One of the great things about the eTech Conference is the opportunity to use my hall pass and review presentations I attended, and those I did not have a chance to see. Friday afternoon I spent time compiling a few technology trend links on my delicious account; I was familiar with many, but some were new to me. Feel free to check out my delicious eTech tags/bookmarks @ http://delicious.com/dschrecker/eTech"The video of David Weinberger making his keynote presentation will be available on the Ohio iTunesU site sometime soon."
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
eTech Ohio Conference: Keynote Videos
Thanks to Peter Murray at OhioLINK for commenting on my eTech Ohio Conference: Wednesday post.
From my window
Like many areas in the mid-atlantic region, it's snowing in Ashland, Ohio. It is February, after all. I'm lucky to have window views in the resource center, my office, and the library in general. As the snow continues to fall, I've seen olympic worthy snow-pile-hurdling from students going to class and talked with an increasing number of smiling faces working in library as late afternoon and evening classes are cancelled. Here are photos from my little corner of the world.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
eTech Ohio Conference: Presentation
"This session will identify emerging Web 2.0 technologies and the potential applications across the curriculum. The shift to Web 2.0 tools can have a profound effect on schools and learning, causing a transformation in thinking. This session will provide resources for the classroom teacher for meeting the needs of the 21st century learner. 'Students deserve it. The world demands it.'” Dr. Deanna Romano and I presented at the first eTech Conference session on Wednesday morning. Arriving early to check room technology and pass out business cards with our presentation address (see above), I was both pleased and surprised when attendees began arriving at 7:30 am! It was exciting to present to such a receptive audience and have opportunity to speak individually with several people after the session ended.
Our presentation, Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Meet 21st Century Skills, is available online. Please feel free to contact us or add comments to the guide.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
eTech Ohio Conference: Wednesday
This conference had an unusual morning format, there were open sessions at 8:00 am and keynote speakers took the stage immediately following at 9:30 am. Had I not been presenting during the first block of sessions, I may have been tempted to catch a bit of sleep and start the day later. That would have been my mistake as the morning sessions were as vital and well attended as any other session throughout the conference. Plus, by 8:00 am most of us would be at work anyway!
Keynote Session: David Weinberger
Knowledge in the Age of Abundance
"Many of the properties we've ascribed to knowledge actually come from the limitations of how we've communicated and preserved knowledge: by writing things down on paper. As we increasingly write things down on the Web, some of the basics of knowledge are changing. Knowledge increasingly now includes differences and disagreements. This is unsettling…because knowledge itself is becoming unsettled."
I looked through the conference site hoping this session was online, I even logged in with my hall pass hoping it was maybe only available for conference attendees. Alas, there is no PowerPoint, slide share, or video available. I did find a session he did at another conference last year on YouTube.
Power & Peril of Social Web: Helping Teachers
& Students Create a Digital Footprint
Kathy Lawrence, Cleveland Heights High School
"Participants will be introduced to popular tools of the social web (eg: Ning,Twitter, GoogleDocs, Diigo) and explore how these tools can be leveraged to build your own personal learning network. We will also examine our role in helping our students create and maintain a positive digital footprint with their use of these networks and resources."
This session included interesting links to the social web and resources for assessing your personal digital footprint. I admit to "Googling" myself and at times being surprised at the memory of the Internet (I found a list serv post from grad school). I'd never used Pipl and was more than a little surprised at the results. Other interesting resources were the blog Technology in the Middle, Danah Boyd's blog Apophenia, and the YouTube video Read/Write Web with Will Richardson.
Technology Implementation in Academic Classrooms
David Harms, Penta County
"Participants will learn different strategies and techniques to use existing technology to increase student success in academic content areas. Topics covered will include podcasts, wikis, moviemaking, skype, and creation of an online textbook by a practicing social studies instructor at a career center with a high level of special needs students and traditional non academic students."
I was very interested in the wiki used by Harms, in particular the Mayan Project page. Students took ownership of their projects and created vital information pages that were, in turn, evaluated by experts in Mayan history.
Keynote Session: David Weinberger
Knowledge in the Age of Abundance
"Many of the properties we've ascribed to knowledge actually come from the limitations of how we've communicated and preserved knowledge: by writing things down on paper. As we increasingly write things down on the Web, some of the basics of knowledge are changing. Knowledge increasingly now includes differences and disagreements. This is unsettling…because knowledge itself is becoming unsettled."
