Wherefore art thou, MediaCAST?

My school has a closed circuit cable system that works very poorly. The wiring is terrible, making the reception terrible, but nobody will fix it because the district is hoping to deploy Inventive Technology’s MediaCAST in the next few years. “MediaCAST is an open and interoperable digital content management and video streaming solution. Each system is reliable, scalable and designed to grow with your organization's storage and streaming needs. The MediaCAST platform is the nucleus of the system. It provides you with tools to create, manage and deliver live and on-demand multimedia anytime, anywhere. From analog to digital encoding, to copyright compliance tools, the platform helps you to efficiently manage your media over its life cycle. Access your digital repository from any device with internet connectivity, including computers, display screens, projectors, mobile devices, and iPads” ("Streaming Video On Demand," 2012). Until we get our MediaCAST system, however, we have three channels that I can transmit information through. I only use one because the other two have such bad reception, so I run our news show from a computer, through a Tivator, into the cable box. Teachers watch through the tv, although some use a VCR switchbox to run it through their projectors. If a teacher requests streaming of a VHS or a DVD, I unplug the wires from the Tivator and plug them into the DVD/VCR player for video distribution. Teachers are supposed to fill out a video approval form for this that has to get approved by the principal, usually a few days ahead of time, but lots of times I just get a note from a student asking me to put something on on the spot.

All of the teachers have Discovery Education/United Streaming accounts, and I like to encourage the teachers to use this for educational media because they do not have to get approval to show anything from it, and they can play it from their computers through their projectors. Many of the resources include lesson plans, teacher’s guides, and quizzes, so I think this is a much better resource that using VHS tapes that are from the early 1990’s. I’ve made the argument that if the tape has been around since I have been an elementary school student, it is out of date and not an effective resource. Sometimes, however, it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks, so I end up having to put on the video anyways. Yes, Mr. Wizard was cool in 1987, and the laws of physics haven’t really changed, but the interest level of viewers certainly has. If we are going to waste instructional time showing videos, I think it needs to be something relevant that actually holds the students’ interest, and I know there is content out there that does. I’ve been tempted to throw out all of the VHS tapes because I can see how out of date they are, but I know that would not make me very popular. I am hoping that when MediaCAST arrives, the interactivity and convenience are so enticing that I never have to use our current closed circuit system ever again.

Streaming Video On Demand. (2012). Inventive Technology, Inc. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://www.inventivetec.com/

 

Video Distribution

Video Distribution System – Closed Circuit

The video distribution system at one of my schools is controlled through a couple boxes located in a closet in the library.  The system uses the cable to broadcast to all TV’s in the school.  There are 3 places to hook up DVD or VCR cables in order to show a closed circuit video.  Classroom teachers can turn to a particular channel and see the closed circuit broadcast.  The school news show uses this system, but they have a portable box located in the computer lab that transmits the signal to the network. 

This school uses the closed circuit daily for the morning school news and afternoon dismissal.  There are cords that link from the system boxes to a computer in the art room that controls the PowerPoint dismissal slides.  That way, announcements over the intercom do not have to be made. 

The ability to broadcast videos over the school’s closed circuit brings up some copyright issues.  This school decides to purchase a movie license for #375 a year.  This license allows the school to show movies made by certain production companies such as Disney without the fear of violating copyright law.  The school uses this licensure opportunity to have a family movie night once or twice a year as well. 

If a teacher has a request for a particular video he/she must fill out a county form and communicate with the principal in order to avoid inappropriate content and copyright violations.  The media specialist holds all these forms, licenses, and contracts in the media center.  Teachers have been known to request the media specialist to record a PBS video and broadcast it via the distribution system so that more than one class can watch the same program at the same time. 

                                                      Georgia Public Broadcasting

 

What a great website to access lesson plans and videos related to almost any topic.  Similar to Discovery Education, teachers are able to specify an age group, topic, and length of video.  I also like how common core standards can be referenced and linked to a particular video or lesson.  Teachers can easily navigate through helpful resources from this trusted institution.  The site offers resources based on monthly programs such as black history month.  I also like how the site is formatted similar to a blog so that teachers and parents can keep updated with news focusing on Georgia schools. 

Discovery Education is a very popular site that offers videos and resources for teachers.  I think the PBS resources available at the Georgia Public Broadcasting site are similar and offer quick and effective resources.  All computers in teacher's classrooms and the media center offer a shortcut link to the PBS Kids website. 

 

- Mary Elfers (Student 1)

Social Media ....Tool or Toy

Social Media ....Tool or Toy

Social networking is a very native process for current and future generations of students.  It is a way for them to establish their identity.  The use of social networking is to let others know the user's likes, dislikes, hobbies and future aspirations.  Social networking also allows students to connect to those with like interests and to contribute thoughts and opinions on various subjects.

