And so to slideshare. This is a great way of viewing other people's slideshows, but as yet I haven't produced anything for others to follow. I'm concentrating on Prezi and all it's machinations which is automatically available for others to view. I've viewed some of the slideshows and presentations from the CILIP SLG conference and some fabulous display ideas for our LRC. It could be a way to show off remorselessly because you can stop 'copying' by others and allow viewing only. This isn't a new tool, but has been around for some time in the background. Those who belong to the SLN on Yahoo groups will know and love it well.
I've been asked to run a small project in school using some of the tools from CPD23. I've chosen blogging. However, I wait with baited breath to know if I can go ahead with this, needing permissions from SLT, as most blogging software is net based and not just internal to our school. Hopefully they will be enlightended, and trusting enough to let the project be launched.
So watch this space!
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Thing 19, Reflection
Well some time to reflect at last! It's part of our new school 'Values' which we are working on, so very apt. This course has been extremely useful in pointing me to tools that would help in my daily life. My favourite tools, some of which I already use, are: RSS, Twitter, Dropbox, Prezi and learning much more about blogs. Many of the other tools I well come back to as my working life gets far more complex. I have signed up to communicate online with many librarian type groups as well. The problem here is finding the time to keep up with it all. (My employer has made so may people redundant recently, that they expect far more from those left, to the point of excess. I'm probably working a 45 hour week on average just to keep up, and things like reflection & connecting, although part of our 'Values' seems a luxury. As a professional I don't want to be seen to 'fail' even though I'm not being paid for all these extra hours. On reflection this may be a poor strategy as it doesn't give a clear picture to my bosses of what the job entails.) I have completed many Prezi inductions this week and am getting used to the ebb and flow of the software which is indeed much easier than Powerpoint to control. Dropbox has proved invaluable for not only accessing my documents anywhere, but also in sharing documents. Other tools including google docs seem to be blocked by the school network. RSS is a quick and easy way to stay up to date without getting too involved in other online groups. My question is how do these librarians have the time to be constantly posting? I want their jobs! Even Twitter is becoming alarming to keep up with and I will need to 'weed' the groups I am following in order to reduce the number of posts I have to plough through. I need to spend time sifting in order to black out so much 'white noise' and make life a little simpler but more productive. I hope the links to all of the web 2.0 tools will stay on the CPD23 wepages for a little while after the end of the course ion order to revisit them when time and circumstances dictate. If nothing else, having the knowledge of what's available and the confidence to explore is a huge step forward. As a digital immigrant as apposed to the natives under 20, This has allowed me to keep one step ahead, to the point where our Head of ICT teaching thinks I'm one to consult!
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Thing 18 Screen capture and podcasting
Having had the week from hell, I can now try to gather my thoughts. NB I was disappointed that the Prezi section for Thing 17 has been postponed. However, I went ahead without it and produced a Prezi for my new induction lessons for all year groups coming into the new school. It all went extremely well, and the students did seem to concentrate more and asked lots of questions which made it very interactive. Only problem was in producing handouts, but that may be because of the chaos of our ICT this week.
So now Thing 18. I love the idea of screen capture videos. I'm doing one for our continuing induction lessons on how to access our catalogue on the school network, because it's not that obvious. This can then be stored on our VLE and even the new Sharepoint pages when it that application arrives, I've been told its coming soon, but I won't hold my breath! I have experienced problems downloading the software at school because of permissions, so I'll attempt plan B. As for Podcasting, I've experienced many of these myself when exploring new technologies. Is this the same as Webinars that appear in various websites? I suspect this is the American terminology for a Podcast on the web. For my own CPD these are very useful. However, I have tried to use them in school and they have fallen on 'deaf' ears so to speak. Our students prefer the visual element to keep them engaged. We have looked at purchasing a service called 'GCSE POD' which is very expensive. Itunes U also have some interetsing and free podcasts, but again the videos are preferred. My attempt to get students to record their book reviews for others to hear was a complete failure. Somehow our students (aged 11-18) only think of 'listening' on MP3 players or iplayers in terms of music, not school related things. Maybe it's an age thing. Kids don't listen to 'talk' radio either! I can see it working in Higher Education, especially where lectures etc are missed, or for revision. However, for the visually impaired, it may well be a fabulous development! Occasionally, there has been something book or library related on the BBC radio podcasts which are easy to download. However it's usually only 2 or 3 minutes that are relevant, and you can't edit the BBC podasts yourself, so you need to capture the entire thing. Somewhat limiting. In short, if podcasts are going to be used as part of my learning resources centre, we have a big job to persuade the students to actually use them. I suppose it's worth trying to change this attitude, but it's way down the list of priorities.
