Sarah Crouch
Sherwin, A. (2013, October 26) New Mozilla app reveals web's secret trackers. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11146583
I've always wondered about who is really watching me online and how often I'm being watched. A new add-on for Firefox will reveal third-party activity on websites. The add-on, called Lightbeam, would show the source of advertisements and would provide a graph showing unintentional interactions with third-parties. Mozilla made this move in order to allow more transparency and was apparently under pressure to do so. While I would be a little nervous to "pull back the curtain" and find out who is watching me, I know that many people, myself included, are going to be interested in this add-on.
Privacy concerns are one of the many reasons why solid instruction in internet safety and information literacy is so important. Many of my students are completely unaware of what cookies are or how to disable them, but they are very active online. Helping students create a Personal Learning Environment with clear separations between personal internet usage and professional/academic internet usage could also help students learn how to manage their lives online. If students learn how to safely use the internet at school, they are more likely to do so at home.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
How Does Electronic Reading Affect Comprehension?
Nicole Myerscough
Jones, J. (2013, November 5). How does electronic reading affect comprehension? Retrieved from http://dmlcentral.net/blog/john-jones/how-does-electronic-reading-affect-comprehension
The brain prefers paper? Screens drain mental resources? I understand the argument and concern regarding comprehension with electronic devices, especially as popular as they have become within the past few years. I think it's more that weren't not as adapted to electronic over paper. I believe screen drain my eyes more than my mind. The debate of electronic vs. paper is ultimately is a personal preference.
The article presents an interesting argument and examples their perspective using text message sizes to measure comprehension and a very outdated electronic screen vs. paper comprehension reading test study. I think it's really important in the LIS community to recognize that 2005 is not current enough in regards literacy studies with mobile technology... screen resolution was horrid compared to what we have today. I preferred paper over electronic back then too.
Jones, J. (2013, November 5). How does electronic reading affect comprehension? Retrieved from http://dmlcentral.net/blog/john-jones/how-does-electronic-reading-affect-comprehension
The brain prefers paper? Screens drain mental resources? I understand the argument and concern regarding comprehension with electronic devices, especially as popular as they have become within the past few years. I think it's more that weren't not as adapted to electronic over paper. I believe screen drain my eyes more than my mind. The debate of electronic vs. paper is ultimately is a personal preference.
The article presents an interesting argument and examples their perspective using text message sizes to measure comprehension and a very outdated electronic screen vs. paper comprehension reading test study. I think it's really important in the LIS community to recognize that 2005 is not current enough in regards literacy studies with mobile technology... screen resolution was horrid compared to what we have today. I preferred paper over electronic back then too.
Tech Troubles in Schools
Sarah Crouch
Schwartz, K. (2013, April 11). Finding solutions for tech troubles in schools. MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/finding-ways-to-boost-broadband-for-schools/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29
Schwartz, K. (2013, April 11). Finding solutions for tech troubles in schools. MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/finding-ways-to-boost-broadband-for-schools/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29
Katrina Schwart’s article covers a survey conducted by Consortium
for School Networking (CoSN) which revealed priorities and weaknesses of school
IT leaders. Most are focusing on Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies,
assessment readiness, and broadband access. A large weakness of most school IT
departments is that they are underfunded and understaffed. The new requirements
of a digital age with matching digital Common Core assessments are too much for
the average school bandwidth.
The article quotes CoSN as launching a Designing Education
Networks (DEN) initiative to present best practices, advice, and tools for
school IT leaders. The initiative was supposed to release a website in June of
2013, but an online search for the DEN website or a DEN subpage on the CoSN
website proved fruitless.
I believe that an initiative like DEN could be very
beneficial for schools. I know that my school only has two IT staff members,
and only one is full-time. Our school district is vastly unprepared to begin
phasing into online testing. We can barely handle the current online traffic.
The DEN initiative could provide much-needed support for our tiny IT department
to request funds from the school board.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
How Social Media is Being Used in Educaiton
Nicole Myerscough
Lepi, K. (2013, October 29). How social media is being used in education. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/social-media-in-education/
I found this article/pictograph regarding the use of mobile devices and social media, and how the use of them is lower than expected in academic institutions as compared with that of personal social media use. The charts display an overwhelming increase in the use of social media and specify which ones are most popular. Concerns are express regarding the division in social media between personal and professional life. Also, I found it interesting to view the top three privacy concerns which is likely the greatest factor as to why social media has yet to become mainstream in higher academic settings.
