Technology Project 5: Individual Technology Project - Capturing a Screen Image Tutorial

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Unit 10 - Conclusion

Questions:

Select one (1) of the following topics for your final journal entry:

1. At the beginning of this course, you were asked to assess your present strengths and weaknesses in technology. Has your assessment changed? If so, how?
2. How do you plan to keep up with new innovations in technology once you have completed your classes at UNT?
3. What specific plans do you have for implementing technology in an educational setting as a result of what you have learned in 5720?

As I stated in my initial blog, the fact that I’m extremely energized about all types of technology is one of my strengths. That attribute remains unchanged. A position in my middle school library as an educator of technology and information management continues to be my goal. My weakness regarding the lack of sufficient time to integrate the different types of technology in which I’m interested remains unchanged for now. Failing to design lesson plans which allow time for the students to be more involved in the type of student-led learning which utilizes cutting edge technology does as well. However, in just a few short, short weeks, the kiddos will return to the classroom and the transformation will begin.

My goal for the approaching school year is to integrate many of the great technology tools to which I’ve been exposed during the SLIS 5720 course. For example, the requirement of utilizing a presentation tool other than PowerPoint for the first technology project forced me to learn about Google Docs Presentations. In looking at the Google Docs tools for the presentation, I found the vast array of tools which GD offers. To be honest, my life will never be the same! I’ve already utilized Google Docs Spreadsheets for organizing 6^th grade team detention schedules for seven of my middle school colleagues. I plan to replace the user-unfriendly website tool for our 6^th grade team with a wiki; I can’t wait! I’m setting up a Google Calendar to replace the print one that we always hoped the kids would take home to their parents. I spoke with another tech-friendly colleague about linking podcasts of our Open Team Meetings to the team wikis. I started a list (on Google Docs, of course) of science tutorial screencasts which the students and I can produce and link to our classroom wiki.

In addition, don’t even get me started about how I’ve utilized Google Docs for my daughter’s wedding! GD literally saved the wedding planning from undue stress! My Chicago-based daughter and I actually revised an important document together in “real time” using GD Documents. I reside in Dallas.

The list goes on and on and on…I’m hooked!

Unit 8 - The Job of Organizing

Assignment:

Organizing books and materials used to be in the domain of professionally trained catalogers and indexers. Now, through Web 2.0, it is in the hands of everyday "folk." What are the implications of this trend for librarians? Also, for additional food for thought, go to your Delicious site and examine your list of tags. In your opinion, are these tags more or less helpful than traditional subject headings?

I agree with Casey who states, “(d)esigners of library catalogs often make the mistake of asking librarians what features are most important to library users, when in fact librarians have fundamentally different needs than the vast majority of end users…what customers really want[ed] [i]s relevancy ranking of results” (Courtney, 2007, p. 15). Just as catalog designers were slow to respond to what library patrons desired regarding ranking of results, many catalogers and indexers do not agree that library patrons’ need to take more ownership in how information is accessed. For example, although many of today’s end users intuitively search with natural language, many catalogs do not operate in that manner. Neither do they offer spell check. Casey lists several additional necessary ingredients for “Catalog 2.0” including a choice of search options such as title, author and title keyword; browsing by category; advanced search options, links to professional/customer-written reviews and blogs as well as user-added tags (Courtney, 2007, pp. 18-20).

With the advent of Web 2.0, users expect the web to be a two-way connection, one of interconnectivity and collaboration, offering user-created content in a rapidly changing environment. Allowing the end-user to contribute to tagging information and resources helps to satisfy this end-user expectation. For example, if only traditional subject headings were allowed, the tags for the website “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – Underwater Location in Google Earth” would most likely not include “collaboration,” “problem solving skills,” “journaling,” and “education.” However, as a 6^th grade science educator, I realize the significance of relating these terms to that particular website. Obviously, catalogers and indexers cannot thoroughly read nor explore every print/digital information item/resource. In my opinion, end-users who actually utilize the information item/resource are just as knowledgeable of the subject matter and capable of assigning tags as the professionals, if not more so. The idea of the “expert” librarian who solely determines the points of access for today’s information is about as current as 8-tracks and cassette tapes. In today’s information environment, it’s the network of individuals working separately, yet as a whole entity, to collaboratively contribute to Web 2.0 content that puts the “2.0” into “Web 2.0.”

