Digitally Yours...The Media Specialist's Role in Digital Storytelling

By:  Tamara Creech

Storytelling has been a part of our communication methods since the beginning of our existence.  A technique that originated orally to pass down culture and history has evolved into something permanent and remarkable:  Digital Storytelling.  The term is just that simple, a digital account.  The account can be personal in nature, educational, historical or humorous and there are many digital tools that you can use to create a digital story.  To many, creating a digital story is overwhelming.  The Media Specialist is a valuable resource that can guide students and teachers through the digital storytelling process by providing tips, steps, guides, tutorials, software and copyright information.  Who else knows their way around the latest and greatest technology, understands copyright and fair use laws and can link educational standards to technology?

Regardless of the content area, the Media Specialist can match the digital storytelling process to state standards for content areas as well as technology standards.  As many topics as there are out there to create a digital story on, there are almost as many tools and guidelines that go into the making of the digital story.

The Media Specialist can assist students and teachers with choosing the most appropriate software to create their digital story with.  If students are creating their digital stories at school, then the media specialist will provide the access to the software and can assist with software tutorials.  On the University of Houston’s Digital Storytelling website, http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/index.html, several software options are listed such as Windows Live Movie Maker 2011 and Apple’s iMovie.

Digital Storytelling as an educational tool can consist of several elements.  Media Specialists can collaborate with teachers to introduce elements of great digital storytelling to make sure students understand the instruction and what the outcome should be.  The Center for Digital Storytelling gives some basic elements such as pacing and point of view.  Check them out here:  http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/7elements.html. A media specialist can customize elements to fit the lesson and vision of the teacher and student.

Teachers and students use digital storytelling to tell their story, let someone peek into their world and thoughts, but that is not the complete experience.  The components that go into making a digital story create another type of instruction and knowledge base, with the Media Specialist at the center of and guiding that learning.  Digital Storytelling introduces new technology and sharpens existing technology skills.  It allows students to research topics and to present their new knowledge in a digital format, so they are linking content area learning with learning technology.    

                                             

Digital Storytelling - Original Post

I first learned of Digital Storytelling at the SCOLT (Southern Conference of Language Teachers) conference in Feb/March of 2009. It was here that I sat in on Michel Couet’s learning session on how to create a digital story using PhotoStory 3 (Windows XP compatible). Michel Couet is a Technical Integration Specialist from Lexington High School in Lexington, SC.

He presented a play-by-play of how foreign language teachers could use PhotoStory 3 to create digital stories and have the audio be the student’s voice speaking the foreign language throughout the story.

PhotoStory is different than iMovie and MovieMaker in that it allows you to include everything, but videos. All music within the program is pre-approved. If you wish to use your own music, you can, but of course, you need to be sure that you fall within the guidelines of fair use.

In the Spring of 2009, I had my French II classes create a digital story based on an event from their past (something that occurred in childhood, real or imaginary). Students had to utilize past tense (le passé compose) and the imperfect (l’imparfait) correctly in order to tell a descriptive, but action-packed story.

Because every aspect of the technology was new for both the students and me, I wanted to keep the activity simple and guided. For this first time, I didn’t offer a lot of technology freedom.

As guided by Mr. Couet, I had the students think of a simple event of their childhood and use the “handouts” version of blank powerpoint slides as their storyboards so that they could create their text and make sure that it was grammatically correct by the time the audio recording came around as well as keep tabs on the number of slides they were creating in order to meet the rubric requirements (5-7 plus a title and ending slide). Students could also outline the picture that would best describe the text of the story at that particular point.

As for pictures, I didn’t have the students use real photos, I wanted them to keep the child-like feel and draw our pictures with crayons, markers, or colored pencils. The students could scan the pics in to a flash drive or their school account via the media center scanner or a scanner at home. We also used original works because citing sources is very important to me and being this our first digital storytelling project, we wanted it to be as simple as possible with regards to citing sources.

  

My students thoroughly enjoyed creating the digital stories as well as watching their classmates finished products.

It was the highest rated project of my career!

In the Spring of this year, I would like to attempt another digital story…and have my students either take pictures of themselves with a digital camera or create videos while using a flip video camera. This time, they would record their own audio, this time using Audacity. I will probably have Win 7 by then and will fully switch gears to MovieMaker.

