Mobile Devices supporting all learners

Libraries in Developing Countries

     "Should libraries in developing nations rely on donations and weeded books from developed nations?" My answer many years ago would have been yes, but not now. When I stop to think about the weeded books I sent years ago, I wonder, "Why should these students only have access to worn, out of date, and often politically incorrect books. Don't all children have the right to update to date, accurate information about the world?" Of course, they do. Richard Rowe in his Tedx talk, ICTs changing education in developing countries, says that education is the answer to many of the world's problems. This is the reason we must worry about the education of all the children of the world.

     According to Susan Moody from Worldreader over 80% of people in parts of developing countries have access to mobile phones. This proves to me that mobile devices can play a huge role in the libraries and schools of these countries. Mobile devices will help level the playing field for the children in these countries.

BYOD

     I was surprised to see so much information about BYOD. At my school and in my district, I think, there has been a "no cell phone rule" in place. My district is so far behind.  Because of severe budget restraints, our technology has been archaic and teacher training has been nonexistent, unless you did it yourself. PAC has been helpful by raising funds to purchase technology, but without teacher training the new devices remain under utilized. Until the teachers  integrate technology into their current pedagogy, I don't think they are ready to begin with  BYOD. Regardless of this fact, the time will come when we will need to begin developing BYOD policies and T/L must be willing to take part in the discussion and use their school library as a model for classroom teachers on how personal devices can enhance student learning. By allowing BYOD we will be supporting 21st century literacy.

The Alberta government's guide, Bring Your Own Device: A Guide for Schools, is an extremely comprehensive tool to refer to before developing our own policy.  A quote, from an Alberta teacher, to support BYOD is found at the beginning of the guide.

     “Learning is complex work and like other forms of skilled and technical work it requires that the person performing the job understand and be comfortable with his or her tool set.”

     One thing I liked about this guide was that it included different models for BYOD from a standardized model to a flexible models and many in between. The Standardized model limiting the brands of devices to be used and the flexible model with no limit except that the device be Internet ready. The Pros and cons of each model are clearly presented in charts. The guide also provides many vignettes to provide practical examples of how individuals schools are incorporating BYOD.

     Other articles I read supporting BYOD in schools were  6 BYOD Discussions Every School Should Have by Vicki Davis and Why BYOD Makes Sense: Thinking Beyond a Standardized 1:1 by Andrew Marcinek.  Davis' article offers good advice based in her experience implementing BYOD. She believes BYOD will help students develop their own personalized learning environments. Marcinek believes in BYOD because, "homogenization of any tool is never a good idea in a context that is intended to foster creativity."  Marcinek also states ,"giving choice makes it less about the device and more about the learning." Isn't this what teachers want?

     At first read, the topics appeared different but after doing some reading I see the connection between them. Mobile devices can connect all of us and support learning for everyone, everywhere.

Works Cited

Bring Your Own Device: A Guide for Schools. N.p.: Alberta Education, 2012. Print.

     Davis, Vicki. "6 BYOD Discussions Every School Should Have." Edutopia. Edutopia, 14 Feb.         2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
  http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-discussions-schools-should-have-vicki-davis

      "How Mobile Devices Drive Literacy in Developing World." YouTube. WSJ, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.http://youtu.be/u3NqU6gqsTM

         Marcinek, Andrew. "Why BYOD Makes Sense: Thinking Beyond a Standardized 1:1." Edutopia.    Edutopia, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/byod-makes-sense-beyond-1-to-1-andrew-marcinek

            Rowe, Richard. "ICTs Changing Education in Developing Countries: Richard Rowe at TEDx." N.p., 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
http://youtu.be/k1Hvmt4PY_Y

Teacher Librarians supporting Teacher ICT ProD

    During my time as a T/L I have found that many teachers really don't understand the our role  and therefore do not make full use of our expertise. It is up to the T/L to advocate for ourselves by educating teachers on our role. This graphic from Chris Kennedy's article, My take on Librarians, could be used for this purpose.

