Podcasting in the Library and the Classroom

Using podcasts in the classroom is something I have not considered before but after spending the larger part of my weekend exploring a mere fraction of the podcasting world, I see that creating them is relatively simple and numerous (many free! yea!) platforms exist for sharing them.

Truth be told, I have been fretting about this week's assignment for 6 days. I've made 3 previous podcasts and experienced an inordinate amount of anxiety before making each one. But that's just me and my overly self-conscious inner voice. I can't imagine my students feeling the least self-conscious about recording themselves, especially when I think of how most love and crave attention! And it's from that point of view that I can truly see the value of using podcasts as a way to not only present content but to show evidence of learning.

So how do you create your own podcast? It's so easy! All you really need are a smart phone or computer with a microphone to get started. There are a number of free apps and platforms that allow you to create your own podcasts and discover podcasts on any imaginable topic known to human kind. I'm not exaggerating, there are literally podcasts about EVERYTHING! But I digress...

Apps

I love easy and free, and and app called ZCast fits the bill. To create this book talk about Spies of Mississippi by Rick Bowers, I used my iPhone to record and share it. I literally downloaded the app, recorded the podcast, and shared it in less than 10 minutes. The whole process was remarkably easy. One of the best features of ZCast is that it lets you take your podcasting with you, so you can podcast live from literally anywhere you can receive a cell phone signal. All I needed to create an account was to log in to Twitter, then it downloaded quickly. There was absolutely no learning curve involved.

Online Platforms and Applications

SoundCloud

I've found SoundCloud to be the easiest online platform for creating podcasts. SoundCloud has a free option but also has a Pro upgrade for $7 a month. Since I'm a poor student and underpaid teacher, I went for the free option of course! I have used it a sum total of 3 times for my grad school coursework, but the process is so easy, anyone can create a podcast from their computer if they have a WiFi network. First you'll need to create an account, which you can do using your Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ accounts, then choose the account option you'd like. When you're ready to record, simply choose the "Upload" button in the top right-hand side of the screen to either upload a recording or start a new recording. If you're interested in hearing the remainder of my podcasting career thus far, click here.

Podomatic and audioBoom

SoundCloud may be better choice for podcasting newbies like myself, but I found Podomatic and audioBoom to be better choices for discovering content. Since I had already recorded my podcast, I didn't try to create another on these two platforms. I did click around to see if I could easily record a podcast on both though. Podomatic has a "Create" link but I did not see an option to record a new podcast, just one to upload a recording made in another application. I saw no "Create" option on the audioBoom website. However, both platforms allow the user to discover podcasts and access trending shows with ease.

Exemplary Content

Did I mention that there are podcasts about every topic under the sun? That includes educational topics, from math to science, poetry and professional development. I found a wonderful channel called Classic Poetry Aloud which features, you guessed it, classic poetry read aloud. Which is INFINITELY better than having to read it, especially from a student anthology as I did when I was an undergrad.

A website called BAM! Radio is a home to podcasts devoted to educational programming. You can discover content related to all things educational already neatly organized for your listening pleasure. Popular programs like K-12 Greatest Hits and Ed Tech Chat are at your fingertips on this website. Bookmark this website and let BAM! Radio curate the content for you.

Teachercast.net is another website that advertises itself as "teachers helping teachers" that also has links to podcasts and videos that provide professional development on your time. There's also an app that you can download to your iPhone or Android smart phone, although I haven't done that myself. I'd love to hear from readers who have though!

Ideas for the Classroom and the Library

A quick Google search will lead you to discover ways you can incorporate podcasting into your classroom, but here are just a few of the ways I think teachers and librarians could use podcasts as a way for students to show evidence of learning in a fun, engaging manner:

• Reader's Theatre
• Book Reviews
• Literary Analysis
• Literature Circles
• Interviews
• Poetry Jams
• Science Logs
• Weekly Classroom News
• Student Op-Ed Writing

Starting Places

Reading Rockets has a great beginner's guide to getting started with podcasts in the classroom. Find it here. Click here for a Learners Edge blog post that has links to podcasts for teachers and students alike that you might also find helpful.

Do you have some favorite podcast lessons and activities that you'd like to share? Feel free to post the link to them in the comment section below.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews from Life Between the Covers

Comic Creation Sites and Uses

I'm constantly amazed that people exist who create wonderful, FREE websites that make it seem as if I am creatively inclined! I'd like to send them a hearty thank you for all their hard work.

