Online Book Communities

How do you rate sites which you’ve never visited before?  You do it with lots and lots of time and patience.  I began working on one site at a time and tried my best to navigate every aspect of the site.  I began thinking about two things while navigating the sites. One being how I could use it as a teacher and the other was how could my second grade daughter use these sites?  Basically, I approached this assignment as an adult and what I think a child would like.  Both drove me a bit crazy because of the amount of information that was so readily accessible, but it was interesting to break the sites down.  

Goodreads

*Place to discuss favorite books with other readers online. 

*Adult users with no kids section so people connect with all age groups.

*Communication is primarily about reviews. 

*When you first log in, the site walks you through how to create a library and rate books.

Goodreads
Likes	FAQ is extensive and well organized
Dislikes	People connect with all age groups
Advantages	Open discussions on favorite books
Disadvantages	No kids section
Ease of Use	Easy to navigate with Tips section
Pleasing to the eye	Very simple design, somewhat bland
Thoughts	Allows for constant updates, but somewhat hard to access on tablets

LibraryThing

*Puts you in touch with people of similar taste and browse their collections.

*See reviews and author information.

*Simple way of using Tags.

*Simple way to create username and password.

*Simple creation of collection.

*The site generates book recommendations.

*Can be made private or public.

*Post for free up to 200 books, but requires payment for yearly or lifetime membership.

LibraryThing
Likes	“What’s good” section allows for site help and navigation
Dislikes	Fee for a year or lifetime
Advantages	Tracks recent activity and “On this day” section
Disadvantages	Takes time to learn how to navigate
Ease of Use	Easy to sign up and create
Pleasing to the eye	Enjoy seeing my collection upon signing in
Thoughts	Easy to read member recommendations

Shelfari

*3 tabs including Profile, Books, and Community

*Tabs for Readers and Reviews, Discussions, and Editions

*Books can be purchased through Amazon and shared on social media

*More scholarly design

Shelfari
Likes	Various tabs including a Community tab
Dislikes	Takes a while to get your profile 100% complete
Advantages	Join groups to discuss books
Disadvantages	Connecting through Facebook or Twitter for friends
Ease of Use	Reading timeline is great to have
Pleasing to the eye	Brown overload of color
Thoughts	Didn’t’ like some stranger adding content to my wall, need to set up privacy

Booklikes

*Had to update Java just to answer that I’m not a robot.

*Verification code is crazy long.

*Paid theme backgrounds are super cute.

*Geared towards book blogging and reviews.

*Dashboard page has an abundance of Tumblr style posts.

*100% free-no limit to the number of books on the bookshelf.

*Connects with social media.

Booklikes
Likes	100% free with lots of Tumblr type posts
Dislikes	Verification code was extremely long
Advantages	Geared towards book reviews
Disadvantages	Blogging format
Ease of Use	Had to update Java, somewhat tedious
Pleasing to the eye	Lots of brown looks, have to pay for nicer theme backgrounds
Thoughts	Accessible to all but more for older teens and adults

Biblionasium

*Social networking site that lets younger readers log and share their books.

*COPPA compliant

*Kids talk to other kids and teachers.

*Simple to use.

*Provides reading challenges.

*Coach Chip Manzee supports children.

*Design is colorful and kid friendly.

*Kids can share their opinions.

*Signed in as a parent and was constantly asked to create a username for my daughter.

*There were limited books-not all books from a series.

Biblionasium
Likes	Very kid friendly
Dislikes	Connects with all age groups
Advantages	COPPA compliant (Child Online Privacy Protection Act)
Disadvantages	Felt I had to create user access for my daughter with Parent sign in
Ease of Use	Lacks more books
Pleasing to the eye	Extremely kid friendly
Thoughts	Easy and a good starter for books reviews and discussions

I would definitely have to say that Biblionasium is the way to go for younger children and students.  I would recommend the site to parents to create with their children and I would definitely take advantage of the reading challenges that are presented on the site for kids.  The site is extremely kid friendly and is easy to navigate.  It is a good starter site for reading books reviews, creating bookshelves, and having discussions with either younger children or teachers.  This site was by far my favorite to use with my students and my own child.  


**On another note, I used SKITCH for the first time and thought it was easy to use.  I used both the Microsoft Print Screen option and SKITCH.  Both ways were easy to use, so I can use either one with ease and comfort.  Obviously, SKITCH is more advanced and it will take me more time to feel comfortable using it with more mastery.

