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.

Blogs here, blogs there, blogs everywhere

The time has come to finally figure out this blog thing that people talk about.  I have to admit that I'm no blogger, and I don't know if I'll ever feel comfortable calling myself that.  I figured out, by doing search after search of these so called blogs, that often times these blogs are basically composed of people who want to share their opinions.  I found some extremely helpful blogs and some that I want to revisit when time allows, but some blogs were just, for lack of better words, blah. 

I decided to focus my efforts on creating my Blog Reader using Bloglovin'.  I liked the name, for one, and it was terribly easy to navigate.  This Blog Reader is user friendly and allows the user to navigate the many blogs that can be added for a later time.  The Blog Reader, Bloglovin', has a friendly feed that allows me to read any updates from my favorite bloggers that I happen to be following.  If I wanted to add a blog, it gave me that option and was easily added.  I searched Bloglovin' and found some awesome blogs and added them to my feed along with some new ones that I added along the way. 

The first blog I decided to look at was the suggested School Library Display blog.  I've since added this to Bloglovin', the link is: http://schoollibrarydisplays.blogspot.com/

This blog allows the reader to navigate tons of useful information regarding displays at a library.  I was interested in reading about their crafts and what they do to create appealing displays when it comes to one particular author or book. 

The next blog that interested me was the blog created just for story time.  The title is Story Time Secrets and its link is:  http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/
As an elementary teacher, this interested me beyond words.  I wanted to know what I can do to make story time more interesting for the little ones and sometimes that means that I have to dress up or bring out puppets.  I already knew that much, but it's always nice to know that I'm not the only one making a fool of myself.  Besides, it's fun and that's all that matters.

My third blog of choice was Children's Literature Book Club.  The link is:  http://childlitbookclub.blogspot.com/
I love the idea of creating fun and easy book clubs for everyone to enjoy, but especially little ones.  This is something that I would DEFINITELY have in place at my library.  I can't imagine anything more fun than meeting with these children and talking about a book they enjoyed.  This blog is an excellent resource to have.

Second to last is Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  Link being:  https://www.tumblr.com/search/caffeinated%20book%20reviewer
This blog is highly saturated with opinions, but what else are book reviews made of?  This Tumblr blog is an extension of the web site with a similar name.  It's always nice to get an opinion that may or may not vary from yours regarding a book and maybe a lesson that can come out of the book.  It's definitely nice to know that something like this blog exists and that I can contribute to the discussion if necessary.

Last, but not least, I decided to look at Me, Myshelf, and I.  Clever name!  Its link is:  http://meemyshelfandi.tumblr.com/
This blog is by far the most eclectic and full of varying information.  It's quirky and fun and gives the reader an opportunity to see different aspects of books and reviews.  This blog has more than 16,000 followers, so I'm assuming it's doing something right. 

I found that there are pages dedicated to school library blogs and they're easy to access and conveniently placed in worksheets or charts.  Here is a link to one example:
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/07/10/100-best-blogs-school-librarians/

 I also determined that Tumblr, which has been in existence for a while, is quite popular with some up to date subjects and blog entries that are extremely relevant.  Librarians are able to connect with like minded people through Tumblr and can see how others are operating their libraries and maybe get an idea or two to improve their own library.  I decided to play around with Tumblr a bit and posted a pretty cute bulletin board that I created at my school and I wanted to share the end product.  http://melisa473.tumblr.com/  I'm sure I'll be adding more content to this blog in regards to my school work. 

I'm actually starting to enjoy navigating these blogs and having a place like Bloglovin' where I can collect the information and get back to it when I have time.  It truly is a blog world out there.

Online friendships: Are they real?

Lenhart, A., Smith, A., Anderson, M., Duggan, M., Perrin, A., “Teens, Technology and 

      Friendships.”  Pew Research Center, August, 2015. 

      http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/.

 

Online friendships: Are they real?

            The debate continues on whether or not online friendships are true or just a casualty of Internet trolling.  Add to this the wave of teenage years and adolescence at its best.  Are teens creating lasting friendships formed through social media?  The majority of social interaction is often seen in social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and various other sites that are popping up daily.  Teens are using these sites to form friendships that may or may be genuine.

            As a mother, this poses an interesting situation.  Although my daughter is not quite a teenager, she is exposed to online player who are significantly older than her asking for friendship requests in order to play online together.  I am aware of these and put in place my parental controls, but it makes me wonder if other parents do the same.  Can we truly expect these online friendships to be genuine and do teens view them as such?

            Data addressing these very questions was collected for the Pew Research Center.  1,060 teens, ages 13 to 17, were surveyed from September 25 to October 9 and February 10 to March 16, 2015.  The data collected attempted to address how teens are forming online friendships and in what capacity.

            As we well know, it’s crucial for teens to form friendships and maintain those friendships in a healthy manner.  Social media has made it incredibly easy to connect with people 5 miles to 5,000 miles away.  The data collected reflected 57% of teens met a new friend online (p. 15).  The majority of these friendships were formed through social media or online gameplay (p. 17). 