This week I'm evaluating websites that allow the user to create their own comics. Each of them has a free version but subscriptions are available for 2 of the 3 in today's post.

MakeBeliefsComix

MakeBeliefsComix is a free computer website that also has a free app that can be downloaded to your iPad, ad-free, for $1.99. I found this website quite easy to use, but if you want loads of options, this is not the website for you. Since I myself am overwhelmed by options, I loved it! I thought it would be a fun way to teach students about onomotapeia and this is the comic I created using it:


There are plenty of playful character images to choose from, each with 3 or 4 poses to use, depending on the mood of the comic you're creating. The only downfall of this website is that there are advertisements on each page, which may be a problem when using them in the classroom, but the positives outweigh the negatives. Not only can students and teachers make their own comic strips, but there are literally hundreds of free printables to use with students as well, and what teacher doesn't love free? The categories include writing prompts, holidays, ESL, science, history, reading, and more. Click here to explore those printables.

ToonDoo

ToonDoo is a login website that allows you to make your own comics for free. You can create a free account that allows you access your creative capabilities and create comics with up to 4 panels for free, and also allows you to access comics created by other users. This is a site for adults and is not monitored for child-friendly content, so you may not be able to access it on your district's network. However, you can screenshot your comics and use them in presentations and slideshows. Also, ToonDoo users can publish their comics for others to redo for personal use, so if you want a head start, that's another option available.

For my comic I chose to create a reference interview. What do you think? Not bad, eh?

Pixton

Pixton is another online comic creator site. I found this one the most challenging to use, but it also has the most options available to the user. You can rotate the images, move their limbs, redesign their outfits, and much, much more. However, the manipulation of the characters and props within each frame is not terribly straightforward like it is with ToonDoo and MakeBeliefsComics. Now I don't know about you, but I like to use web tools that I can figure out on my own. So I found my experience with this one to be the least satisfactory. But if you are willing to read through the many help pages available on the website, you will find there are many uses for this program. Here is my modest comic that illustrates a reader's advisory interview. 

Something I didn't explore in depth are the many templates available for educators, but there are literally hundreds. This is an example of a character map template for Scout from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, so clearly, there are numerous applications for Pixton in the classroom. Can you imagine the level of engagement ou'd see in the classroom when teaching students character analysis in this manner?

Using Comic Creator Tools in the Classroom

So how can you use these sites in your own classroom? Below are a few ideas to get you started:

• Vocabulary-Evidence of Learning
• Literary Analysis
• Open House and Back-to-School Night
• PTA Presentations
• Character Education
• Writing Prompts
• Sequencing Lessons

So next time you sit down to create a standard slide show for a lesson or for meet the teacher night, try something new and insert a customized comic to bring your lesson to life!

Videos and QR Codes in the Library

This week's post examines how some libraries have used videos and YouTube for instruction and promotion. When I began my library science graduate program, I knew I was going to have to learn some new technologies. And I have. But not in the way I anticipated! I thought I would have to create a database and of course, I knew I'd have to learn cataloging. I did NOT anticipate learning how to use social media and web 2.0 tools as part of my master's program! But I'm so glad it is!

Add caption

One exciting way to use videos in the library is to create book trailers for titles you want to promote. One of the most interesting nonfiction titles I've read this past year is by Susan Bartoletti called Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. Read the synopsis of this fascinating but chilling study of how peer pressure and propaganda were used in WWII Germany here.

I created a book trailer of Hitler Youth in Animoto, which offers free accounts for educators. It's really easy to use and there's a bonus: educators can create 2 minute videos to use in the classroom free of charge! You will have to renew your membership every year, but that's a very small inconvenience.





To see my video on YouTube, capture my QR Code here.






Want to see how librarians across the country are using videos in their libraries? Just scroll on down. There's a wealth of creativity out there!

Norman High School

Norman High School's video channel offers a good selection of instructional and promotional library videos which demonstrate how librarians can use YouTube in their libraries. The first video is a screencast which explains how to use the EBSCO databases for research. The idea is great, which is why I included it in my examples; however, the display is small and hard to read. Which brings to light what librarians should avoid when creating screencasts.

But students are sure to enjoy this playful video of the school mascot navigating the library. And it could also be used to introduce new students to some of the areas of the library in a clever manner.