Pouncing on Podcasts

          As I prepared for this assignment, I took a look back at a previous podcast I created using Soundcloud.  It was a quiet Saturday morning and I pretended to be an author as I “interviewed” myself.  That was the extent of my experience.  It took less than 5 minutes to create and I was more nervous about listening to myself on audio.

          This type of podcast sparked an interest in me and I often thought about what I could do with podcasts in my first grade classroom.  Needless to say, I did not pursue it since our campus was hit pretty hard with budget cuts this year.  I currently have one laptop in my classroom that I only use to take attendance.  So, basically our school is going back to the Stone Age and some of us have talked about sending smoke signals as our new method for email.  But, I digress.

          Through my 14 years of teaching elementary students, I would often communicate with parents and students by creating class newsletters and I always wondered what would be my next step when informing students of upcoming events.

          I thought about creating a news channel where students would read the daily news, but this wasn’t available to us.  So, on to the next big thing.  What if I could have students read the daily news via podcasts?  It was fairly easy to use Soundcloud, so why not?  I would designate a different student on a weekly basis to read our school’s daily news to our classroom.  Perfect!

          The trick was definitely having them feel comfortable enough to be recorded.  Some would feel okay with it and others would be hesitant.  Either way, it wouldn’t be forced on them and some would benefit from it greatly, especially in building their confidence in public speaking.

          This new venture begins with allowing students to create daily news podcasts.  We will start off small and hope to gain some speed along the way.  Here we go!

https://soundcloud.com/melisa473/lopez-podcast-1






Podcast was read by my beautiful daughter, Erin. 

Information Ethics at its Best: Privacy Matters

As a teacher, I’m faced with tons of issues.  One of the most important is student privacy.  Any information that I gather at the beginning or during the year must be maintained confidential.  Sometimes, this is absolutely impossible.  The best of intentions often backfire when we live in a very close knit community where everyone knows each other.  Often times, we have parents who gather outside their homes and talk about what their child learned in school and sometimes that sparks outrage from the remaining parents.  Why isn’t their child learning the same thing?  Why is their child receiving different assignments?  Why is their homework different?  Believe it or not, we have those same parents coming to our school and demanding to find out the answers to their questions. 

The first stop will always be the office.  Parents will come in demanding to speak to the principal about what their neighbor said the day before.  The principal will then direct the parent to their child’s teacher and the interrogation begins.  As teachers, we must be prepared to answer quickly and accurately.  By the time we’re done explaining our classroom procedures, we have successfully put out the fire.  This is not always the case, though.

In doing my research for this assignment, I sat down with our librarian and asked the very difficult question about the four principles associated with information ethics within the library.  She was kind enough to give me the time to answer my questions and detail an occurrence that she experienced a couple of years back.  She explained to me that the most severe thing that she has seen had to do with respect for privacy.  Two sets of parents came in to speak to her regarding some books their children will checking out.  One set of parents blamed another child for the way their child was behaving and their choice of books.  Apparently, one child was influencing another in checking out questionable reading material.  First off, what was the questionable reading material and did it exist in an elementary library?  The answer to that was yes!  Our library books are labeled “LG” for lower grades and “MG” for middle grades.  We apparently were carrying books that were labeled “MG” in a PK-5 school. 

As the parents came by to speak to the librarian about the reading books that were being checked out by the students, they demanded to know their reading record for the past year and that is where the right to privacy was challenged.  She explained to the parents that she would not be able to share that information with anyone other than the parent of the student in question and that was with the approval of administration.  The issue was resolved by explaining that the book record was confidential and that the books in question were being reviewed and if need be, would be removed.  Because the books were clearly labeled “MG,” the books were immediately sent back to distribution and forwarded to one of the district’s middle schools. 

The books in question were clearly in the wrong school and if the parents had not brought their concerns in, we wouldn’t have known that the books were in the wrong place.  This case was helpful in more ways than one.  First, we were able to see one of the four principles being challenged.  Secondly, we were able to determine that mistakes occur when book are distributed and we were able to fix it with the attention it received. 

This case also brought to light that librarians often have to answer questions, much like teachers.  Plus, everyone involved in a school setting must refer to administration when challenges are made.  The support must be there when addressing school, classroom, or library issues.  I would be very hesitant to share any information with anyone without consulting with administration. 

Dr. Bell made some very important observations when it comes to the challenges we face with information ethics.  First, get the facts straight.  Next, identify the moral dilemma.  Then, evaluate the moral dilemma using the principles of information ethics to decide which side has the most ethical support.  Lastly, test the solution.  Richard Severson calls this principled reflection.  These are some important and valid points to always remember. 