Social networking is a skill that must be mastered by our students as these skills will be necessary into adult hood.  There are inherent safety issues regarding social networking and media.  Having the educational system embrace social networking will allow students to be educated, beginning in the elementary school years, on important topics such as internet safety, information reliability, identity protection, personal responsibility, and the consequences of inappropriate actions.

Social networking can aid learning by capitalizing on the inherent importance it plays in the lives of the students.  It is exciting to them and captures their attention.  Social media allows for expanded educational exposure by allowing lectures to be recorded and streamed as needed to help students gain understanding beyond the initial exposure to lecture in the classroom.  It also provides a forum for discussion to those students who are shy and feel social anxiety.  These students may participate in discussion in forum conversations as they do not have to verbally speak out in a group setting.  This provides for a level of cooperation and discussion previously not available with traditional educational models.

Social networking and social media are already ingrained in the fabric of the current generation and there is no indication that this will change with future generations.  The educational system must embrace this concept and utilize technology to engage students and enhance teaching methods.

Fiehn, B. (2008). Social networking and your library opac. Internet @school, Retrieved from http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=59618

Junion-Metz, G. (2008). These sites help teens stay safe as they join global converstation. School Library Journal, Retrieved fromhttp://www.schoollibraryjounal.com/article/CA6574015.html?industryid=47060

Social Network Sites

What is a social network site?

Social networking sites (SNSs) have become part of a daily routine for million of users, including myself. A social networking service is an online site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections.  This is done by allowing individuals to create some form of profile, connect with other users, view other users’ profiles and connections, as well as share links and ideas.  The makeup of how this is done varies from site to site, but the same general concept applies. These sites allow users to connect, interact, and communicate with other users.  SNSs allow users to create profiles, display friends, post comments, and private message.  Some even have photo-sharing or video-sharing options while others have built in blogging or instant messaging features.  There are even SNSs for dogs (dogster) and cats (catster) that have to be managed by their owner of course.

Social networking sites have been around since the late 1990s beginning with sixdegrees.com.  Today many social networking sites exists for various reasons, groupings, and interactions. 

Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites

1.       Facebook
2.       Twitter
3.       Linkedin
4.       MySpace
5.       GooglePlus+
6.       DevianArt
7.       LiveJournal
8.       Tagged
9.       Orkut
10.   Pinterest
11.   CafeMom
12.   Ning
13.   Meetup
14.   myLife
15.   Badoo

SNSs in the Classroom/Media Center

 Some of the top educational social networking sites include Edmodo and Celly.  Edmodo, similar to Facebook, allows teachers to create a place for their classroom online.  This opens communication for teachers and students outside of the classroom environment.  Teachers can post assignments, discussion questions, supplemental materials, and more for students to use at home.  Students can collaborate with both the teacher or classmates from home.  Our school uses Edmodo and the students seem to really enjoy it and benefit from the experience.  Another social networking site for your classroom is Celly. This tool opens communication between teachers and students through cell phones.  It’s a mobile social network that connects people and groups together to send out updates, reminders, class news, voting, and much more.  I have not used this for my students, but have used this for my cheerleading squad.  It’s a safe way to communicate through our cell phones (which everyone almost always has in hand) without sharing phone numbers.  I would love to incorporate it into my classroom though.  A similar tool is RemindMe.

The Debate

An ongoing debate exists on how to or should you use social networking sites in the classroom/media center.  Many pros and cons can be identified in this debate.

Pros

1.       Allows students to connect with other students or teachers outside of the classroom environment.
2.       Increases student engagement.
3.       Meets “digital” or “technology” learning needs and styles.

Cons

1.       Social networks can be a distraction in a learning environment.
2.       Cyberbullying-  opportunities to bully others behind closed doors in the cyber world; however the effects are carried over into the real world.
3.       Discourages face-to-face communication (which can hinder social skills).
4.       Personal identity or information misused/stolen.

Many more pros or cons can be argued; however, we cannot argue the influence social networking sites have on our students.  Many aspects of their lives are played out online through social networking sites.  Facebook, twitter, youtube, instagram, and many other SNSs can be used effectively in the classroom for learning and collaboration.  It only seems natural to participate and find ways to successfully use these tools to benefit our learners.

What are your thoughts on social networking sites in the classroom?

Additional: Here's a link to a great article on effects of social media & our students.
Most Important Skill to Teach Students in the Age of Social Media

Media Center Web Pages (Blogs?)

Website or Blog?

The first important question before creating a library website is why?  What is the purpose of this website?  What do I and my program want to accomplish by having people use it?  Keeping the media center goals as a focus is important when designing a website. 

