st century librarian. Balance of books and computers. Balance of knowing and learning. Balance of understanding when to care, and when to let it be somebody else’s problem. But most of all, balance in thought…I have to remind myself that the hiccups in technology will never go away, and sometimes, just maybe, the headache of technology is worth it.

The Grass is always Greener…

After just under a year being in my school, I face a conundrum – will I always have some refer to me as a teacher with a “sweet gig,” or will they learn to value what teacher librarians do within the day. It seems to be the fate of all teachers who do something different, whether it is being a technology teacher or being a teacher librarian that we are no longer regarded as the same as other teachers. (Please understand that I realize that not all teachers feel this way, and I really value the relationships with other teachers that I have formed over the past 10 months. This blog is exactly what I claim it to be…an internal monologue of thought.)

Although I do not have a classroom of my own, I love teaching in the library. Yes, my job is still that of a teacher, and no, I don’t have the same responsibilities (like marking loads) that others do, but I still feel that it is my professional responsibility to continue my daily work outside of the hours of 9:00 to 3:30. Sometimes I wish that I was in a classroom, and only dealt with the “regular responsibilities” of other teachers. Do others who also have a “sweet gig” face this in their schools, or is it just another example of how the grass is always greener on the other side?

In my position as teacher librarian, I have the opportunity to teach not just five classes a semester, but potentially all of the classes in the school (well, maybe not the gym classes, but you never know!) Although I do not have a prep to call my own, I have the ability to meet with any teacher at any time to be able to collaborate on units, lessons, or as I often find, just to bounce ideas off one another. For example, the drama teacher came down a few weeks ago, and I was talking to her about a really cool science assignment that one of our teachers does using GarageBand. After expressing interest in the project, we applied the same technology to her class, Drama 9. Instead of using the old, cumbersome tape recorders to have the students create radio plays, where everything has to be done in order, (for example you could never go back and fix something without affecting the rest of the tape) we collaborated together to create a new assignment. The students would learn to use GarageBand for their radio plays, incorporating all of the elements of the old assignment (like having to create original sound effects) but also adding to it, and improving quality and productivity. After an introduction by the drama teacher to their new assignment, the students came down to the library for instruction on how to use the software programme specific to their assignment. After receiving instruction, the students started their radio plays using the editing rooms in the library. Both the drama teacher and I were there to help answer questions, and in my case especially, get those darn microphones working! Not only did we improve upon an assignment, we incorporated some pretty neat technology. In addition, the project increased student responsibility (always a good thing!) They became responsible for their behaviour in the library editing rooms (somewhat different than what it would be in a drama class,) booking the editing rooms with our library staff, and coordinating among themselves when they would work on the projects.

After all of this, perhaps I need to start regarding what I do as a “sweet gig” and not just “my teaching job.” Perhaps, as I do, others are just experiencing the “grass is always greener” syndrome. In conclusion, I love my job, my sweet gig, and the limbo of always learning that it provides. I am always learning; about new technology, new resources, new ways to collaborate with others, and of course, about the students whom we help to achieve academic success.

Information Super Highway Roadkill

One thing that I noticed with some teachers in our school is that technology is a divider. There are those who know, those who want to know, and those who will resist knowing for as long as they can. Think of it as those traveling the information highway. You have those that speed along, just waiting for the open road, those who have just ventured on, and are picking up speed, and those who are content to be the roadkill on the highway, just getting mowed over. So how do we as instructional support teachers help ALL teachers feel comfortable traveling on the information highway? What is our role – or rather, what is my role as a teacher librarian?

Collaboration with the teacher librarian, in the past, has meant helping to plan instruction and assessment, as well as aiding in the actual teaching. However, will the new position as instructional “technology” support change that role? Will I become the tech guru that people will come to for help with specific programs, but only those involving technology? How can I ensure that I continue to reach out to teachers regardless of their technological level of comfort?

On another note, “Things are different at the Comp” is a phrase that I have heard over and over, but really, how different can it be? Sure, there are more students, more teachers, and even quite possibly more technology. But in the end, is our goal not the same as all of the other schools in our division? Growth Without Limits, Learning for All. How does technology fit into “growth without limits and learning for all?”

Do things like socioeconomic conditions get addressed when it comes to technology? Socioeconomic conditions have always divided students, and quite possibly our expectation that all students are familiar with, or have access to, technology is actually a misconception. How does this affect technology used (or introduced) in the classroom? Are teachers expected to teach both the curriculum as well as the separate skill sets required by technology? Take for example, word processing. Many students have the ability to type, but do they understand how to use a word processor like Word? How much time do classroom teachers have to spend on something that is a) not expected of them b) not assessed within the realm of Saskatchewan curricula, and c) not standardized when it comes to access?

In conclusion, will there ever be a time when technology doesn’t divide us as educators or learners?? Will there eventually be a “roadkill free zone” on our drive down the super highway, where all educators and all students have the technological savvy skills required to get a license to drive?

Fall Beginnings…

Writing from our very first meeting of in-school instructional support teachers, I have decided to change my very “static” presence on the web (limited to a book review sort of blog) to one both more dynamic and challenging.

My first challenge: to download Skype in order to use it to talk to others using the Internet.

Although I may know a little bit about computers, I find that my greatest adversary is time. Time to learn the new things that are out there, time taken away from my other duties, and most importantly, time to decide what is valuable to me or my co-workers.

My goal is to learn or try something new (technology wise) every week until our next PD event. Hope & pray for me!