Online Readings: Curiosity and Teaching with Technology

Did you ask a good question today? This idea may be the only sure way to educational reform, so "they" say. Read Curiosity Here There Everywhere

Connect. Create. Explore. Steps to global education begin with connectedness Global Connections.

Sound pedagogy, admin support and a strong IT backbone remain the awesome threesome in successfully integrating tech in instruction. Be a 21st century teacher by being a 21st century learner

Happy reading! Happy weekend!

Online Readings: Technology and Pedagogy

Here's a smorgasbord of web links I gathered online. These links are curated in my Scoop it! page. I'm posting it here in the blog for the rest of the world to see. As if Twitter and Facebook won't suffice.

Kids in Ethiopia are using tablets to learn how to read. 

What is the difference between feedback and advice? How can feedback help teachers, newbie or seasoned educator?

How do I teach thee, introvert? Let me count the ways?

Khan Academy is getting some criticism from educators

Here's an infographic on teaching paradigms and practices.

Evaluate that App!

iPad App Evaluation for the Classroom

The 8th iBlog Summit

I still remember the first iBlog Summit I attended in 2005. The following year, I was a speaker presenting a topic on blogs in education. How time flies! How far has Pinoy blogging gone since then?



I am being maudlin all over. Here is the link of the presentation I gave in 2006 during the 2nd iBlog Summit. The title of my presentation was, Blogs as Teaching Tools.  The full paper can be read via this link: Blogs in Teaching and Learning.

Librarians as Online Content Curators

I have heard and read about curating online content late last year via blograrians who attended the annual American Library Association Conference. Another interesting topic discussed in the conference was that of transliteracy. That would be for another post. Plus, there's 21st Century Literacy to think and ponder on (though AASL - the Association of American School Libraries, has published a set of standards. In Manila, we are still struggling with Information Literacy and its application in library services and programs).

While curating online content may sound like a new invention for the librarian, it is very much similar with organizing information, a task librarians are so adept at. It is also another way of archiving.

Over the past few weeks, I've been exploring curating online content and it is not only done by librarians. Then again, since the likes of us are in the business of information service, I find it relevant to learn more about online curating. For starters, Librarienne has written about it. Karen Bonanno a librarian from Australia curates online. I am subscribed to her School Library Advocacy. What a way to be updated! Subscribing to her curated feeds is one of the many simple ways to grow professionally.

The New Zealand Library System has started a web curating tool. Scoop It! crawls the web for your online curating. Robin Good emphasizes the value and authority one can derive from online content curating. The tools and the-how-to-do-it tips are available online. As for me, I'm starting and experimenting on curating, applying the technology in library work.

Let's see where it will end up!

Live Blogging: Early Readers Online

Sigh.

Our presentation's done!

The Early Readers Online is a Community and Service project of high school students in Beacon Academy, Laguna. Students wrote and illustrated stories for kids age 5-7. These illustrated stories underwent an editing process and coaching-mentoring sessions by teachers who make up the team of facilitators. Once the stories were revised and final copies were made, the stories were uploaded to the website where members of the community can read, download, print and translate them.

Here's how to access the stories:

a. Go to Beacon Academy Mail - mail.beaconacademy.ph
b. Username - guest
c. Password - beaconacademy
d. Go to "SITES"
e. Click EARLY READERS
f. View the stories

Feel free to translate any of the stories in your mother tongue. Send your translations to library@beaconacademy.ph. Feedback is welcome as well.

The Rise of Facebook & Mark Zuckerberg

The Busy Librarian's post about Facebook is one piece I wish I'd have written. Interesting insights!

Zuckerberg's invention has been phenomenal. Then again, there are skeptics who say that Zuckerberg's rise to online power may soon find its demise. As all things are, what goes up will eventually go down. But we're having fun, are we not? We find old friends in Facebook and connect with distant relatives abroad. I, for one, get my invitations to do workshops and lectures in Facebook. I get the news from TV and the internet, but flooding in Australia takes on a more human and realistic view when a friend set her profile at how Brisbane floods rivaled ours. A breakfast cereal eaten in the morning sounds very trivial, but I want to try it for its nutritional value. I buy my clothes from friends in Facebook now. That saves me the hassle of going to the malls. I tag photos of friends and family and somehow, we're closer sharing something in common no matter how mundane it is.

Facebook is not just a tool to connect people anymore. It's an environment that has to be managed and a community that fosters interaction.

Deal with it.

Good PR for Filipino Librarians

Ronald Lim, writer and journalist has written once again about us, Filipino Librarians and the online presence that we have been making of late. In his article about Prof. Igor Cabbab's seminar at the Manila International Book Fair yesterday, Lim featured Prof. Cabbab's initiatives on using online and internet technology to an improved library service.

