Beyond method 12

I enjoyed learning about some new tools and seeing some tools that I already use in a different light.  Some tools that I haven't previously used but plan to start using are flickr, screenr and the home page technologies.  It was refreshing to receive training that is pertinent to what I am doing.  I really liked the format and the independent nature of the work.  The videos and examples of what other libraries are doing were very valuable to me and gave me ideas of things that I can change in my work.  I would definitely recommend these courses to others and would participate in more myself.

beyond method 11

I use Surveymonkey in my library.  I've used it to poll the school faculty about materials and services that I offer.  I've also used it with students at the end of my summer program to get some feedback on what they liked/ didn't like or would like to have so that I can tweak my programming for next year.  In a recent workshop, I heard about another online survey through Googledocs, which I am going to try.  One challenge that I have had with Surveymonkey has been the 10 question limit, which will not be an issue with Googledocs.  I would like to find a way to create a survey which the students can use to do their book reviews, the problem that I am having is where to place the link for them to use and finding a way to publish each review in a way that other students can read and use them.  This will be a project that I will focus on this school year.  I am including the survey that I created for my summer library program.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7NYYFTG

Beyond method 10

Although I haven't set up one or used it myself, I have "attended" classes and meetings through webinars.  I really like this method of meetings because it saves me from having to travel to those places and the webinar format allows more people to get the information at one time.  I don't think that I will be using this in my library, as I really can't think of a need for it with elementary age children, beyond maybe a virtual author visit.  As with many of the other tools that I've experienced through this course, its great but finding the time when I am the only person working in the library is one of the biggest challenges. Unfortunately/fortunately for me I found out today that as a chair of a new school committee, I will be expected to host webinars.

beyond method 9

I really like this tool, I use animoto throughout the school year to introduce new books to my students.  The challenge that I find with it is the character limit in the writing space.  The rest of the storytelling went pretty smoothly because I planned it out ahead of time with a rough storyboard.  Having the images already lined up was a big plus.  One drawback is the editing process, but it went smoothly overall.  I created a video of my summer library program.



Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

beyond method 8

I used Screenr to create a screen cast of an author search.  The process was fairly easy.  I could see this as being a useful tool to remind students of processes that they might not use all of the time.

beyond method 7

Having not used any of the presentation tools, I chose sliderocket to upload a powerpoint that I use at the beginning of the school year.  I've included it here:

<iframe src="http://app.sliderocket.com:80/app/fullplayer.aspx?id=5fae4e60-245d-40d9-ade8-0a1949b452e7" width="500" height="401" scrolling=no frameBorder="0"></iframe>

I found it pretty easy to use, it was very similar to power point.  I think that I could use some of these tools in my lesson presentations.  I have also used glogster, which is an interactive poster tool.

beyond method 6

Using Project Gutenberg, I chose the following book to look at:


http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1400/1400-h/1400-h.htm

I found this site easy to use.  I think that my students would find the site easy to use, but not many of them would really have a use for it.  Most of my students come from low income families, who don't have computers at home much less e-readers.  I feel that if they wanted to search this site for books that I would be able to help them.  I would use this site personally if I had an E-reader, but even though the HTML version was easy to read, I don't enjoy reading on the computer.


Ereaders have become a hot topic in my district and some of the libraries have purchased ebooks, I'm just not ready to make this leap with so few students owning Ereaders.