Flip Video

Our newest “toy”(http://www.theflip.com/) arrived Tuesday afternoon, so did not get to play with it much before the end of the school day.  The other media specialist at my school took it home to play with over the holiday, so I’ll have to share my thoughts on it next week.

I had first heard about this digital video camera through a social studies teacher at my school who had met someone at a conference who was using it with his students to videotape interviews with World War II veterans.  Fran A (my social studies teacher) was so impressed with the quality of this teacher’s work that she suggested we invest in one.

After a little research and talking with John Woodring (http://teacherbytes.blogspot.com/) who had purchased one for his wife, we took the plunge.  Can’t wait to play with it and share some videos.

I Want One of Those!

Okay, I am a product of the 1950’s, so I have been around quite awhile.  I’m now working on my second Master’s degree (this one in Library and Information Science) so have listened to thousands of lectures and taken countless pages of notes.  Now, a company is coming out with something that I could have used 30+ years ago, but thankfully will be able to use as I continue on this degree. 

http://www.livescribe.com/sneakpeek/index.html

The Smart Pen will be awesome.  Take a peek at what it will be capable of doing.

Livescribe has an innovative idea.  Let’s hope that the theory becomes the application they promise.

Poster Presentations

We presented our posters in a library and information science class yesterday.  My group’s topic was “Using Social Tools to Make Your School Library Cool.”  We focused on blogs, wikis, and podcasting.  Each can serve to involve students with information services in our schools.

Joyce Valenza’s article in the April 2007 issue of Information Today (http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200704tag_team_tech.pdf) was an inspiration to me!  If we as educators use the tools that students are most comfortable with, they will more than willingly try to learn something new. 

Of course, there are stumbling blocks.  Schools often block sites that educators would need to use for blogs and wikis.  But even the National School Boards Association has recommended that the power of social networking be harnessed for educational purposes.  (See their report – which has interesting statistics – at http://nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf ).

“The times, they are a’changing”

I am part of a system that is broken and ineffective.  This is not to say that all of the partipants in the system are ineffective, but the system itself is.  This thought-provoking video makes me question what we teachers are doing.  Where do we go from here?

How can we change if no one takes responsibility and shows us how to change and gives us the financial means we need to change in order to be effective?

Voice Thread

Another toy to play with!  After reading a post on Bridget Belardi’s Cybrary Cite, I decided to check out VoiceThread.  This user friendly site is a great digital storytelling tool. Easy to follow directions can have even Web 2.0 newbies like me creating lasting stories in just minutes.

You simply upload photos and then tell your story either orally, by recording your voice, or textually, by typing in your text.  There’s even a doodle tool that I haven’t played with yet. 

The possibilities for educators are endless!  I want to begin simply and create some YA booktalks to share with my students.  Browsing around some of the threads posted by others, I saw lessons being taught, book reviews being shared, and history being recorded.  This site is worth a look.

Here’s a lesson that relies on text and a voice over:  Adding and Subtracting Matrices