I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW...

For so many reasons, this song seems appropriate. I could have uploaded the original version, but some of the images in the video spoke to how I am feeling right now too, so I chose this video with images from the movie Cool Runnings.

Why is this an appropriate song? Because now that I've completed the most brutal course of my life, it will be a bright, sun-shiny day? Well, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that a part of me is going to be glad the class is over. No more staying up until 6 a.m. to finish a blog post. I can talk to my husband in the evenings. I can do some laundry (or not), cook a meal (or order in) or even read a book. So those are all bright sun-shiny reasons, but it's not really why I chose the song.

I've always found that the toughest teachers in my life were the teachers I learned the most from. They challenged me. Inspired me. Broadened my horizons. This course has been tough like that too. It has challenged me. Inspired me. And it has broadened my horizons.

Highlights
Can everything be a highlight? I loved this class. I loved my group discussions. I loved getting to know new people. I loved our Eluminate meetings. I loved learning about each of the new technologies. I particularly loved social bookmarking. I loved learning how to embed things. Before this class that seemed so technological to me! I loved learning how to create wikis and blogs on my own. I loved that I learned how to do a voice thread, a podcast and an Animoto movie. I really loved it all. I think I feel this way because I really LEARNED something each and every week. It was practical. I was putting things I learned in this class one week into practice in my job the next week. I am doing a literature unit with a teacher and we're going to use voicethread. I am doing some lessons with another teacher using Animoto in place of book talks for one unit. I am teaching a teacher about wikis (he's not quite getting it yet, but I think we'll get there). I just purchased three flip cameras for my library, so I can do some movie making with students. It's exciting and purposeful and makes my staff think I'm super techie and smart (sure have them fooled). I'm already more involved with more teachers than I was before because I have more to offer them!

Lowlights
Not reallly many lowlights. I found that I was putting in over 20 hours per week, and I found that quite unmanageable at times. I also found it difficult to have the discussion and blog due on the same day. But I couldn't say cut out the blog because that's integral, and I couldn't say cut out the discussion because that's how we developed such a supportive relationship with our classmates. But I could say maybe look at due dates and try to stagger things.

Where do I go from here?
Good question. The great thing about this class was that I had a road map and an itinerary. Now, I am free to travel the Web 2.0 world on my own. But no road map, so how will I navigate?

One of the first things I want to do is to increase my abilities and comfort level with some of the tools I have already learned about in this class. The first two tools I am practicing with already are Animoto and Voice Thread. These tools are relatively simple, and I am using them over the next two weeks. I anticipate that once some of the projects are completed and shared with staff at a meeting along with a few ideas for how teachers could use these tools in Science, History, Art and other subjects, there will be even more opportunities to practice.

In the new year, I will be working with a senior History teacher on teaching students how to do research for their essays. I have not spoken to this teacher about social bookmarking yet, but that is my plan. I think for this particular teacher, who is very tech-shy, I will have to do a lot of preparation. I found some tutorials at EdTechTalk, and I want to explore them more. As well, I discovered a site called Designing and implementing e-learning. It has great information about integrating social bookmarking into classrooms. I know it will be very important for me to be able to explain social bookmarking, how it works and how we can use it with students succinctly and completely. Sometimes when I am trying to explain things, I am not clear or I am not to the point and people get tired of listening or just totally confused. Social bookmarking is not really difficult, but it is multi-layered. I used it and became excited about it after seeing the practical applications and the possibilites. This teacher needs to get excited about it from my pitch alone.

Why social bookmarking? We know the many skills and tools students need to be successful in the 21st century. Social bookmarking is not only a tool to help students find information, but to use it purposefully, the students will, as noted on Designing and implementing e-learning, develop collaboration skills, planning and organizing skills as well as the effective use of technology.

Teacher-librarians have always played an important role in helping students develop information literacy and research skills. Teacher-librarians would be able to organize resources, share sites, lessons and articles with others, and help create pathfinders and bibliographies. The opportunities for teaching critical and creative thinking and developing skills make this tool a worthy one for teachers and students. Social bookmarking can be an effective research tool and teachers have an opportunity to teach students a lot about information literacy depending on the varyious ways teachers use it with students. I see a great deal of value in teaching students to use it as a search tool, to read for key ideas that can be used for tags, and to collaborate with others. Teachers can use it to work with other teachers or find other teachers who are knowledgeable in an area in which they are interested. These are just a few ideas. I found many more ideas as well as links to helpful sites to learn more on the wiki WebTools4u2use.

I don't know if I would have learned as much about social bookmarking and its value had it not been for my classmate Laurie. She set up a Diigo site for our group and suggested how we might use it. She was the strongest poster and her research helpeld me out many times. I am very grateful for Laurie and for getting this set up. We did not do as much commenting and discussing on the articles as I think we had all thought we might, but we sure made the best use of sharing information.

I learned a lot from each of my classmates in our discussions. Joseph always had these really deep, knowledgeable, thoughtful responses. I think he was the most academic of us. He also would post specific links to help us answer our inquiry questions. Cindy, Tracey and Laurie always had thoughtful responses and were open to discussing their trials and triumphs. They each had a distinctive style on their blogs and because they had a slightly different take on things than I did, I learned a lot from them. Cindy teachers in the primary end, so her perspective on the most valuable tools was different because of the age of her students. I found that very interesting in our discussions. Tracey works in a public library which is what I want to do when I retire from the school library. I liked hearing about how she was using or planning to use the tools with the public. I especially liked hearing about her ideas with senior citizens.

And so why did I pick that song really? Because I feel like I see technology more clearly now. I feel like I am clearer about how to use it and what it can do. I feel confident and comfortable when I use it - it's sun-shiny, not cloudy and raining and frustrating! EDES 501 has been an incredibly positive experience. I have learned a lot. I have made great connections with people. I wish I could have had even more time to work on the things I learned, but because they are so practical, engaging, and important, I will continue to learn. I have overcome a lot of my own computer inhibitions during this course. I am much more comfortable going beyond e-mail. I am more comfortable reading online, writing online and researching online. I am looking forward to the sessions on the K-12 Online Conference. I follow a number of the technology and teacher-librarian gurus, so I know I will hear about new ideas sooner than I would have before. I am much more aware, and I know where to go to find current information. I am much more technologically literate, and some of my views have changed. I look at Wikipedia differently. I look at technology much more positively. For sure, a life changing experience!

TO BOLDLY GO WHERE MANY ARE GOING - THE BLOGOSPHERE

Blogosphere - the final frontier? Well, maybe not the final frontier, but definitely a frontier worthy of exploration and with much to discover.

Reflections about the Process of Blogging

When we began this course and learned that our primary assignment would be blogging, I didn't know what to think. First I had choose a platform. I had worked with a consultant on a project, and we used Blogger. She had done the work of actually setting up the blog, so I really didn't know how it worked, but I chose it because I had some familiarity with it.

Blogger is easy to use. The technology of creating a blog is not difficult, at least not on Blogger. Blogger provides a platform for people who do not have a lot of technological or program writing skills, but who want to have an online presence. Blogger is also compatible with most widgets or gadgets that people might want to embed on their page. For beginners, Blogger is easy to use. But the beauty of Blogger is also its downfall for those more adventurous. There appears to be a debate online about which blogging platform is superior. The Royal Pingdom surveyed the top 100 blogs to determine which platforms are most used in the most popular blogs, and it turns out that Wordpress is the platform most common according to the article The blog platforms of choice among the top 100 blogs. At the time I began my blog, I was just looking for something easy to use. I was afraid and not looking to be adventurous. I played it safe, and I'm good with that. Blogger has met all of my needs, and it has been very user friendly.