http://cultureofyes.ca/2011/05/23/my-take-on-librarians/

Chris is a big supporter of T/Ls stating in his article that, "as we move forward “teacher

librarians are more important than ever,"  and that, "the teacher-librarian is often key in moving the learning agenda forward." There are many other articles and visuals we can use

 to advocate for TL. I liked how this YouTube video from the California School Librarians association sums up our role.

http://youtu.be/EyYKkh0n7Vg

      While reading the topic for this week, the following question seemed to be most important. "How can we best respond to the needs of our staff, in their wide spectrum of abilities and experiences, with the most appropriate and useful professional development?" In my opinion,the poster below clearly demonstrates what teachers want from their ProD. 

The question and the poster have shifted my perspective on the ways I can support teachers’ ICT curriculum and pedagogy ProD. This year instead of just making vague suggestions and quoting articles I read, I will take an active role in helping the staff integrate the technology available in the school with the content learning goals. .Benjamin Harold states, "... a mountain of evidence indicates that teachers have been painfully slow to transform the ways they teach, despite that massive influx of new technology into their classrooms. The student-centered, hands-on, personalized instruction envisioned by ed-tech proponents remains the exception to the rule." I fully agree with statement because I witness it everyday at school and I, too, “have been painfully slow to transform the way I teach. "  Harold continues to give the reasons for slow transformation. One reason being, " Many teachers lack an understanding of how educational technology works."

   This is how I plan to support to address this problem and to support my staff with their ICT ProD.

1. Know exactly what technology is available in our school.
2. Know how this technology, be it smart board, iPad, computer, document camera works. If I don’t, I will find out.
3. Be available to work along side teachers to develop lessons using the available technology as a tool to achieve student learning.
4. Offer an after school or lunchtime workshop on technology available in our school. Entice teachers to attend by having this opportunity count as the Professional ProD discretionary day each teacher is allowed. Provide dinner or lunch for them.
5. Our school is also beginning to use PLCs.  The focus of these communities this year will be math. Earlier this year I was wondering how I could support each committee. Obviously now I  can suggest and demonstrate ways the school’s technology can be used by students to  improve their learning in math. Some teachers are using IXL already but maybe some apps that support the higher taxonomies can be explored. Most of our school ProD time this year will be spent on this.

     There are always some teachers unwilling to use their own time for ProD. This has been a barrier in my district because elementary T/Ls provide almost all the prep coverage. However, this year I am lucky to be relieved of some of this prep coverage. This will allow me time to work with these teachers during the teacher’s prep time.  Of course, i will have to encourage the teacher to use their prep toward with me. It’s up to me to make it worth their while.

Works Cited

Duckworth, Sylvia. 10 Things Teachers Want for Professional Development. Digital image.N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.

Https://plus.google.com/photos/photo/114228444007154433856/6155062951951599682. 

Harold, Benjamin. "Why Ed Tech Is Not Transforming How Teachers Teach." Education Week. Editorial Projects in Education, 15 June 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/06/11/why-ed-tech-is-not-transforming-how.html

Kennedy, Chris. "My Take on Librarians." Culture of Yes. N.p., 23 May 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. http://cultureofyes.ca/2011/05/23/my-take-on-librarians/

Teacher Librarians and Classroom Teachers: Collaborative Partners. California School Library Association, 15 Mar. 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. http://youtu.be/EyYKkh0n7Vg.