Kudos to Prof. Cabbab who has been getting good press lately. What's more, my blog and Von Totanes' blog, and the "popular" blogging that we do about what we do and who are were briefly mentioned too. Along with it is the breaking of Filipino librarian stereotypes. It could not have come at a better time since Vilma Santos is recently starring in a commercial movie as the typical "losyang" (unglamorous) librarian.

Just a note when you read up the link. My blog's name is SCHOOL LIBRARIAN IN ACTION and not Filipino Librarian In Action. Nonetheless, thanks to Ronald Lim for this write up. He wrote about my blogging adventures a few years back. Sadly, the online article could no longer be found in Manila Bulletin's web page. It seems that we have some good connections and friends in print and online media.

Library 2.0 Revolution

CNN.com publishes online this brave article on Library 2.0. The digitization of library holdings is no longer a fictional matter. The virtual roles that librarians must play and portray to a younger, hipper and hi-tech generation is imminent.

It is a continuous evolution. From library services to the image of librarians online and in real time, change is inevitably happening.

As a result of the A(H1N1) assault

Xavier School has released PR on the cancelation of classes from June 25 to July 5. Beginning this Friday, June 26, selected courses and subjects for intermediate grades and secondary levels can be accessed online. Using technology, a student can follow the required course outline through independent studying. Teacher made online lesson will be available and parents of younger students must assist their children in weaving their way in the web.

This was how Singapore and Hong Kong schools survived during the SARS season. I'm not happy about a Xaverian positive with the virus, but it sure is an exciting possibility for my son to learn via technology.

Here's hoping for better days to come.

Best of SLIA 2006

This collection of posts in this blog from 2006 is long overdue. Finally I found the time to edit and post them up. Better last than never, so they say. On the other hand, I'm glad to discover that I have kept the focus of this blog's topics according to its original direction.

Library Activities
Learning Extended
Opened Doors
Graphic Novels In The School Library

PowerPoints: Literacy Development
Creating Classroom Libraries

Information Literacy (IL)
Updates on Information Literacy
Lesson Plan on IL
IL at the School Level
The Impetus for IL
IL Skills

Book reviews & Philippine Children’s Literature
Evaluating Folk Tales for Children
Eco-Environment Stories
The Librarian From Black Lagoon

Philippine School Libraries & Librarianship
Student Services vs. Academic Program
Perceptions, Philosophy and Paradigms
More on Philosophy & Paradigm
Helping Libraries
Boys In The Library
How Do I Destroy Thee?
My Librarian Heroes

IT Integration
Blogs As Teaching Tools
Full Paper: Blogs As Teaching Tools

Inventors, Inventions & INFOLIB

Some good news!

The library information systems we use in our GS library, INFOLIB, has a website. The best part is the availability of free downloads to patrons and users. Congratulations to Gerry Laroza! May the spirit of open source continue to flourish.

Speaking of new born websites, I am experimenting on WordPress.com for new blogs. Here's what I've conjured at The SMIT Files. I'm still trying to figure out my way in WordPress.com but with great ease. It helped that I used a MacBook for the job.

Pinoy Edublog Awards

Awards and recognitions are feel good instruments that either blow the ego or humble the spirit to continue doing a job well done. In the Pinoy blogosphere there is the Pinoy Blog Awards, an anual event recognizing the best and the brazen bloggers in the country. Then there is WikiPilipinas who honored some bloggers who made waves and caused an impact in the realm of Pinoy blogopshere last year. And are we (Filipino Blograrians) not proud of Von Totanes whose blog was named as the best in the catageroy of "communities" by WikiPilipinas? Of course we are. But the thing is, Von is still baffled.

What baffles me, on the other hand, is the exclusion of education as a category in the list. Could it be that every blog out there has educational value depending on who the reader/user of the blog is? Or is it because blogs for education, on teaching and instruction and about the academe are complicated to judge since judges would require, in the first place, theoretical knowledge on pedagogy and instructional technology? Blogs for teaching goes beyond the design factor. Besides, blogs used as teaching tools are not set up as popularity portals. Does the education sector have to set up its own blog awards to acknowledge the effective and eficient use of blogs in teaching and instruction?

Such musings led me to check some links via the IASL blog. There I found the edublog awards! The categories range from best teacher blog to best librarian/library blog; best educational wiki to best educational use of social netwroking services. From the list of categories, I have the impression that in the US, bloggers and educators alike have a progressive and advanced perspective on the utility of blogs as educational tools. Can the Pinoy blogsophere come up with something like it?

Online Resources for Teachers

Found some very good online resources for the busy teacher. These website contain free printable worksheets in Math, Reading and the Language Arts. Surfs Up!

RHL School is a free learning reosurce website for ready to use worksheets in Math, Reading and Reserach Skills. A link for answer sheets is provided in the index page as well as a blog feature. The skills covered are the basic comprehension skills, word meaning, inferencing, getting the main idea, etc.