Not only were we to write a blog, but we were also to read other people's blogs. We were given a number of names to follow, but we were also asked to follow others we found ourselves. Imagine the process of logging in to 12, 15 or 20 different blogs! I know I'm not supposed to have a life while I'm taking classes, but the amount of time this could consume might prevent me from some things that are required to live - like eating and sleeping! Well, somebody was taking to heart the whole "work smarter not harder" philosophy when she created RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

I, apparently, had actually been living in outer space prior to the start of this course as I had no understanding or knowledge of what an RSS feed was. Lucky for me, YouTube - my favourite "go to" site was at the ready!


Essentially, I now understand that there are tools to help me organize my information. I went with Google Reader. You can see a screen shot of my Google Reader page below. I don't have some extraordinary reason for this. To my knowledge it's not better or worse than another tool, but somebody I know suggested it, and like many things Google does, it's user friendly (read idiot proof).

Google Reader collects all the updates on the blogs I follow in one spot. I can scroll down my list and see all of the most recent new posts from the various blogs and choose whether or not I want to read them. When I began this class, I followed about 12 blogs, but now I follow 38. Not every post is about something I want to read about, and using a reader allows me to quickly bypass anything that is not of interest to me. It also saves me a lot of time as it is bringing news and updates to me!

Blogs and Personal Learning

Although the format for my blog has been dictated by my purpose (and thus my esteemed instructor's dictates), there are certain commonalities in blogs. For examples, blogs should be include links to places where readers will find further information on the topic of interest. Blogs should also be a synthesis and analysis of information on a particular topic. Although it was the first point (linking to others) that perplexed me when I began this blog, it is the second point (synthesis and analysis of information) that is actually the most difficult.

In order to actually synthesize and analyze information, I really have to use critical thinking skills. Honestly, I think dusting the cobwebs from that part of my brain proved the most difficult! First, there is no shortage of information, but I had to find good information by a variety of knowledgeable people and then remix it and try to say something new, or if not new, at least valuable. Knowing what I went through doing this excites me about using blogs with students, but that's later!

In his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson quotes Middlebury College professor Barbara Ganley as saying, "How can a teacher expect her students to blog (or to use any other tool, strategy, or technique) if she doesn't use it herself, exploring the impact it has on her thinking, writing, research and creativity?" (2009, pp. 43) Well that quote really made me think. Yes, it's all well and good to take these tools into the classroom, but how do I really know what they can do and how to use them if I'm not using them myself? I've wondered as I've been writing my posts for this class if I would keep up the blogging, but I've been pretty sure I wouldn't because I didn't think I would have anything to write about. Lately, however, I've been thinking that this would be a very good way for me to learn about new tools and process the information from exciting discussions from my personal learning network.

One thing I've really enjoyed about reading the blogs of the people I follow is being so up-to-date on new ideas and news in the profession. It's exciting and it's interesting. Oh, believe me, it's time consuming, but taking a note from the page of a friend, I've taken to reading my blogs as I might the Saturday morning paper. I just set aside a block of time (usually Sunday morning), and I catch up then.

There are blogs about every possible topic imagineable. The blogs I chose to follow over and above those that were suggested by my professor were either specifically related to my role as a teacher-librarian or they were useful to me in that role even though I may not have chosen them for that express purpose. For example, I follow a number of different blogs that review books. Some of these are Young Adult and some are more adult, but these are enjoyable to me personally as well as professionally.

I am a life-long learner. I hope every teacher is. I have been teaching for about 14 years now, but I always feel like I am a new teacher. I never feel like I'm "there," like I've landed, you know? I am always on a journey, and I really like that. I think the day I think I've got it all figured out, is the day I'd better retire! I like going to conferences, but I am only allowed to go to one per year because of our school's professional development policy. Not long ago, going to a conference was probably the most popular form of professional development for teachers. It may still be for some. It's not for me though. I am paraticipating in the K-12 Online Conference and I joined its Ning. It's not going to cost me anything. I get Tweets from the people I follow to links about (and this is just in the last 10 minutes) Six Easy Ways for Students to Create Videos Online, Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom, and Essential Tools for the Connected Teacher. I can follow the blogs of people who are experts in the field like Joyce Valenza, Doug Johnson, Steve Anderson, David Warlick, Buffy Hamilton and more. I can learn something valuable every day, every hour of every day, possibly even every minute!

Blogs as professional development tools are great because I can decide what I want to learn about and find the appropriate blogs. This gives me the freedom to pursue my interests, passions and needs. And, I can do this asynchronous (that's a new word for me from this class). That means, I can do it at a time that is convenient to me and not someone else. This puts the control of professional development in my hands. I can't tell you how often I have been at a professional development event only to hear people complain about what they didn't get from it. I've always believed if you come away with one new idea or understanding, it was time well spent. This does not appear to be everyone's perspective. I'm not saying blogging and reading blogs and develop one's own personal learning network should replace face-to-face conferences, but I am suggesting that by increasing one's own responsibility for professional development through blogging, it would allow people to find the information they are most interested in, and by communicating with others with similar interests, it might broaden horizons and open them up for new ideas.

In a post by Will Richardson entitled Blogs for Professional Development, he talks about the work of Karl Fisch from Centennial, Co and his staff in using blogs to meet their goals which were to “improve teacher and student use of technology, to achieve curricular goals, to help transform our school to a more student-centered,constructivist approach, and to prepare our students to succeed in the21st century.” With the help of some grants, this staff was able to engage in discussions and be reflective about their practices. The transformation over the course of the year was quite amazing. Teachers were able to see how their students were becoming more thoughtful and connected and to see changes in their own practices and previously held beliefs. It was an excellent growth experience. This is using blogging as professional development in the same hands on way we have used it in this course. Frankly, I believe this course is the most transformative course I have taken, and I do not feel it would have been the same had the approach been different. Blogging, taking time to read and to reflect have all been instrumental. Imagine a staff being coached and supported through this process - it would be so exciting. It would be a professional development program that would change teacher practice and directly impact student learning in a positive way!

Blogging, Teaching and Learning

It doesn't take long, surfing around online, to come across blogs written by teens. Many are of the "Dear Diary" type and few are as Will Richardson notes in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, "...using their sites as places of critical thinking and analytical writing and reflection" (2009, pp. 44). I don't think we can ignore the changing needs of students in the 21st century. Blogs provide teachers with an opportunity to help students practice and/or develop many important skills. Modelling has always been an effective technique in the classroom forever, so it's no surprise that teachers should also model good blogging practices.

Richardson suggests starting small with blogs when using them in the classrooms. "The most obvious initial implemntation is first to use Weblogs as a place to poost homework assignments and relevent class links" (2009, pp 45). He suggests this is the best way to get a feel for the tool. It will also help get students into the practice of reading your blog. He also suggests that you read some good blogs with your students to show them what good blogging looks like.

Richardson goes on to describe the process of introducing students to blogging by perhaps having them respond to your posts and moving towards having them think and respond to questions with lots of practice in class around how to do that well (2009, pp. 46). Slowly he moves into having small groups of students create posts before getting to the stage where students would have their own site.

