Are you busy this Tuesday evening @9:00?

Joyce Valenza (uber-teacher librarian, SLJ’s Neverending Search ), who will be joining us at the SCASL conference is a scheduled guest on one of my favorite web shows, the Women of Web 2.0 this coming Tuesday night. She and the Director of Media and Technology Doug Johnson (Blue Skunk Blog fame) of Mankato, Minnesota (another oneof my favorites!!) will be visiting the 2.0 ladies  (hence the name of the show Women of Web 2.0, known to many as WOW 2.0.)  There is a planned Ustream, and the EdTech Talk website that hosts the live program offers an AWESOME chat for the virtual participants.  Someone from the show watches the chat, and always brings our comments into the mix.  Plan to join the show on EdTech Talk (or Ustream–they will share details about the Ustream as we get closer to Tuesday.)  The show is on just about EVERY Tuesday night at 9:00 PM. EST.

Want to join in but don’t feel so comfy using the site? Email me or chat to me in my gmail (cathyjonelson) and I’ll assist you getting in to listen and even chat if you like. First timers sometimes have difficulty finding the audio stream.  Of course if you’ll jump right in the chat and ask for help, many there (Lisa Durff, Lisa Parisi, Carolyn Foote, me, others) will offer all kinds of things to try.  I consider myself (and these friends) regulars in the chat room, and all of us go out of our way to assist newcomers.  The shows are always powerful, the hour flies by, and you will make many new friends.  Best, this Tuesday is ALL ABOUT what we are about–school libraries.

C’mon, represent South Carolina LMS’s THIS Tuesday!

SCASL Podcasts!

From a post this morning on the SCASL-LS discussion list by Anne Lemieux, Info Tech chairman — Kitt has created the first podcast for the SCASL website, please take a listen at http://www.scasl.net, and thank you Donna Teuber for taking the time to post this on our website with the RSS feed.
Listen up!

 http://www.scasl.net/podcasts/itunes.xml 
or
 RSS feed http://www.scasl.net/podcasts/message.xml

David Warlick or David Loertscher

Yesterday I was in a dilemma about what evening professional development event I wanted to participate in. I had read weeks ago that Second Life planned a presentation event in conjunction with ISTE featuring David Loertscher, library media guru and professor at San Jose State. I had also heard that David Warlick would be a guest on a weekly webcast i join, Women of Web 2.0. So at 9pm last night I was truly a multitasking person, pulling up both, and trying both at the same time. As I waited for David Loertscher to begin, I am standing there in SL thinking how eerie it feels to be in a virtual world, and how I was NEVER really a gamer, and didn’t know if I would EVER develop a comfort zone for this. I actually stood, too, b/c I could NOT make my avatar sit down. Seats were rapidly filling. But the other part of my computer was iTunes (as well as a chat window), and the folks were shrieking with laughter and very obviously having a great time. The conversation was LIVELY and fun, and I kept going back so I could follow the chat. The ladies and their guests always bring in the conversations happening in the chat, and last night was no less. I was incorrect about the guests though. David Warlick is going to visit soon, but last night was a show focusing on using social networks and new presentation tools. It was mentioned that WOW2.0 was competing with an ISTE event in SL, but the chatroom had a record crowd–in the upper 30s. The guests were Darren Draper of Blog “Drapes Takes,” 5th grade teacher Dean Meyer, and Steve Hargadon of blog fame, Ning fame, and best, Edublogger Con fame form NECC 2007.

What a WISE decision I made. Even though I was mildly disappointed that it wasn’t David Warlick, it was still very powerful conversations about new, free (mostly opensource) presentation tools, like Elluminate, FlashMeeting, Google Presentations, and others, and how these tools have enabled us to have meaningful professional development with tools designed not only to share, but also involve and interact with participants. Many of the new tools have a chat feature enabled, and sometimes the presenter can even incorporate the back channeled conversations right into their presentations. How awesome. We also talked of the power of social networks and social networking, reliving just a bit of the power that came from EdubloggerCon (which i attended and participated in at NECC Atlanta 2007!!)