Creating digital stories is easy and rewarding! Students not only enjoy creating them, but watching the creativity of others shine---and digital stories are perfect for the student who is a little timid in front of an audience. The digital story can be played, thus reducing anxiety of speaking in front of a large group.

As a future library media specialist, I feel that digital stories are a great way for students to express themselves as well as share their knowledge on a specific subject.

I look forward to broadening my horizons with the different types of options to make photo stories.

Fair Use and Copyright - Original Post

First, let me tell you that thought of me having to write on fair use and copyright makes me a little bit nervous because it so closely deals with the law and I don’t want to break any laws (knowingly or unknowingly).

If I think using a certain copyrighted resource in my classroom will break the law…I’m not going to use it…my lesson can go on without it.

Well, after reading the article on Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, I realize that I am probably worrying just a little too muchJ

According to the code, “Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances—especially when the cultural or social benefits of the use are predominant.” (p. 1)

Being in education, we more leeway. We need to follow the rules, but we are educators and that allows us to use some works for the benefit of education.

There are, however, a few myths regarding fair use.  One of them is the following:

MYTH: EDUCATORS CAN RELY ON “RULES OF THUMB” FOR FAIR

USE GUIDANCE.

Truth: According to the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, “Fair use is situational, and context is critical. Because it is a tool to balance the rights of users with the rights of owners, educators need to apply reason to reach a decision”. (p. 14)

I am a rule follower and prefer rules when dealing with copyright. Below is a link to a pdf that explains copyright and fair use clearly. It is put out by Hall Davidson.

http://www.halldavidson.net/copyrightTEACH.pdf

I refer to this pdf often and now, after having read about the best practices, I understand that there is some flexibility with being an educator. I do need to brush up on my knowledge of fair use because as an LMS this will be part of my everyday lingo.

For now, when I’m in doubt, I talk to my LMS to be sure that we are on the same page….

References

Center for Social Media. (n.d.). Code of best practices in fair use for media literacy education [Brochure]. Retrieved from http://mediaeducationlab.com/‌sites/‌mediaeducationlab.com/‌files/‌CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse_0.pdf

Debunking Some of the Myths of Fair Use

By Tamara Creech

I define Fair Use as using copyrighted material for educational purposes in a true learning environment without malicious intent to take money out of the copyright owner’s pockets.  Fair Use is flexible to say the least and like most laws can be twisted around to support proponents and opponents of Fair Use.  As educators, we have more leverage in making Fair Use work for us in our instruction and also if someone challenges our use of copyrighted materials.

Let’s debunk a few of the myths that come with The Use of Fair Use!  We will just look at a few.  You can find the full list of myths compiled by American University’s SOC Center for Social Media here:  http://mediaeducationlab.com/sites/mediaeducationlab.com/files/CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse_0.pdf

Myth 1:  FAIR USE IS TOO UNCLEAR AND COMPLICATED FOR ME; IT’S BETTER LEFT TO LAWYERS AND ADMINISTRATORS.

Debunk:  Get a backbone.  You are the Education expert here. As an educator, you are in the classroom and learning environment several hours a day.  You are perfecting your instruction and making the curriculum come alive for your students.  You know what is needed to get the instruction across to the students.  What do lawyers do?  They call in the experts.  Yes in this case, that’s YOU!  Make your voice heard so Fair Use is clear and understandable for your fellow educators.  Fair Use is flexible for that reason, so you can make it your own and apply it as needed.

Myth 2:  EDUCATORS CAN RELY ON “RULES OF THUMB” FOR FAIR USE GUIDANCE.

Debunk:  I have searched HIGH and LOW for Rules of Thumb for Fair Use and found little to nothing.  As an educator, you are held to certain ethical standards in your positions and should have basic knowledge of Copyright Laws.  You will have your own views of what is considered Fair Use and your school and district may have guidelines about Fair Use.  Share your views with your colleagues, other teachers, your media specialist, technology specialist and administrators to make sure you are on the same page with your views or even in the same book.  Use your views and theirs to come to a collaborative agreement of what your school would like to define as “Fair Use” and leave it open to interpretation and discussion.  As forms of media evolve and your students get more tech savvy, you will have to revisit this topic often to make sure you are in the guidelines of what your school has agreed to as Fair Use.