In looking at Richardson's process, I can see that students would be reading, thinking, writing, collaborating, and connecting. In my ELA 20 class, I currently have two students who are doing a different novel than the rest of the class (they had already studied the novel we were doing). I decided to have them start their own blog about the novel they are reading. I missed a couple of important steps in getting them ready to do this. I am doing what Julia Davies and Guy Merchant in their book Web 2.0 for Schools grouped into their first level of response to the technology. "Online activity that replicates traditional print literacy practices. This describes Web 2.0 work this is unadventurous but safe. Perhaps this sort of response is a starting point" (2009, pp. 104). However, I have found that the technology has been motivating. I had them do their work on a blog because the rest of my class is blogging with partners in the States about their novel. At first, I gave them topics to respond to. I asked them to use reading comprehension strategies and respond with connections to self, text and the world. I also asked them to ask questions. I responded to their posts. Then, I introduced the idea of linking to other sites that had interesting information on their topic or that they thought added to their ideas. Then they came to me and asked if they could blog with each other and try to make each other think deeper. Their first posts to that end are due this week, so I will see how they have made out, but they were excited by the prospect. I have asked a couple of teachers I know who have read their novel to drop in and comment/question as well.

In a 2004 article entitled Educational Blogging, Stephen Downes examines the whole idea of blogging in schools. He visits a Grade 5 class in Quebec City where students are blogging and loving it. Dominic Ouellet-Tremblay, one of those students wrote: "The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents. Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment." Aside from the fact that I'm blown away a Grade 5 student can write as well as he does in that quote, it really illuminates the power that blogging has for students. It comes from an authentic purpose and an audience that is not contrived or consisting of just the teacher.

However, Will Richardson is quoted in the article as having concerns with blogging in the school setting because it is, in fact, contrived. Teachers dictate that students must blog. Students are not choosing to blog. As he notes, "By its very nature, assigned blogging in schools cannot be blogging. It’s contrived. No matter how much we want to spout off about the wonders of audience and readership, students who are asked to blog are blogging for an audience of one, the teacher." When the semester ends, "students drop blogging like wet cement."

Reading this makes me wonder then if it is worthwhile at all. Is there any value in blogging if it is contrived and the student is not really motivated to write? Richardson is quoted later in the article as noting that blogging has the potential to help students think more critically and be more reflective. After I thought about this, I decided that students who are not introduced to blogging and who don't learn what good blogging looks like may never blog, or at least they may never blog really well. That in itself is a good reason to provide the opportunity. It's not for everyone. It's not the cure all for lagging literacy. It is but one tool, and I think I need to try and provide an opportunity for a tool with so much potential.

I guess the one thing I need to consider is how to create an experience or an opportunity that is closest to a natural one? Maybe part of it is having them blog on a classroom site and then for me to work to make the classroom site one that people read thus giving more exposure to the students' writings resulting in more authentic comments and dialogue with others about their topics. Or maybe it is my part to develop partnerships. Even after all this reading, I am not sure of the best way to proceed. It will be an area for further study.

According to Support Blogging, a wiki about blogging (I think that's kind of funny), blogging has some real benefits for students including: helping them find voice, creating enthusiasm for writing, connecting students so they may have conversation, teaching them about responsible journalism and empowering them. Previously, I might have jumped all over this and begun shouting it from the rooftops, but the cautions of Richardson from the arlier article remind me that to start students blogging and think all of this will happen automatically is irresponsible.

Resistance is futile! Embrace blogging, or at least give it a try. Blogging gave me a chance to dust off those cobwebs and really think. It expanded my horizons about education and what other educators are doing. It gave me a forum for sharing what I had learned and is helping me to begin to develop my own voice and carve out my own space in the online world. I am just beginning, but I am looking forward to developing relationships and partnerships with educators around the world.

Welcome to Blogosphere. May you live long (online) and prosper!

Twitter - Social Media's 10 Minute Oil Change!

Ten minute oil changes - don't you love them? I have one I go to all the time. I like it because the young guys that work there are friendly, efficient, and informative, and, let's face it, an oil change extends the life of your car too.

So what does an oil change have to do with Twitter? Surprisingly, they have a lot of similarities!

Reflection on Twitter
Of all the assignments in our course this year, this was the one I was looking forward to the least. My primary purpose in using any of the Web 2.0 tools has always been to find those that would enhance student engagement and improve student learning. I could not see how Twitter could offer anything to those ends. All I had ever heard about Twitter was during the morning gossip update on my local radio station. So what good for education could come from Twitter?

For this course, we were asked to remain open-minded about each of the various tools we would be trying. And I have been for every one, but I was more closed-minded approaching this week's research then in any other, and honestly, I approached it grudgingly. In fact, I really procrastinated even beginning my research because I had already decided Twitter couldn't offer me much!

I signed up for Twitter a couple of months ago. Twitter is also called microblogging because essentially you have 140 characters to make your point. If you've been off the planet for awhile and have no clue about Twitter, I found a couple of fun songs that might make you want to learn more.



Unfortunately, I was not as enthusiastic as the kids above when I started learning about Twitter. In fact, I made a couple of initial tweets, signed up to follow a few others and promptly forgot about it. In fact, even now, I only have tweeted a dozen times! I knew a lot of people received tweets on their phones, but I did not want to do this for two reasons. One, I don't use my cell phone regularly. If I forget to charge it, it might sit in the bottom of my purse for a week before I remember again. Two, if I did have it on, I didn't want to be receiving tweets all the time as I would find that distracting. However, I did not realize there were services like twitterlicious and tweetdeck that would notify me about incoming tweets on my computer.

Eventually there was no choice but to get reading or I knew I was never going to be able to make this post. I signed up first for twitterlicious. It was easy to load up to my computer and it put a little notification box in the corner where the latest tweets would show up. However, after a short time, I was informed that the program had quit running on my computer and I would be notified if there was a fix for the problem. Since I had been having trouble getting to the links posted on the tweets, I decided this was a sign to try something else. By this time, a number of people I had been reading had mentioned how much they really enjoyed tweetdeck, so I thought I would try it.

As it turns out, tweetdeck is really an awesome service. First, my tweetdeck page can also incorporate my facebook and myspace updates. So that makes things more efficient. Second, when I am working on my computer, I get an actual little tweet and a notice in the corner with someone's update or tweet. The sound is super cute. I found tweetdeck much easier to use because when people tweet a link, it shows up like a link and I could quickly click on it and take a look. On twitterlicious, I could never click it as a link and had to retype it.

If you are thinking of using Twitter, sign up for a service like tweetdeck! It makes all the difference in the world. I just didn't have time to check all my accounts, so I didn't. This is why I was not getting anything at all out of Twitter at first. It's a lot like having an RSS feed. Let the information come to you. Don't spend your time looking for it!

Since I have signed up for tweetdeck, I'm much more up-to-date on my friends as well as on professional information because I see status updates while I'm working too, and I don't have to log in to Facebook to do that (yes, I know status updates can go to phones, see above).

There are some things one needs to know in order for Twitter to make sense. D: is a direct tweet. RT is a retweet. Use an @ before a username if you are retweeting or tweeting about someonel. There is such a thing as "tweetiquette," and users must become familiar with it. John D. Valaro who writes The Human Strategist had some straight forward tips for tweeting in his article Tweetiquette for Beginners. He gives some very straightforward tips for using Twitter and what the various symbols mean.

Twitter and my Personal Learning

I have to be honest here. I haven't really used Twitter for any real learning outside of education and libraries. I have used it for some entertainment. I signed up to follow Ellen DeGeneres because I really like her. I also signed up to follow Perez Hilton, who, by the way, tweets a lot! It's kind of cool on nights like tonight when I'm watching the American Music Awards and he is there. I see him on the television and then get one of his tweets.

However, Twitter has Apps (that's applications). I found out from a very cool article entitled 5 Ways Twitter Can Make Your Life Better, that I can subscribe to Remember the Milk which allows you to create a "to do" list. This would be a great one to have sent to your cell phone (providing you kept it charged). Ever gone to a conference, couldn't find parking in the nearby lots and had to park at the meters? Ever forget to plug those meters? Yeah, me too! Well a subscription to Timer can remind you to plug your meter in 45 minutes! No more tickets!

