Transmedia as a new method of telling stories

A library media specialist describes her experience of using technology to engage students in reading and writing. As a teaching method, Laura Fleming uses transmedia, the way to tell stories across multiple platforms. In her blog, she offers an example in which a story is told using text, sound, images, and games and students become active participants.Laura Fleming also provides resources to help teachers use transmedia storytelling in their own classrooms (Edutopia - http://www.edutopia.org/blog/transmedia-digital-media-storytelling-laura-fleming).

Search Engines and Tech Cafe

We know that the Internet changes every day. It became even more obvious to me this summer when I worked on an Internet course created in 2008. Five lessons are devoted to search engines and basic and advanced options to make searches effective. In reality, the Internet engineers fine-tune their products  to the users' demands very fast and Google is the prime engine that works all wonders. We don't see if other algorithms have any advantages over the one developed by the Google engineers. Some people like Yahoo but the reason is political rather than technical.  

At Web Cafe, we shared that  students use only Google. "There is no way to change their mind to try something else", was said at the gathering today. This is true that teachers'  first choice is Google too.

However, Google changes too. Last year Michaela and I were proud to demonstrate Google Wonder Wheel that helped students to be more specific on their search. Google Squared was helpful too. I thought  I was ready to show these options in a High School class last week until I learned that WOnder Wheel is any longer available and Google Squared will be seased in a couple of weeks! (Any use of  technology must be tried at least a day before the class - good that I was prepared!).  

Having an option of seeing a concept map (Wonder Wheel) was very helpful but it didn't disappeared . Google has improved its search by building the function in their search line. It directs  the user's search at the time we put our keywords in.  We can use  Bing with its list of related searches on the left side menu or DuckDuckGo that provides search ideas to clarify the search.  But do we really need to?

Google Timeline is helpful. Besides, have you seen the results of an attempt to serve users with different reading levels in Google? Have a look: on the left side menu, click "More Search Tools" and you will see Reading Level (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced).  It doesn't mean that the sites that are listed as Basic are good for Elementary but the language is not as hard as the language of the articles under Advanced are.  

   

Next Web Cafe gathering will be next Friday, September 2. Orlee will lead a discussion on Smartboards.

The Era of Digital Skills

The article '''Google effect' leads to changes in memory" (eSchool News, July 21, 2011) makes an emphases that the internet users are becoming more sophisticated in searching for information rather than memorizing it. They recollect where, when and how information was found rather than facts themselves. 'Google effect' leads human memory work in a way that psychologists call "transactive memory".

The article awoke two questions I would like to reflect on.  How do people use their memory and what is the role of school library information and media specialists in this situation?

 After having read a number of books on postmodernism and education in the new era helping my daughter work on her paper on philosophy of education this summer, I argue that Modern Times past and the 'Era of Memorization' left together  with it. According to a number of educators of our days, "knowledge is the product of an interaction between our ideas about the world and our experience of the world" (Cleve Beck). As the Internet is an essential part of nowadays environment, in order to gain knowledge  we cannot ignore it but rather include it into the area where we active and have experience.

In the environment that continually alters and new records overwrite the ones that were just recently found, memorization looses any sense. Users long to know what to do with the flow of information and how to operate with data.

The Internet has replaced mass media and become the place where everyone goes to read the news. From our everyday experience we, educators, know that students treat the Internet as the main reference source as well. They 'Google' to get the most recent information. Search engines find what we need quickly and easily by the key words we use.  It's easy but... The users face some problems. One of them is to identify which information is accurate and valid. Another one is to give credits to authors of the content found in various sources.  

What is the role of school library information and media specialists in this situation?

Librarians play a role of mentors who pass on "enduring interests" (Dewey) or "tentative frameworks" (Charles Taylor) as universalities common for all cultures are called in philosophical language. Digital universalities are among them.  Instead of remembering facts found in books and/or online, students need to know how to find and use updated information. These skills or competences should be practiced and adjusted depending to new tools and gadgets found online. We, librarians, call these skills information fluency that provides continuity of the Information and Digital culture. These skills develop as students grow and don't depend on what platform and gadgets are used. Students are off on the journey and increase their expertise while practice.  Educators offer them their sound judgment and critical thinking skills. We claim to be skillful mentors.

In fact, we can use our expertise and experience to prove our role being mentors. However, we learn along with our students.