Doug Johnson of Blue Skunk Blog fame had blogged yesterday about how he planned to attend the David Loertscher presentation in SL. So I emailed him and shared about my quandry–which one to choose? He emailed me back today, noting that he went to the SL presentation, and it seemed to me he was mildly disappointed that David Loertscher was only there apparently in handout form, as his assistant conducted the presentation. The content was good, but available as a pdf handout download. (NOTE: You can get good summary as well as Doug’s take and thought provoking questions from this SL presentation in a post on his blog today.)

So with this information I now am SO GLAD I choose Women of Web 2.0. It was well worth the hour I spent online in this chatroom as I listened to the guests and hostesses carry the program. Best of all, I was NOT alone in my choice. Reports are that the chatroom had record numbers, and included in the chatroom were some really big experts like David Jakes, Miguel Ghulin, and LMS’s Joyce Valenza, Carloyn Foote, and Lisa Durff. (Great minds think alike, and apparently meet up in the same chatrooms!) My friends, it is a wonderful opportunity to network with educators who have a similar interests in students and education. Here is quoted text from their site that tells what it is:

WOW 2.0 is for all who are using the tools of the internet whether it be in a classroom setting, leading seminars, authoring books, maintaining blogs or wikis, or just enjoying the tools of the internet in an educational and exciting way.

WOW2 is brought to you by Cheryl Oakes, Jennifer Wagner, Sharon Peters, & Vicki Davis, four women who not only love using the tools of the Internet but also love sharing the tools with others…Each Tuesday night’s chat is great fun and we invite you to join in the conversation via the chat room.

One last note. I asked Jennifer Wagner when David Warlick will be there. They are trying to have him mid October, which for the show translates to Tuesday night, October 16, from 9-10PM. I promise if you come any Tuesday night you won’t be disappointed.

What about Discus?

NOTE: Cross Posted from TechnoTuesday
I know a lot of professionals get paid to create logos and such for just about everything, and that probably includes the Discus logo too. Have you seen the new logo? It’s really cool and pretty. It needed an update, and I like it too. Now I need to find my brochures and pages that contain that home access login and password and update their looks too–and include the new logo. My hope is that at first glance of the logo students will know and understand there is a place of solid information that can help them get their school work done.

Recently at EdTech Talk, the program Teachers Teaching Teachers had a one-hour show three weeks in a row about how to improve student research strategies using database subscriptions. A lot of what was discussed centered around the complexity of searching with the tools, and why students want to first use Google. I think when I make my brochure and handouts, I will include a Discus logo like I’ve never seen before. Of course I’ll use the one the state is using too, but I think in order for kids to make the connection that this can be their first choice for information, it needs to have that look if not feel of Google. So I google-ized a log0 (wonder if I’ll get in trouble?) and I’m thinking about using it on my material too. When I get my own webspace–I’m waiting on the district who is transitioning out of what they use now to something new–I may use the googlized logo too. What better way to help kids make that connection?

Just in case you weren’t aware, Discus now has a community log in too. There is a discussion board, and a place to network (so very web 2.0 of them) and I am not 100% sure, but it may be open to students too. Go check it out!

Blog Day 2007 – Read some SC LMS Blogs!

Today is Blog Day 2007, and there is a “meme” of sorts going around. So I must first post the instructions, and then point readers to new blogs. Recently i wrote an article for our SCASL Media Center Messenger about the power of Web 2.0, and asked any LMS’s out there in SC to send me URLs of their blogs. So I will point you to theirs.
BlogDay posting instructions:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2007
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link:
http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2007 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

Fellow SC library media specialist Brenda Branson at Crowders Creek Middle school is introducing her students using CCMS Blog

Whack Books, is a blog from LMS April Llibre of Walhalla High School. The opening line at the top of the page says it all, which I will quote here: Welcome to the Walhalla High School Library book blog, Whack Books…as in, “That book is SO whack (good),” OR, “That book is SO whack (bad)!” Join us for discussions about books; tell us what you really think.