The Unquiet Library

The Unquiet Library channel has a wealth of examples that show how a librarian can use videos to provide instruction. I had a hard time choosing a favorite, but I think the screencast that teaches students how to search and use Wikimedia Commons images is extremely valuable. The librarian does an excellent job of explaining how to find copyright friendly images, which is a critical element for research and informational literacy instruction.

I also enjoyed the video of the library going to the students in the cafeteria. It's such a great idea!







Pikesville High School

 

Pikesville HS has literally dozens of videos on their channel. One is quite helpful for registration but my favorite is one students made with the librarian to honor hip-hop music for Black History Month. This is a seriously FUN librarian!










Check her out in this video....









Bonnie Branch Middle School



This channel features many student created videos that are terrific examples of how students can create videos as evidence of learning and also how videos can engage students in the library program.

Instagram, Flipagram, and Screencasts-Tools to Increase Student Engagement and Improve Technology Instruction

 March 12, 2017

Instagram at school? Why yes, yes indeed!

I'm going to admit it, I've never been one to share images on Instagram. I've had an account for years and when I had to use my account to explore this topic, I was chagrined to find I have only about 60 photos posted to it. I can honestly say I've never given a thought to using it in the classroom, perhaps because I teach 3rd grade. I certainly am beginning to see that it has a definite use as a proof of learning tool in the classroom and in a school library.

Ideas to use Instagram in the school library:

• Create a school library account for students and parents alike to follow.
• Post pictures of library events such as guest readers and author visits to your account.
• Students can post their MakerSpaces creations to the school account.
• School activities like book clubs or poetry jams. 
• Feature a reader of the week.
• Share book reviews 
• Create memes about a book or book character using photos of themselves.

If you want to add text to the photos, there's are many free options available on the Apple App Store or in Google Play for Android. I used one called Font from Apple's App Store for this photo. I love the font and I did this all from my phone. I had to rotate the picture by pinching and turning, which explains why it looks unlevel. You'd have to play around with the apps you think work best or make a few choices available on the device.

Now you wouldn't want to allow students unfettered access to your Instagram account. Just let them use the library devices to take photos of the activity and then you can upload the photos yourself (you wouldn't want to allow students to upload directly to the school account😱!!)

Flipagram-Make those photos into instant slide shows.

Now this is a tool I can definitely see a use for in the classroom. I remember using Animoto a few years back and it seemed like a lot of work for a 15 second video, even if it was free. Flipagram makes it easy to create slide shows using your devices existing photos as well as live videos that can be shared. But the best part? Adding your own music of course! I used these pictures of my students with their baby pictures and added Happy by Pharell to make it more fun. It was SO easy and free too! This would be a wonderful digital storytelling tool to use in the library.

https://flipagram.com/f/15OUH6EujDL/embed

Screencasts

Have you ever wondered how people make those computer tutorial videos? I always have and never realized how easy it is! I made a screen cast using Jing, which is also a great tool for saving screen shots. I shared an infographic I made last week in Canva, so this week I thought I'd make a little instructional screen cast about how to use Canva. There are other tools, like ScreenCast-Omatic, which I know is also very popular.

Using screencasts to present instruction is a standard form of instruction for online content. But it can also be a useful tool to share instructions for students. I use Google Classroom for my 3rd grade students and if I'd known how easy make a screencast actually was, I'd have made them for my 3rd graders long ago. I think I would have saved myself a lot of frustration when it comes to giving instructions about technology!

Here's my screencast about how to find the online resources on the Arlington ISD website.

I hope you have some fun incorporating these tools into your library and classroom instruction!

References

Hudson, H. (2014, August 7). 10 Surprising Ways to Use Instagram in the Classroom - WeAreTeachers. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/10-surprising-ways-to-use-instagram-in-the-classroom-2/

Moore, A. (2012, June 7). Using Instagram in the classroom. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/fvbrbbznr7ee/using-instagram-in-the-classroom/

Social Media Survey and Infographic

I am collecting some data regarding social media for an infographic assignment. If you could find the time to complete the survey, I would really appreciate it!

Social Media Usage Survey

Update to Social Media Usage Survey and Infographic

Wow, I was so excited to see that so many people participated in my survey regarding social media sites. Thank you to all my followers who responded to my survey.