Professional Development

     In the past, my professional development has been very much like what Jose Luis Vilson calls the "Archaic Model." http://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/josé-luis-vilson/why-teachers-need-start-their-own-professional-development. I participated in prod days at the school or in the district, but wasn't necessarily interested in what was being presented. In the past, administrators haven't been exactly thrilled when teachers have asked to use a professional day to pursue researching personal teaching interests. Perhaps some teachers didn't provide evidence of their learning. I  guess it's accountability. School administrators are sometimes to anxious to jump on whatever bandwagon is passing through to justify the time spent on pro d. Unfortunately, "teachers still come out of them feeling like they learned nothing of substance when they hoped for at least a nugget of information." (Vilson)(2013). This “Archaic Model” of Professional Development for teachers needs to change. In Benjamin Herald’s article, Why Ed Tech is not transforming how teachers teach, he supports the idea of “job embedded “ professional development. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/06/11/why-ed-tech-is-not-transforming-how.html This is the kind of PD “ that takes place consistently during the the workday and is tied to specific classroom challenges. This ‘job embedded professional development “ seems to tie in with the idea of using PLNs. Another article, Standards lacking in public schools’ use of technology by Tracy Sherlock, says that “teachers don't know how to use the technology in their classrooms.”  Again more proof that the “Archaic model” of PD isn't working.  In the future, I would like to continue my professional development using what Vilson calls, " third-rail professional development,  a hybrid of tech savvy and a healthy dose of networking."

   T/Ls must make ever effort to stay current with new technology, teaching strategies and learning resources if we hope to the fulfill roles our role. T/Ls need to be part of the leadership team in a school. Teachers need to be able to come to T/Ls for support in using technology's and setting up their own PLNs. T/Ls can help and encourage teachers to pursue professional development by sharing their learning and modelling the behaviours of life long learners.  In the past, I have ventured into some online learning: Ted, webinars put on by the BCTLA, a subscription to LM-Net, and of course, UBC online courses, but I can do more. 

     I have been introduced to new ways of learning over the past few weeks and I hope to continue to use these online resources and to share my learning with colleagues. The resources that are new to me are Twitter, blogs, PLN, and Youtube.  

     Twitter is very new to me and I'm not really sure if I completely understand how it all works. I will need to use online resources like https://support.twitter.com, you tube videos and continue to connect with other teachers/ librarians in my district  to help me learn. In the past I have used the trial and error method to learn how to use new apps and online resources. Sometimes trial and error worked, although I didn't always use these online tools to there full potential, and sometimes it didn't work at all, so i just gave up. Here is a YouTube video I am finding useful.

     I have always been very cautious when it came to blogs, but I now see blogs as an excellent way to keep current. While I'm not sure that I will continue to write my own blogs, I will continue to read and subscribe to blogs tha tI feel will benefit my learning.  I have used YouTube before, of course, for entertainment and for educating students, but I have never really used YouTube for my professional learning. I will continue to create a PLN using  YouTube, Twitter and Google search and learn more about PLNs using these online tools. In the future, I would like to become a sharer in my PLN. Currently I'm a really good lurker. Here are the links to some PLN resources I plan on exploring or have already used.

http://edupln.ning.com

http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-1-what-the-heck-is-a-pln/

http://youtu.be/A667plNCzwA

References

Burt, Ronnie. "Step 1: What Is a PLN?" Edublogs Teacher Challenges. N.p., 14 June 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-1-what-the-heck-is-a-pln/>.

Dickens, Seth. "How To Build Your PLN (Professional Learning Network)." YouTube. Diogitalang.com, 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://youtu.be/A667plNCzwA>.

Meeker, Kelly. "Twitter for Beginners." YouTube. N.p., 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.

Sherlock, Tracy. "Standards Lacking in Public Schools' Use of Technology." Vancouver Sun. Canada.com, 03 Oct. 2015. Web. 03 Oct. 2015. <http://epaper.vancouversun.com/epaper/viewer.aspx>.

Whitby, Thomas. "The Educator's PLN." - The Personal Learning Network for Educators. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://edupln.ning.com/>.

Wilson, Jose Luis. "CTQ." Why Teachers Need To Start Their Own Professional Development. Center for Teaching Quality, 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/jos%C3%A9-luis-vilson/why-teachers-need-start-their-own-professional-development>.