Myth 3:  FAIR USE COULD GET ME SUED.

Debunk:  Know your rights and learn some legal language.  If a copyright owner sends you a formal letter to “cease and desist”, it does not mean that they are suing you.  If you know that you are outside the guidelines of Fair Use in your use of the copyrighted material, then “cease and desist”.  If you are Using Fair Use Fairly, stand your ground!

Links to Further Help You in Using Fair Use Fairly:

·       The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280.shtml

·       Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf

PBS Teachers Copyright & Fair Use

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/copyright/

Video Distribution System and GPB (Original post by Sue Thach)

Video Distribution System

At Lost Mountain Middle School, we have a closed circuit cable system for watching movies and/or cable TV in multiple classrooms.  The head end unit (located in a small room in the library) consists of two DVD/VCR players and a Comcast cable box that delivers a limited number of cable channels to any of the rooms in the school that are outfitted with cable.  Each classroom has a DVD/VCR combo with tuner that is connected to a ceiling mounted LCD projector for showing the morning announcements, closed circuit videos, DVDs, and cable television.  We can show two movies at a time, each on a different channel, using the DVD/VCR combos.  We do this on the last day of school while the classes are having their end-of-the-year parties in their rooms.  We inform teachers which movies are being played and which channels (2 or 5) they are on so that each teacher can decide which movie they want their class to watch.  Sometimes all of the teachers in one department in the same grade will want to show the same instructional video to their classes at the same time, and we use the same method. Mostly we use the closed circuit video capability to show promotional programs that the whole school needs to watch, i.e., Relay for Life, United Way, 4 Quarters 4 Research, etc.  The morning announcements are broadcast on channel 6.   Several networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) are broadcast on other channels.  One premium cable channel at a time can be shown on channel 13.  Our principal wants channel 13 to show The Weather Channel at all times in case of weather emergencies. 

GPB

Georgia Public Broadcasting is a partner with Discovery Education (DE,) which offers digital education resources to subscribers through the Education tab at the top of the GPB home page.  Our school has a subscription, and many teachers take advantage of it and use the video streaming offerings.  The video streaming portion of DE requires a code for access and then teachers can create their own username and password.  

Teachers at my school often ask the LMS to order DVDs for the curriculum because most of the AV materials available in school are outdated and/or in poor condition (videos.)  Teachers give the LMS the specific subjects for which they need AV sources; sometimes they even tell her the title of a particular DVD they have heard about and want.  The first thing we do (or ask them to do) is look in DE’s video streaming to see if something there is comparable to their request.  Most of the time we have found a free video that is perfect for their needs; and sometimes we find the exact video they asked for.  It seems that teachers need to be reminded of this abundant and valuable resource.  Every year I help the coordinator of our Career Day by going into the Careers and Work Place Skills video streaming link to find videos that teachers can use if their Career Day speaker does not show up for some reason.  I become “stuck” in there browsing and watching videos about all kinds of interesting careers. 

Searching for videos is easy on DE.  Users can limit their search by subject and by grade.  Often there are a series of videos or multiple videos on the same subject to that student scan see content presented in a variety of ways.  Some of the videos are short enough to be good introductions or reviews, while others comprehensively cover a standard.  The search page has a link to a Curriculum Standards Search.  Teachers can choose a standard and look for appropriate videos.  In the Teacher Center users can find lesson plans to go with the videos, an atlas with interactive map, a calendar of historical events, and other resources.

The Professional Development page includes tutorials for integrating digital media and tools for helping teachers organize and store their favorite resources, quizzes, assignments and activities on the site.  There is a “Trainer’s Resources” tab with videos, PowerPoint presentations, webinars, and other materials to help teachers learn more about Discovery Education and all it has to offer.   Also available is the opportunity to join in on or benefit from the discourse of the Discovery Education Network, which is a network of teachers sharing ideas about using technology in education. 

            GPB has much to offer via these other tabs located on its main site:  Programs, Television, Radio, Family, Kids, News, and Sports.  Parents and educators can set kids loose on this site and be confident that they will find only appropriate and reliable information.  