            There are probably many people who could potentially visit the website, so it’s important to address the demographic of who’s visiting.  If parents will be seeing it, how can the website help them?  How can the website help parents become more involved in the library services?  If students will be using the website, how can its features help students with projects and research?  Finally, if teachers will be visiting, make sure the website contains valuable information to help teachers create lessons and utilize the available library resources.  I think the media center website could be a landing point for many people in the school community, and therefore it’s important to clearly section the site into various needs.  A parent who’s visiting should be able to clearly find the resources applicable to him/her.  The same goes for a student or teacher.  It’s frustrating to try to navigate through features that do not apply to your own needs. 

I think the biggest mistake with any website is putting too much information on the home page.  A site that is too full and flashy can seem overwhelming and quickly lose the interest of the viewer.  Some sites have 3 columns of various information; some pictures, links, questions, events, and projects.  It becomes too much to look at and I think people end up skipping over a lot of valuable information.  I also think websites with too many flashy shapes, colors, or attempted attention-getters actually fail at their goal.  I tend to think that the more simple, the better.  Sometimes sites offer links that require two or three more clicks until you get to your desired destination.  This can make browsing frustrating and time consuming.  Lists of offerings should be clear, concise, and efficient.  Websites that have consistent colors and fonts feel more comfortable to the viewer.  A website is like any other form of communication.  Concise and efficient are two adjectives that can help make an effective site. 

              I think a blog would be a valuable tool for a media center.  It’s not as stagnant as a website and it would give the media specialist an opportunity to make on-going changes and announcements.  As long as the blog had consistent pages that offered “about” information, calendars, lists of resources, and schedules, the everyday blog posts could be more focused on specific programs and projects relating to students and teachers.  There could be posts about AR accomplishments, book lists, new resources, reading visitors, book talks, or research projects.  If the blog offered on-going changes and features, I think it would be more encouraging for people to visit it more often.

 I think it becomes important to advertise the website or blog.  Maybe the media specialist could announce features on the daily news show in the mornings.  Making sure the blog is linked from other teachers’ sites and blogs would be a valuable way to communicate with the school community.  Blogs also offer gadgets and applications that could help bring visitors.  In a day and age where we consumers are bombarded with websites daily, I think it becomes even more important to create an effective website or blog.  Keeping a site updated, fresh, and informative are important to its value and success. 

- Mary Elfers (student 1)

Something Wiki-ed...

I am fresh off of preparing my argument against internet filters, so I want to first comment that Wikis are blocked by the Richmond County School System because they fall into the “forum” category, which is not allowed.  Assuming I did live in a world where teachers could use Wikis in the classroom or in the media center, I think there would be more benefits than drawbacks.  I love the idea of using Wikis for internal communication.  Right now, we use Dropbox to share lesson plans, for access to general school information documents, and to sign up for the computer lab.  I think using a Wiki would be much simpler.  Using Dropbox, users only have access to files that they have been invited to view.  Generally speaking, teachers usually only share their lesson plan folders with teachers on their grade levels, but I think it would be more beneficial if all the teachers could see everyone’s plans for vertical teaming and to get inspired with new ideas.  If someone accidentally forgets to close a file in Dropbox, a second, “conflicted copy” of that file is created, but this would not happen if we were using a Wiki. 

                As evaluation systems have changed in Georgia, first from Class Keys now to Teacher Keys, my administrators have required teachers to document “evidence” that we are meeting performance criteria under the new systems.  Often my colleagues and I have been confused and felt overwhelmed by having to find ways to prove that we are meeting all of the standards.  We could use a Wiki to not only keep a portfolio of what is going on in our classroom, but to upload resources, and to view each other’s portfolios to get ideas from one another.   Rather than having to bring in an actual portfolio into our evaluation as we have been doing for the past two years, the administrators could keep track of what is happening in our classroom and how we are collaborating through the Wiki.   

                In reading Amy Bowllan’s article “A Wiki Gives a Worthy Book New Life,”  I was really intrigued by the idea of using a wiki with my book club that I just started (As a side note, Amy used the free software Wetpaint to create her blog, and gives the web address www.wetpaint.com, but that goes to an celebrity entertainment site.  I think the actual site is http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/. )  Because I am not a classroom teacher anymore, my time is limited with the students that are in my book club, so I could use a wiki to stay connected with them, and to guide collaborative projects on the book.  As an added bonus, I only meet with 6 students at a time, so as the year progresses and I get new groups, the wiki can stay active and we can build on each other’s ideas and resource banks. 

Bowllan, A. (2008). A wiki gives a worthy book new life. School Library Journal, Retrieved from http://schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590061.html

(2005). 7 things you should know about..wikis. Educause Learning Initiative, (July), Retrieved from www.educause.edu/eli