I looked through the conference site hoping this session was online, I even logged in with my hall pass hoping it was maybe only available for conference attendees. Alas, there is no PowerPoint, slide share, or video available. I did find a session he did at another conference last year on YouTube.
Power & Peril of Social Web: Helping Teachers
& Students Create a Digital Footprint
Kathy Lawrence, Cleveland Heights High School
"Participants will be introduced to popular tools of the social web (eg: Ning,Twitter, GoogleDocs, Diigo) and explore how these tools can be leveraged to build your own personal learning network. We will also examine our role in helping our students create and maintain a positive digital footprint with their use of these networks and resources."
This session included interesting links to the social web and resources for assessing your personal digital footprint. I admit to "Googling" myself and at times being surprised at the memory of the Internet (I found a list serv post from grad school). I'd never used Pipl and was more than a little surprised at the results. Other interesting resources were the blog Technology in the Middle, Danah Boyd's blog Apophenia, and the YouTube video Read/Write Web with Will Richardson.
Technology Implementation in Academic Classrooms
David Harms, Penta County
"Participants will learn different strategies and techniques to use existing technology to increase student success in academic content areas. Topics covered will include podcasts, wikis, moviemaking, skype, and creation of an online textbook by a practicing social studies instructor at a career center with a high level of special needs students and traditional non academic students."
I was very interested in the wiki used by Harms, in particular the Mayan Project page. Students took ownership of their projects and created vital information pages that were, in turn, evaluated by experts in Mayan history.
Friday, February 05, 2010
eTech Ohio Conference: Tuesday
I was excited to attend my first eTech Ohio Conference this week! The conference theme, P-20 Conversations: Shaping a Path for the 21st Century Student, was of particular interest to me.
Moodle Educating Beyond the Classroom
Daniel Studebaker, National Trail Middle School
"Extend the time you can have with your students with Moodle. It's FREE software that allows teachers a variety of options to engage, assess, and stimulate the learning of students. Students can do a variety of activities and tasks that can be monitored, viewed, assessed, stored and even commented on all from any place you get Internet."
There has been discussion concerning Moodle as an alternative to traditional content management systems such as BlackBoard and Angel Learning (we use Angel at AU). It was interesting to see Moodle used in a middle school classroom and learn how compatible it is to systems many in the audience were already using. I appreciated the presenter did not gloss over the key role systems and technology people have preparing Moodle for district and classroom use.
Project F.I.L.M. - Fun Inspiring Learning through Movie Making
Kathleen Frazier, Dan Young, Lindsey Potok
"Project F.I.L.M. (Fun Inspiring Learning through Movie Making) engages elementary and middle school students in 21st Century Learning including: Creativity, Problem Solving, Communication, and Technology. This session includes: a project overview, assessment strategies, student movies, slides of the Academy Awards Ceremony and a brainstorming session to develop a academic movie themes."
This session highlighted movies created by 8th grade gifted students. The presenters took us through their lessons and movie-making process, beginning with storyboards, and shared finished products. Students created projects to fulfill specific curricular lesson needs; time, energy, and sheer fun, put into these films was apparent. We have used simple films and slide shows in the library for fun and information, this made me wonder if it would be interesting to have students more involved in future projects.
Virtual Worlds, Augmented Reality & Social Networks
ans Their Implications for Education
William F. Sams, Ohio University
"Virtual Worlds, Augmented Reality, Social Networks and new Revenue Models offer education unprecedented opportunities and challenges. This presentation will give you an overview of each of the topics and a perspective of how these technologies and trends will affect you over the next five years."
Connecting with students in virtual worlds was key to this session. Sams' provided an overview of virtual words, augmented reality, and a few social networks that students are using - and that educators are integrating into their classrooms. I was interested in the potential use of augmented reality and how it is not just a new reality, but a personal reality to students. There were many links to free digital and social tools included with the presentation. Click on the presentation title to view Sams' presentation on slide share.