One other use for Twitter is to follow breaking news. New agencies all have Twitter feeds. I can subscribe to CBC, CNN or my favourite local radio station C95.

One other task I might use Twitter for help with a particular question. For example, I wish I had been on Twitter when I purchased the laptop I use in my role as SSLA secretary. I have had some trouble with it in the short time I have owned it. Maybe, I could have asked for some advice about which laptop would have been the best.

How many applications are there for Twitter? Probably more than we can count! For at least a partial list, try the Twitter Application Database. There are currently 39 pages of them! I'm sure you'll find something you like!

Twitter and Teaching and Learning

I began my research, as always, with a visit to YouTube for a quick introductory video. Of course the guys at Common Craft have a great introductory video, Twitter in Plain English, but I also found this little gem. These guys are not going to win any Oscars for their acting talent, but I liked this particular video because it speaks specifically to Twitter in Education.

Twitter isn't new to educators. In fact, many educators have been using Twitter to advantage for some time. Don't believe me? There was actually a conference called The #140 Conference! I've embedded the video for two interviews from this conference. The first is an interview with Steve Anderson. Steve is an educator and currently an Instructional Technologist for Stokes County in the United States. In this brief interview he explains his how he uses Twitter and how you can get started with it. I started following him on Twitter because I was already following his blog, and he seems to have lots of good ideas and passion.

The next is an interview with high school adminstrator Eric Sheninger. He discusses how his use of Twitter has evolved. He also notes that more administrators need to be on Twitter.

There are probably as many ways to use Twitter as there are educators, but I guess for me, I really like the professional development aspect of it more than actually using it with students at least at this particular point and time. Jason Renshaw who maintains a weblog called English Raven had a post called Twitter for teachers: why you should start tweeting. He gives some very good reasons for educators to be on Twitter. Some of his reasons are the same that I find the most exciting. You can stay up-to-date on new ideas. You can find out about conferences, resources, and links. You can participate in discussions about topics important to you. There is a very

In his article Twitter finally gains academic approval, Davey Winder notes that some universities in the UK and Australia have recognized the value of Twitter not only in their journalism courses but also as a personal learning network tool for students. This makes perfect sense to me as that is how I am now seeing my use of Twitter.

I don't know Phil Bradley, but one of his posts, Use Twitter in Libraries, was on our trailfire. He has this great post where he talks about all the different uses for Twitter in a library. Some of them are the usual like posting hours, new staff, upcoming events, and things of that nature. But among what he notes are the more interesting uses are keeping up on trending information, finding answers to questions, and getting/staying in touch with experts in one's field. These are all legitimate reasons to use Twitter.

In her article in Library Journal 20 Ways for Librarians to use Twitter, Sonja Cole includes such suggestions as: recommending a book, blog, video or website; give a daily tip; start a Twitter book club (tweet reactions to a book); connect with other librarians, participate in #FollowFriday by recommending others; and ask others for favourite posts.

Two ways that I can see myself using Twitter with students at this time is having them follow the tweets of an author for a semester. Another is an idea I got from an article Twittering Dante by Lauren Barack which was published in the School Library Journal. She suggests having students Twitter as if they were Dante writing to his Beatrice in each of the levels of hell. Personally, I think to write as a character and to have to be succinct enough to express a character's thoughts in 140 characters requires a high level of thinking. I also think we need to move beyond the typical models of writing and include models that are appropriate for the 21st century.

There is a wealth of information about Twitter and Education online. One article I read had a link to twitter4teachers which can help connect you with people in your field that you might want to follow. They are broken down into EVERY possible subject area. As well, you can sign up for a Twitter Mentor if you would like someone to help you set up your own personal learning network.

On Cybrary Man's Educational Websites, he has a great list of links to every possible site with helpl for using Twitter, Twitter for educators, Twitter tips for teachers, mashups with Twitter, tutorials and more. I am this close to saying that if it isn't on this site, you don't need it!

I see Twitter as a hard sell to staff though. I know that I didn't crack easily. I think I really have to use it for awhile longer too in order to be able to speak with more conviction . It can be an efficient complement to my repetoire of supports. At this time, I'm still a "peeping Tracy" and not really an active contributor, but as I become more knowledgeable, I will have more to share than simply updates on my life.

So why, when we are busier than ever, do I want to add on yet another technology? Well (drum roll, please), the people on Twitter are friendly. They want to help you out. Twitter is efficient (everything you need to know in 140 characters). It is informative - experts from around the world share their knowledge and answer questions. And let's face it, anything that makes the job of being a teacher and/or teacher-librarian easier, is going to extend your life in the field and make you run a whole lot smoother!

Just like an oil change for your vehicle, Twitter can increase your productivity, knowledge, and life expectency, and it takes less than 10 minutes to sign up! What are you waiting for?

Join the Party!

Who doesn't love a good party? Social networking allows us to party all night and every day! (And if you can name the song those lyrics came from, you're old!)

As I delved into this week's topic of social networking, one of the questions that occurred to me is why have people responded so enthusiastically to online social networking? It's like a drug. People, young and old, have overwhelmingly flocked to social networking sites of all types, for personal and professional purposes. The answer? People love to party!

Not a lie, and with no explanation for why, I was reminded of my university psychology classes and Maslow's Hierarchy. I must admit, it was a vague recollection, and I had to refresh my memory. According to Wikipedia, "Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or small social connections...." If we think of the popularity of social networking in light of the need to belong, it all makes sense. We can belong to so much more and on a much greater scale by using the social networking tools available to us online.

Reflection on Social Networking

Two sites are often noted as being the most popular, Facebook and MySpace. Personally, I don't know anyone who has a MySpace account, but almost everyone I know has a Facebook page. Facebook is party central in this neck of the woods!

The primary purpose for me to sign up was to connect with people I hadn't seen or heard from in ages. And that's pretty much why I stay on. I keep in touch with former students, old friends, people I don't talk to that often. In this way, I guess I'm the wallflower! I don't go out of my way to meet new people, find people, or start a conversation.

My daughter, my students, and many of my friends are the life of the Facebook party. They update their status regularly (and have it linked to their cell phones as well), they play games, do quizzes, post on each other's walls (carrying on conversations), load favourite videos, keep photo albums, add various applications and much more. Accessing Facebook is something they do multiple times in a day and sometimes use it for a considerable length of time during the day. I access Facebook one or twice a month! They aren't using it to talk to people they have lost touch with. They're using it to talk to people they want to keep in touch with. People they see and hang out with in their daily lives. This is a way for them to keep hanging out even when they can't physically be in the same place.

Signing up for Facebook is easy. You start with a profile. You answer all those important questions like whether you are male or female, what your relationship status is, your religious and policitcal views, you know the stuff. You may or may not post a picture. Personally, I went without one for so long, my daughter finally got fed up and put a picture on for me! And then you start adding friends and answering friend requests. You can spend hours on the program. At first I did. I posted status updates, I did quizzes, but mostly I became a "Peeping Tracy!" It was a little voyeuristic. I would go onto people's pages and look at their pictures, see what was on their walls, look at their status, look at videos they had posted. I was basically snooping! Facebook is a good place to satisfy those Alice Kravitz cravings! (Can you name that 70s t.v. show reference?)