Online Social Networking and the LMC — Original Post by Sue Thach

            Six years ago when my teenagers stopped checking their e-mail to text on their phones and use FaceBook for socializing instead, I got a phone with a QWERTY board and joined FaceBook.  It was a case of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”  Just like black and white TV and movies, print materials seem to be moving further and further into what will soon be considered the distant past.  Kids want cool, up-to-date stuff, and they want it now.  What they don’t realize is that social networking is not only highly fashionable and contagiously fun, it is also an amazing opportunity to share, collaborate, learn, and grow as a person.  As a side note, I find it funny that Courtney’s 2007 book, Library 2.0 and Beyond, refers to MySpace as being “the largest social networking website with well over 100 million members.” So much has changed in five years!  As of July, 2011, Facebook has more than 750 million users (Facebook, 2011).  Educators need to keep up with the changes and offer new ways to entice students to read, learn, and like it.

            The Cobb County School District uses Follett’s Destiny OPAC, which offers a few ways for users experience social networking at school.  They can share favorite titles with each other and rate and review books they have read by creating their own Destiny account.  They are strictly prohibited from discussing anything other than school and book related subjects.  We have already revoked Internet privileges for several students who misused their “empowerment” opportunity for malicious purposes.  This is a scary aspect of social networking in school:  kids can be mean. 

When students write a book review, it is not automatically published; the media staff gets a “Processing Needed” alert and evaluates new reviews to decide whether they are appropriate and “worthy” of publishing.  We have trained students in “Destiny Empowerment” using a PowerPoint presentation that walks them through the process of reviewing a book.  They know that their review will not be published if it contains spelling or grammatical errors.  The review will be tossed out if it is inappropriate or says something lame, e.g., “Read this book!  You will love it!”  One middle school student actually reviewed a Harry Potter book saying, “This book sux!”  I had to have a little talk with him.

As with any Internet innovation that is added into the educational setting, some degree of caution must be implemented.  We need to monitor student usage of social networking while encouraging the use of its different forms in order to enhance the learning process.  At the risk of sounding trite, we need to meet students where they live: on the Internet.   Engaging students and introducing them to the benefits of sharing and collaborating while they are in school will help them to become the kind of people we all want to be:  “enthusiastic lifelong learners.” 

Courtney, N.  (2007). Library 2.0 and beyond.  Westport, CT:  Libraries Unlimited.

Facebook.  (2011).  Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?timeline

Online Marketing Trends.  (2011, March 29). Retrieved from http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/03/myspace-vs-facebook-who-is-winning-and.html

Social Networking and School Library Media Centers

The concept of social networking involves links between people and how they are interrelated. Social networking websites allow people to stay connected with friends and family as well as create new relationships as new links are created. Shared interests can be one way people become connected.

Some sites are very general in their members, while others are specific to one type of person. For example, there are social networking sites that are geared specifically for teachers. These sites allow teachers to share ideas and thoughts. Facebook is a social networking site that is more informal in its use. LinkedIn is geared more toward the business world as people use it to find jobs, post jobs and find other business related connections.

One great feature of social networking sites is that users can share pictures, images and videos on these sites with friends and family. But, the users must be aware that because of the links, these images may travel further than they think.

Privacy and security are major issues with social networking sites. How much information the user wants to be viewed can be controlled using different levels of privacy and different modes of communication within the site.

Users must be very wary when using these online resources. There are many different opportunities for criminal activities to take place. Online predators, identity theft, and cyber-bullying are just a few. As a fifth grade teacher, I have often heard students talking about conversations that they had or heard about which occurred on Facebook. I can see how easy it would be for a child to become a victim to any of these crimes.

Children today are so very technology minded. A great deal of their social communication happens using social networking sites. We have the responsibility as educators to help children become effective and wise users of this type of medium. We should do what we can to make it fun and safe.

Libraries can use these sites for promotion purposes. Schools can use these sites for instruction and collaboration. School libraries can combine these uses. I work in Cobb County School District where these sites are filtered. But, the school that I work at used the social networking component of the online catalog Destiny to allow students to share book reviews. Students could log on and share their opinion of books they were reading. Many students utilized this site for its exact purpose, but there were some problems with students making inappropriate comments and logging into each other’s pages. These problems were quickly handled by the media specialist because it was monitored very strictly. This simply illustrates the fact that if social networking sites are going to be used in the school setting, there must be diligence in maintaining the site and monitoring the content.