So now Thing 18. I love the idea of screen capture videos. I'm doing one for our continuing induction lessons on how to access our catalogue on the school network, because it's not that obvious. This can then be stored on our VLE and even the new Sharepoint pages when it that application arrives, I've been told its coming soon, but I won't hold my breath! I have experienced problems downloading the software at school because of permissions, so I'll attempt plan B. As for Podcasting, I've experienced many of these myself when exploring new technologies. Is this the same as Webinars that appear in various websites? I suspect this is the American terminology for a Podcast on the web. For my own CPD these are very useful. However, I have tried to use them in school and they have fallen on 'deaf' ears so to speak. Our students prefer the visual element to keep them engaged. We have looked at purchasing a service called 'GCSE POD' which is very expensive. Itunes U also have some interetsing and free podcasts, but again the videos are preferred. My attempt to get students to record their book reviews for others to hear was a complete failure. Somehow our students (aged 11-18) only think of 'listening' on MP3 players or iplayers in terms of music, not school related things. Maybe it's an age thing. Kids don't listen to 'talk' radio either! I can see it working in Higher Education, especially where lectures etc are missed, or for revision. However, for the visually impaired, it may well be a fabulous development! Occasionally, there has been something book or library related on the BBC radio podcasts which are easy to download. However it's usually only 2 or 3 minutes that are relevant, and you can't edit the BBC podasts yourself, so you need to capture the entire thing. Somewhat limiting. In short, if podcasts are going to be used as part of my learning resources centre, we have a big job to persuade the students to actually use them. I suppose it's worth trying to change this attitude, but it's way down the list of priorities.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
CPD23 Thing 14, 15 and 16
The summer has flown by and we're now in a term term in a new school, but many of the old problems. Note to project managers everywhere: Please allow 2-3 days contingency time to get things all working!
I seem to apologising to all and sundry for the lack of IT and software packages that we've come to rely upon not working. I feel as if we've had a false start.
So in investigating web 2.0 tools such as Mendeley for organising and referencing, my obvious response is : make sure you have a backup of everything you save! Mendeley looks good, and could be useful to students in particular. There seem to be so many choices of different tools in this area, I would say see what suits you best. Mendeley doesn't seem to do much more than Dropbox and Neil's toolbox put together in one place, although I may be underestimating it's power having not fully explored all its capabilities. It has a fancy 'dashboard' but I didn't find it intuitive to use and had a very American 'look'. In my view simple is good. For our 6th form students , the newly launched Studyvibe from Autrialia seems better presented and a one stop shop for research tools.As ever, time is an issue with finding out more.
Conferences and presenting. Conferences are a wonderful thing, particularly for school librarians who are often one man bands these days. It's such a relief to be with one's own kind, and know that you are not alone! This is in addition to all the wonderful new things to discover and share in the profession. Cost is an issue, so go where you can! Video conferencing could be an answer, which we are going to trial within our small Independent schools librarians group. Presenting when working in a school is part of daily life, particularly at the beginning of a new school year. All those inductions! I love them, but they are exhausting if you don't do it all year round. I fully endorse all the tips from Phil Bradley here. I also believe that some of these skills need to be taught on Library and information course as they are in the USA.
