Getting Techy

Developing a 21st century ready graduate has to include ensuring students are technologically sound.  As the recent pandemic has shown major technology gaps between rural and urban schools, many rural districts are racing to get devices into the hands of their students.  The Google Chromebook by Lenovo is an affordable, dependable device that will provide opportunities to develop a sound technological foundation.  

The Chromebook has many features that make it ideal for elementary aged students:  

• Long battery life (up to 10 hours)
• Require little maintenance
• Small keyboards that are ideal for little hands
• Pre-loaded with numerous Google apps such as Google Docs, Slides, and Forms
• Touchscreen features
• Screen can be folded back to be set up in a tablet form

Extremely important in regards to rural schools with fewer funding opportunities, Chromebook are much cheaper than other competitors such as Apple products.  Lenovo Chromebooks can typically be purchased for around $200-$250. 

Chromebooks are going to allow our students the opportunity to explore learning in a whole new way.  Students are going to be able to collaborate with each other in new, creative ways.  While we don't want teaching to be solely in the hands of technology, we do need to use technology to boost our teaching.  If you're looking for some innovative ways to use Chromebooks in your classroom check out "10 Apps for Back to School".  

Be sure to check out this app if your looking for a way for your students to have more access to books:

 Epic provides access to ebooks and videos for students to explore.  The only down side to Epic is that students are not allowed access to it after school hours. Parents can set up an account for after school access. 

References: 

Kajeet. (2019). 5 reasons why chromebooks in the classroom benefit students. https://www.kajeet.net/5-reasons-why-chromebooks-in-the-classroom-benefits-students/

Kajeet. (2019). 10 apps for back to school. https://www.kajeet.net/10-apps-for-back-to-school/

Lenovo. (2021). Lenovo chromebook 3 (14"). https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-edu-chromebooks/ideapad-3-cb-14igl05/88ipsc31462

Book Creator

Elementary ELA teachers, are you looking for a creative way for your students to publish their writing?  Look no further than Book Creator.  Book Creator is an online tool that allows students to create their own online book.  This app is available for Apple products and is recently available to Chromebook users!  Teachers can use their school issued Google account to set up their library in Book Creator. 

I guess the big question is, how much does it cost?  Once set up, you can have up to 40 books in your library for free!  How can my students publish their writing for each of our units if there are only 40 free books available?  They are able to edit and add more to a published book at any time.  This would allow them to publish each of their writings within the same book to create a "portfolio" of their writing for the year!  Even more appealing, you can share students published books via email.  Allow parents to explore the writing their child has done all year.  

There are so many awesome features that students are sure to be excited to use.  Students can take pictures and videos to upload.  They can even use an annotating tool to draw their own images!  Students who want to create comic books/ graphic novels will be able to do so with comic templates and stickers.  Book creator is sure to take your students "final drafts" to a whole new level!

50 hand-picked fonts to choose from

Add images or take your own photos

Drop in video or music, or even record your voice

Use the pen tool to draw or annotate

For more tips and information on using Book Creator check out Julie Smith's post, Using Book Creator For the Web in the Elementary Classroom. 

As a new district to the 1:1 world and Chromebooks, check out The Techie Teacher for more innovative ways of using technology in the classroom.  Reach out to me as well because as studies show, collaboration and among teachers is the best way to ensure student success!

Let Me Fact Check That

 If I'm honest, this week's readings and podcasts really brought to my attention something that I was somewhat already aware of: my information diet is not the most healthy.  Let me explain myself a little more on why it isn't so healthy.  I'm not one to spend much time looking into the current news events.  Like many, and as mentioned in the podcast, I am guilty of mindlessly scrolling.  Most nights when I am getting my children to sleep, I catch myself mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and Instagram.  Social media is full of "self-proclaimed" newscasters.  These individuals share any and every article they come across as long as it fits their personal agenda, never checking the credibility of it.  I say that my information diet is not the most healthy not because I believe all of these stories, but because I rarely take the time to dig for myself.  Occasionally, I will Google the topic of articles that I see that catch my attention.  Unfortunately, a simple Google search can provide with articles that support both false and true claims too.  

As I think about the students that I teach, I know that many of them are getting their information from people at home that get all of their information from social media outlets.  I've heard many times "my mom saw on Facebook that...".  Reflecting on this, I realize that I need to work on my own information diet in order to enhance my teaching of information to children.  As a media specialist, it will be important that I teach children how to find information using credible sources.  I feel that in order to do this, I need to do a better job at exposing myself to various credible sources.  

When looking through the frameworks for information literacy,  the definition of information literacy really made me reconsider my information diet in regards to teaching students about how to find and share information.  "Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning." (Association of College and Research Libraries, p. 8).  Teaching children how to use information to develop knew knowledge means that they need to get their information from credible sources.  As a media specialist, I feel that it is my role to create information literate students who are able to find and share credible and factitious information.  

It looks like it's time for me to enhance my diet!

Resources: 

Gungor, M. (Host), McHargue, M (Host). (2017, March 7). Fake news and media literacy (Audio Podcast Episode). In The Liturgists Podcast.

Association of College and Research Libraries. (2015, February 2). Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. 

https://britannicalearn.com/blog/the-value-of-inquiry-the-art-of-failure/

    Encourage students to think outside of the box, develop questions, and find their own answers; this is a basic breakdown of the ISTE standards and AASL standards.  Student led inquiry is at the center of each of these standards, much like the classroom state standards.  

    There are many similarities among the sets of standards. Mostly, both sets of standards requires that learning be student led and that educators provide plenty of opportunity for collaboration.  Collaboration among peers, teachers, and the "outside world".  One of the goals I have for myself as a school librarian is to collaborate with the classroom teachers to extend the work they are doing in the classroom into library time.  "The AASL Standards recognize learning as an ongoing endeavor that should not be confined to the four walls of the school building" (Freedman and Robinson, 2019, p.12). Students need to be encouraged to reach out to outside sources to help find answers to their questions.  Collaboration with outside benefactors will allow students the opportunity to expand their network. The focus on inquiry, collaboration and sharing of findings using a digital platform as is used in the ISTE standards more than the AASL standards is the greatest difference among the sets of standards.  

    "School librarians are important partners in this work—not just because of their interest and expertise with technology— but because of their focus (as outlined in the standards) on helping learners to locate tools to illustrate and engage with diverse perspectives and modalities and to consider the ethical principles of information use and remixing" (Spiering, 2019, p. 48).  School librarians have the capability of providing diverse ways for students to engage and share their findings that will work for all types of learners.  This is where the ISTE and AASL standards really work together.  The AASL encourages the diverse opportunities for student inquiry, and for school librarians to provide the opportunities for such inquiry.  The ISTE standards allow students to use digital platforms to explore and share their findings.  School librarians have the tools to provide unique learning opportunities for all students by utilizing both the ISTE and AASL standards.     

Resources: 

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National school library standards crosswalk with ISTE             standards for students and educators. Retrieved from https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf

Freedman, J., Robinson, A. (2019). School librarians level up. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 10-15. 

Spiering, J. (2019). Engaging adolescent literacies with the standards. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 44-49.