Utilizing Skype in an Educational Background
Lori Dray, Galion City Schools
Julie Thogmartin, Galion City Schools
"SKYPE offers the opportunity to bring off-site experts in the field of education right into the classroom. Everyday, individuals use SKYPE to keep in contact with their friends and family, all across the world. Why not use it in an education environment?"
This session featured educational uses for Skype and a Skype demonstration. The presenters had volunteers in the session, in the conference center, and one surprised contact who had returned to her hotel room, providing video conferences for session attendees. Different educational uses highlighted included virtual field trips, having experienced "phone a friends" for lessons, and classroom author visits. As with many 2.0 products, Skype is free up to a point, but with an inexpensive web cam and microphone this could be a valuable classroom tool. Audience questions included important points regarding safety, professional use of the tool, and having permission to record sessions. I have to admit to wondering if this would be a viable tool for libraries focusing on distance education, or possibly reference interviews.
I was able to find sessions of interest with ease; in fact, it was difficult to find only one session per time slot that I wanted to attend. Luckily many of the presenters included handouts, web sites, and other resources to the Conference Planner and I have been able to peruse sessions at my leisure. Here's an overview of my day and sessions attended."This year's theme P-20 Conversations: Shaping a Path for the 21st Century Student will address the need to integrate technology throughout a student's career. That is why eTech Ohio is collaborating with the Ohio Learning Network (OLN). Our desire for this P-20 Conference is to foster access to new technology, engage participants in understanding why these technologies are important and progress Ohio's education spectrum." - About eTech Ohio Conference
Moodle Educating Beyond the Classroom
Daniel Studebaker, National Trail Middle School
"Extend the time you can have with your students with Moodle. It's FREE software that allows teachers a variety of options to engage, assess, and stimulate the learning of students. Students can do a variety of activities and tasks that can be monitored, viewed, assessed, stored and even commented on all from any place you get Internet."
There has been discussion concerning Moodle as an alternative to traditional content management systems such as BlackBoard and Angel Learning (we use Angel at AU). It was interesting to see Moodle used in a middle school classroom and learn how compatible it is to systems many in the audience were already using. I appreciated the presenter did not gloss over the key role systems and technology people have preparing Moodle for district and classroom use.
Project F.I.L.M. - Fun Inspiring Learning through Movie Making
Kathleen Frazier, Dan Young, Lindsey Potok
"Project F.I.L.M. (Fun Inspiring Learning through Movie Making) engages elementary and middle school students in 21st Century Learning including: Creativity, Problem Solving, Communication, and Technology. This session includes: a project overview, assessment strategies, student movies, slides of the Academy Awards Ceremony and a brainstorming session to develop a academic movie themes."
This session highlighted movies created by 8th grade gifted students. The presenters took us through their lessons and movie-making process, beginning with storyboards, and shared finished products. Students created projects to fulfill specific curricular lesson needs; time, energy, and sheer fun, put into these films was apparent. We have used simple films and slide shows in the library for fun and information, this made me wonder if it would be interesting to have students more involved in future projects.
Virtual Worlds, Augmented Reality & Social Networks
ans Their Implications for Education
William F. Sams, Ohio University
"Virtual Worlds, Augmented Reality, Social Networks and new Revenue Models offer education unprecedented opportunities and challenges. This presentation will give you an overview of each of the topics and a perspective of how these technologies and trends will affect you over the next five years."
Connecting with students in virtual worlds was key to this session. Sams' provided an overview of virtual words, augmented reality, and a few social networks that students are using - and that educators are integrating into their classrooms. I was interested in the potential use of augmented reality and how it is not just a new reality, but a personal reality to students. There were many links to free digital and social tools included with the presentation. Click on the presentation title to view Sams' presentation on slide share.
Utilizing Skype in an Educational Background
Lori Dray, Galion City Schools
Julie Thogmartin, Galion City Schools
"SKYPE offers the opportunity to bring off-site experts in the field of education right into the classroom. Everyday, individuals use SKYPE to keep in contact with their friends and family, all across the world. Why not use it in an education environment?"