But I have to be honest, I just didn't keep up to it. With the exception of a response to a rare message, I really stopped using it. Yup, I was a big time party pooper! Well, with this class it was time to rejoin the party! I decided I had better go on and clean up my Facebook account. I got rid of a bunch of old notices. I changed some of my privacy settings and the information I had on my profile. I did find that whenever I went on, I became addicted and ended up losing a whole bunch of time. I did a lot of quizzes. I really like the movie quizzes, and I like challenging my friends.

During the course of my course, I decided to expand my Facebook involvement. I did not sign up for Farmville though. I know so many people who are farming, but I am just not responsible enough for that! Plus, I don't get the draw! I looked around for some groups though. I did this because I am the co-chair for my daughter's after-grad committee, and in our discussion about how we are going to involve the grads and keep people informed, we decided to develop a Facebook page. We have about half the grads registered so far, and we anticipate more after our next big meeting. At any rate, I decided that maybe I should look for some groups that had a purpose and that I could use and enjoy. No Farmville though! I did end up joining two different library groups on Facebook. One of the groups is made up primarily of library media specialists from the United States and Canada and the other is smaller but has members from around the world including India and Australia.

Nings were new to me. Ning isn't everyday vocabulary yet, like Facebook, but interestingly enough, a Ning is a lot like Facebook. A Ning is a place for individuals to go and create a social network. According to the article 7 Things You Should Know About Ning, a Ning can be easily created, it does not require technological know-how, it can be public or private and it can be personalized to look and act as its creator thinks it should. It functions very much like Facebook or MySpace. Nings can be "used for activities ranging from news, current events, and professional development to entertainment, dating, and support groups." Nings can be local, regional, national or international. Nings can be formal or informal. Nings can be "anyNing" you want them to be!

I initially joined three of them. (I know, I am the original party animal!) One is the K-12 Online Conference Ning , one is the Teacher-Librarian Ning and the other is the Canadian 21st Century Teacher-Librarians Ning. It is easy to join them, but as is the case with many social networks, membership needs to be confirmed. These Nings are gathering places for sharing and discussion, although they are formed around a topic - either the conference or teacher-librarianship, rather than just general membership. Members can upload videos, share photos, discuss ideas, share information, keep track of events, respond to questions, post blogs and more.

To be honest, I like the Nings better than Facebook. I guess because I do not socialize the way my daughter does and stay connected all the time with my friends. I'm quite happy to chat on the phone (which my daughter never does) or see my friends at our dinner club, girls' lunch or splurge. My online use is primarily academic or professional. I felt the Nings I joined had more to offer (although I was mostly a "peeping Tracy" again and spent most of my time reading conversations as opposed to participating in them). Maybe it's just that the lines between my personal and professional life are a little blurry. I really enjoy hanging out and talking shop, so I guess social networking about work is really relaxing and enjoyable for me.

Social Networking and Personal Learning

Well, because I was really such a inactive Facebook member, I did learn a number of things about Facebook! First, Facebook has a chat feature. I was on my page cleaning some things up and one of my former students messaged me. We had a nice little chat. Since he contacted me, two more people started a chat with me while I was on. That was pretty amazing. I didn't start a chat with anyone though. Another thing I did, which I guess it was kind of foolish of me not to have done sooner, but I went through my profile and took off a lot of information. I realized after some of the earlier discussions in this class that a person could maybe do some damage with the information I did have or use what I had on there to get what they needed and maybe steal my identity. I took off my employment information, my year of birth and some other things I thought should go. I also learned you could control who could see what. I did not actually change that as I don't think there's anything on my account that I care whether someone sees or doesn't see. Perhaps that would be different if I used it more, but I did find out how I could change things if I wanted to. Pretty easy as you just click on the drop down menu on the line you are working on.

One very important thing I did learn about Facebook is that it has a Scrabble application. And you can play Scrabble on Facebook. I joined two Facebook Scrabble groups. I love playing Scrabble. I'm a fanatic as you may remember if you've read any of my previous posts!

As I noted earlier, there is a blurry line between my professional and private life. I guess I should expand my interests and take up exercise, get fit, maybe join some healthy lifestyle groups. Join a dance club or a scrapbooking group. I really am interested in those things. But unfortunately, my butt is firmly planted on my sofa with my laptop in front of me. In the dictionary, under sedentary, it shows a picture of me on my couch with my laptop in front of me, my phone, my remote and a diet coke! Anyway, my point is that if I sit here on my computer, as I do every evening, I may do work, course work, play Scrabble, read blogs, check out the Nings, but it is all quite enjoyable and entertaining to me. So learning about Nings is as much a personal thing as it is a professional thing.

I did actually create a Ning, just for fun. I wanted to see how difficult it would be to do it. Turns out, like so much on the web, it's really easy. I named my Ning Breathing Books. There's not actually anything on it right now, but I actually do plan to develop this Ning after this class is over. I love books, and I love to talk about books.

Social Networking and Teaching and Learning

Want to get kids interested in learning? Want to engage them? Throw a party! What kid doesn't love a good party? Social Networking provides an opportunity for students to connect, cooperate and collaborate. According to the 7 Things You Should Know About Ning, "By creating social networks around academic topics, or even about specific projects for a course, an instructor can facilitate a strong sense of community among the students, encouraging personal interactions that can lead to the creation of new knowledge and collective intelligence." As well, creating a Ning is easy, and the article goes on to point out that students can "create their own social networks and learn how to cultivate and sustain a community of users that might resemble professional contacts and relationships."

In his blog post "The Added Value of Networking," Will Richardson talks about the fact that kids are already heavily invested in social networking and they are already using it to learn, but nobody is teaching them how to do it well. He references an article from the Harvard Graduate School of Education magazine Ed entitled "Thanks for the Add, Now Help Me with my Homework" and the fact that with respect to social networking, kids are "forming networks with people they meet every day as well as people they have barely met. If we can't understand what kids are doing and integrate these tools into a classroom, what kind of message are we sending them? I think we'll see an even bigger disconnect than already exists." Richardson goes on to say that "The world is changing because of social web technologies. Our kids are using them. No one is teaching them how to use them to their full learning potential, and ultimately, as teachers and learners, that's our responsibility."

And, who is going to throw this social networking party? Who is going to get the teachers out from behind their desks and onto the dance floor? Who is going to show the kids that you spell "cool" L-I-B-R-A-R-I-A-N? That's right, me (and my colleagues, of course)! According to a recent article "School Librarians Lead the Social Networking Pack Among Educators" we are the most positive and most daring when it comes to using social networking in schools. And by the very nature of the teacher-librarian's job, I think it's critical we take this leadership role and help our teachers and our administrators understand how and why social networking needs to be integrated into our classrooms. As the article notes, "Educators...feel overwhelmed by technology...[they] understand the need to address and incorporate it into teaching and learrning." And I feel this is the leadership role I can play in my school. I can help teachers to understand the technology and its importance, and I can help them to integrate it.

In an article by Fran Smith entitled "How to Use Social Networking Technology for Learning," she interviews Chris Lehmann, principal of Philadelphia's Science Leadership Academy, who suggests that we need to change the term "social networking" to "academic networking" and start showing kids how they can use these tools to be" effective collaborators in the world, how to interact with people around them, how to be engaged, informed twenty-first-century citizens. We need to teach kids the powerful ways netowrking can change the way they look at education, not just their social lives."

I've quoted just a smattering of what's out there for information about the value of social networking sites in education, and they all say the same thing, we need to be a part of this! So I started to think about how I could use these types of sites in my classroom or how I could help other teachers to integrate them into their classrooms.