Fostering a Culture of Reading

https://comicskingdom.com/system/media/1979_family_circus_original.gif?1415397568

Fostering a reading culture is an important role for a teacher/librarian. It is a role I would like to improve on and hopefully, in turn, more students will find a love of reading. Currently in my school we have several ways to foster a reading culture. Most of the classes in my school do buddy reading which not only has younger and older students reading together, but often includes working on small projects together. It is a kind of collaboration. The older students often modelling the way people can work together towards a common goal and learn more than they might have on their own. At least once a year, everyone gets together for a school wide book talk. Student are in small, multi-grade, family groups for the event. Each group has a grade six leader running the group and an adult,teacher,ea, parent in the background just to make sure all goes well. Students are encouraged to bring props, or dress in character to enhance the experience. Teachers are free to determine the parameters for book selection. Sometimes the books are fiction, sometimes nonfiction, and often both. Other teachers have asked students to pick just a chapter to book talk from a novel the class is studying.

In the library, I have my usual seasonal and new book displays. I have the most popular series grouped separately in a labeled baskets for easy access. The books are well loved and the baskets are often empty. I also have another basket I call skinny books.  This was not my idea, but I can't remember where I learned about it, so sorry no citation. Skinny books are just that. The books are fast reads and very often high interest, low vocabulary. An example of the kinds of books in this basket are the, And Then it Happened, series.





hotcupofteaandagoodbook.BlogSpot.

I give book talks and show book trailers. Just outside the library I have a,  Need a book, 
Take a book, Have a book, Leave a book, box.  I need to remind students about the leave
a book part because the selection has been pretty narrow lately. Another way I try to
encourage reading is with a used book fair.  The students are always excited to see how
much a loonie can buy them and often leave with bags full of books. They also like to
buy books for their parents. This activity does raise some money for the library, but
from the students reaction to the sale you can tell they are excited to read their new
 a year, the primary teachers and I put on  books for bedtime, a program for 3 to 5 year
olds. The children participate in story time other reading related activities while the parents
are given a short presentation about community resources, like the public library,
or Mother Goose story time, a program for very young children presented by Mission
 Literacy in Motion.  Children always leave with a new book and a bag of literacy goodies.
Our school also hosts,  Little Readers, a parent run program for 3 to 5 year olds. Kids and
their caregiver participate in story time, crafts and a book exchange.
A great way for the little ones to get used to the school they will probably attend and for
parents in the community to connect. All of theses strategies and program help to promote a culture of reading, but I am interested in finding some ideas or ways to spice up current strategies and programs.

When I was searching YouTube, I found some great videos to promote reading. My favourite is Dear Summer Reader. I would love to get the staff together and create something similar for the end of the year assembly.

Another video I like is the  Roosevelt Flash Mob: Gotta Keep Reading. It would be great for the classes to learn the dance and perform it together in the gym before our Book Talk.



My research on Twitter also lead me to the article, What are Young Learners Reading?or How Does What They Are Reading Fit in with Building a Community of Readers? by Sharon McElmeel.  In the article she makes a clear case against Accelerated Reading, a program I have never agreed with, as a way to motivate readers.  McElmeel goes on to examine what does motivate readers? The key ideas McElmeel focuses on are TIME, ACCESS and CHOICE. I very much agree with her conclusions especially CHOICE. As long as the reader sees value in the book it doesn't matter if  we see the value.  She also brings up an idea that I hadn't really thought about before. "Sometimes books need time to resonate with the reader," says McElmeel. Student don't always understand everything about a story at the time they read it, but later in their life they have an experience that reminds them of something that happened in the book that they always wondered about.  For example, McElmeel tells a story about her son.  He had read  Farmer Boy, by L. Wilder in Elementary school and never really understood how the donuts Ma was frying turned over by themselves. Three years later,  he saw donuts frying at home and saw the donuts flip over alone. He said to McElmeel " I always wondered how they did that."  I love it when students have "Aha" moments.  McElmeel also leaves teachers with a good reminder at the end of the article.