Beck Academy (Greenville County) LMS Andi Fansher’s Library News You Can Use is available as a professional-type blog with a target audience of teachers. She also has a student portal, the Beck Academy Library Media Center.

LMS Stacy Symborski of D.R. Hill Middle School in Duncan, SC is blogging at Reading Rocks at D.R. Hill Middle.

LMS Sue Fitzgerald blogs for a target audience of students at her Dorman High School Blog to discuss school related topics.

So now you have some other adopters of the web 2.0 way, and you can use them as models too. Don’t forget to drop by my blogs as well, TechnoTuesday and @ the CMS Library. I still consider my self a newbie, and my student blog is still in its infancy, not even yet having been introduced to our faculty or students! Be sure to visit and leave a comment. Some say web 2.0 means read/write, so read their blogs and write a COMMENT!! Show them some blog love!

Technorati Tag: Blog Day 2007

Come Ride the Wave of Web 2.0 and Information Fluency

Come Ride the Wave of Web 2.0 and Information Fluency
Cathy Nelson
cathyjonelson@gmail.com
Electronic Article from SCASL’s Media Center Messenger Back to School Issue

2.0 Changes on the Horizon
Do you handle change very well? Brace yourselves, fellow LMS’s, for a tidal wave of change is coming. Expert media specialist Alice Yucht paints this picture of information literacy today by asking this thought provoking question:
Remember when we were all talking about the Information Superhighway? It was the new mode of travel. What an interesting analogy, because a highway has definite entrances and exits and was built to go somewhere specific. Today, however, our kids are learning to swim in the information ocean. There are no entrances and exits clearly defined, with tsunamis in every direction, pools of dangerous sharks, and yet as teachers we are charged with guiding our students through it. So how do we prepare our students and teachers for their swim in the information ocean? What is the implication for us? We continue our instructional practices for information fluency while modeling the appropriate and ethical use of the new web 2.0 tools.

So what exactly is Web 2.0?
Googling “Web 2.0” returns at the top of the search an article from Tim O’Reilly titled “What is Web 2.0?” It explains the conceptual genesis of Web 2.0 and defines Web 2.0 technology/applications. Wikipedia tells us that although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to Web technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use the web as a platform. Popular terms associated with Web 2.0 include blogs, podcasts, digital video sharing, wikis, and social book

marking, just to name a few. How many of us have heard of Wikipedia, Flickr, MySpace, and other popular Web 2.0 tools? I’m positive most of our kids are familiar with, if not already using many of them. The best explanation I was given at one time was this—The Internet at its birth was 1.0. We were consumers of information from the World Wide Web. Now we are at the next level, called Web 2.0. Web 2.0 means that instead of just using the WWW to find information hopefully from the experts, suddenly we can give back to the Internet. The Internet has become a forum for users, and Web 2.0 adopters are finding that the collaborative nature of these tools can be useful in getting information as well as sharing ideas. Just as we adopted film, then instructional television and videos, and online databases and information resources, so too must we adopt and model the Web 2.0 wave of resources. Joyce Valenza compares the adoption of Web 2.0 tools to the well-known story Stone Soup. Let’s recap the story.

According to the story, some soldiers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry soldiers. The soldiers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The soldiers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager doesn’t mind parting with just a little bit to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the soldiers again mention their stone soup, which hasn’t reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all. The stone may or may not be reused in the next soup, and fortunately is not eaten.