Unit 7 - The Machine is Us/Using Us

Question:

The title of the video that you were asked to view this week is "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/Using Us." Referencing what you have learned about Web 2.0 through the readings in the Courtney text and through watching the video, why do you think that Professor Wesch gave this title to the video?

Similar to any machine, the computer, the Internet, and Web 2.0 are devices which humans utilize for a multitude of purposes. From early time, humans have used devices or tools in an attempt to improve their existence. Tools may be physical objects which are utilized to help humans or even replace them to accomplish work of some sort. Tools may also be a process which provides assistance. In the Stone Age, early man/woman used a rock as a tool when put in the position of predator or prey. During the Agricultural Era, man/woman employed a hoe to help grow crops rather than relying on gathering wild plants. Beginning in the Industrial Era, the assembly line process greatly enhanced production of materials. In the mid twentieth century, man/woman initially relied heavily on the computer itself to complete complicated and/or massive computations much more quickly than the human mind could do so. Computers stored large volumes of data as well. Eventually, computer-driven robots were programmed to accomplish repetitive, dangerous, and/or delicate tasks. In this manner, the physical aspect of the human was replaced in some cases.

As the computer evolved and the Internet and web tools were created, the gateway to information burst open; the Information Era was born. The knowledge of how to access, evaluate, retrieve, and apply information became a marketable entity. The computer was no longer utilized to simply compute and store data. Websites were established; information was available for anyone, anywhere, anytime as long as one had a computer and Internet access. The Internet replaced information resources such as textbooks, bulletin boards, newspapers, billboards, etc. Like its predecessors, delivery of information on the Internet was useful, but static.

Today, the computer is used in almost every form of communication. In most cultures, the computer, the Internet, and Web 2.0 are essential tools for a viable existence in the 21^st century. With the onset of Web 2.0 tools, the Internet experience is more collaborative, interactive, engaging, innovative, and current. The ownership of the Internet experience no longer belongs to a minority of individuals. As Stephen Abram states in Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and Tomorrow’s User, “Web 2.0 is all the websites out there that get their value from the actions of users” (Courtney, 2007, p. 119). Courtney also mentions “(t)he evolution of the web, from passing static text only in 1995 to graphical, dynamic web content and mashups, is becoming more and more interactive to engage users and involve them in the process of using and creating information” (2007, p. 119). Who is the audience? We are the audience. Who is the creator? We are the creators.

In the YouTube video “Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/Using Us," Michael Wesch states that everyone is connected. However, because form and content on the web are no longer connected together, more individuals are able to participate; no special knowledge or training is necessary to create and produce content on the web. He also mentions that not only are humans helping machines to organize data, but machines are using logarithms to organize data in concert with humans. As Kevin Kelly proclaims in the title of his 2005 Wired Magazine article, “We are the Web.” According to Kelly, the Web is a:

planet-sized computer…comparable in complexity to a human brain. Both the brain and the Web have hundreds of billions of neurons (or Web pages). Each biological neuron sprouts synaptic links to thousands of other neurons, while each Web page branches into dozens of hyperlinks. That adds up to a trillion "synapses" between the static pages on the Web. The human brain has about 100 times that number - but brains are not doubling in size every few years. The Machine is.

Kelly also states:

What will most surprise us is how dependent we will be on what the Machine knows - about us and about what we want to know. We already find it easier to Google something a second or third time rather than remember it ourselves. The more we teach this megacomputer, the more it will assume responsibility for our knowing. It will become our memory. Then it will become our identity.

Machine…human,
Human…machine,
Machine and human…human and machine.
We are but one…

Unit 5 - Handheld Devices

Assignment:

Your technology director has given you a budget of $10,000 for the purchase of handheld devices in your library. Using the prices in Chapter 5 of Courtney as a general guideline, what would you purchase and why?

