More on Everything Bad is Good

If I'm interpreting this correctly, all those "bad" things can actually be a plus (or something good) for libraries and educational organizations.  We need to use these "bad" things to move our patrons and students in a desirable direction.  Specifically, we can use "bad" gaming sessions to bring in more young patrons, and once they start seeing the library as a cool place to hang then we will hopefully have increased circulation (of not just games, but audio visual and books as well).  Facebook and social networking is another "bad" tool that can help public libraries connect with patrons.  The more innovative PL's consider facebook as an outreach tool; they go to where their patrons might be.

With educational environments, we must use these "bad" tools to our advantage as well.  With all the technological stimulation our young learners receive outside of the classroom, we actually shut down their ability to learn if we use teaching techniques from the 20th century.  Innovative and forward-thinking educators understand that they must make use of web 2.0 technologies to entice their students.  An example would be the use of a blog to discuss a class novel instead of a journal notebook.  What young student will turn away the opportunity to use a keyboard over a piece of paper?  

While this may seem like a big disconnect, I will take the risk of mentioning that tonight's World News Tonight segment reported that the 50 year-old Barbie doll now comes with a set of removable tattoos.  Initially, we may think this is an absurd idea - Barbie with tattoos!  However, upon further analysis, Barbie's maker is using something society generally considers "bad" (tattoos) and making it for good.  Of course, they are looking for "good" profits.  We can further analyze the inclusion of this "bad" element and turn it around to make for teachable moments and discussions with our youngsters - dangers of dirty needles in less than reputable tattoo shops, the permanent nature of tatoos and the painful treatments which individuals endure when they change their minds, etc.  

Second Life Experience

Frustrating and weird are two of the adjectives that come to mind when I think about the Virtual Environments. While I read the tutorials, I still don't feel proficient in navigating in this environment. I can see why more kids might be attracted to this type of activity. While I know there are plenty of "addicted" adults, generally, adults who are juggling many things don't have the hours to invest in figuring out virtual environments. Sorry, but I can already tell this topic/area is not for me!

Above is a snapshot of Lord Brently in the Royal Museum of Art.

Social Software Thoughts

While I do not consider myself an expert on web 2.0 technologies, I feel this class has given me a good foundation (and the confidence) to continue my quest for knowledge in these areas.  Each week's topic and assignments throughout the course were at first daunting, but in the end, were manageable.

Some really big pluses from this class include:

• Steve and Anselm's screencasts.  There were times, I watched the same one a few times, but in the end, I "got it."  I really admire the fact that Anslem kept Steve's screencasts and were confident in using them.  My feeling is why "fix something if it still works."  Less confident instructors may have rerecorded them just so they would feel the course was "theirs."  I know this might seem like a minor point, but I've taken enough online courses to see instructors do crazy things that didn't make sense.  Anselm's approach made perfect sense and worked extremely well - gave credit to Steve for designing the course, created an overlay when necessary, but used the original screencasts, which took much time to create and worked perfectly well.  Bravo!
• This was a perfect class to take online, and I might even venture that it was more effective presented in this way.  Connecting with classmates all over the US and Canada (which I thought was really cool and less common in my other online classes) was great.  I loved that Dan was on a different time zone, and he'd sometimes give me a suggestion when everyone else was in bed!  The online nature of this class forced us to utilize the instant messaging and tweets.
• We had a really nice, small class with just 11 students.  As in a face-to-face setting, the smaller number really enabled and forced  me to like a feel part of our learning community and not someone sitting in the back of the room.
• I really appreciated Anselm's responses to tweets.  While it is unreasonable to expect an instructor to be online all the time, it's important that instructors "check in" on a regular basis since it is sometimes hard for onliners to move forward when stuck with technical difficulties.  While I've been fortunate to have online instructors like Anselm, Steve Garwood and Ross Todd, who are quick to respond, I have had an equal number of instructors who have been less responsive.  This comment is meant as a compliment and with the hope that others who might instruct this course in the future realize the importance of timely and regular "check-ins."

Things that might warrant a little thought:

• There were so many ways for us to connect with each other (facebook, twitter, blog, wiki page, etc.), that it was a little difficult to know where to look for others.  I tended to use twitter to connect with others (in the same way I've had to use ecollege in the past), but I'm not sure we were all going to the same place so perhaps in another class, the main "meeting spot" could be more clearly defined.
• There was a lot of great information presented, but in a very quick time frame.   I know I will want to go back and revisit some of the screencasts via google reader and the rusocial wiki when I have a little more time.  Is it possible to allow us access for at least a certain period of time?  I know I don't know everything I could about some of the topics and I'd like to go back, rewatch and review.  It's the only way I will be able to implement some of these web 2.0 tools into my library.  

Thanks, Anslem for your guidance and for a great introduction to social software!

Is Bad Good?

According to Johnson popular culture has grown more complex and challenging over the years.  Is this true?  Generally, I would agree.  The situations presented through the new games, television, and other medias are presented for the same basic reasons.  Johnson mentions "dopamine" and "brain chemistry," and yes, it can be reasoned that the basic premise individuals participate in these activities are still to feed those needs.  

However, the level of sophistication (and that's not necessarily used in a good sense) of these medias is higher and increasingly complex.  Certainly comparing the storylines of tv shows of the past and present show an elevated height of entanglement, but if you boil it down to the basic level, the morals and lessons are similar.  The difference is that our medical and legal shows bury themselves in technical terms in order give themselves credibility which translates into ratings.

Social networking is another area in which we can ask the question,  "is bad good?"  It depends on who you ask and their ability to see this in it's entirety.  Without a doubt, a teenager will tell you the many advantages.  You might even have 30 year old's telling you it is a great way to save on phone bills - it's the ability to stay in touch and connect with people all over for the cost of basic internet service (which is now fairly common).  However, ask the parent of a teenager who has been engaged in an online chat room by a stranger, and you may get a totally different response.

There is some truth that "popular culture is just a method to sophisticatedly deliver stupidity."  Isn't it stupid to display all of your personal information on a site where it can be accessed by people you don't know?  Isn't it stupid to watch a "sophisticated" sitcom about housewives when you could be reading a book?  Isn't it stupid to be playing a video game when you could be outside throwing a ball and teaching your child how to catch, run and live a healthy lifestyle?

Alas, there's no right answer to any of this.  It's all a matter of opinion and perspective. 

Gaming System

Scenario:  The scenario is that I'm in charge of installing a gaming system for my school library. This would be a game for students to "play" during their recess time. 

Criteria for Console:  The console of choice will have to be one that meets the needs of the entire student population. It would have to be something first through fifth graders could enjoy and use proficiently.  Therefore, this would eliminate anything that would not be developmentally appropriate for younger students.  Being that this is a school setting, games that contain violence will also need to be eliminated.  The last criteria would have to be cost.

Research:  In order to gather data on the types of consoles appropriate and preferred, it makes sense to go straight to the source.  I would design a questionnaire/survey to be completed by an equal number of students in each grade level.  I would also conduct focus groups to generate discussion and ideas.  The focus groups would be comprised of both students and parents.  I think getting parent approval is a major part of this proposal.  Based on the preferences expressed, the console of choice would be narrowed.

Choice:  A significant factor in choice would have to come from the research and feedback obtained from students and parents.  However, keeping in mind that this console would be primarily used during student recess time, I will lean toward a console game that allows students to be physically active and one that allows them to interact with each other.

I am leaning towards the Dance Dance Revolution or Wii Fit consoles, because of the physical factors.  Any opportunity to combat childhood obesity and keep a child active is a step in a positive direction.      

Addicting Games

The following is a screencast of me playing the whizz wordz game, which is linked to my page on the wiki.  Time is of the essence in creating the maximum number of words!

Screencasting - best practices

While I certainly do not consider myself an expert on screencasting, there are a few suggestions I would make to individuals with no prior experience.  These include:

• Make sure the house is completely quiet or you've locked yourself in a quiet room!  
• Relax ... pretend you are speaking to someone and don't expect to get rid of all the "um's"
• Minimize or close any excess windows.
• Make sure the mouse is working properly so you can point out the fields on the screen.
• Try and remember to rename the screencast so you can keep track of which one is which.  If you are like me and find yourself recasting, you could forget which is the best of the group.
• Generally, using a microphone will help your audio presentation, but the one I used did not so try to have a microphone available.