What is the implication of this little story?
We are all being bombarded with Web 2.0, whether we like it or not. Some are more reluctant than others, but most would agree, change happens, whether you are ready or not. And so too does Web 2.0. So how does that affect the school library media specialist? Are we to drop our online database subscriptions and throw out our collection development plans, now that the “information ocean” of blogs, podcasts, and wikis seem to be the first and most popular resource our students turn to? Of course not! This is not a battle that we can win. So, just like the soldiers in the story mentioned previously, we must adopt and earn buy in. One of the dominant issues involved with student-use (and yes even adult-use) of online material centers on finding information, evaluating it, and using it ethically. Web 2.0 has not changed that. We still are charged with teaching students to evaluate and use information in an ethical manner.

So how do we embrace this tidal wave called Web 2.0?
We present ourselves as lifesavers. We embrace the tools, and begin to learn about them. We model their appropriate use. Remember all those pathfinders you spent endless hours creating for appropriate web resources? How many times have you had to return and edit these same static websites? This is a great opportunity to create a wiki pathfinder. Teach your teachers and students to use the wiki, and make the creation a collaborative effort where everyone is adding information. What an awesome way to model a wiki and how it works. Begin reading blogs. Create blogs to serve your purposes. Over and over I am seeing school LMS’s create blogs for state or local book clubs. Blogs can become the 2.0 version of your traditional book clubs and literature circles. Remember the story of the Stone Soup. Just like the soldiers who couldn’t get anyone to give them resources to make a meal, it will be difficult to get some teachers (and even media specialists) to jump in and provide meat to create something. BUT if we model using the tools—just like they modeled making soup with a stone, we may pique interest and stir up buy in. You can be the catalyst for your school using Web 2.0 tools.

Some of you may very well have noticed that these tools are being modeled through our association (SCASL) at the state level. There is a SCASL Blog, and Martha Alewine, our state department of education liaison for library media programs also maintains a blog. The new tools are being modeled for you even now. Don’t turn your back on the wonderful opportunities these tools will offer. I promise, your students are not. And please don’t fret if you don’t have a comfort level in Web 2.0 yet. Most of us learn by doing, and teacher-librarian guru Joyce Valenza proclaims that she is yet to be 2.0, and hovers right around 1.8. According to her, its okay to still be in beta on this. So now I know its okay to not totally know everything.

Tools to get started!

Recipe for beginning the journey into learning about Web 2.0 for Educators
(Best done if read through an RSS aggregator like Bloglines )

1 dose daily: Read blogs from the experts in the field daily:

Joyce Valenza’s Neverending Search Blog
David Warlick’s 2cents Worth
Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog

1 dose periodically: Read professional blogs and/or listen to podcasts from fellow LMS’s in SC!

SCASL Blogs
Valerie Byrd-Fort’s Blog: “Library Goddess”
Mary Haddon’s Untitled Professional Blog
Cathy Nelson’s TechnoTuesday Blog

1 dose periodically: School Library Blogs & Podcasts of interest!

@ the Northside Library
Bookin’ It: DFES Podcast
Dutchfork Middle School Media Center
DFES – The Book Blog

Blogging Programs for beginners:
These programs are free and offer you a chance to begin your own blog. They are not listed in any specific order, as all seem to have a simple interface and offer easy access to your own blog. Don’t feel pressured to create one if you are not ready. Instead, enjoy reading others.

Google’s Blogger
WordPress
Edublogs (by teachers, for teachers)

Citations:
Valenza, Joyce K. “Web 2.0 Meets Information Fluency.” 6 July 2007. http://informationfluency.wikispaces.com

“Web 2.0.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 July 2007, 18:56 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 6 July 2007 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Yucht, Alice. [Podcast] “SIGMS Forum at NECC: Alice Yucht.” 7 July 2007. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/contents/
media/SLJ_SIGMSForum_AliceYucht.mp3?nid=3381

Classrooms and Libraries for the Net Gen

I went to a session at NECC by Doug Johnson called “Classrooms and Libraries for the Net Gen” that I really enjoyed. I read Doug’s blog, and so a lot of this content he had shared previously in his Blue Skunk Blog or other writings. But he is a captivating speaker too, and since he promotes literacy and libraries, I support him and attend whatever he is involved in when I can!