Extreme Makeover: Media Center Web Page Edition!

by Tamara Creech

Is your school library media center’s web page gathering dust?  If so, it is time to bring your Media Center's Web Page to the 21st century with an Extreme Makeover!  First, you have to abandon your drab, carbon-copy web page and construct a blog or Wiki in order to get your audience's attention.  You can use Google’s Blogger to create a free blog at http://www.blogger.com/home.  All you need to do is create your Google account, choose your blog name and then your template.  If blogging is not your thing, you can create a special Wikispace for your media center with Wikispaces’ K-12 Plan http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/teachers.

Once you have decided on the platform, you can then worry about the content.  Students like flashy and interactive websites.  Your students are not your only patrons, you have other stakeholders like parents, teachers and administrators so while your space needs to be edgy, make sure that the content is there.  Your main mission is to display your media program in its best “virtual” light and advertise what your media program has to offer in improving student achievement. 

Students need access to resources while they are not in the school setting.  Having links to online catalogs such as Destiny and Library of Congress, databases such as World Book Online and online research tools such as MLA research guides are just the way to support your students and make your media program SHINE!

Getting teachers on board is easier.  You are probably making yourself the “go-to” person everyday in the media center whether it is technology or instructional assistance your teachers need but make them think about you when they are home working on lesson plans.  Provide links to Pathfinders, access to schedule collaborative lessons with you and even a space for quick tech tips for fixing and operating classroom equipment.

Parents are your stakeholders that you may not see day-to-day. Just because you don’t see them does not mean that they are not watching you.  Include your calendar on your site so that parents can check it for special events to attend or volunteer at, a PDF of your school’s Acceptable Use Policy that they can view and print out, and also some background information on yourself so they can see that you are a “highly-qualified” educator.

Because we are showing our stakeholders how up-to-date we are with our state of the art blog or wiki, don’t stop there.  Create links to your school’s Facebook page and Twitter account with a note to FOLLOW ME ON…

Your media center’s foundation is BOOKS, so make sure you have award lists and guides to popular books.  You can also create a spot for your stakeholders to suggest book titles to place in the media center.

That’s it for the bells and whistles!  Please make sure you have your contact information and hours of operation visible. I guarantee with these makeover tips, your media center’s site will get repeat visitors!

Media Center Web Pages

Media center web pages are becoming increasingly popular in schools. It is more likely that schools have them than not. Media specialists have much to consider when creating a website. They must have a clear focus on what they want the web site to accomplish. Most importantly, it should provide information. LMS’s also have to consider cost, audience, what to include and much more. One great way to create an effective media web site is to start with a survey that outlines the expectations and needs of users. The LMS should then take that information and create a site that meets those needs. One of the benefits of having a media center web page is that information and resources can be updated quickly and frequently. Also, it is nice that users can access the information from many different locations. Media specialists should be very careful about what they put on their websites. Information should be practical, useful and easy to navigate. This is especially true if the main users of the website will be students. It is a great idea to also have portions of the site that focus on parents and how they can help their children. Great sites are ones that is easy to navigate, is visually appealing, and provides a great deal of information in an organized way. One of the best ways to design and improve a web site is to look at other sites. Some sites have their links all on the home page which are divided up into categories to make them easy to navigate. I have noticed that most of the sites are visually appealing and make the user want to explore them further. Others embed the information which encourages the user to click into the site and fund what they need. I do like that most of the sites have some picture of the media center on the home page. Some of the popular links are policies, books, web resources, parent links, and others. My personal experiences have been with the media specialists having access to a page on a school website. This creates a uniform look, feel and navigability of the site, but it limits those who want to be more creative with what the site can do. The media specialist has the task of maintaining this particular page of the website.

Wikis — Original Post by Sue Thach

Wikis — Original Post by Sue Thach

Apparently, the use of wikis is really catching on.  When I typed the search term “wiki” into the Google search bar, I got 1,280,000,000 hits!  (One billion, two-hundred eighty million hits!)  It’s definitely time to jump on the wiki wagon!