HomeSchool Math is a place for parents and guardians with homeschooling kids. It does help the busy teacher as well through its comprehensive line of online lessons and worksheets. It has other features like a monthly newsletter, a blog (don't they all have it!), reviews and Ebooks.

teAchnology is treasure trove of worksheets, educational games, lesson plans, rubric makers and webquests. While there are freebies in the site, it has also a membership feature that can lead teachers to better and high quality reosurces online.

Till the next batch of online resources!

Live Blogging @ Apple Camp : Podcast Using Garage Band

I jus finished a voice recording in Garage Band. After uploading to iTunes, I went to Ning.com and have it uploaded there too. I can't get the conversion code for html tag yet so it will be in a while till my first post on a podcast that I made. I was able to take pictures of myslef though. It's so vain of me to post here, but I can't help myself!



Dreamy me. Fascinated at the sophisticated software by Apple. My mind is racing at the many ways Apple can do to help the teacher deliver his lessons. iMacs in the library? Hmm...






A little bit confused here. I'm on my way to geekdom!

For the past two days, we've been immersed in Apple-landia. As in all journeys, one closes and the next unfolds. It is what lies ahead that is a far greater challenge.

Live Blogging @ Apple Camp : Comic Life

Our project for this morning is a comic strip using Comic Life. Here are the projects made by my coteachers. Can you guess which is mine?

Live Blogging : Apple Camp @ Xavier School

I'm blogging live from our Apple Training session with Junior Tan of Apple (Asia). Since last year, Xavier School has partnered with Apple to enrich our instructional technology program with iMacs. A series of training sessions were given the Chinese Teachers last school year to infuse their Chinese classes with computer based and web enhanced teaching strategies. The school is stretching its initiatives to include content area teachers and librarians too.

Now he is asking participants to create an account in Blogger. We're all using the spankingly new iMacs in the school's iMac Lab and he has allowed me to use SLIA for the exercise. Major changes soon on template and design!

Integrating ICT & Reading Comprehension

Below is the abstract for the professional paper that I will be presenting in the Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP) Annual Summer Convention at St. Paul Quezon City. It will be tomorrow, April 27, 2007. The convention will run for two days and the program promises to be an enriching and engaging convention. With Manilyn Reynes as special guest and Nani Cruz of the TNL, it's one convention that combines education and entertainment in a most effective fashion.

With the advent of new technology and its drawing power on children and teens, more and more, schools are investing on gadgets and electronic learning resources that enrich and enhance instruction. Teachers undergo training on the utility of computer software and hardware. The appropriate infrastructure and manpower are also being provided for technical support. Although traditional learning tools can still be trusted upon to help in the delivery of instruction, experiments and initiatives on technology integration are being implemented by teachers in basic education.

This paper discuss the importance of well thought of activities and strategies that integrate technology in the content area classroom. Issues and concerns pertaining to the use of technology are also explored to see relevant factors that may affect the success or failure of such integration. The focus, however, is mainly on web enhanced teaching strategies that lead to a better understanding of concepts and skills taught.

The IRA’s Position Paper on Technology Integration and the NETS Technology Standards are presented as guide to aid teachers in the planning and implementation of such strategies. Actual projects and class activities are identified to show concrete examples of web enhanced teaching strategies. A directory and bibliography of resources are included to further inspire and motivate the classroom teacher in using the Internet as a valuable instructional material in the content areas.

For questions about the convention, contact docamporap@gmail.com.

Web Enhanced Teaching

Now we go to the exciting part! Since the Internet has a lot to offer, this part of the report narrows three functions of the Internet that is useful to teaching and instruction. Activities, projects and strategies for its use in the content areas are provided.

A. Information Source
The Internet is a source of information. How to access and locate information from the Internet can be taught to children. Apart from the Internet lessons they get from Computer Education class, teachers can strengthen the skill by teaching search strategies.

Bernie Poole lends four easy search strategies.

1. Use quotes to narrow your search
2. Use simple math (+ and -) to narrow your search
3. Use Quick Keys to construct your search string (Control-c & Control-v)
4. Use Control-f to quickly find what you're looking for on a Web page (Control-f)

The ever dependable semantic webbing can also be called upon to narrow search words before using Google or Yahoo.

Locating and accessing information is one thing. Evaluating information is another. Children should be empowered to determine if the information they need has value to their assignment, report or project. Kathy Schrock has developed evaluation rubrics for websites that children in the primary and intermediate levels can use (Attachment 4).