This session featured educational uses for Skype and a Skype demonstration. The presenters had volunteers in the session, in the conference center, and one surprised contact who had returned to her hotel room, providing video conferences for session attendees. Different educational uses highlighted included virtual field trips, having experienced "phone a friends" for lessons, and classroom author visits. As with many 2.0 products, Skype is free up to a point, but with an inexpensive web cam and microphone this could be a valuable classroom tool. Audience questions included important points regarding safety, professional use of the tool, and having permission to record sessions. I have to admit to wondering if this would be a viable tool for libraries focusing on distance education, or possibly reference interviews.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Helicopter Parents in the Library
It has been a very long time since I've written a post on Library Cloud, but I didn't feel that I had much to add to the general library conversation and was busy with other projects. So I happily lurked in the blogosphere waiting for a topic to capture my attention.
I've heard of Helicopter Parents as I'm sure most people working in academia have by now, and read with amused interest the story that Time magazine did on the topic in November. I have mostly been immune to this emerging phenomenon due to my position in a rather specialized and small graduate school library. We have students of all ages so I am quite used to answering questions from student patrons ranging in age from late teens to senior citizens.
A couple of times over the last year, I have received reference questions that started off in a relatively straight-forward way until I began asking clarifying questions. In both cases, the truth emerged: "Well, my daughter wasn't clear on that aspect..." or "Yes, my son really wants more info about..." These parents were doing the research for their undergrads!
I'm not talking about picking up an odd article or book for their over-scheduled offspring, but as both reference interviews progressed it was clear that they were doing everything beyond the basic Google search where their child got stuck and asked mommy to rescue them. (Yes, one of the mothers used the word "rescue.") Both of them seemed a bit embarrassed, but resolute to help their busy children. From what I gathered, the student was still going to write the paper (or so I hope), which actually made the interview more difficult.
As a professional, in both cases, I tried my best to guide them to the needed information and gently prodded that their son/daughter would be better served by coming in themselves, but was left feeling like somehow I was helping them to cheat in some way. Isn't part of a college education (and a research project for that matter) learning to do the research for yourself? Isn't that what professors are assuming and factoring into the student's grade?
I looked for advice in other library blogs (admittedly not an exhaustive search) and only found instances (mainly from 2008) where helicopter parents were discussed as a trend or as potential avenues to market the library (one example: Lorcan Dempsey), but I didn't see any posts about parents doing their child's research or thoughts on the professional ethics. So I'm appealing to other librarians (or non-librarians) for your thoughts or experiences with this.
Is this aiding and abetting cheating? Or just filling a need? What are the ethical obligations to the University and to the patron? I look forward to reading your comments.
I've heard of Helicopter Parents as I'm sure most people working in academia have by now, and read with amused interest the story that Time magazine did on the topic in November. I have mostly been immune to this emerging phenomenon due to my position in a rather specialized and small graduate school library. We have students of all ages so I am quite used to answering questions from student patrons ranging in age from late teens to senior citizens.
A couple of times over the last year, I have received reference questions that started off in a relatively straight-forward way until I began asking clarifying questions. In both cases, the truth emerged: "Well, my daughter wasn't clear on that aspect..." or "Yes, my son really wants more info about..." These parents were doing the research for their undergrads!
I'm not talking about picking up an odd article or book for their over-scheduled offspring, but as both reference interviews progressed it was clear that they were doing everything beyond the basic Google search where their child got stuck and asked mommy to rescue them. (Yes, one of the mothers used the word "rescue.") Both of them seemed a bit embarrassed, but resolute to help their busy children. From what I gathered, the student was still going to write the paper (or so I hope), which actually made the interview more difficult.
As a professional, in both cases, I tried my best to guide them to the needed information and gently prodded that their son/daughter would be better served by coming in themselves, but was left feeling like somehow I was helping them to cheat in some way. Isn't part of a college education (and a research project for that matter) learning to do the research for yourself? Isn't that what professors are assuming and factoring into the student's grade?
I looked for advice in other library blogs (admittedly not an exhaustive search) and only found instances (mainly from 2008) where helicopter parents were discussed as a trend or as potential avenues to market the library (one example: Lorcan Dempsey), but I didn't see any posts about parents doing their child's research or thoughts on the professional ethics. So I'm appealing to other librarians (or non-librarians) for your thoughts or experiences with this.