I used an excellent infographic website, Canva, to summarize the data I collected in an eye-catching way. It was so easy! Canva provides a wide selection of free templates and layouts, you just need to choose the layout that best suits your needs then input the information you want to share.

I chose to use the "Donation Charity" template because I liked the colors, fonts, and layout. Rather than use a graph to display the data from my survey, I chose to summarize it more informally. I wanted to explore the reasons most people use social media, but I lack experience in survey design, so I think my results were a little skewed, at least in a scientific, empirical sense. I also used the free version of Survey Monkey, which lacks some of the disaggregation capabilities the pro version provides. But for the purpose of this task, I think I gained some valuable experience. Here's the final product.

Last semester I used Wix.com to create a website for both of my grad school courses and it was surprisingly easy. My experience using Canva was very similar to creating my website on Wix. There are an abundance of free templates and layouts available. You can create customized announcements, presentations, menus, flyers, invitations, blog graphics, banners, ads and more. The company also provides many resources for design professionals and novices alike, as well as an online design school with an interactive online design course, teacher lesson plans, and free tutorials intended to "increase the world's visual literacy". To find out more about Canva's Design School, click here to get the information straight from the source!

For myself, I think Canva's ease of usability and eye-catching designs make it a premier infographic tool. I highly recommend it for those new to online design like myself.

Organizing My Favorite Blogs

Many moons ago, I served as a campus technology liason for a year. During the summer professional development, I learned about RSS feeds to organize blogs and how to use Google Reader as a easy method of accessing their content and loved how easy it became to follow my favorite bloggers. But my brief stint as a tech liason didn't prepare me to do much beyond train the teachers to use the new grading program our district rolled out that year. When Google discontinued Reader, I was way into Pinterest (which I still love!) and didn't feel the need to replace it with anything else.

Now that I'm working on my graduate degree in Library Science, blogs have taken on a new importance for me. Teachers work with many other teachers but schools usually have only one library media specialist. If we want to collaborate or connect with other librarians, we must join and participate in the online community of other library specialists, often referred to as the "blogosphere". Fortunately, there are many options for feed readers that can keep my favorite blogs organized.

I chose Feedly because it has a free option as well as an iOS app that automatically syncs with my account, so I can access my favorite blogs on my laptop and in the waiting room, even on my phone when I go to bed. There was no learning curve involved in setting it up, all I had to do was input some keywords or names I wanted to follow, and received immediate, relevant results.

The experience of actually reading specific posts is also simplified. I am easily distracted by a lot of graphics when I read, so I appreciate that the feed is clean and simplified. On my phone I am able to swipe through the posts just as if I'm reading the newspaper on my phone, which allows me to focus on the content, not the graphics.

These are some of my favorite blogs and bloggers. You can also find them and more on my Feedly page. I'd love it if you shared your favorites in the comment section of my blog.

The Daring Librarian
http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/     


Gwyneth Jones is a frequent speaker on educational technology and has an award-winning blog. If you're interested in bringing technology into your library in new and exciting ways, her blog is a valuable resource.



Teen Librarian Toolbox
http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/about-tlt/

TLT is part of the School Library Journal blog network and is a great place to go for professional development and resources for your middle school and high school library.

Heart of the School 
http://heartoftheschool.edublogs.org/

The blogosphere allows librarians to connect quickly and easily with teacher librarians, no matter where they are located. Caroline Roche is a librarian from the U.K. and began this website to highlight best practices in UK school libraries.

The Adventures of Library Girl
http://www.librarygirl.net/ 

Jennifer LaGarde is a frequent blogger with a terrific sense of fun. She's also a digital learning and teaching specialist and a regular presenter frequent speaker. Her blog is a wonderful reference for librarians with questions about incorporating technology into their curriculum.

Library as Makerspace
http://librarymakerspace.blogspot.com/

This blog has many contributors, but I love that it focuses on developing Makerspaces in the library. Many bloggers post about Makerspaces, but that is the main focus in the blog. It's not centered around school libraries, but there are a wealth of ideas available here.

The Nerdy Book Club
https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/

The Nerdy Book Club is wonderful place to find inspiration for librarians who want to up their game when it comes to integrating new tools and strategies when incorporating literature into their library lessons. The posts are organized like a Pinterest board as well, which makes the page especially accessible for visual learners.

Tumblr is also a good place to follow leaders in information science and librarianship. Here's the link to my Tumblr feed: https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard