Biggest Takeaway from SLIS 761

Over the course of this semester, I have learned about many new tools that will be useful in my future school library.  However, my biggest takeaway from this semester has been that information technology in school libraries is not an intimidating, unapproachable topic. Through reading my classmates' blog posts, I realized that technology is something that everyone can engage with and integrate into their school library programs. Creating blog posts for this class helped me to realize that there are many resources available to help school librarians and other educators with technology. Therefore, I do not have to reinvent the wheel in my school library. I also do not have to subscribe to every podcast, blog and Yountube channel. I simply need to stay connected to relevant and useful sources of information about school library technology as it applies to the grade levels at my school.

Makey Makey is one of the new tools that I learned about this semester. Image from makeymakey.com (https://makeymakey.com/products/makey-makey-kit)

I also realized that I do not have to enter the school library knowing everything about school library technology. Actually, this would be an impossible goal to complete. School library technology is always changing and there are always new aspects to existing technology that a librarian can discover. Resources such as Free Tech For Teachers appeal to all educators while Make Use Of collects new developments for those who want to stay up-to-date. The following video from Tech Fifteen is one of many short instructional clips that introduce online tools.

These are just a few of the tools that I found useful during the course of the semester. When combined, they led me to my big takeaway: you do not have to know how to code or be a self-described tech expert to successfully use technology in a school library. Previously, I thought of technology and digital tools as challenges that I was not prepared to tackle because I did not have specific training in web design, coding, programming or other specifical and technical aspects of digital tools. The activities and materials in this class, particularly the blog posts and responses, have helped me to understand that no one knows everything about technology. As school librarians, it is only our job to continue to be curious and open-minded as we search for new tools for our library programs.

Augmented Reality with Arloon

Arloon is an augmented reality company that produces apps for teachers and students. Augmented reality, according to Goerner, is "unlike virtual reality, which offers users a 360-degree view of a rendered scene, augmented reality superimposes an image, video, or other digital overlay onto a view of the real world in real time" (2016). The Arloon apps, which are typically $2.99 each, provide three-dimensional visuals to help students to understand complex or abstract concepts such as geometry or chemistry. The apps are available in the App Store on iOS devices or through Google Play. One of the easiest ways to access the apps is to go to Arloon's website. The website links to the App Store and Google Play in the middle on the home page.

Arloon has a YouTube channel with videos demonstrating each app. These videos can be useful in persuading teachers to use the apps or in showing students how to use them. The video below demonstrates the geometry app, which includes interactive models, formulas and other aspects of each shape.

Students can use Arloon apps by holding their devices up to specific stimuli. For example, students can use the anatomy app, as shown in the photo below, to see a realistic illustration of how anatomy works. 

Screenshot from the "Arloon in the Classroom-Teacher Testimonials" video.

Teachers can integrate Arloon into their curriculum by using the apps instead of two-dimensional photos or illustrations. The apps are particularly useful for topics that students sometimes have trouble wrapping their minds around. Arloon can also provide a source of differentiation for teachers; students who learn more effectively through visual learning or hands-on experiences.

The following video demonstrates how to use Arloon's Augmented Reality Card as well as the Click and Play function. Each of these activities can be integrated into lessons in order to provide student with three-dimensional models of the subjects they are studying. For example, student can use the Augmented Reality Card combined with the Arloon Anatomy app to see a three-dimensional image of different organs. They can click on these organs to identify them. This activity would work well in a classroom in which each student has access to a tablet or similar device.

Arloon is a relatively inexpensive option for introducing students to augmented reality. The apps are relatively simple to operate and do not have too many features that distract from the content. As mentioned earlier, Arloon is particularly effective in schools and classrooms that have a 1:1 student:device ratio. However, even if each student does not have access to a device, the apps can be useful as demonstrations or as one station among many in a hands-on lesson.

Reference:

GOERNER, P. (2016). Augmented Reality. What’s Next? School Library Journal, 62(9), 19–20. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=117871035&site=ehost-live

Makerspaces

Makerspaces are becoming increasingly an popular part of school library services. From cardboard to 3D printers, makerspaces can consist of just about anything that students can use to create. I recently found an article on the Room 241 blog, sponsored by the University of Concordia-Portland, that helped me to think of a makerspace as a realistic addition to my future school library. This blog post identifies the unique opportunities that students have in makerspaces. The author writes of makerspaces: "no matter the size or amount of equipment, they need only foster curiosity, discovery and learning." This is important to remember when starting a makerspace in a library; it does not matter what kinds of tools and equipment you provide as long as your students feel supported and encouraged in their "making." As this piece from the Digital Shift mentions, makerspaces make libraries places of creation instead of simply places of consumption.

The Room 241 blog post provides specific steps for school librarians to follow when creating a makerspace. These steps are: study up and network, bring the outside world in, start a design challenge practice and get creative with the curriculum. This sequence is important because it begins with getting buy-in from teachers, administrators and other school librarians in your professional network. Then, you "bring the outside world in" by turning to the community for materials and support. Next, a design challenge such as asking students to design a game or providing them with set materials and seeing what they can make out of those materials. This step generates interest from the students and nurtures the relationship between them and the library. If this relationship is already strong by the time you "get creative with the curriculum," then working in the makerspace does not feel like just another content-heavy assignment to students. Even when they are working on projects aligned with the standards in their classes, they will approach it the way they approached the earlier design challenges.

Before reading this blog post, I had not considered the steps necessary to set up a makerspace in a school library. I had just imagined setting up a makerspace, planning some lessons around it and hoping that students used it. The carefully planned steps in this blog post set the makerspace up to succeed by building out from educators to the community and students.

Cyberbullying

The aspect of cyberbullying that stands out most to me is that it can follow the victim everywhere. Other types of bullying occur in specific locations: the school bus, the cafeteria, the classroom, the locker room. However, with smartphones and other devices becoming more prevalent among students, bullies can now harass their victims at any time, regardless of the victim's physical location. Cyberbullying can occur through text messaging, social media, gaming, email and other platforms. The public nature of social media platforms can lead victims to feel embarrassed or exposed when they are bullied through these sites. However, bullying through email or messaging can also be damaging as victims will often keep the bullying to themselves, not reporting it or asking for help.

Addressing cyberbullying in a school classroom or library is becoming an increasingly important part of teachers' and school librarians' jobs. However, in order to be effective, these lessons need to move beyond scolding and lists of behaviors to avoid. The Seven Digital Deadly Sins is a thought-provoking resource that can provide students and educators a starting point for conversations about healthy digital behavior. Another engaging way to approach cyberbullying is to ask students to think about times when they have written phrases such as "kill yourself" or "you're ugly" to their friends as a joke. Teens will often type these phrases in comments or messages to their friends, assuming that the other person will get the joke. However, seeing these statements in black and white in the comments of a post or in a text message can be harmful to the recipient, no matter how the sender intended the message to sound. The following TEDx Talk from Trisha Prabhu discusses how receiving negative messages can affect teens. Prabhu also discusses possible reasons why teens send these messages in the first place, as well as possible methods for preventing cyberbullying.

I was surprised to find that when identifying students point to "specific attributes of potential targets such as special needs, very high or very low academic abilities, lack of popularity, physical appearance, physical or mental disabilities, unfashionable clothing, and ethnicity, rather than sexual orientation or gender identity" (Faucher, Cassidy & Jackson, 2015). However, the same article that describes that research has been "slow to document" cyberbullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Ultimately, it appears that cyberbullying is most often a response to some difference (real or perceived) between the bully and the victim. 

Bullying also reaches past high school and college, extending into adult life. In my future school library, I will strive to equip students with knowledge, tools, skills and resources that will help them to end cyberbullying instead of simply surviving it. The Digital Citizenship Project (Orech, 2012) provides a great example of teaching students about digital citizenship. This project asks students to work together to build their knowledge of digital citizenship by working with students of different ages on activities. During this process, both the older and younger students learn more about their own digital behavior. We know that cyberbullying does not end when students graduate, so we need to prepare them to deal with it when it occurs. 

References:

Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015). From the sandbox to the inbox: Comparing the acts, impacts, and solutions of bullying in k-12, higher education, and the workplace. Journal Of Education And Training Studies, 3(6), 111-125.

Orech, J. (2012). How it's done: Incorporating digital citizenship into your everyday curriculum. Tech & Learning, 33(1), 16-18.

Discus: South Carolina's Virtual Library

Anyone who has recently been involved in a school library as a student, teacher or librarian will be familiar with Discus (scdiscus.org). Discus (an acronym for Digital Information for South Carolina Users) is available through all public and school libraries in the state. Links to Discus can be found on most public libraries' database lists as well as through some school library websites. However, one of the simplest ways to access this resource is to simply go to scdiscus.org. As long as you access the website from a computer that is located in and connected to the internet in South Carolina, you will not need login credentials. If you do need login credentials, a public or school librarian should be able to provide them.

The South Carolina State Library manages Discus, and this resource is free to the public. Through its collection of subscription databases, Discus allows students to search for credible sources without worrying about advertisements and untrustworthy sources. It also provides curated lists and groups of resources to help students and teachers navigate the many databases that are available.

Discus allows users to search for databases by grade level. These resources are divided into "Early Childhood & Elementary," "Middle School," and "High School." This division can help teachers and students to immediately find resources that are suited to their grade level and content matter. Discus offers resources that align with the standards for each grade level, helping teachers to plan lessons and guide student learning. This format also ensures that students will not have to sift through an A-Z list of databases every time they conduct research. For example, Discus provides databases containing information on South Carolina history. These databases can be useful in third and eighth-grade curricula. If a third grade teacher assigns a project on famous South Carolinians, students can use Discus to locate biographical information for their projects. The following video from the South Carolina State Library further explains how to use Discus to locate these resources:

Students can also browse Discus databases by subject. This allows students to look outside of their grade's standards and preferred databases when conducting research. Discus Kids further simplifies the search process by highlighting databases designed specifically for the youngest Discus users. The "SmartSearch" option, on the other hand, provides a user experience similar to that of JSTOR. This format is important for high school researchers because it introduces them to the type of scholarly research databases they will use in a university setting. Discus has something to offer for South Carolina students and teachers in every grade level and content area. 

YouTube Closed Captioning as Assistive Technology

Many teachers use YouTube to play videos or as a platform for students to publish their video projects. However, many do not realize that YouTube automatically generates subtitles and that you can edit these subtitles. These subtitles can make a huge difference for students who have trouble hearing. This tool can also help students who do not have hearing impairments. These students can benefit from captions by sharpening their reading and listening skills. This can particularly help students who struggle with reading to see words associated with relevant images and video content. Captions can also help students with cognitive delays by helping the students to process the information presented in the video. Some special education teachers have argued that using closed captioning in the classroom is more than just useful assistive technology. According to these professionals, it is also the law according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The following video from Michigan Virtual's The Accessible Classroom series explains how to edit closed captions in order to benefit students with hearing impairments. In order to edit closed captions, the teacher using this resource must have a Google/YouTube account. It is important to review and edit the automatically generated closed captions because the speech recognition technology and learning algorithms that create the captions automatically are not perfect. The automatic captions are available in ten languages, including English, Spanish, French and Japanese.

The YouTube Help Center also provides instructions for using and editing closed captions on videos. However, these instructions are more brief and do not include visual aids. Users can even invite others to contribute to the transcriptions or translations of a video. This could be a great way for an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) team to decide together how to present the material to a student with a disability. 

iPads and the R.A.T. Model

The iPad, which is the iOS tablet, has many potential pedagogical uses in a classroom. iPads can take photos, record videos, support word processing, play videos and connect users to online resources. iPads are thin, lightweight and compatible with a variety of durable cases that protect them from becoming damaged easily. Although iPads can be expensive, they offer many different tools and options for students and educators.

Some schools assign each student an iPad, while others provide each teacher with a tablet. Some schools have sets of iPads that classes can check out from the library or that the school librarian can use to teach lessons. Whether students have an assigned iPad or use their teacher's or a classroom set, iPads can personalize and enhance students' learning experiences through the R.A.T. model. This model describes technology as replacing, amplifying and transforming student learning.

This image from techedges.org shows the three components of the R.A.T. model. 

Replacement: iPads can replace writing with a pencil and paper in many ways. Students can attach a mouse and keyboard in order to type on the iPad. They can also write with their fingers or with a stylus. They can even dictate to the iPad. All of these options replace writing with a pencil and paper without changing the instructional process or the learning goals.

Amplification: iPads support many different apps that teachers can use to assess student learning. These apps will instantly grade spelling tests, geography quizzes and other assessments with short, definite answers. This increases productivity in the classroom, as teachers are able to instantly see which ideas students have mastered and which ideas they are still struggling to understand. Students can also immediately see feedback on their own assessment outcomes. Additionally, iPads allow teachers to create modules for students to work through individually using Google Slides or similar platforms. This instructional practice allows students to work at their own pace and to delve more deeply into topics that interest or challenge them.

Transformation: iPads allow students to create content. Instead of creating a poster about a topic, students can create a video presentation about it using just their iPad. Instead of studying topics such as coding in a textbook, they can practice on their iPad using apps. These opportunities to create content or to practice skills can transform both instruction and learning. Students can create when they previously would have been required to simply report. They can participate when they previously would have been relegated to observing. 

For more information about using iPads in classrooms, please visit the links below.

Apple Education provides various examples of creative uses for iPads in instructional settings.
https://www.apple.com/education/teachers/

BookWidgets lists 20 apps for classrooms with one iPad.
https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/04/20-incredible-apps-teachers-can-use-in-a-single-ipad-classroom

This article from iPad Bootcamp for Teachers provides tips and resources for teaching with iPads in a 1:1 setting.
http://www.ipadbootcampforteachers.com/11-teaching.html