Is this aiding and abetting cheating? Or just filling a need? What are the ethical obligations to the University and to the patron? I look forward to reading your comments.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
14th Off-Campus Library Services Conference
"The Fourteenth Off-Campus Library Services Conference will be held April 28-30, 2010, at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Please join us for this opportunity to explore issues related to delivering library resources and services to distance students and faculty." -- Conference Web Site
Registration is open until March 26 – Late Registration begins March 27, 2010! For more information, visit the conference web site, facebook page, follow them on Twitter, or sign up for the list serv.
Library Cloud contributor Betsy Blankenship, Ohio State University at Marion / Marion Technical College Library and Elizabeth Black, Ohio State University Libraries, will be presenting their session Linking Students to Library Resources through the Learning Mangement System on Wednesday, April 28th (Session 2, Superior Meeting Room).
Monday, January 11, 2010
eTech Ohio Conference
The eTech Ohio Conference: Ohio Educational Technology Conference, is scheduled for February 1 - 3 in Columbus. This year's theme, P-20 Conversions: Shaping a Path for the 21st-Century Student, features keynote speakers each of the three days.
About the Conference: http://www.etech.ohio.gov/conference/about/
"This year's theme P-20 Conversations: Shaping a Path for the 21st Century Student will address the need to integrate technology throughout a student's career. That is why eTech Ohio is collaborating with the Ohio Learning Network (OLN). Our desire for this P-20 Conference is to foster access to new technology, engage participants in understanding why these technologies are important and progress Ohio's education spectrum."
"This engaging Conference promises to offer something for everyone. Features will include renowned keynote and featured speaker sessions, peer-to-peer multi-strand sessions, interactive displays, a dedicated assistive technology area and an exhibit hall featuring over 200 emerging technology services. With over 450 sessions and displays, 250 vendors and 6,000 participants, this is the state's educational technology convention."
I am presenting with Dr. Deanna Romano, Assistant Professor, Ashland University Dwight Schar College of Education, at this year's conference on Wednesday morning. Our presentation, Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Meet 21st Century Skills, has a supporting LibGuide. We are still putting the finishing touches on the material, but plan to feature various technologies utilized for EDCI 232/505 Introduction to the Principles of Instructional Technology.
This conference is pertinent in many ways; it will feature 2.0 technologies and tools useful to the library and IRC as we support the COE and it's students, collaboration ideas with faculty, and resources to advocate teaching and learning for the library community. Furthermore, it will provide ideas and resources to me as an adjunct faculty member as it features emergent technology and applications, along with resources for effective learning environments.
The eTech Ohio site has a 2010 Conference Countdown, today it is at 20 days. Now all I have to do is remember to register tomorrow!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
ALAO Newsletter Blog
The newest edition of the ALAO Newsletter, Volume 24, Number 4 (January 2010) is now available. Highlights include:
New Year's Blog-keeping
It has been far too long since links were checked in the blog sidebar; one of those tasks that's often relegated to the "when there's time" pile. After I finished adding, deleting, and editing links, our template suddenly looked a bit ragged and worn. Now that it is possible to adjust your template in Blogger without losing all of the sidebar information, I spent a good fifteen minutes tweaking the look of Library Cloud.
While not perfect, it is now a bit easier on the eye and cleaner on the screen. I hope to get the cloud logo back to the header (it needs work, too) and adjust the color a bit more, but this evening Blogger refuses to let me edit any color or font on the template. For now, the cloud is back.
While not perfect, it is now a bit easier on the eye and cleaner on the screen. I hope to get the cloud logo back to the header (it needs work, too) and adjust the color a bit more, but this evening Blogger refuses to let me edit any color or font on the template. For now, the cloud is back.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Kirkus Reviews & Another Who's Who
From my email inbox this morning, the end of a journal ...
... and a new Who's Who directory non-affiliation notification from Emerald Group Publishing.
"As part of the sale of its business to business publications, Nielsen Business Media has announced that it is closing its book review publication Kirkus Reviews as well as Editor & Publisher." - Library Journal, 12/10/09
... and a new Who's Who directory non-affiliation notification from Emerald Group Publishing.
"Please be aware that a company called Emerald Who's Who is contacting management professionals and academics around the world asking them to become a member of their Who's Who directory (Emerald Who's Who for Executives and Professionals). Emerald Group Publishing Limited is in no way affiliated with this company and does not endorse it in any way." - Mark Hindwell, External Relations, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 12/11/09
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