This is a book trailer I created using Animoto of the book Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix of the Shadow Children sequence.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Technology - The Final Frontier
Technology - the final frontier. This has been quite a voyage. My one semester mission: to explore strange new worlds.
I admit I was more than a bit nervous about taking a course dealing with technology and internet tools. Though I had a Facebook account, a Twitter account that I never used, a newly purchased iPhone, and I shopped on Amazon, that was about the extent of my internet expertise. But since this was a required course and I was determined to keep my A-average, I held my nose, closed my eyes, and jumped in shrieking.
I struggled with each new assignment and tool, probably taking a lot longer to tackle and complete the assignments than my tech-savvy classmates. But I persisted, and mostly the technology didn't bite me, though it sometimes snapped at me. I was so proud of my finished creations that I forced my colleagues, my husband, and even my students to ooh and aaahh over them.
I have many favorites, but my particular favorite is Animoto. I worked so hard on my book trailer, and I was so pleased with how it came out. I know that as a librarian, I will be creating many book trailers to show on the HD TV screen that I will request. I also really liked making Quipios; I still make them just for fun whenever I come across a phrase that pleases me or whenever I think a brilliant thought (that pleases me). My students and I had fun with Vine, so I know I will be using it time and time again. Plus, it was so easy, even for me! The comic strips were another favorite of mine.
Most of the tools had a difficulty factor for me (except for Instagram and Vine). One that proved particularly tricky was Information Curation. When using Scoop.it, I had trouble picking a topic that would yield what I sought. I was looking for decorating tips to go with my theme idea for a library, but the suggestions provided were laughably way off the mark. After trying several search terms, I finally gave up and chose a new topic. Paper.li proved to be even more frustrating. Almost everything I chose gave me the message, "Sorry, no content found." I got the feeling they were referring to my brains! With all of the tools, I struggled with finding and enabling the embed codes, though as you can see from previous posts, I usually succeeded after pulling out much hair. The screencasts were a bit tricky for me, mostly because of the time limit on the free accounts. I struggled getting everything said before I timed out.
Many of the tools will be beneficial to students, both in the classroom and in the library. I've mentioned how much I liked the comics. When I first began creating them, I found myself thinking that they needed to be funny like the comics in the newspaper. But this is not true. They can be used in many ways to express ideas with pictures and a few words. Here is one I made just yesterday for my ESL class who is reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom.
OMG! - I embedded it, see?
It simply shows a scene from the book. It could also be used to show cause-and-effect.
I really liked Playing With Words - making word clouds. Again, for an ESL classroom this is very beneficial. I've had students pick a character from the aforementioned book and think of words to describe their chosen character. A character trait they thought was most important was typed 10 times, with other traits being typed less times, depending on relevancy. The students loved this activity. They loved picking colors, fonts, and shapes. Webbing/Mindmapping tools are great notetaking/brainstorming tools. Infographics are great tools to use with research and inquiry-based lessons. And I liked making podcasts to use as listening tests for ESL students.
All things considered, I think this has been my favorite class in my Library Science studies. I stepped out of my comfort zone and learned so much useful and fun stuff. I hope that I will continue to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new tools and new technology, to boldly go where I have never dared venture before.
I admit I was more than a bit nervous about taking a course dealing with technology and internet tools. Though I had a Facebook account, a Twitter account that I never used, a newly purchased iPhone, and I shopped on Amazon, that was about the extent of my internet expertise. But since this was a required course and I was determined to keep my A-average, I held my nose, closed my eyes, and jumped in shrieking.
I struggled with each new assignment and tool, probably taking a lot longer to tackle and complete the assignments than my tech-savvy classmates. But I persisted, and mostly the technology didn't bite me, though it sometimes snapped at me. I was so proud of my finished creations that I forced my colleagues, my husband, and even my students to ooh and aaahh over them.
I have many favorites, but my particular favorite is Animoto. I worked so hard on my book trailer, and I was so pleased with how it came out. I know that as a librarian, I will be creating many book trailers to show on the HD TV screen that I will request. I also really liked making Quipios; I still make them just for fun whenever I come across a phrase that pleases me or whenever I think a brilliant thought (that pleases me). My students and I had fun with Vine, so I know I will be using it time and time again. Plus, it was so easy, even for me! The comic strips were another favorite of mine.
Most of the tools had a difficulty factor for me (except for Instagram and Vine). One that proved particularly tricky was Information Curation. When using Scoop.it, I had trouble picking a topic that would yield what I sought. I was looking for decorating tips to go with my theme idea for a library, but the suggestions provided were laughably way off the mark. After trying several search terms, I finally gave up and chose a new topic. Paper.li proved to be even more frustrating. Almost everything I chose gave me the message, "Sorry, no content found." I got the feeling they were referring to my brains! With all of the tools, I struggled with finding and enabling the embed codes, though as you can see from previous posts, I usually succeeded after pulling out much hair. The screencasts were a bit tricky for me, mostly because of the time limit on the free accounts. I struggled getting everything said before I timed out.
Many of the tools will be beneficial to students, both in the classroom and in the library. I've mentioned how much I liked the comics. When I first began creating them, I found myself thinking that they needed to be funny like the comics in the newspaper. But this is not true. They can be used in many ways to express ideas with pictures and a few words. Here is one I made just yesterday for my ESL class who is reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom.
OMG! - I embedded it, see?It simply shows a scene from the book. It could also be used to show cause-and-effect.
I really liked Playing With Words - making word clouds. Again, for an ESL classroom this is very beneficial. I've had students pick a character from the aforementioned book and think of words to describe their chosen character. A character trait they thought was most important was typed 10 times, with other traits being typed less times, depending on relevancy. The students loved this activity. They loved picking colors, fonts, and shapes. Webbing/Mindmapping tools are great notetaking/brainstorming tools. Infographics are great tools to use with research and inquiry-based lessons. And I liked making podcasts to use as listening tests for ESL students.
All things considered, I think this has been my favorite class in my Library Science studies. I stepped out of my comfort zone and learned so much useful and fun stuff. I hope that I will continue to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new tools and new technology, to boldly go where I have never dared venture before.
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