            Even more of a concern to me is that 20% of all teens have met an online friend in person (p. 21).  That is definitely a scary thought.  I would hope that the data collected is accurate and that teens surveyed were truthful in giving the information.  I don’t know how I would feel if those numbers were bigger.

            The data also concluded that boys are more likely than girls to make online friends (p. 19).  This could be attributed to the online gaming community.  The research shows that online gaming builds stronger connections between friends (p. 48). 

            In contrast to teenage boys’ online activities, girls are also more likely to unfriend, unfollow, and block former friends (p. 68).  Teens come in many forms, but most would agree that friendship is perhaps a top priority.  83% of teen social media use makes them feel more connected to their friends’ lives (p. 54).  Some of these connections include causing or creating drama to receiving support when support is needed (p. 56).  Some teens have felt pressure to post only flattering content (p. 60).  This is just another form of conformity and pressure to look a certain way.  This may or may not lead to self-esteem issues which could become a bigger problem later on.

            The numbers are staggering, to say the least.  55% of teens spend time every day text messaging, 79% use instant messaging, 72% spend time with friends via social media, 64% use email, 59% use video chat, 52% via online video gaming, 42% use messaging apps such as Kik and WhatsApp (p. 3). 

            The most disturbing trend for me is the friendship that finds its way out of the online community.  Teens between ages 15 to 17 make about 60% of teens meeting friends in someone’s home, school, or online platforms (p. 31).  The first thing exchanged is a phone number (p. 22).

            It has become increasingly easy to join social media sites with little or no age requirements.  For this reason, parents need to be aware that it’s happening with ease and on a daily basis.  Teenagers have loads of pressure already from what I can remember.  Do they really need to use technology to achieve lasting friendships?  I sure hope not, but you never know.

 

75 pages

 

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/7927201-teens-technology-friendships

RED HOT Twitter-verse

          Being new to Twitter, I had no idea what to expect.  You know when you’re faced with something new and you don’t quite know what to feel about it?  Should I be excited?  Should I be scared?  Am I going to like it?  Questions, questions, questions.  However, I found the most important question I was asking myself was, am I going to know what to do?  The truth is, I don’t know what to do and I’m slowly navigating this new form of social media.  I have to admit that I’m an avid Facebook user and this “Twitter” people speak of, is a mystery. 

          As I navigated my way through Twitter, I used the search box to locate the names of the people I was supposed to follow.  At this point, I assumed I was following their feed and not them literally.  I found the names and clicked the obligatory “Follow” button and was immediately receiving their recent posts.  The posts varied and some made complete sense to me while others were a bit strange, to say the least.

1.                  I noticed that Kathy Schrock @kathyschrock was enthusiastic about starting a new school year and posted a video of teachers breaking into a rendition of Les Miserables with a variation of lyrics.  Kathy mentioned that every school district should do this type of orientation at the beginning of the school year.  I liked that idea, but please no one ask me to sing. 

What every teacher opening day faculty meeting should be like! https://youtu.be/cGMlPDlY094  You set the bar high, @WDMCS!

            Linda Braun @lbraun2000 believes that there are educational purposes to games such as Minecraft.  It’s an interesting point to explore.  Tony Vincent @tonyvincent is an enthusiastic Twitter user that often incorporates “Tip Tuesday” to help his followers use different types of technology and tries to make things clearer for those of us that may not be as tech savvy.  Tony often tweets about apps that may be free on certain days and this allows followers to jump at the chance to try something new without having to pay for it.

          Buffy Hamilton @buffyjhamilton is a very outspoken Twitter user that often times does not mind posting that she is battling some ticks and I’m hoping they came from her dogs.  She often speaks out about the lack of funding, mistreatment of women, and sometimes tends to wander into tangents that have to do with weather or travel.  It was a refreshing page of funny quips, whether they were meant to be funny or not. 

          The Daring Librarian, love this name, @GwynethJones is a colorful page filled with loads of information for school teachers.  On the plus side, Gwyneth Jones has red hair just like me!  What I found most interesting is her retweet about park rangers being able to Skype with students.  I truly love this idea since we cannot travel to Yellowstone, but let’s bring Yellowstone to the classroom.  Completely awesome!

Did you know that @YellowstoneNPS Rangers can #Skype with classrooms? Find out more: http://msft.it/6013BHLwc  @SkypeClassroom #MSFTEDU

 

            Lastly, Jim Lerman @jimlerman posted a tweet that is near and dear to my heart.  He posted a tweet that shows how technology can help improve nature. 

Injured tortoise gets new face thanks to 3D printing store ^ ABC7 News ^ by Lindsay Watts http://sco.lt/7LDk8H 

Sometimes it’s hard to keep things in perspective when it comes to technology, but when some good can come out of it, I’m all for it. 

          I have to admit that I felt somewhat like a lurker, just lurking around these pages and hoping to find something I may have in common with these leaders.  I found that it’s impossible to say I like this person or that person when in reality, I don’t know them.  I’m learning about them, but how much can we truly learn from someone’s page or tweets?  I enjoyed reading their posts and I enjoyed finding out that some pages offered contests for free signed books.  It’s something that will definitely keep me interested.  Happy Tweeting!