I am a Blogger Baby!!

I am a blogger baby! I say that with a West-Indian Brooklyn accent full of pride and pleasure! When first I created this blog back in June, I did not realize how much I would come to own it and value it as my sounding board and as a learning tool. I like this blog and I gladly show it off to family and friends. My blog gave me a whole new venue for voicing my opinion and I could see why so many people embrace that aspect of it.

But for the purposes of this class, my blog and my classmates’ blogs were great learning tools. I would never have guessed that tuning in to Melody’s, Lena’s and Janine’s blogs would have given me so much in a clearly less formal educational setting. If I had to read and research those technologies on my own, I am sure it would have been more tedious, but reading their blogs somehow made the information more accessible and friendlier. I also did not realize that in trying to find enough information to post for them, I was not only learning about the information technologies that I was assigned but I was doing so without the stress factor. Putting the information on my blog versus writing a paper was much easier. I will definitely embrace this Web 2.0 genre in my teaching. Imagine having students learn from each other this way in my high school. I can see the possibilities!

This fall, I plan to set up a blog for my library as a way of keeping teachers and students aware of resources and activities available to them, and I hope to set up a blogspehere in Paul Robeson High School. I would love to get everyone hooked onto blogging. I definitely see myself keeping a personal blog when this program is over. I have never embraced sites like MySpace or Friendster, but I really like blogging; maybe that is because I feel that I do not have to conform to the norms of those social networking sites—the pictures, the cool phrases, the conversations etc. In fact, what I really like about blogging is the freedom it gives me to speak on any issue I choose without seeming “uncool.” I was never cool anyway, and I with my blog, I don’t ever have to be. That’s liberating! I read my blog and I hear my voice, and I like that.

NoodleTools's Knowledge Base

Have you ever invested in a teaching resource and can't find enough information to help with even the smallest of problems? Well, NoodleTools's creators have thought of that possibility and have created what they call a Knowledge Base to deal with those problems when using their resources.

Knowledge Base is a "database of how-to articles and expert answers to your trickiest MLA and APA citation questions." In this database, there are articles/information on dealing with problems with software as well as specific features of NoodleBib. In a special section for teachers and librarians, there is information on every aspect of managing your NoodleTools subscription, from taking good notes to viewing usage statistics. In this database, there seems to be enough support for teachers and librarians, and other users, to ensure that once you subscribe to NoodleTools you can comfortably use what you pay for.

Check all of this out at www.noodletools.com/kb.

Response to Cyber Security Article

After reading the article, "Teaching Children Cyber Security and Ethics" by the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, I am left with questions and a sense of frustration. The Alliance accurately identifies the problems we face in our efforts, or lack thereof, to educate children about cyber safety. The one that causes the most frustration in me is, of course, the one that questions whose responsibility it is to teach children about cyber safety. I know that many teachers do the best they can, with the limited resources they have, to teach kids about Internet safety. However, the parents fall short! We need the parents to get on board and support our efforts to educate their children. Many, many of them are in denial and feel that their kids (especially the teenagers) know how to handle themselves on the Web. Or, they think that the schools should educate their children about this and that absolves them of any responsibility. That's wrong; many of them need a serious wake up call!

Another thing that bothers me, even though I know that there is no way around it, is the idea that we have to entertain children in order to get their full attention and educate them about this very serious issue. As pointed out in the article, we are competing with the video games, and I will add, social networking sites for their attention. It's a shame that they will not listen to our cries for them to be careful until we make the message attractive.

In the article, the Alliance identifies numerous resources for teachers, parents, and students. Several questions came to mind as I read these. Why it is so hard to get this information out to schools? Why don't we see flyers, phamplets, and brochures on this issue in the schools? Why doesn't the DOE make this available to us now? What are we waiting on to spread the word? If the resources are out there, why are they not getting to us? I didn't know that many of these resources existed and so I know that other teachers and parents do not know about them either. Why don't we have a national television campaign to get the word out? Are we ever really going to get the message out?

How much can one media specialist in a school with over 1300 children do? I guess it will have to be a lot!

A Great Digital Resource!

Since we were discussing the International Children's Digital Library on the WebCt discussion board this week, I wanted to see what other reputable digital library collections were available. I was really looking for resources for my high school students. I went to the ALA site and found an interesting link to a magazine called the D-Lib Magazine. This magazine which can be accessed at http://www.dlib.org/ is an "electronic publication with a primary focus on digital library research and development, including but not limited to new technologies, applications, and contextual social and economic issues. The primary goal of the magazine is timely and efficient information exchange for the digital library community." The magazine is funded by, among others, Syracuse University Libraries, University Libraries of Notre Dame University, Australian National University, and University of California San Diego Libraries.

The magazine is only published six times a year, but you can access back issues from the website. There are some very interesting articles in this magazine. One particularly interesting display at the site is the " Featured Collection" section. Here a digital collection is made available for free access. This July/August issue features a digital collection called "The Encyclopedia of the Earth." I explored this encyclopedia and was thrilled with the amount of information that I, and my students, can use. The URL for the encyclopedia is http://www.eoearth.org/. Check it out! It is great for high school students!

This magazine was truly a great find!! Hence, the very happy librarian above!

NoodleTools and 21st Century Literacies

NoodleTools has a new, cleaner, friendlier, brighter look, and it also has a new logo! Check it out at http://www.noodletools.com/!

This week, after our weekend work on literacy in IST 668, I decided to explore NoodleTools 21st Century Literacies, which can be found under Teacher Resources on the homepage. Coincidentally, Debbie Abilock just updated the site yesterday 7/22/07. According to Abilock, there are eight literacies that learners must develop in order to fully navigate the world in the 21st century:
Basic Language Literacy
Visual Literacy
Historical Literacy
Cultural Literacy
Information Literacy
Political Literacy and News Media Literacy
Scientific Literacy
Mathematical Literacy.
Under each of these literacies she has sample lessons, ideas for lesson, projects, and resources that are aimed at developing skills in each area.

I explored Information Literacy. Here information literacy is defined as "a transformational process in which the learner needs to find, understand, evaluate, and use information in various forms to create for personal, social or global purposes." What do you think about that definition? How does it compare to others that we have learnt? In addition, Abilock has what she calls "building blocks" for developing information literacy. These are Engaging, Defining, Initiating, Locating, Examining selecting comprehending assessing, Recording sorting organizing interpreting, Communicating, Synthesizing. Under each block, she has the skills and strategies that students should demonstrate, student outcomes, and curriculum and teaching design to build competency in each area. Click on any of the blue words in these categories and you will be taken to other links that can help you when teaching these skills. I could go on and on, but you can take a look for yourself at http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/1over/infolit1.html and tell me what you think.

Why We Need Resources Like NoodleTools

In two other interesting articles I found on schoollibraryjournal.com, Walter Minkel makes a strong case for including resources like NoodleTools in our libraries.

In the first article, "The Trouble with Citing Sites," he argues that teaching students to cite sources (or even doing it for ourselves) was hard enough before the advent of the Internet, but now that students do so much of their research online, it has become a monumental task. Students feel that if an essay or article is online, out there in cyberspace, they can copy it freely without giving credit to the authors/creators/owners. In addition, citing Internet sources is not easy, so they do not even try. He, and Abilock, feel that the sooner we get students to realize that they have to give credit to the owners of the material that they copy off the Web, the easier the task will get as they go along. That is why he endorses resources like NoodleTools which can be used with kids in very early grades. He says that other resources like http://www.mla.org/ are too advanced for younger students. Read the whole article at www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA153093.

In his other article, Minkel argues that librarians must lead in the fight against online plagiarism by "showing students how to define plagiarism, how to recognize when they're committing it, and how to credit and cite others' works correctly." He also suggests "working with teachers in setting plagiarism policies." He proposes introducing students to the idea of citing sources as soon as possible in their academic lives. This article can be found at www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA202848.

Money for NoodleTools

In last week's post, I was complaining about having to pay a subscription for using NoodleBib, but after reading Walter Minkel's article, "NoodleTool's Tough Choice," I have to do like the kids and say "my bad." In the article, Minkel explains why Debbie Abilock and her son Damon, co-creators of NoodleTools, had to start charging for what was initially a free service. It seems that the site was getting as many as 400,00 hits a day and so their Internet Service Provider shut the site down because "it was clogging its bandwidth." In the effort to continue serving the thousands who demanded the service, Abilock and her son set up their own server and that costs quite a lot of money. Plus, they needed time and and manpower to maintain and upgrade the site. They, therefore, had no choice but to start charging a fee for the service.

Read the complete article at

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA213900.html?q=noodletools.

What does that mean for us? As we prepare to provide our students with the best access to information through reputable sources, we will have to demand that our school administrators give us the money for subscription fees for resources like NoodleTools. That is a must-have in today's library. I already have to write memos to continually beg and remind the principal and assistant principals to put aside money for databases and other services, since there is no specific fund for technology in the library. I have my work cut out for me, but I want to get this resource for my students.

NoodleTools's NoodleBib

NoodleBib is NoodleTools's star tool. It is, according to the website, "The Web's most comprehensive and accurate MLA and APA bibliography composer with a fully-integrated note-taking component." And, it seems to live up to that billing if one is to use the amount of schools, colleges, and universities that subscribe to it! Many, many of them include this tool in their library's offerings to students. Just take a look at The University of Texas at Austin's library website--http://www.lib.utexas.edu/noodlebib/. They are just one of the many you will find using this tool. If interested, you can take a tour of NoodleBib's features and get a tutorial at http://www.noodletools.com/bibtour. Click on "Citing Sources."

There is, however, more to take note of here. If you want to have access to all of NoodleBib's features, you must get a subscription for it. Individual subscriptions are available for as little as $4, while school/library subscriptions are "based on enrollment." If you are willing to settle for a piece of the pie, then you can get a free NoodleBib MLA starter account, which is designed for grades 1-5 and ESL.

I am quite disappointed that I do not have full access to all of NoodleBib. It is not very expensive, but I would have liked a trial run before I sign up for a subscription. Based on the large number of libraries that use it though, I will use some of my library funds to get a subscription for students at my school. My students have a very hard time doing citations and need all the help they can get.

