Blog 6: Technology Training

Technology training at Locust Grove High School seems inconsistent and vaque through my eyes (a paraprofessional who has been there since October.) Our school has an instructional technologist who is one of six for the county. Each I.T. person covers a cluster of schools, where he/she is responsible for teaching both old and emerging technologies to students and teachers. Because each instructional technologist's domain is so wide spread, our school does not have a set time for professional development with technology, or at least not a consistent time. Last semester each faculty member took a survey that allowed them to express their comfort level with various websites and tools as well as their desire to learn more about the available resources. A professional develoment day was then set up based on those responses where Ann, our I.T. catered her mini workshops around what each department wanted to learn about. The response was neither negative nor positive, but it was very evident which teachers wanted to learn more.

This year has been a year of transition for the school because they have a new principal, quite a few new faculty members who have come in in the middle of the school year, and a new grading/data collection program that is being implemented. Because of these things, I cannot say whether what I have witnessed is the "norm" or if it is the result of change. Many of the teachers have become very frustrated witht the new grading program because it is so new and has experienced quite a few gliches. This frustration has unfortunately clouded their vision with technology in general, and has hindered them from wanting to learn more. Other teachers however, have embraced tools like Promethean planet, activotes, and Edmodo. For these teachers, they contact Ann with questions, and do more seeking of training, as opposed to waiting for training to be scheduled. 

I have found that more technology training would certainly help with the media center due to the fact that we house multiple devices that teachers could use in their classrooms if they had the proper training. We have become the first place that teachers go to when they need help with ANYTHING technology related. With the proper training, the media center could not only answer many more questions, but we could also promote our products with confidence because we would know how to use them.

Blog 6: Technology Training

One of our assistant principals at Sandy Creek High School is in charge of technology.  She delegated two teachers to handle technology training.  Every other Friday during our professional learning community (PLC) period, one of these teachers provides training on some type of technology.  They have held training meetings on a variety of topics: Edcanvas, Edmodo, Evernote, Google Docs, Jing, etc.  The PLC period is only long enough for an introductory presentation and a bit of practice time.  The technology training works pretty well for teachers who are comfortable with technology, but teachers who are struggling with Infinite Campus (our online gradebook) have trouble keeping up and staying motivated to give other applications a try.  Another problem I see with this schedule is that there is little time to put a new type of technology to the test before we meet again to learn about a new one.  Finally, we have met so often this school year that we have just about run out of topics.  There is not enough diversity of technology or of websites or apps to keep us busy.  We are running into apps that overlap.  I think a more constructive use of our time would be to stick to one topic until we have explored all of its features before we move on.  For instance, in our first meeting, we could discuss setting up an Edmodo account, creating classes, instructing students on creating their accounts, and simple communication on the wall.  In the next meeting, we could learn how to update the calendar and how to upload links and files to the library, organize our libraries into folders, and instruct parents on creating accounts.  Our next meetings would focus on other features that Edmodo offers before moving to another topic.  If we had met in this fashion at the beginning of the year, most teachers would have felt comfortable trying Edmodo, and we would not have used so much of our personal time trying to figure it out. 

I liked Jurkowski’s (2010) suggestion that media specialists “coordinate the sharing of skills and information among everyone already in the school...[and] easily and inexpensively teach each other other” (pg. 162).  That would really take the pressure off of the two teachers at my school who carry the bulk of the BYOT teaching responsibilities. 

DO's and DON'Ts list for tech staff development:

DO assess your audiences needs and interests.

DO provide some kind of take-away (in the form of ideas, resources, or skills).

DO make the technology relevant to your audience.

DO provide a copy of the presentation for teachers to review later.

DO assess your audience’s prior knowledge.

DO allow practice time during the training session.

DON’T cover too many topics in one session.

DON’T be too lengthy. 

Blog 5: video distribution systems, Georgia Public Broadcasting education resources, school TV news

After speaking with my media specialist she addressed the questions. South Cobb High School does have a video distribution system on campus. The system works very well I use it weekly for our Eagle TV broadcast. Most of the faculty can access our broadcast by tuning into channel 5 on their TV sets or projectors. Media specialist has access to 4 video distribution feeds, 1 for Eagle TV, and 1 for a network channel and 2 for DVD playback for classes. The 2 channel feeds for DVD playback aren’t used much anymore because most classrooms are equipped with media playback devices. The 1 feed for network channels is only used when a huge event is happening and/or a teacher would like a specific available for viewing in the classroom. I also, use my Eagle TV channel feed for special PowerPoint or video announcement that administration would like looped throughout the day. During open house I will also loop past Eagle TV broadcast for our parents and community to see while touring the building. Teachers don’t have control over the distribution system they can only request access to a certain channels for educational use. My mentor has no knowledge of the ability to transfer TV content over the data network.

The Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Resources are great tools for educational use. Our media specialist will give faculty and staff a how to guide to set-up an individual account. Then the teacher will use the GPB Resources as they choose. I like all the featured offered on the GOB Resources site. I will make an effort to use this in my TV Broadcast class in the future.              

Blog 5

Ashley Sherman

Blog #5- School Video and GPB Info

There are multiple video resources that my school takes advantage of. Luckily, we do have a functioning closed circuit cable system. During the school day, school announcements and homepage to the school website scroll on the screens placed around the building as well as on classroom televisions (based on teacher preference whether the television is on or not). Many teachers choose to have their televisions on before school so that homeroom students can watch the school-wide announcements. Also, our school has a broadcasting program each morning that is viewed through the close circuit cable system for five to ten minutes during homeroom. The school broadcast team broadcasts their news each morning, but only Friday morning news is filmed live. Teachers do not have instant control over what is sent through the distribution system; however, teachers are given surveys to complete regarding their feedback over the announcements and scrolling announcements during the day and changes are made as requested or needed. The news broadcast programs are supplementary to daily PA announcements as well as weekly paper the school produces called The Wall Paper. The Wall Paper and daily scrolling announcements provide the students and teachers with the same information.

As for GBP resources as well as Discovery Education videos, some teachers take advantage of these resources as supplementary materials. I student taught at the same school where I work now, and I know my collaborating teacher and I used GBP as well as Discovery Education when we needed additional videos or material for students to view. Specifically, we used videos on Discovery Education to stream scenes from Macbeth, and the students compared multiple versions of the scene and different interpretations the directors used. While I used these resources in an English class, there are countless videos and resources available for different subject-based content areas to use. For example on St. Patrick’s Day, GBP did a history segment on St. Patrick as well provided facts and resources for dispelling common myths and terms associated with St. Patrick’s Day; this information could be used and adapted for a lesson in high school history class as well as an elementary lesson about the origins of St. Patrick’s Day. Other additional resources on GBP include Georgia Stories and Dinoventures (GBP Kids). Georgia Stories is geared directly towards 8^th grade students taking Georgia history. There are countless “stories” students can view as well as direct link to the standards these stories meet. Additionally, Dinoventures is part of GBP kids, and these resources are directed more towards elementary-based lesson plans and resources. Also, once logged into Discovery Education, there are other options teachers and media specialists can make use of. They offer webinars for countless subjects (professional development, tablet uses, etc.), and you can even have a quick fact of the day generated each day based on which subject you are talking about in class. An element such as the quick fact can generate a good jumping off point for the day. The variety of resources on both GBP and Discovery Education allow for easy integration into the classroom and media center to supplement and contribute to lessons.

Blog 4

Sabrina Davidson

Blog 4: Social Networking: Can this work for my school?

Can I begin by saying that MySpace is old news!  It was mentioned in most of our reading on social networking, which leads me to my first point.  Social networking platforms, like everything else related to cyberspace are constantly evolving.  While media specialists can and should integrate social networking into their library services, we must not hold the misconception that it is a one-time job.  Courtney (2007) points out, “While the popularity of particular websites may diminish over time, the concepts of online social networking are deeply implanted and influencing the direction of the web” (pg. 84).  With this said, media specialists must remember that social networking is an excellent and effective way to connect with their patrons, especially if their patrons are students!  Setting up a media blog, for instance, may work for a time, but when the platform you are using falls out of favor, it is time to upgrade!  Gone are the days when the media specialist sits behind the library desk awaiting eager children to check out books.  We have reach them by our own innovative means.

At my school, the media center web page is pretty boring.  It only lists links to resources: the OPAC, ebooks, GaleNet, GALILEO, and a few other sites.  Social networking could open up a world of exciting options to our students.  As Barbara Fiehn (2008) notes, the social networking tool Fish4Info could offer students “pathfinders, calendars, students’ book reviews, tagging, book ratings, and social bookmarking to the systemwide catalog.”  Right now the system firewall prevents such an interactive tool to be used on the media website, but I think a strong case could be made for allowing the media center to provide this social networking platform for students and teachers.

The option that I am most excited about in social networking is the numerous ways that reading can be encouraged.  I think it would be fabulous to see a blog full of student book reviews, whether they were typed or uploaded as videos.  Students could recommend titles to their friends.  There could be a Book of the Week or Author of the Week blog post, which would challenge student to dig into something different.  There could be genre studies, where students share their favorite science fiction or nonfiction books.  I think that reluctant readers would benefit from these posts the most.  One of my objectives as a media specialist will be to get kids to read! 

Resources:

Courtney, Nancy. (2007). Library 2.0 and beyond: Innovative technologies and tomorrow’s user. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Fiehn, B. (2008, Sept. 1). Social networking and your library OPAC. Internet @ Schools. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=59618