This also links in with advocacy. I try by every means possible to get recognised in the school curriculum. Some teachers are more supportive than others, as are some subject areas. The full support of Senior Management is also needed. Until Information Literacy becomes part of the curriculum in Independent schools, this is a slow but steady development. Staffing to cover the rest of the library whilst you're 'teaching' however is another issue in a busy environment. There is a problem being overwhelmed with too many initiatives when you have little in terms of cover. Advocacy in the wider world is an issue that CILIP is starting to address on behalf of the profession in the UK. I strongly feel that the modern Information Professional is highly skilled on a miriad of ways and are not recognised either in status or pay. It is a stark reminder when you work in a school that an NQT gets the same pay as a Chartered Librarian with 20 years experience. I realise that economic times are bad, but employers are taking huge advantage of the situation and lowering renumeration. Not only do we need to save our libraries by investing in change to suit the changing technology available, we need to ensure that the Professional Librarian doesn't die out. I fear that the next generation with otherwise miss out on those gatekeepers (for want of a better word) to information. In short, our professional body, CILIP has a big job to do! Advocay needs to be done consistently and powerfully, getting to the right people to persuade. How many of us in full time work can actually spend enough time doing this? All we are left with is little by little on a personal level. A drip feed if you will, which in conjunction with the National campagin has to have some effect in the long run.
Here endeth the lesson!
I seem to apologising to all and sundry for the lack of IT and software packages that we've come to rely upon not working. I feel as if we've had a false start.
So in investigating web 2.0 tools such as Mendeley for organising and referencing, my obvious response is : make sure you have a backup of everything you save! Mendeley looks good, and could be useful to students in particular. There seem to be so many choices of different tools in this area, I would say see what suits you best. Mendeley doesn't seem to do much more than Dropbox and Neil's toolbox put together in one place, although I may be underestimating it's power having not fully explored all its capabilities. It has a fancy 'dashboard' but I didn't find it intuitive to use and had a very American 'look'. In my view simple is good. For our 6th form students , the newly launched Studyvibe from Autrialia seems better presented and a one stop shop for research tools.As ever, time is an issue with finding out more.
Conferences and presenting. Conferences are a wonderful thing, particularly for school librarians who are often one man bands these days. It's such a relief to be with one's own kind, and know that you are not alone! This is in addition to all the wonderful new things to discover and share in the profession. Cost is an issue, so go where you can! Video conferencing could be an answer, which we are going to trial within our small Independent schools librarians group. Presenting when working in a school is part of daily life, particularly at the beginning of a new school year. All those inductions! I love them, but they are exhausting if you don't do it all year round. I fully endorse all the tips from Phil Bradley here. I also believe that some of these skills need to be taught on Library and information course as they are in the USA.
This also links in with advocacy. I try by every means possible to get recognised in the school curriculum. Some teachers are more supportive than others, as are some subject areas. The full support of Senior Management is also needed. Until Information Literacy becomes part of the curriculum in Independent schools, this is a slow but steady development. Staffing to cover the rest of the library whilst you're 'teaching' however is another issue in a busy environment. There is a problem being overwhelmed with too many initiatives when you have little in terms of cover. Advocacy in the wider world is an issue that CILIP is starting to address on behalf of the profession in the UK. I strongly feel that the modern Information Professional is highly skilled on a miriad of ways and are not recognised either in status or pay. It is a stark reminder when you work in a school that an NQT gets the same pay as a Chartered Librarian with 20 years experience. I realise that economic times are bad, but employers are taking huge advantage of the situation and lowering renumeration. Not only do we need to save our libraries by investing in change to suit the changing technology available, we need to ensure that the Professional Librarian doesn't die out. I fear that the next generation with otherwise miss out on those gatekeepers (for want of a better word) to information. In short, our professional body, CILIP has a big job to do! Advocay needs to be done consistently and powerfully, getting to the right people to persuade. How many of us in full time work can actually spend enough time doing this? All we are left with is little by little on a personal level. A drip feed if you will, which in conjunction with the National campagin has to have some effect in the long run.
Here endeth the lesson!
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