Librarians are qualified specialists in the area of information but our qualifications should be upgraded constantly. Otherwise, we cannot ask questions to make students think critically, we won't be able to present what digital tools can do and lead the students in their research process. Along with the tribe of information users we go per aspera ad astra and choose pearls in a zillion of links.

Information and media specialists lead their patrons thought digital sources and draw their attention on what works well, what needs some improvement, and what should be changed completely.

Thanks to well elaborated algorithms search engines retrieve documents as a response to key words users try. The better our students understand this mechanism the better the results of their searches will be. Is there any reason to use more than one search engine? Why would Tekmom or Boolify work better than Google?! We have to practice together.

Besides training students to locate information, librarians show them the importance of identifying if the find is a boon. Information and media specialists provide exercises  on evaluation of information, organization of the results, their  use and building a new knowledge.   

Librarians organize information and show a variety of ways to others how to find what they need in print on library shelves and in digital format on line. Same skills students will use to organize information and products on their laptop, school drive, or a virtual place later during the school year and in their future life. Seeing us doing it and practicing new skills, students organize titles of books read during the year, links found in the Internet, images, videos, media presentations, and traditional papers on their computers or online.

Students learn to respect rights of others and how to protect their own rights as creators of new content and forms. We talk about the importance of citing sources and compiling of bibliography, how to paraphrase and create their products original. Librarians show students where to find free images and videos, license their products in Creative Commons.  

We discuss issues regarding students' image online and keeping a good name when they communicate on a social networking. Librarians lead a discussion whether cyber space is different from a physical environment and how to stay safe online. Username and strong passwords are one of the everyday issues our students face and need good advice. Staying alert because of business desiring to learn their tastes and preferences  to sell their products to young adults, their fast growing clients.

Services for teachers:

Teachers, we are your sojourners. We are eager to join any of the projects you work on. We are your hands and legs. We are looking forward to pulling resources that your students will use, organizing a virtual place where you and students will work on a project, thinking together on assessments and final products, helping you create a rubric, delivering a lesson or paying a series of visits to your class to explain how to... (any of the topics talked through above). 

You and your students are welcome in the library or we can come to your class to show resources, databases and talk about plagiarism.

Librarians are a liaison between information and those who uses it.

We pursue student competence in research and study skills that develop greatly when integrated into classroom instruction. We tailor information skills to the instruction, assist students and teachers in using library resources and technology tools.

Librarians are specialists who turn the chaos into collections and encourage new generation reach the stars. This is my invitation to students and teachers to a journey to new places we don't know yet. Take me along!

Reference:

Clive Beck. Postmodernism, Pedagogy, and Philosophy of Education http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/eps/PES-Yearbook/93_docs/BECK.HTM

Reading Is Fun

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) raises a question that parents are often puzzled: why their children don't like to read. The article Children Who Like to Read, But Don't...  defines some reasons why kids can be hesitant readers and describes what techniques don't work. The author equips the adults with 20 ways to encourage children to read.

The News Industry

(Economist. Jul 7th 2011 | from the print edition)

 "The internet has turned the news industry upside down, making it more participatory, social, diverse and partisan—as it used to be before the arrival of the mass media, says Tom Standage" read Bulletins from the Future in Economist.com

Creative Commons

Public use of pictures:
Flickr Creative Commons - many people open their photos for public use. They license their pictures in Creative Commons under "Attribution - Non Commercial/No Derivatives License". Read more about different kinds of licenses in http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/

Are you confused: copyright and fair use.

Who doesn't use texts that include audio, video, and digital materials? How should we teach our students to use media legally? Do we ourselves demonstrate the appropriate way of including pictures and YouTube movies into our presentation?

Copyright and fair use are serious topics that we, the 21st century educators, want to understand and explain our students. To know what exactly is happening in this area is the task of librarians. We need to clearly understand what copyright and fair use are because in other way we are no help to the teachers, we cannot show students how to deal with the media properly, we don't want to share our works or come up with our own rules that are much more strict than the real ones and again, we limit our productiveness and effectiveness.

Renee Hobbs (School of Communications and Theater Temple University) clarifies on fair use and copyright issues:

• Copyright Clarity: How Fair Use Supports Digital Learning
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education
• Copyright Clarity: How Fair Use Supports Digital Learning