I wanted to briefly touch upon an article I read written by Michael McFarland regarding the right to privacy.  The article stated that information ethics comes into question heavily when we are dealing with technology and the millions bits of data that is available on the Internet.  The article focused on a database that identified AIDS patients and how readily available it is to access.  Are we really able to see patient’s confidential medical records online?  Yes, we are!  Are we really that invasive?  Why would this information need to be available?  Are we taking things too far?  A book list is guarded and kept confidential.  I would imagine that medical records should be as well.  This article was scary and eye opening.  The digital world we live in is truly making things easier, but that alone is crossing the boundary of ethics within the information world.

Bell, M. (1998).  Kiss and Information Ethics.  TAET Journal, Spring 1998.

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/technology/internet/privacy/medical-records-privacy.pdf

Videos and QR Codes in the Library

Youtube is my daughter's favorite app, site...everything!  I'm able to see why when you can literally find everything that has ever existed in video form.  I was able to look at several videos from different school libraries and focused on a couple that I really liked.  I decided to take it one video at a time and truly focus on what I liked about them and what about them appealed to me personally.  Then I thought, why not ask my daughter to sit and watch them with me?  I thought it would be interesting to get the opinion of a student, a girl, and an avid Youtube watcher.  We first watched videos from The NHS Library and decided on these.

The video is a very friendly orientation video that explains hours, staff, and most importantly, what the library is used for.  It goes into detail about what is allowed and not allowed within the library building.  It is a short and informative video and definitely something that I would do myself.

Tiger Visits the Norman High Library was one of my daughter's favorites.  She understood what the video was for and the was able to relate it to her own library at school.  The video demonstrates what can be seen at a school library including magazines and technology equipment for student use.

Scenes from the Unquiet Library was an excellent example of how 4 classes can meet in a library and still maintain a successful learning environment.  There were about 50 to 60 students present and working in small groups and you can tell that these students knew they were using the library for its intended purpose.  I liked watching this video and the interactions amongst the students.

The Unquiet Library on Wheels at the cafeteria!  I'd never seen anything like this before.  The librarian was able to take a mobile library into the cafeteria so that students can check out books using a portable cart.  Amazing!

Snapshot was used when creating this presentation and I really like that it's concise and easy.  It clearly describes what you can do at the library and shows students interacting with the various forms of technology and equipment located at the library.  I would definitely use something like this when presenting for my library.

Pikesville HS definitely got it right with making this a quick and easy presentation to follow.  It demonstrates what can be achieved at the library ranging from research to creating LiveBinders.  Students can definitely get a lot of use out of this library.

Popular singer Taylor Swift's version to convince users to bring back overdue books is pretty clever and I believe students can relate to the message when it's put together this way.  However, mine and my daughter's favorite is clearly the next video from BBMS.

Who doesn't like Elsa singing her little heart out pleading for books to be returned?   

When I began to think about this assignment, I began to think, well...I have no idea what half this stuff is.  I researched what I could since I had never heard about QR Codes and how to use them.  Turns out that QR Codes are pretty nifty and easy to create.  I decided to focus on one thing at a time and created the code to reflect the Animoto for the book I chose.  One thing at a time, one thing at a time.  Once I began and finished the book presentation using Animoto, I was pretty excited to keep going.  Enter QR Codes.  These codes are created and scanned and lead the user to the product that was scanned.  Easy enough.  The book I chose happens to be one of my favorites and it so happens that I am currently reading it to my class.  I usually take a week to read a chapter book and add some activities.  I'm looking forward to showing them my book presentation on The Magic Tree House #13 Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne.  

Jack and Annie are ready for their next fantasy adventure in the bestselling middle-grade series—the Magic Tree House!

Who wants to vacation next to a volcano?

Jack and Annie are about to find out when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the days of the Roman Empire. They arrive in Pompeii and soon discover that it is the very day the city will be destroyed. Now Jack and Annie must race against time to find an ancient library before it is buried in ash!

www.goodreads.com

You can scan the QR Code to access the book presentation via Animoto.  Enjoy!

I would love to use QR Codes in conjunction with the Unquiet's Library video on portable carts where students can check out books.  I would think that it's pretty easy to create the QR Codes and allow students to use them to check out certain books or even put in a request for the books.  I would also use the QR Codes to post videos on our school's Facebook page to get the word out on new books or new equipment that is available for use in our library.  These codes make it easy to be very specific as to what the user is looking for and able to use.