"It is our responsibility as educators to implement the most effective strategies that reach our objectives, to create life-long readers and build a community of readers."

References Cited

Herbert, Jesse. "Dear Summer Reader." YouTube. Np., n.d. web. 06 Oct. 2015.

McElmeel, Sharron. " What Are Young Learners Reading?" Teacher Librarian (2015): 29-33. Web.

Read-A-Thon Flash Mob channel."Roosevelt Flash Mob: Gotta Keep Reading." YouTube. Np., n.d. web. 06 Oct. 2015.

Reading Review #3

     I have been overwhelmed by the amount of information there is about how iPads can support literacy and be used in today's classroom. I was pleasantly surprised on Saturday morning to find an article in the Vancouver Sun, don't worry it was the epaper,  about technology. This article was right on point for me. Peter Ritchie, a teacher in Richmond was  using iPads with his students to show their learning of A Wrinkle in Time. One of the teachers at my school is reading this with her class. I'm looking forward to sharing the article with her on Monday.  I also sent Peter an email through his school email to ask him some questions about his school's use of  iPads at his school. 

     What has also been eye opening for me was the many formats used to impart the information I have found. In the past, when I have thought about research, I always thought about reference materials, mostly old school, but presented online. The kinds of materials  I would use would be university and school district databases, online encyclopedias (WorldBook), carefully vetted websites. The idea of using YouTube, wikis, blogs and "Yikes " Wikipedia seemed less than academic to me. I have come to realize through this experience that the use of these newer formats and PLNs can and do make me a  better learner.

     The articles, websites, videos and blogs that I have included in my references will help me with my final vision project, Using iPads to Support Literacy in the Hatzic Elementary classroom. M. Gleeson's blog "Ipurpose before IPad" /http://mgleeson.edublogs.org/2013/04/28/ipurpose-before-ipad/, brings home the important fact that learning is the goal that is enhanced through the use of technology.  I will use the "Toontastic at Bel-Aire School." YouTube video as part of my presentation to introduce this app to the staff. I know this app is really going to spark our students interest in story telling while they are learning all about the elements of a story.

Getting and Swainey's article "First Graders with IPADs?" http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ991227.pdf, can help the primary teachers and myself see how the ipads can help all students, even the at risk, become better readers and collaborators.

   I have always been an independent learner, in the sense that I have preferred to work alone rather in groups. I am realizing that this is not the only or best way to learn.  At the beginning of this course I wasn't completely clear about what a PLN was. A Prod event in my district was focused on PLCs and I think I got the two a little confused. PLN is new to me and I'm still not completely comfortable learning this way. Over the last few weeks I am beginning to see the benefits of a PLN and will continue working to improve.

 

Works Cited

Delafosse, Sandra. "Teaching in the 21st Century." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

Dobler, Elizabeth. "Using IPads to Support Literacy in the Primary Grades." Reading Today (2011): 18-19. Web.

Gentile, Mark. "The Importance of Managing IPads in the Classroom." Eddigest.com (2012): 11-13. Web.

Getting, Sara, and Karin Swainey. "First Graders with IPads?" Learning and Leading with 

Technology (2012): n. pag. Web.

Gleeson, M. "Ipurpose before IPad." Weblog post. Mgleeson.edublogs.org. N.p., Apr. 2013. Web.

Hutchison, Amy, and Beth Beschorner. "Using the IPad as a Tool to Support Literacy Instruction." Technology, Pedagogy and Education (2014): 1-16. Web.

"IPads in the Classroom - Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything." IPads in the Classroom - Kathy 

Guide to Everything. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

Sherlock, Tracy. "Given the Technology, Students Always Find Ways to Use It." Vancouver Sun. N.p., 03 Oct. 2015. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.

Shortreed, Dave. "IPads in the Elementary School Classroom." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

"Toontastic at Bel-Aire School." YouTube. Isabel Chang, n.d. Web. 04 Oct..