One of the sites that Chris Lehmann recommends starting with is a social bookmarking site. In the above-noted article he quotes de-lici-ous, but it could be any other, and for me would probably be Diigo. This is a tool I will start to use with the senior students in History and Science. It's not enough to just show the site and explain how it works. In my class this week, my group was discussing learning and understanding. To show them the site and go over how it works, the students might "learn" about it, but to help them really understand, we need to use it together. Practice using it, discuss tagging, show students how to search other people's tags, and all the aspects of using the tool that make it valuable.

One of my newest "go to gals" is Danah Boyd who, in her address entitled "Living and Larning with Social Media" at the Symposium for Teaching and Learning, stated "Educators have a critical role when it comes to helping youth navigate social media. You can help them understand how to make sense of what they're seeing. We call this "media literacy" or "digital literacy" or simply learning to live in a modern society. Youth need to know more than just how to use the tools - they need to understand the structures around them." (As an aside, check out her whole speech; it's great!) So, I am not going to jump into this for the sake of using a tool. I need to learn more. I need to look at it against curriculum (as with anything) and determine how it fits best and actually enhances learning.

The Young Adult Library Services Association has created a document called "Teens and Social Networking in School and Public Libraries: A Toolkit for Librarians and Library Workers." This toolkit has some excellent ideas about how educators can use social media in the classroom. For example, creating a Facebook page as a particular historical character, and gradually filling in the profile based on what is learned, blogging on the site as the character and as others offer sources and further information, continually upgrading their profile. It would require very critical and creative thinking to become an historical character and maintain that persona.

No matter what the actual activity, it will be critical, as Danah Boyd says, to teach students the structures of the tools they're using and how these tools can be used for educational benefit.

I think if I've had an "aha" moment in this whole topic, it's this - we need to be active in the same reality our students live in and that includes social networking. If we do not integrate tools like this into our classrooms, we cannot hope to possibly engage our students. And there are so many people already doing this. We do not have to reinvent the wheel. Check out the wiki Educational Networking. It lists more networks than I could count on Facebook, Nings, Wikis and more. It's outstanding professional development to belong to good groups and get involved in the conversations. There are links to Facebook groups that discuss student engagement and higher level thinking and Nings for teachers of English and Middle School.

Another excellent Ning is The Educator's PLN: The Personal Learning Network for Educators. This Ning has tons of fabulous groups. My classmates might be interested to know that one of them is all about how to get started using Twitter in the classroom. I was so engaged with the different topics and discussions on this Ning, that I had to become a member.

Another Ning I like and am going stay involved in is the Classroom 2.0 Ning. On this Ning I found a group of people who had used Nings and Facebook with students as well as a lot of discussion about the pros and cons and how to be effective. I think it will be very valuable in helping me to develop a plan for encouraging my staff to integrate social networks.

One Ning I think I would like to get started is for the teacher-librarians in my district. Currently, we do not have support or leadership to help us continue to develop capacity. We have a number of new teacher-librarians who are feeling lost and don't know where to go. We have a number of older and more experienced teacher-librarians who are feeling the same. Perhaps a Ning as a place to discuss, question, and share would be helpful.

I could go on forever, but I think there's only one thing left to say - "Let's get this party started!"

Mommy, more smashed 'tatoes!

When my daughter was little, she always wanted "smashed 'tatoes." It was her favourite. I think she liked them because they were easy to eat, filling and she could do cool things with them (like finger paint). When I began reading about mashups, I couldn't help but be reminded of "smashed 'tatoes." After all, mashups are easy, filling and you can do cool things with them too!

Reflection on the Process

One of the simplest definitions of mashups that I found came from Ask Bob Rankin who states, "a mashup is a term that's become popular to describe Web 2.0ish sites that combine the features or functions of one website with another." Like anything to do with the web, mashups have multiplied exponentially. There are now more mashup sites than you probably know what to do with - well, at least more than I know what to do with! Mashups are popular because they're easy to use. People who don't have any programming knowledge (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) can look really talented and smart. As well, I don't know about your computer, but after three people load up all their music, pictures, videos, and whatever else onto it, it can get pretty slow. One of the beautiful things about mashups is that you can use and store them out on the web and not on your own computer! Saves a lot of space!

Through Bob Rankin I found an amazing site called Programmable Web. You won't believe the mashups you can find here! I test drove just a few of them before moving on to my actual assignment. I thought I would share a few that I enjoyed.

I've been a World War II junkie since Grade 10 English when we read the book Diary of Anne Frank. I found a mashup that is a timeline of World War II combined with a map. Also, people can discuss the different additions to the timeline if they wish. Check out the World War II Timeline Project.

GeoWalk is a cool site. Here you can double click any location on the map and learn information about the place and see photos.

Bubblr is a mashup with Flickr that lets you insert cartoon bubbles onto your pictures. You can do it for an individual photo or you can create a comic strip!

Quite literally, I could have been lost in there for ages, but my assignment was already late, so onward I went.

My first stop was to Animoto. I have seen Animoto in action before, but I have never created my own Animoto video. I belong to a library list serve and quite frequently there are posts from people either asking questions about book trailers or wanting to show what their students have done using Animoto.

Animoto is easy to use. You simply upload the pictures you want to use, choose your music, send your video to production and you're done! I only used the free, 30 second option. I wanted to make a book trailer. I decided I'd try making one for one of my current favourites, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. I signed up for an account and I was off and running. Because I didn't have any personal pictures suitable for this video, I went to Creative Commons on Flickr to access some. This is what was for me, the longest and most difficult part of the process. It took a long time to find pictures that worked with my story. Once they were found, it was easy to upload them; a simple click. Then I was prompted to choose music either from their selection or my own (I used theirs). Then, a click of a button to finalize. Animoto sends a copy of the video to your e-mail address, so you don't even have to wait for it to be finished! Overall, it's a process that couldn't be simpler for a professional looking project! Like "smashed 'tatoes" it's easy. You can do as many different projects and even different looks for the same project as you want. It is definitely filling!

Here is my first Animoto video!

Voice Thread is a unique mashup that has many exciting possibilities for use in schools and libraries. Getting started with Voice Thread is easy. Simply create an account and you can begin using the program immediately for free. You can upgrade, of course, to have more capabilities, but at this time, a free account offers me everything I need.

I actually signed up for an account under the K-12 program. By using the K-12 program, you have extra security so that no one else can read or edit what you are posting unless you specifically allow it. Also, content is controlled and students can be added and allowed under their teacher's account, so no student e-mails are required. All that shows up on the Voice Thread is the student's avatar and first name, so it is a safe space to work.

I did not have any trouble getting an account started nor did I have trouble uploading an image of the book cover I wanted to discuss. My avatar loaded in easily and I was able to record myself talking. The, I wanted my daughter who had read the book to add a comment. Here is where I had more difficulty. I kept clicking on the add a friend and link buttons, but I couldn't see anything happening. She logged in to her e-mail and did receive an e-mail, but when she followed the link, bit didn't get her to a place where she could respond. We played with this for a really long time with no luck. Finally, we clicked on the little house in the bottom left corner. From here we could choose her identity and she could add her comment (she typed it just to switch it up a bit). I have to admit I had a lot of difficulty with this part of it. I know it's not supposed to be difficult for people to add their comments, and it probably isn't, but we sure weren't doing something right!

Well, this is a very basic Voice Thread, but it does give a sense of one of the ways in which I would use this tool most frequently.

Multimedia Sharing and my Personal Learning

Well, if I am being really honest, I am most likely to use both of these tools for educational reasons more often than personal. Although, I sure wish these tools were available when my grandma's and my dad were still alive. They would have been fantastic for interviewing them and having them talk about some of the big events in their lives. It would have been nice to have their thoughts and their voices saved forever.

I made an Animoto video with some of the wedding pictures I had loaded up on Flickr. It turned out well, and it was fun and easy to do. It didn't take nearly as long as my other video, but that was because I had all the images.

I can see myself making fun videos from photos of the girls' weekend away or of our dinner club parties. It's easy and it's a fun way for everyone to see the pictures. Plus, I'd look like a real talented video maker!

Voice Thread is one I don't see myself using as often as a personal tool. I can see so many uses for it professionally, and if I had small children, I could see using to do story telling and we definitely would have used it when we lived in Vancouver and all our family was here. But today, I do not see a lot of use for this tool personally.

Multimedia Sharing, Teaching and Learning

So here's where I get very excited. The possibilities for both of these tools on a professional level are huge!

Let's start with Animoto. As a Teacher-Librarian, I am most excited to use this tool with students to create book trailers. I know there are many other uses, but students are creative, and this is engaging work for them. Imagine having them try to pull out the most key images from a novel and try to tell a story and/or pique interest in a novel in only seconds? As well, as teachers we need to provide opportunities for students to learn about all kinds of literacies, including visual. Animoto provides an excellent opportunity to do that.

I teach English Language Arts 20. The two themes for this are Recollection and Anticipation. I have had students do a visual timeline of their childhood, collages, Who I Was poems and other activities to show me what they were like as young children. Imagine the possibilities with Animoto! They could really personalize their videos, and I bet I would learn even more about them. Of course, there are lots of mini lessons and sidebars to a project like this. Everything from use of photos and copyright to visual literacy skills, mood and tone with music and more.

As well, I also have students do book talks and other activities throughout the semester. I like them to do something with the books they read during our independent reading time. As well, I find that nothing prompts students to read a book like a recommendation by a friend. So, creating an Animoto book trailer could be one of the activities they do during the semester.

The Animoto site has lots of great ideas for what you can do with Animoto. Check out the case studies. There is a great Discovery Learning podcast that was set to Animoto and a really good video about bullying by students in a younger grade. I am teaching Grade 7 Health this year, and we are working on conflict resolution. I showed some of these videos to my students, and they are going to begin brainstorming and planning their own next week. Using still pictures and Animoto makes it very doable when working with young kids. Also, check out the iLearnTechnology blog because it has some great ideas for pretty much every curriculum area!

Voicethread has an entirely different set of possibilities, although I always jump first to ideas that will promote literacy and reading. Of course, Voicethread allows the mixing of pictures and videos and five different ways to respond inlcluding by microphone, by typing, by phone, by uploading an audio file or by video with a webcam. One of the ways I want to use this particular tool is with literature circles. It's a great way to record an online discussion. Either students or teachers could post a critical thinking question and everyone could respond to it in whatever manner they are most comfortable.

Another great idea a person could use in any subject is to put up a picture and have students discuss and comment on it. I used to teach History, and in the text there was always a picture for study and discussion. You could put up a picture or pictures in History, Art, Science, any subject and have students comment on them and discuss them. It's quick and easy.

Beth Burke created a wiki called VoiceThread Resources and Ideas and has numerous ideas and examples of voice thread in a variety of subject areas and even for administrative use!

Of course, one of the most common uses for VoiceThread is digital storytelling. There are multiple examples of digital storytelling online. I have never done this, but again, in my ELA 20 class, I usually do a project where students study some children's literature and then write their own. After, we share it with students at the elementary school next to us. I have two ideas floating around. One, we do the same type of thing, but they create their stories digitally. Two, I partner students up with a younger buddy and they create a story together. I will talk to a teacher at the elementary school about the possibility of doing this next semester.

Another great use for VoiceThread would be simply for speaking practice. Having just got through the first set of book talks, it is obvious to me that my students need more practice speaking and planning to speak. I think VoiceThread would be a great tool for them to use in planning a book talk and practicing their speaking so that it is paced properly, clearly spoken and properly pronounced.

I found a Ning by Mark Carls called Voicethread for Educators. There are people from all over the world sharing on this site which is evident from the variety of language one sees upon first looking at the site. But there are resources and examples for all age groups and subject areas here. Another great wiki to check out is simply entitled VoiceThread. This wiki has tutorials, examples and lots of links. Really worth spending some time with it!

Did the multimedia sharing sites of Animoto and VoiceThread measure up? Well, they're easy, they're filling, and you can do lots with them, so, definitely, "More mashups, please!"

SOMETHING WIKI THIS WAY COMES!

I couldn't say "wiki-ed," really, because wikis are far from wicked even though they have been painted (and tainted) with the "wicked" brush. I must say, that prior to the research for this posting, I was pretty liberal with that brush myself!

My objection was not to wikis in general, but rather Wikipedia, in particular. My issue was with authenticity and students using Wikipedia as a source for research and perhaps finding information that was inaccurate. I couldn't embed this little cartoon because of copyright, but it made me laugh out loud and it sums up my previous concerns with Wikipedia.

A Biased Wikipedia Entry

Reflection on the Process of Learning the Tool

Hmm, how to begin without sounding like a total idiot? . . . Nope, not possible. Truth be told, I have used a wiki with students, but I did not connect wikis with Wikipedia! When you get up from falling over laughing....

It seems impossible, doesn't it. So, I guess that's where this wiki journey began for me. Connecting the dots. I began with Will Richardson's chapter "Wikis" from his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. He opens with his discussion on Wikipedia. I learned a lot about Wikipedia, so I feel I must spend some time addressing it here before moving on to my thinking about wikis in general.

I was one of those people Richardson identifies who didn't "...really understand the first part, the 'wiki' "(2009, pp. 55). This critical blip on my journey to understanding really impacts my use of the tool in a professional way (more on that later). As I read Richardson's book, I stopped in at all of the links he mentioned. I must say, I was amazed when I read the discussion behind entries on global warming at Wikipedia (2009, pp.59). I really did not understand that there was any discussion behind how things were posted. In fact, there is very detailed debate about what goes up, how it is worded, how it might be perceived, and more. Right away, I have one of those "aha" moments. The collaborative and thoughtful piece of this puzzle falls into place for me, and I actually had to sit in awe and think about the impact, or perhaps as Richardson calls it, "transformative" effect this could have on our society and in our classrooms.

As Richardson notes, we are moving "...into a world where everyone has access to ideas and where collaboration is the expectation rather than the exception..." (2009, pp.59). I guess Wikipedia is the creme de la creme of examples! When it comes to worries about accuracy, a couple different points from my research made a difference in my thinking. First, Richardson notes a that "...thankfully, there are vastly more editors that want to make it right than those who wantt o make it wrong" (2009, pp.56). He goes on to cite a test by University of Buffalo Professor Alex Halavais who intentionally created "...thirteen errors on various posts on Wikipedia, all of which were fixed within a couple of hours" (2009, pp. 56). I've heard of other tests like this, and the fix time was even faster. Also, Davies, et al. discuss that Wikipedia is a more accurate reflection of our quickly (wiki wiki) and continuously changing world, and I would add also our demand for instant feedback and information about events (2009, pp. 90-91). Further, the idea that there are "...many authors and editors [who] will go back to, change and even delete..." (2009, pp.90) information is actually more comforting. I remember looking at a book that had been sent to me with my Scholastic book fair. It was a book about countries, but when it came to Canada the only province it really showed was Nunavut. A person who knew nothing about Canada and who read that book would think we all built Inukshuks and know little else about us. I sent the book back with a note about why I would not display it or sell it and a recommendation that it be deleted from their stock. So what happens to all the copies of that book? Oh, there around. But if it had been open source, additions and deletions would be made within hours to ensure the information was up-to-date. (Hmmm, can we call that a paradigm shift for me?) Yes, typically books are vetted and better edited than that one, and that's why we feel safer with information found within them (Davies et al., 2009, pp. 92). I know I feel this way too, but with my reading about wikis and Wikipedia, I understand that it is possible to search the background discussion and authorship to Wikipedia entries (Davies et al., 2009, pp.93). Davies et al. also note that Wikipedia attempts to keep entries "'neutral' ...and to try not to push a particular viewpoint or to persuade readers to take on a particular opinion" (2009, pp.94). I agree that this is difficult to do with many subjects (global warming, for instance), but I find value in that it will push authors to have facts to back up statements.

