The Park Bench Library

COMO 2010

2010-10-20T13:14:00.000-04:00

WOW! That one word pretty much summarizes this year's COMO conference in Athens, GA. I am in the process of trying to organize all of the information, tips, and tricks I absorbed while there. It is always amazing to see what professionals in the SLM field are doing with the Web 2.0 tools and various other resources available to them. With any luck, I'll take to heart one thing the amazing Holly Frilot (SLM at Collins Hill HS in Suwanee, GA) suggested, "Try one new thing every month." Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I will post more specifics later. For now, here's a picture of me with author Diane Shore. If you need a great author visit, look no further than Ms. Shore. She brings an authentic dialect and clothing, fun games, and wonderful stories to your school.

TMMC (UGA/ETC) Class - Final Day

2010-07-16T15:04:00.001-04:00

Today is the final day in a week-long technology cram session. I'm so appreciative of the binder the instructors provided and of the notes that I've taken because I know that I will be needing these items once I leave here. There is no possible way I can remember all of the things I have learned. Today's discussions included: projectors, free tools, emerging technology thoughts, and an exercise "Hook Me Up" (hands-on with emerging technologies). The exercise was fantastic since I have not had much if any experience using SMART boards, wireless slates, Promethium software, and ELMO's. I love the SMART touch board technology, however I think the software and slates might make a better solution for programs with tight budgets (as most of have now).

We also looked at Flip video cameras and how they might be used in the classroom. Some interesting ideas included using them for classroom projects, to record classroom productions for later viewing, to create instructional videos for things like "How to Set up your Projector."

My tool/idea box is filling up fast, so look back for more soon.

Tech in the Modern MC (UGA/ETC) Class - Day 4

2010-07-15T16:48:00.000-04:00

Earlier today, I posted a simple podcast using Audacity and Google docs. I found Audacity very easy to work with, and of course, I love Google docs. Anyhow, back to the start of the day...We started the day discussing the GaDOE - GA Standards.org website and the resources offered there. Some of the items that stuck out for me include: Resource & videos, Teacher Tools for Integrating Technology, and Library Media Services.

Then, we moved on to the Learning Village from GaDOE. It looks like a wonderful place for lesson plans and interactives. Some are even available in Spanish. Despite how "cool" this looked, there were a few problems with Learning Village: 1) you need a MyGaDOE login (that must be authorized by your tech person), 2) you can only be logged in at once - so you must do interactives as a class (this is where clickers, interactive whiteboards, promethium, and wireless slates could come in handy), 3) you need to use Internet Explorer or it can get "buggy," and 4) content included is much more thorough for math than other subject areas.

From Learning Village, we moved on to discuss podcasting and iTunes. This is when we created our own sample using Audacity, learned how to edit the sound, and learned how to add these podcasts to our blogs. Podcasts would be a great tool for review sessions, research pathfinders, audio tours of the library, book talks, and storytelling. While I was trying to add my own podcast to this blog, I came upon some issues because Blogger will not let you just add audio - only an image or a video. That's what happens when you use something for free - there are always limitations. Oh well, I found a way around this. I uploaded my .mp3 to my Google docs, and then linked it to my blog through a post. It worked great - just a couple more clicks involved.

Last but not least, we checked out Thinkfinity sponsored by the Verizon Foundation. It is a great resource that pulls information from about 10 sources that offer lesson plans, interactives, videos, podcasts, etc. for teachers and puts them all in one searchable place. These resources can be searched by age group, state standard, subject/content, or media.

Tomorrow will bring even more tech tools...do you think my head could explode from TMI?

Sample Audacity Exercise from Day 4 - TMMC Class

2010-07-15T13:19:00.004-04:00

Click here: Sample Audacity Exercise

Technology in the Modern MC Class - Day 3

2010-07-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

This is my third day of the "Technology in the Modern Media Center" class from UGA/ETC. I was a little concerned at first that this class would be over my head and that my bum would be sore for sitting for hours. However, I've found that while some of the technical information is over my head (and probably always will be), the rest is very intuitive, creative, and useful tools. Overall, I am having a blast learning about all of the latest instructional technology tools available - mostly for free on the web.

During Day 1, we learned about some interesting hardware such as an ELMO projector and classroom clickers for students. We discussed some of the cool aspects of Google, such as google docs, google image search, google sites, google groups, and gmail. We also looked at social bookmarking sites such as Diigo. We learned about blogs and created one in Edublogs. It is not as intuitive as Blogger has been for me. We also learned how to use Wordle and Google Earth. Then, we learned about Google lit trips and a few tips and tricks in Firefox. Besides teaching us about the tools, we are discussing ways in which they might be used within the classroom. I will be working on a list (that I will post later) showing some possibilities.

On Day 2, we had an expert from GALILEO that taught us the various offerings in this collection of databases. One of the best things about GALILEO is that you can reach most of the magazines (especially professional magazines) that you might not be able to afford otherwise. We also continued to explore some of the aspects of the course management site Moodle. We learned a few new tips and tricks for Microsoft Word and we learned about Twitter. We also learned about Web Jogs (similar to Web Quests) and explored one towards the end. Finally, we learned about Netvibes and set up our own pages.

Today, we continued learning about Netvibes. Then, we learned about Voki and created a Voki avatar for our blogs/Netvibes pages. Next, we learned a bit about digital cameras and how to put together a PhotoStory presentation. Our group made a great advertisement for the UGA@Gwinnett Bookstore in PhotoStory, and then uploaded it to the Moodle classroom. Afterwards, we started editing film and creating a video using Windows Movie Maker. We ended the day learning about some of the features of Google docs, and saw a presentation about Professional Development.

Overall, my brain is full, my eyes are tired, and...I'm not sure how much more I can stare at the computer to finish my other projects tonight. I must persevere! Tally ho!

2010-07-07T18:49:00.002-04:00

Exhibition: Tech & Learning

2009-09-30T23:55:00.001-04:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Exhibition: Tech & Learning

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