A wiki is a website that allows users to contribute and share information or ideas, learn new information from other contributors, and be actively involved in the process while a concept is mapped out or a project develops.  On a wiki, users can also upload documents, link to Web pages, and embed videos, audio clips, files and images to share with the group.  The collected resources from the entire group can be edited and stored on the wiki until the project is completed.

Wikis are a great, fun, easy tool for collaborating, brainstorming, editing, planning, and creating.  People who are members of the wiki merely click “Edit” to add to the electronic conversation that is always available to them online in the wiki.  When the user clicks “Edit,” the wiki page becomes like a document with an editing toolbar that allows content and formatting changes.  Users can also add new pages to accommodate related or tangent subjects or a new project. 

Like email, the wiki is always accessible.  Users can get an idea wherever they may be and update the wiki using a smart phone; or they can wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, add it to the wiki, check what others have added, and not have to bother anyone in the group who might be occupied elsewhere.  Unlike email, in a wiki, everyone’s contributions are all in one place, rather than in individual emails that must be opened one by one in order to see recent communications.  It helps to see all of the collected contributions at once so that they can be expanded, arranged, and edited into a logical, flowing document.

            The uses for wikis in education are obvious:  both students and teachers can contribute to wikis as students collaborate with each other and the teacher guides the learning progress.  Rather than having a public access wiki like Wikipedia--which anyone on earth with an Internet connection can edit--teachers can create a private wiki that only group members an edit.   

            In order to keep peace among users of the wiki, there should be an honor code based on some rules of conduct.  The Apalachee High School (AHS) Media Center has a Wiki Charter detailing its rules and the reasons for them.  When using wikis, students (or any other users) should be aware of the importance of respect for others’ work and kindness as far as editing opportunities are concerned (AHS Media Center, 2011).  Teachers can check the wiki to ascertain whether all group members are contributing equally and to make sure that they are on track with their assignment.

            In my experience, wikis can become stale and then forgotten, eventually providing dead links and outdated information.  To keep this from happening, contributors and potential users must stay interested, informed, and aware of updates to the wiki.  In the school setting, advertisements or announcements, e-mail reminders, rewards for contributions, contests, and games are just a few ways to keep wikis active.  (At my school, all it takes is candy.)  If the wiki is started and maintained by a particular person, i.e., the media specialist or a teacher, and that person becomes unable to check links or update the content, then someone else who is dedicated to the wiki should take over.  

Teachers can collaborate with each other on wikis as well.  The Wikispaces for Teachers page has links to tutorials on how to use wikis for educational purposes.  YouTube has many videos that define, explain, give tips, and demonstrate how to use wikis.  One video entitled “Wikis in Plain English” had 1,618,755 views when I watched it (Lefever, 2007).  On Lefever’s Common Craft website, he has a transcript of the video so you can review the information without watching the video repeatedly (Lefever, 2011).  (I recommend the Common Craft site for how-to videos on lots of educational tools and subjects.) 

                                                         References

Apalachee High School (AHS) Media Center: Wiki Charter. (2011).  Retrieved October 9, 2011, from

         http://ahsmedia.barrow.wikispaces.net/Wiki+Charter

           

Lefever. L.  (2007).  Common craft useful handcrafted videos: wikis in plain English.  Retrieved from

         http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wiki&aq=5

Lefever. L.  (2011).  Common craft useful handcrafted videos: wikis in plain English.  Retrieved from

         http://www.commoncraft.com/video/wikis

Tangent, LLC. (2011). Wikispaces for teachers. (2011). Retrieved from 

http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/teachers

YouTube:  Search results for wiki.  (2011).  Retrieved October 9, 2011, from 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wiki&aq=5

Group 4 Equipment Operations Manual URL

Stephanie WarmothEquipment Operations Group Project.docx

Podcasting

Podcasting can be very useful in the media center in many ways. Book talks, storytimes, news, displaying work, and much more can be spotlighted using podcasts. The beauty of podcasts is that they can be saved to a blog, staff drive or website and accessed at a time that is convenient for the user.

Often, teachers are not aware of new books in the media center. They may not always be aware of items that are available on a specific subject or standard that is being covered. Book talks are a great way for students and teachers to learn about new books, or about books on a specific subject. The media specialist could use podcasts as a medium for book talks to create interest in new or specific books.

Getting to the media center for stories can be difficult for some teachers. Media specialists could create a storytime podcast for younger students. Creating a storytime in the format of a podcast can allow the teacher to access the story when it fits her schedule, rather than attempting to schedule time in the media center.

Podcasts can be a great learning tool. Students love to use technology and it can sometimes inspire even the most reluctant learners. Teachers and media specialists can collaborate and create podcasts to help students to further develop their reading fluency skills, writing fluency skills, and knowledge of other content areas. Students can share their writing or other products on the podcast with the school.

In schools, students often display their work in the media center or in the halls of the schools. Providing a podcast about the projects can help students to show off what they have learned. It can also generate interest from other students. Podcasts could also be used to give information about displays and exhibits that are at, or soon coming to, the media center.

Many media specialists are charged with the task of organizing the morning news (or announcements) in schools. Using podcasts during the morning news can be a great way to share upcoming events. Details about PTA meetings, fund raisers, family events and much more can all be shared through a podcast. Then podcasts can relate information about an event that has recently occurred. Students could even conduct interviews with staff and students for the podcast.

Podcasts could be a great way for media specialists to participate in professional development. They could also create podcasts to help staff learn about new resources available through the media center.

The two main factors that I think make a podcast useful, is that they are convenient and accessible for teachers, media specialists, students and other staff. They can inspire interest in students and be a great vehicle for relaying information.

Podcasts – Original Post

According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a podcast is a blend of the words “ipod and broadcast” (http://www.merriam-webster.com).

I was first exposed to a podcast in Fall of 2009 when I had just begun my part-time Technology Assistant’s position.  I was asked to sign-up for an online web 2.0 class and attend it with our school’s Library Media Specialists. Throughout the course of the class, we were asked to create 2-3 items per week utilizing 23 new web 2.0 tools. One of the first tools that we had to use was voicethread, a voice recording tool to create an audiocast.

The first time I had to record my own voice with my thoughts, being flustered was an understatement. I was completely overwhelmed. I think I worried about every possible inconceivable thing that could go wrong; creating an account all the while protecting my identity; being sure that I didn’t say too many “…and ums…”, making sure that I spoke about what was needed, and most of all, did my voice sound ok? I don’t really sound like that, do I?

I think I spent 30 minutes trying to create a beautifully crafted, well-spoken podcast, when all that was needed was a blurb about how comfortable we were with the technology that we were using—I think my discomfort was very, very apparent! Needless to say, my comfort level with technology has grown a lot since that class:)

Fast-forward two years. I am now teaching French. My school system has added interactive whiteboards to all classrooms. The software for the boards includes a “recorder”. This recorder can be used to create audio or video podcasts.  Unlike videos that are uploaded to YouTube, videocasts only have a view of the computer desktop, combined with the audio. An audiocast is just a recording of a person’s voice, or utilizes only audio.

In my primary research I found a particular podcast that affected how I would like to use podcasts as a teacher and LMS. It was a Social Studies teacher reviewing his students for a test via an audiocast. The teacher walked the students through the chapter of their book, discussing and pointing out different areas for the students to pay extra attention to in order to prepare and study for the test.

I really thought that this would be a great way for me to review with my students, helping them hear and pronounce words that may be difficult, during a time that was convenient for them to study and/or listen to my helpful hints.

Now, after becoming more familiar with how podcasts work, I would like to add videocasts to show visuals of how to conjugate verbs, adding animations as well as a explain grammatical points and culture. This is also possible with the software that’s included in our interactive white boards. I can actually create a smart notebook file and with my headset and extra-long usb cable, talk and show the lesson in progress via my desktop. My fingers and shadows are not in the way. It’s just me and the lesson—talking to myself—teaching indivisible students who will see this video at a later time when it is convenient for them.

This capability is very helpful to students who not only learn from speech, but also learn even better from visuals. Everything is contained in one video and can be replayed as often as necessary, helping the student grasp the concept being taught.

I hope to include more and more podcasts as the year progresses and I really think they do help students and just like anything else, the more you use it, the easier it gets.