This theoretical library serves a middle school which consists of 1000 students in grades seven and eight. Each grade includes five teams of students (100/team). Each team has four core teachers, with elective teachers serving both grades. The budget of $10,000 for the purchase of handheld devices in the library is outlined below. Unless otherwise noted, all prices utilized are averages of those prices listed in Courtney (2007), chapter 5.

Eighteen MP3 Players ($150) for a total of $2700 will be purchased for use as fiction and non-fiction audiobooks for all subject areas. The MP3 Players will be utilized for podcasts in science, social studies, and language arts as well. They will be employed in the music and drama departments for music audio. Six Ebook Readers ($400) for a total of $2400 will be acquired to provide access to fiction/nonfiction books for all subject areas. Three Portable Media Players ($450) for a total of $1350 will be obtained to deliver videos for all subject areas.

Three Portable Gaming Devices ($175) for a total of $525 will be attained for use in math and language arts classroom for video games to reinforce math facts and vocabulary. All subject areas will use the portable gaming devices for web browsers as well. The audio/video capabilities will be utilized for student presentations in all subject areas, especially music and drama. Two Tablet PCs ($1500) for a total of $3000 will be bought to be used to record data in science class for class/field labs. Families who do not have computers at home will be able to check out tablet PCs for student use to produce word documents, presentations, spreadsheets, etc. The total amount for the purchases is $9975.

Cell Phones, Feature Phones, and Smart Phones were not included due to the cost of cellular networks. Many students have cell phones which may be utilized in the classroom for interactive polls and other multiple choice forms of assessment. PDAs were excluded because of the stylus form of input. Middle school students prefer keyboard and/or mouse formats to the stylus format. UMPCs were disqualified as they are reported to have “kinks” at this time. The purchase of Internet Tablets was excluded since may of its capabilities were offered by more versatile, less expensive types of devices.

Technology Project 1: Instructional Strategy - Problem Solving

Please visit the link below to view the following presentation:

Technology Project 1: Instructional Strategy – Problem Solving

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Unit 1 - Individual Technology Assessment

Question:

As an educator, what are your present strengths and weaknesses in technology? How do you plan to use your strengths? How do you plan to address the weaknesses?

Definitely, one of my technology strengths is the fact that I’m extremely energized about all types of technology. I’ve found that this attribute is not common for my generation; I’ll be 60 in a couple of years.

Unfortunately, many educators are reluctant, or even stubborn, to learn/utilize new technology, even those teachers who are quite a bit younger than I. My response to those individuals is that whether we feel comfortable with new technology and/or think it is a necessary tool or not, it’s here to stay! If we are going to instruct students who are technology natives, then we need to immigrate as quickly and as knowledgably as possible. When an educator is enthusiastic about the technology he/she utilizes for instruction, the learning environment is greatly enhanced for the students. Fortunately, learning/teaching new technologies are two areas in which I am quite passionate!

My ultimate plan is to obtain a position in my middle school library as an educator of technology and information management. (I’ll have to convince my school district first!) As an educator of technology, I would assist teachers in learning technologies new to them, help them become comfortable, and aid in implementing their new technology skills into their lesson plans and classrooms. My mature age should help me to connect with those older generations of teachers who feel like they are too old to learn new technology or who feel that learning/utilizing new technologies are a waste of time. I would focus on teaching new technology to the middle school students as well.

As an information manager, I would educate both teachers and students in the access, retrieval, and evaluation of information. It is amazing how many educators do not know how to handle our current information overload! If teachers were more knowledgeable in the area of information management, then they could better instruct their students.

As far as my weaknesses, I find that I need to work more diligently to schedule sufficient time to integrate the different types of technology in which I’m interested. Another weakness is that I must be more proactive in designing lesson plans which allow time for the students to be more involved in the type of student-led learning which utilizes cutting edge technology.

Therefore, I must first become more adept and comfortable with new technologies, especially those types which lend themselves to student-led instruction. Then, I must schedule sufficient time for the students to become adept and comfortable with the technology prior to the assignment or project. In a perfect world, this issue would not be such a challenge. In a public middle school, this issue can be quite daunting. Nevertheless, I must make it one of my top priorities. Collaborating with other educators who are as interested in implementing new technologies as I should help to reduce the overwhelming hurdle of the time factor.