Boyd Readings

It appears the popularity of social networking sites is not just a passing fad.  Boyd recounts the origin of these networks from the very beginning in her first article.  I found it extremely interesting to learn that many of these sites started as a way for individuals of the same culture and language to connect with others within the same culture and language.  As a nation who has just elected its first African American president, are we fooling ourselves?  Why did small groups of individuals with similar backgrounds feel the need to develop a way to stay connected when we are all supposed to be inclusive and all-encompassing?  Perhaps there are more stereotypical images smoldering in the aftermath of the civil rights movement than we know.

The second Boyd article, further supports the segregation theory.  Boyd contends that there is a separation of class between myspace and facebook users by ethnicity and socioeconomic status.  Before reading the article, I was aware of the age delineation, but I never suspected that data could support a college versus non-college profile, especially since there are so many ways for underprivileged students to afford higher education.

Clearly, Boyd's work in this area leaves us with much to reflect upon and much to build upon.  Public libraries are beginning to come into the 21st century and are using web 2.0 technologies to reach out to their young patrons.   The theory is libraries must go to where the population resides and must perform outreach services.  What this means is that public libraries are beginning to set up and maintain facebook and other social network accounts.   In many respects, this type of outreach is a great strategy.  Student patrons who are less apt to enter the public library doors may just do that if they begin to develop a good relationship and feel their needs are being met by the public library.

In some ways, the library facebook account may duplicate information already posted on the public library site, however, young patrons will be more familiar and comfortable with the facebook account navigation and are more likely to explore the programs designed for their age group.

One last lesson, libraries can take from Boyd is that all librarians must be current on the web 2.0 technologies in order to effectively market their programs and perform the proper outreach services.  In our current economical climate, public and no-cost facilities such as public libraries must transform themsevles into "must have" institutions and not "nice to have" facilities, which will fall victim to the budget ax.

Ning Advantages/Limitations

My experience with nings are limited to using the RU SCILS ning (http://scilslounge.ning.com).   I encourage you to join!  However, based on my experience, I've observed a few advantages and limitations.  

Advantages:

• Comfort level/security - If you are like me, while you don't know everyone on the ning, you know they are in some way connected with the same organization (in this case RU).  That makes me feel a lot better, and as you can see on my screencast, I use my real name on the ning.  
• Networking/Communication - The ning provides users with a way to connect with others who probably have similar interests and concerns.  In the case of the RU SCILS ning, there are discussion forums for topics most user will find interesting or helpful.  Anyone can start a discussion group.  There are also "groups" that users may join which connect them even further by job, grade level or area.
• Announcements - The ning is a great way to get information out quickly.  For example, when the proposal for the SCILS name change first surfaced, all ning users were able to keep current.
• Real Campus - As an online student, we often don't feel as connected to the RU organization since we don't have the opportunity to meet face to face.  Using the ning, we are able to socialize in almost the same way as students meeting on campus.

Limitations:

• Restrictiveness - Because members of the ning are generally part of the same organization, it is restrictive in the sense that users can only connect and share with individuals in that organization.  For example, a school can establish a ning, and teachers of all grade levels can connect,  but it would be helpful for members of that school to share ideas with teachers in the same grade level, but at a different school.  This can't be done with a ning.
• Responsiveness - Just like email, the ning allows a user to reach out with questions to other users, but there is no way of ensuring that question will be answered.  The responsiveness on a ning is at the mercy of the users.
• Time consuming - As with other social networking sites, the ning may consume much of an individual's time.  Users may spend hours adding photos or responding to others.

Ning in a Work Environment:

A ning can be used in any work environment where individuals need to work individually, but closely together as well.  Examples that comes to mind are public libraries, school librarians, and college students at the same university, but possibly at different campuses.  However, almost any group that has some underlying connection may find using a ning useful.  

School librarians could use a ning to ask and answer questions connected to policies and collection development.  They might share ideas for research projects or ways to schedule classes.  Ideas for special programs such as Read Across America or reading incentive programs can easily be shared using a ning.

Ning screencast

Check out my screencast on the RU SCILS Ning!  Click here.

Sticky Issues

Yikes ...  just the names "MySpace" and "Facebook" make my skin stand on edge!  Therefore I tend to think of "sticky" as a synonym to "icky"!  I suppose it makes sense to shed some background on my personal bias against these social networking sites.  I have two children who grew up during the evolution of this phenomena, and as young teens, they knew much more about these sites than I do now.  While teens and pre-teens have the technical savvy to navigate these sites, they don't always have the wisdom needed to navigate safely.  Hence, the blitz of negative media attention that followed was not unwarranted.  While I have come to terms that social network sites are here to stay, I take a little comfort in the fact that my 19 and 20 year old college students now possess a little more wisdom in managing their Facebook accounts.  However, remnants of those negative accounts still weigh on me today as I try out these sites.

It's my feeling that the "stickiness" associated with these services lies in putting one's personal life on display.  Certainly, users can maintain a certain amount of control, however there seem to be some "loopholes."  In fact, the Boyd and Ellison article mentions that friends of friends can gain access to a person's account.  I think this is referred to as the "transitive property" in math.  

Some will argue that the connectivity networks like this brings, outweigh any possible negatives.   However, I do know for a fact that employers search MySpace and Facebook sites to gain additional information on prospective candidates.  This step is considered as routine as a reference check.

Use of these social network sites have become addictive and allow users to escape the realities of their regular lives and take on created personas.  As seen in the FrontLine video segments, these personas and connections have led to users dealing with issues in a destructive way.  Use of these sites allowed users to disconnect with the family and friends who would have helped and supported the user.

Despite this negativity, more and more people are spending increased time on these sites.  I believe a big reason for this is peer pressure.  You aren't someone unless you have an account on one of these sites, and often you will be left out since this has become the new mode of communication.

Another reason for the increased addiction to these social networking sites is the technology and many ways the user may customize their account with colors, skins, etc.  Just as we can lose ourselves creating our avatars and trying on new outfits and hairdos, the user of these sites can customize and customize without end!

While I know conceptually, there are many positives to social networking sites, I am afraid my strong sense of privacy will always be a hindrance in openly accepting these sites. 

Screencast on Culturegrams Database

The students in my school are introduced to databases in third grade.  These students will be using the Culturegrams database for an upcoming project so this screencast is designed to give them an introductory lesson on navigating within one section of this database.

Click below to see screencast.

Culturegrams_States_EdFinal

Favorite Video(s)

I think everyone did an amazing job with the videos! It was interesting to see the different ideas and creativity in action. While I have several "favorites" I really enjoyed Stephanie's "Meet the Lewis Family" video. It was a combination of the upbeat music, picture/video footage and her entertaining way of showing all the "species" that made me smile.

Take another look at it here



The original video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeLyMXI3Qt8











Flickr Groups

Based on a recent review of our groups I'd say we all have some distinct commonalities and differences.

scils598s09-education

• All of us us have some connection to a learning institution
• All of us are connected to a library setting (school, public, academic)
• All of us are life-long learners with the hope of helping others to do the same
• Some of us are RU students
• Some of us attend other universities
• Some of us live in NJ
• Some of us live outside of NJ

scils598s09

• All of us have another dimension to our lives (aside from being a student)
• All of us are juggling many other demands in our lives (full-time, part-time, domestic work)
• All of us have great pictures!
• Some of us enjoy travel
• Some of us like animals/pets
• Some of us have children
• Some of us are art lovers

Entertainment vs. Instruction Videos

Contrary to what many may think, instructional videos DO stand a chance if they are created in an interesting and interactive way.  In today's society, it is difficult to keep up with the standards of our learners if we continue to teach using dated materials.

Educators who are open to learning the new ways of podcasting, vodcasting and video presentation are more likely to capture the attention of their students.   Puppeter, Jim Henderson, perhaps unknown to him, was a leader in this direction.  Using muppets and puppets to teach children in an interesting way led to the success of television shows like Sesame Street.  In this same way, educators who are able to make use of new technology through computers, smart boards,  web-based learning, and instructional videos are more likely to compete with entertainment videos.

There are many instructional videos available through youtube and teachertube, which are appropriate and interesting for learners.  However, teachers must take the initiative to seek them out and apply them to curriculum.

Bottom line, instructional videos can compete if they are created in interesting ways!

Calligraphy 101

If you have ever wanted to know how to get started with writing in calligraphy, view this instructional video. You'll learn some basic first steps and the supplies you will need to begin.



Original video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KGbUpVqSCE

Disney Entertainment Video

It's as American as apple pie and baseball ... almost every family living in the US aspires to make the journey to Florida at least once to experience the magic of the Walt Disney World. Glimpse a bit of the magic by viewing this video!

Click to Play

Original video at http://blip.tv/file/1957379