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POPSWikipedia & the classroom The on-going debate about the use of Wikipedia in the classroom via http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/brian/archives/045541.php. It is very interesting. We are changing how we talk about wikipedia with the students here. We know it is out there and we know students use it. It is much better to understand how it works than to dismiss it all together.
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POPSHow the Wikipedia scanner works We have to teach kids how to properly use Wikipedia. Some teachers do not mind it's use while other's describe it as "the devil." I am slowly moving on the side where it is ok to use as a reference point but not as a source to cite. As one of our history teachers said, "You would not cite World Book, so why would you cite Wikipedia." Exactly! But I do think it is a pretty good resource. There have been tales of how people and companies are creating their own entries and this Wikipedia Scanner helps to assure that those individuals do not create their own biased entries. It's good to see that something is in place so hopefully Wikipedia does not turn into another marketing tool like MySpace and Facebook and Google.
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POPSThe fine line between our public & private lives online Here is another article about how public and private lives are no longer being separated on the web. I have discussions about this all the time with my friends and peers about the etiquette and propriety needed online, especially in a field where so many kids can find you if you are not careful. Our behavior online is so important now because, as I have recently experienced, it is so easy for my students to find me online. I have resorted to putting a lot of things "private" or "friends & family only" and am using a social networking blog site that has privacy options. I also wonder about when or if there will ever be a line between private and public life. It is disappearing. Insurance & employers are penalizing individuals who smoke AT HOME and employers are viewing individuals MySpace or Facebook pages. When does it stop? Will it? When is it viewed as encroaching on individuals rights or lives?
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POPSGreat Tips on Teaching PPT We are in our ppt unit and we have been reworking it every year. Our team leader sent this article over and I thought I would share it. It's great! Hopefully, I will be able to convey this to my students. I'll keep you posted.
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POPSMaking the most of your RSS Reader from RWW I really dig this short article from RRW. These are things I have thought about, like oversubscribing - is it good or bad? Should I use multiple readers or just stick to one. I have 2 accounts one on bloglines and one on google. But sometimes i feel so overwhelmed with all the subscriptions I have that I just sort of stop reading. These are helpful tips and since next year we will be introducing RSS into the curriculum this might be some helpful pointers for students as well.
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POPSCampus Gossip Sites - What to do? "Flaming," "cyberbullying" - call it what you will, but that is what these sites do. There are no ethics in the online world. It seems that who ever created this site, posted to this site, etc - is following the lead of Perez-Hilton, except these people are not famous. This is why you have to teach your kids about how to behave online. What will happen if your kids name is posted? your name?
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POPSOnline Images - Facebook & copyright I am teaching a unit on images and their use for the classroom. I found this really interesting post about how Facebook hijacks your rights to your images without people really knowing it. Now, I really hate Facebook.
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POPSEric Heuvel's "The Search" I want to order this graphic novel for our library. I think, that it will present the Holocaust in another medium that some students will find more accessible, similar to how they viewed the 9/11 report graphic novel. I am actually having trouble finding out where to order it so maybe someone out there can help with that. It is an interesting review in the NYT and also another interesting example of how the graphic novel is changing. Though, I do questions some things like the graphic novel version of Beowulf or the Odyssey but maybe it's not that much different from the abridged children's version of the Iliad or Alice In Wonderland. I am also fascinated by the fact that it is considered a textbook.
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POPSTeacher Librarians - School Librarians - we are not obsolete! Rob Darrow (California Dreamin' Blog) posted this. How exciting is this news? And now story time: In grad school during orientation week, one of our esteemed professors asked, "Is there anyone interested in school librarianship?" The crickets started chirping. Throughout my entire 2 years, the only thing I heard about school librarianship was that it was an obsolete job and that you would be the first person given the pink slip when the budget needed to be shifted. However, from the looks of it, it is becoming more and more in demand. I pretty much fell into my job. I never thought about working at a school, let a lone working with teenagers. But here I am and it is the most interesting and challenging job I have ever had. It's great to see that certain states see the importance of this position and how it is an asset to a good education program.
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POPSScholarship & the Read/Write Web During my undergraduate and graduate years, the libraries I used struggled with the ever increasing cost of scholarly peer-reviewed journals. Today, faculty in Harvard's arts & sciences department are going to vote on whether they want to publish their research on an open-access server maintained by the library. This is a great move. I know, I am completely biased. I love reading other people's research - a lot of librarians and educators - already use their blogs as a means of sharing their work and also working with others. I However, I do wonder about what types of issues with come up once this starts and people begin access it. There are issues of plagiarism, how it will effect existing journals, how it will effect those specific fields and I am just not sure if the detriment will out weigh the benefits.
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POPSTech & Schools - it's a tool I love that comment "Technology is just a tool, not an end in itself. It will never replace good teaching." I think, we need to keep in mind that there is a balance that needs to be forged between technology and teaching.
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POPSIslam & Wikipedia entry I think I would like to use this for my class. We discuss wikipedia and how to use it as a resource for their middle school papers. We also try to discuss ethical issues and this looks like a short article that could get them thinking about these issues.
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POPSDaniel Pink interviews Thomas Friedman Yesterday, Alan November visited the school and held a workshop. He talked about global learning and how students need to be prepared for the future and need a world view. He discussed ways to incorporate web tools so that students can use these tools in a new context, not just a social one. At one point, he talked about Thomas Friedman's books and that triggered Daniel Pink in my head. Then Karl Fisch posted this link on his blog, The Fischbowl. I thought it would be a good one to share.
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POPSPrint vs. Online Sources - editorial piece This is an interesting editorial on online sources (e.g. Wikipedia) versus print sources. As a librarian, I am slowly changing my mind about the validity of the information in Wikipedia. I do not agree with Magnus Linklater's idea that Wikipedia is the first and possibly only place to find information. I still feel that print sources are valid and that they should be a part of research. I do not know any thing about the UK's education system so I cannot comment on that. But I do know that education curriculum needs to change. Research, writing, peer-reviewing -- all of these things are changing with the "read/write" web and as an educator/instructor we need to prepare students for these changes.
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POPSOnline learning catching on...NPR story Working at a middle school, where we are trying to implement different Web 2.0 tools is challenging but this is what students are familiar with and are comfortable with using. Even if we are not comfortable does not mean we should not try out these new tools.
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