Here is the blogged content from another attendee (Karen Fasimpaur of Mobile Musings):

The session focused on various characteristics of the Net Gen and the consequences of those for schools. Here are some observations I took away from the session:

– Doug reeled off a long list of statistics of how the Net Gen is different from boomers or even Gen X. This made me feel old, but also to be happy to be living in a time of so much excitement, energy, and positive change.

– Students in the Net Gen WANT TO LEARN. They just may want to learn different content and with different methods than schools traditionally offer.

– It was suggested that the Dewey Decimal system is losing relevance. (This inspired defensive indignation in the crowd of mostly library media specialists in the audience.) Doug talked about user/student-generated tags as a more relevant system of organization. This is definitely a trend at NECC this year. Are organizations beginning to tag analog content like library books?

– Like others here, Doug encouraged us to be more flexible in allowing students to bring electronic devices, like iPods, handhelds, and even cell phones, to school. Again this is a theme here this year. Doug suggested including students on school and district planning committees to help administration understand the new paradigms of learning of this generation.

– On the subject of filtering, Doug says, “Safety comes from education, not blocking.” Doug’s site and handouts give some thoughtful ideas for how his district is handling these issues.

– Physical place is important. Schools need to be more comfortable and even fun environments. It strikes me that this could be done for little or no cost. I was at a university earlier this week that has done a lot of things like adding nicer student spaces, etc. while simultaneously generating revenue for the school. An associate dean there pointed out to me a Starbucks in the library and said that, while students love it, the librarians were not so happy with it.

– Librarians have a central role to play in information literacy and learning in the future.

See his web page for more thought-provoking details.

posted by Karen Fasimpaur at 8:14 AM

Information Fluency Meets Web 2.0 — Joyce Valenza’s NECC 07 Presentation

This media guru always knows exactly what to say to make me feel I am right there with her! The media guru of the century, Joyce Valenza, admittedly calls herself a 1.8 person, not quite 2.0. She considers herself still in beta, but proclaims to all that it is okay to still be in beta. We are, after all, lifelong learners!

Valenza starts with a a pix of the soldiers from the story Stone Soup. Many want to believe they scammed the village, but in reality, if looked at a different way, they were instead an inspiration for change and a catalyst for collaboration in that village.

With the increase in Web 2.0 tools, our students are living in a very rich media world. As literacy teacher librarians, we should be embracing these tools to teach responsible use. We can model the use of these tools as well through our instructional practices. An IDEAL way to model is to change the way we do pathfinders, and instead of publishing static webpages, make wiki pathfinders! Of course this is just one way, but what a way to jump right in!

Joyce Valenza created a wiki for this presentation that can be easily accessed, and she welcomes its use for us to teach our faculty and staff, and yes, even students. There are some GREAT examples of end products of project based learning here as well, and a ton of ideas for us to start small (while we are still in beta) and grow to become authentic 2.0 users and contributors.

Remember the intro with the analogy of the soldiers and their stone soup? We as professional teacher librarians can be the soldiers of Web 2.0. We can model the use of web 2.0 tools in our own instructional practice, and help teachers integrate their use as well through solid collaboration. I left this session so inspired! Check out her avatar–I’ve got to find where this was made so I can make my own too!

Our blog is experiencing problems

Last week I noticed when I uploaded a post that a reconfiguration of sorts happened. I use Edublogs for my TechnoTuesday Blog, and I know for a fact Edublogs was down for practically the duration of NECC, which I had hoped to use to blog about sessions I attended. : (
When i posted something in this bog, our “sidebar” seemed to disappear, and a previous posted shifted to that location. I am still on vacation sort of, and have not had time to truly address this, but it will be top priority soon. No one has mentioned it to me, though I cringe each time I look at it. I’ve tried reapplying different “themes” but that hasn’t helped. So it’s time to seek a WordPress user expert. I will also dig into the WordPress FAQs and Forum as well. I hope to have this resolved soon.