What do you think? Based on what you've seen at the site, will you consider getting it?

Article Response

After reading Oblinger and Ruby's article, "Accessible Technology Can help Colleges and Universities Remove Barriers to Education," I am much more aware of the problems that students with disabilities face when trying to get an education in today's technological environment, and I have a better sense of what it will take to address those problems. I must admit that I was oblivious to many of these issues, even after teaching in a community college environment for several years.

Oblinger and Ruby's article explains why accessible technology is needed on college campuses around the country. Technology is changing the world, and for many of us it's a simple matter of adapting to those changes. For the students with disabilities, though, those adjustments are more monumental and critical. Oblinger and Ruby say that a lack of accessible technology on college campuses put students with disabilities at a further disadvantage, whereas accessible technology "empowers people, and the independence they gain from it changes them, makes them better. Empowerment and transformation is the true purpose of education." As an educator, I must agree with that statement. Students with disabilities, just like other students, must have the tools that will make them independent, successful citizens of this society and of the world. If that means that colleges have to rearrange their budgets so that money is put in the right coffer, then so be it. They should not let administrative red tape get in the way of providing resources for the students.

According to Oblinger and Ruby, there are benefits for the colleges too. The authors state that a college can make itself more marketable and can create a more diverse student body by having accessible technology in its environment. But that, I believe, should not be the selling point for the colleges. It's about the students' need to get a good education!

All levels of educational institutions should have accessible technology. Even though as Oblinger and Ruby's article points out, students with disabilities in the K-12 setting "are used to having individualized education plans. . . with the students and their teachers, parents and rehabilitation professionals to ensure their specific needs are met," there is a serious lack of suitable resources in this setting too. I know that there is a lack of adequate resources at my school and many others. We do not have any special resources in the library and if we have them in the school at all, they are not being utilized (at least, as far as I can see). And, like the colleges, budget and administrative red tape always get in the way. I am not sure what can be done or how quickly it can be done, but we need to do a better job of providing even the simplest resources for our students.

My Visit to Bookshare

I was very excited when I read the description of this site--"Bookshare.org gives print disabled people in the United States legal access to over 33,000 books and 150 periodicals that are converted to Braille, large print or text to audio files" (www.Bookshare.org). It can help individuals who are blind, those with severe vision problems, and those whose mobility is limited and are unable to turn the pages of a book. It also has over 1,000 books in Spanish. I immediately thought that this would be a great way to get free resources for my library to serve my students with disabilities.

I was right to some extent. Bookshare.org allows anyone to freely download "public domain books" (books that are out of copyright) in various formats. Many classic works of literature are available here, and you can also download software that will read books aloud to you. I browsed several pages on the site and was able to listen to a demo of a passage from Little Lord Fauntleroy. I must say that the quality could be improved. Some of it was a little hard to understand as it was being read.

However, if one wants to get copyrighted material from this site, one has to register with Bookshare and pay for a subscription. I was disappointed to find that schools had to pay what I consider to be hefty subscription costs ($75 per new student and $50 renewal every year after). I know that I will not be able to afford this type of fee, so I will only use the public domain books on this site. I have bookmarked it and will pass this information on to all teachers, especially the ones in the special education department of my school.

Just out of curiousity, I tried to scan this website with WebXact, but could not. It seems that the site blocks that from happening because I got this message, "This link is a server redirect." Hmm. . .

NoodleTools

When I started to research this technology topic, I was expecting to find one piece of interesting technology that I could use with my classes in the library. But, what I found seems to me more like a goldmine! NoodleTools is a website that provides resources for making research, especially Internet research, easier. These tools can help even the youngest students get involved in the research process because it provides information for novices as well as the Web savvy. Some of the tools on this site are free, while others involve getting a paid subscription. There is a very detailed user guide that explains everything one needs to know about using the tools on this site, saving and printing information, etc. It can be downloaded and printed out if necessary.

One has to subscribe to the NoodleBib , which the site describes as, "The Web's most comprehensive and accurate MLA and APA bibliography composer with a fully-integrated note-taking component." Other tools NoodleBib Express, NoodleBib MLA Starter, NoodleTools Knowledge Base, NoodleQuest, and NoodleTeach are all free and each provides its unique but essential role in helping both students and educators. I played around with all of these tools, as you should, and I must say that had I discovered these when I was an English teacher my life would have been much easier. I particularly like NoodleQuest, a tool that helps you to decide which is the best search startegy to use for a given research assignment. Getting students involved in the research process and getting them to cite sources accurately are not easy tasks.

NoodleTeach which has two resources for teachers--21st Century Literacies and Curriculum Collaboration Toolkit--is loaded with valuable information. Check all of this out at the NoodleTools website which can be found at http://www.noodletools.com/. In the next few weeks I will investigate how well these tools really work. Explore a little and let me know what you think.

I tried.. :)

For my last post on mapping mashups, I really wanted to build a mashup of my own. I tried to create a mashup of my favorite neighborhood places but had some problems with the technology. I will keep trying though. I copied my attempts onto a word document but cannot upload them into my blog. I will have a mashup on this blog before the end of this class!!