I spent a lot of time learning about Wikipedia, and I feel that I have some very different ideas about its value and use now. I think when we teach students about it and about how to use it, we need to show them how to look at the discussion and credentials of authors. I also think it's important to have the discussion about collaborative writing and its power.

In my continuing love affair with YouTube, I found a great video that discusses Wikipedia and how it works. It was created by the North Carolina State University Libraries.

Feeling fairly comfortable with my new and improved understanding of Wikipedia, I was ready to continue my exploration into wikis. As with anything, go to the experts, and so I decided to look for best practice. I began by checking out Joyce Valenza's blog and the School Library Journal site. They gave me some links to great wikis for libraries. One of the best, of course, is the Teacher Librarian Wiki by Joyce Valenza. Wow! What isn't here, you probably don't need to know! Check it out.

Another great wiki, for all kinds of librarians, is the Library Success Wiki. It has everything you need to know about libraries and programming for all different clientele.

I spent some time checking out the Educators Wiki. What I liked about this wiki were some of the pages that dealt with math. I am always wondering how I can work with my math teachers an what could I offer them. I also stumbled across this video which some of you may have seen, but I had never. In it are some interesting statistics about teachers and their use of technology, including wikis.

As I mentioned, I have made a wiki before. I made it with the help of a Learning Support Facilitator from our division. It was primarily an experiment, and I must admit, I had no clue what I was doing most of the time. After the initial page was created, I played a little and I created the Literature Circle page for a Grade 10 ELA teacher in my school to use with her kids. I used PB Wiki because it was what was recommended to me, but there are lots of other providers. You can check out my efforts at DCSBookaday Wiki.

In the book Using Web 2.0 Tools in the K-12 Classroom by Beverly Crane, she provides a handy wiki comparison chart. She notes that when choosing a wiki service consideration must be given to its ease of use, cost (many are free, but some have advertising which can be distracting for kids), appearance, security, and usage guidelines that are simple and positive (2009, pp.68-70). As I couldn't very well reprint the chart here, I found a site called WikiMatrix which provides a list of all the providers and you can check off the ones you are interested in and click compare and it will compare every facet imaginable!

Wikis and my Personal Learning

My life is pretty much consumed with my family and my work. I don't have a lot of time for hobbies or new interests, so the few things I do use my free time for are home decorating, reading, Scrabble

I found a wiki for home decorating through Home Wiki. This is a neat idea for me as I love to share ideas about decorating and I'm always looking for new ones.

I could spend hours playing Scrabble, and I found a Scrabble Wiki! I couldn't believe it! So, I think I will begin visiting this wiki and maybe even begin a thread for a post. I would love to come up with an easy list of words that consist only of vowels since that's usually what I end up having on my board.

There are lots of wikis about books and reading. A few I played around on and think I would like to return to are Book Lust Wiki. Another really great wiki is Library Thing's Group page which has wikis for all kinds of readers. I love to read, and I love to talk about books, but I don't get to do it a lot. I think hanging out on a wiki for books where I can add my comments and read other people's thoughts is a great idea. Because I am often housebound due to my husband's illness, this is a fun and exciting way to remain engaged with people who enjoy the same things I do.

Another way I think wikis could be helpful for me is when I plan shopping trips for the ladies in our division. For about five years I planned all ladies bus trips to Edmonton for shopping. This involved a lot of organization, and I was forever misplacing slips of paper with this or that. A couple of my friends helped with organizing games and different things for the trip. We could do all our organizing on a wiki. The really cool thing would be that whenever I forgot what we were doing or who was doing what, I could look it up instead of having to call someone and admit that I had no clue. Wikis would make me look way smarter!

Wikis, Teaching and Learning

As I was researching wikis, I came across a very simple definition in the appropriately titled Wikis for Dummies by Dan Woods and Peter Thoeny who define wikis as "...a collection of Web pages that anyone can edit" (2007, pp. 11). My first thought was "Oh." Yup! That's all I thought. It was such a simple explanation. Of course, I did have other questions. My biggest one was "How is a wiki different than a blog?" My very favourite answer came from Mike Sansone who is a Conversation Conductor and Social Mediatician (I'm no techie, so maybe he didn't create his own job title, but...). Anyway, Sansone makes numerous comparisons to make his point, but my favourite is his comparison that blogs are like Bill O'Reilly's show; people can call in and comment, but it's Bills' show. Wikis are like The View; everyone around the table has information and contributes.

As near as I can tell from what I've seen, wikis have two primary purposes. They are places where students can write collaboratively, and they are places where students can share their learning. I am about to begin working with our Grade 12 ELA teacher and literature circles with students. I suggested having students do their literature circles with wikis for a few reasons. One, students enjoy working collaboratively and discussing their ideas. Their wiki would provide them with a forum for doing this while still allowing the teacher, who cannot sit in on every discussion, to follow their thinking. Two, it would be easy to track who was contributing what. Three, we usually have a number of snow days in December and January. If students were working through a wiki, they could still work from home even if they couldn't get to school. After studying Wikis, I wanted to be sure it was legitimately the best forum for what we wanted to do. I discovered that we were right on track.

In Using Web 2.0 Tools in the K-12 Classroom Beverley Crane outlines ten reasons why wikis are important and worthwile for use in classrooms. "Wikis:

1. enable team members to work on an assignment at any time, from any location with an internet connection;

2. encourage student involvement

3. offer a powerful yet flexible collaborative communication tool for developing content- specific Web sites;

4. provide a central place for groups to form around specific topics;

5. provide students with direct (and immediate) access to a site's content, which is crucial in group editing or other collaborative project activities;

6. show the evolution of thought processes as students interact with the site and its content;

7. promote pride of authorship and ownership in a team's activities;

8. showcase student work;

9. encourage collaboration on notes; and

10. promote concept introduction and exploration" (2009, pp.64).

I am excited to begin this project, and have gone so far as to develop the opening page and the links only. These are some beginning thoughts only, and as the teacher and I work together we will add information, instruction, links, and more. You can take a look if you like at DCSVetter. I chose to use Wikispaces for this project. Initially I created a page on Wetpaint, but I didn't like it because of all the advertising that appeared on the page. The only way to get rid of it was to pay. So, I set up a page on Wikispaces, and there was no advertising, but after I added links and pages to the menu, Google Ads appeared. I don't like these ads, but again, it requires money to get rid of them. They are not, however, as distracting as those on Wetpaint, so I guess we'll deal with it. I should note though, ads are not a problem on my PBWiki page.

I learned a lot about wikis. I haven't used wikis much myself. I certainly haven't searched a lot of them out to see what other people are doing with them. Of course, surprise, there's a ton of great stuff out there! There are some great opportunities for student learning with wikis. I found a great wiki called Reading 2.0 which shows different ways to use technology to promote books. I plan on using some of the ideas here in my own library.

Something "wiki" this way comes? I say "Woo hoo! Bring it on!"