As information source, the Internet is abundant with online newspapers and references. Here are recommended websites:

Online Newspapers & References for Kids

The New York Times for Kids
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/index.html

Weekly Reader Online
http://www.weeklyreader.com/index.asp

Time for Kids
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/

Online Encyclopedia
http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb

Online Dictionary & Almanac
http://www.factmonster.com/

Given the wealth of resources available for teachers, it is necessary that they teach students to become critical readers of online materials. Here are web evaluation rubrics to empower the learning child in using the Internet as resource tool.

ALA Great Websites for Kids
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/greatwebsites/greatwebsitesforkids/greatwebsites.htm
It gives a very brief but substantial set of criteria. Tips on how to maximize the WWW in the classroom are also included.

Kids’ Selection Criteria
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tnl/detectives/kids/selection.html
It identifies four simple criteria that children can use. Emphasizing on the evaluation of both content and design for better projects and reports help the student appreciate the value of assessing a website independently.

Kathy Schrock’s Web Evaluation Rubrics
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/evalelem.html

B. E-Learning Tool
Aside from its strength as an information source, the Internet is a viable tool for electronic learning. Below are examples of e-learning activities.

WebQuests

Web Quest Blog
http://webquest.org/

WebQuest for Science (Integrating Lang. Arts and Civics)
http://www.teachtheteachers.org/projects/MBergey/top.htm

More WebQuest for Grade 3, 4 and 5
http://www.thematzats.com/webquest/grade.html

Online & Distance Learning
Xavier School ELF
http://elf.xs.edu.ph/login/index.php
Using Moodle, online activities, homeworks, assignments and quizzes are designed and uploaded in the e-learning software.

Educational Games & Drills

Language Arts

Grammar Gorillas
http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/
Online Stories
http://www.magickeys.com/books/
Literacy activities
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy_centers/main.htm
Worksheets on Phonics
http://schoolexpress.com/fws/cat.php?id=2254
Worksheets on Reading
http://schoolexpress.com/fws/cat.php?id=2255
Math Drills & Games

Basic Operations
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/wspages/math.htm
Drills for Word Problems, Fractions, etc.
http://donnayoung.org/math/drills.htm
Timed drills and activities
http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/trc/cluster.asp?mode=browse&intPathID=4987

Make your own drills and games
http://www.quia.com/web

C. Communication Tool
Content can be created in the Internet. It can be communicated using email technology, e-groups and blogs. Conferences and email exchange projects are engaging activities for students.


Telecolaboartion - The Storylady Project Full Paper
http://sblogs.writingproject.org/gems/blogwrite9/gagatiga.pdf#search=%22Zarah%20Gagatiga%2BTelecollaboration%22

The Storylady Project – Articles
http://www.xs.edu.ph/storylady.php
http://www.xs.edu.ph/x.php?x=telecollaboration
http://lovealibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/06/telecollaboration.html

Web Publishing – Blogs as Teaching Tools
http://lovealibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/05/full-paper-blogs-as-teaching-tools.html

Indeed, the Internet has a lot to offer the teacher of today. There are factors and issues that must be considered when using this technology in instruction. In the creative and innovative hands of the teacher, he has the power to engage students in learning via this medium but only when he has a clear understanding of what responsibility lies in its power.

References:
Websites
Promoting a Safe & Legal Digital World. BSA
http://www.bsa.org/usa/press/newsreleases/kids-teachers-online-safety.cfm
Kids’ Safety in the Internet
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/news/press-releases.php?id=23

Survey Shows Widespread Enthusiasm for High Technology
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/poll/technology/index.html

International Society for Technology in Education
http://www.iste.org/

NETS Technology Standards for Teachers
http://cnets.iste.org/getdocs.html

Website Evaluation Criteria
Elementary Level (K-4))
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/evalelem.html
Middle School Level (Gr. 5-8)
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/evalmidd.html

Bernie Poole’s Search Strategies
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech225.shtml

Books:
Verma, Mahesh. Online Teaching Tools & Methods. Murari Lal & Sons, New Delhi. 2006

Telecollaboration

The Storylady Project I posted last Tuesday is a telecollaborative activity which I was able to do with the help of my Reading coteachers and department coordinators in the school year of 2002-2003.

At that time, I was only aware of the very obvious benefits of IT integration in our Information Literacy Skills Program. My perspective was limited to the attainment of the goals written in the program. Time has afforded me to reflect deeply on the many learning experiences that students may gain from this endeavor.

1. When well prepared and properly designed IT integration activities are done by teachers, students model a more responsible and critical use of ICT's.

2. For students to fully understand and appreciate such activities, they must have a strong foundation on literacy skills development. Other educators may view it as the other way around, that technology develops literacy skills. However, good communication skills and critical thinking are factors that lead to quality facilitation and utility of technology.

3. Students' self identity is further developed when they interact with others via ICT's.

4. Their self worth and motivation increase as they tweak and tinker with technology.

5. They are able to construct their own understanding of the world as they interact with others; becoming more tolerant of others culture; and respectful of others differences.