I will agree that I have minimal online presence with professional social media networking sites (i.e. Linkedin), and I'm sure I'm not alone with the feeling that I'm tired of creating new accounts and profiles. I recently joined Research Gate and joined Yammer for a charity I work with. Unfortunately, social media can at times feel overwhelming as if it's more of an expectation and not a choice.
Lepi, K. (2013, October 29). How social media is being used in education. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/social-media-in-education/
I found this article/pictograph regarding the use of mobile devices and social media, and how the use of them is lower than expected in academic institutions as compared with that of personal social media use. The charts display an overwhelming increase in the use of social media and specify which ones are most popular. Concerns are express regarding the division in social media between personal and professional life. Also, I found it interesting to view the top three privacy concerns which is likely the greatest factor as to why social media has yet to become mainstream in higher academic settings.
I will agree that I have minimal online presence with professional social media networking sites (i.e. Linkedin), and I'm sure I'm not alone with the feeling that I'm tired of creating new accounts and profiles. I recently joined Research Gate and joined Yammer for a charity I work with. Unfortunately, social media can at times feel overwhelming as if it's more of an expectation and not a choice.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Geographic Locations and the Learning Commons
Brook, Tiffany
Pace, M. (2010). North
Carolina Libraries (Online), 68(2), 15-17. Retrieved on November 11, 2013, from http://web.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f9b6d921-965c-427b-a36b-c06c27b0b715%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=119
While many articles discuss libraries in the abstract, this
discussion is important because it provides a concrete example of how changing
physical and virtual spaces at the library effect school culture. In this
example, the learning commons was built in the middle of school life, literally
in the middle of a residence hall, dining areas, movie theater, and gaming
arena: “With this space, the staff has the opportunity to take their expertise and resources directly to where the students live – where
they eat, sleep, and play” (p. 15). This library functioned as a satellite
library but because of its unique location, it truly became a part of students’
everyday lives. This library’s endeavor demonstrates the attempt to integrate
academics with student recreation and life. Interesting article that also
addresses the library’s integration with students' virtual lives.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
THE Journal - Transforming Education Through Technology
Open Educational Resources | News
Getty Museum Developing Arts Education Resources for Khan Academy
Posted by Rene Hohls
This is just a very quick resource explored by THE Journal - what I found interesting though is the partnership between the Getty Museum and the Khan Academy and their shared use of OER as the platform for the development of the art education items they are collaborating on.
Talk about modeling the behavior!
Read more at http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/11/07/getty-museum-developing-arts-education-resources-for-khan-academy.aspx?=THEEL#eIj8l7Sooyb8rbss.99
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Common Core's Effect on Publishers
Jessica King
This article by Rosen offers a look at what individual publishers are doing to meet the increasing needs Common Core is presenting as it is being implemented in many of the states. It is interesting to see the effect this change in curriculum focus has on the industry as a whole; in terms of what books are going to be published, how they will be marketed, and even new authors that are published. Little Brown is working with educators “to develop two-page teachers’ guides that focus on how a book aligns with the standards.” A majority of the publishers, however, are creating resources on their sites for educators to identify the title and to give ideas on how to use them in the classroom. Each page that is discussed is given a link to that page, making this a great resource for any educators that are looking for that information. A remarkable quote from one of the publishers is that, “ ‘a selling point for picking up a new author is certainly that he or she has Common Core knowledge and/or experience.’” This is not something that all publishers talked about but the fact that it is now being used as a determining factor in whether or not a new author gets signed on is startling. I did like that Rosen chose to end the article with a quote from Simon & Schuster Canada, who do not plan to alter the books that they have been publishing. For them this will continue to be about bring great literature to children, whether or not it is ‘Common Core aligned.’
Rosen,
J. (2013, October 25). Publishers respond to common core. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/59720-publishers-respond-to-common-core.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly&utm_campaign=a7952de79a-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0bb2959cbb-a7952de79a-304458421
This article by Rosen offers a look at what individual publishers are doing to meet the increasing needs Common Core is presenting as it is being implemented in many of the states. It is interesting to see the effect this change in curriculum focus has on the industry as a whole; in terms of what books are going to be published, how they will be marketed, and even new authors that are published. Little Brown is working with educators “to develop two-page teachers’ guides that focus on how a book aligns with the standards.” A majority of the publishers, however, are creating resources on their sites for educators to identify the title and to give ideas on how to use them in the classroom. Each page that is discussed is given a link to that page, making this a great resource for any educators that are looking for that information. A remarkable quote from one of the publishers is that, “ ‘a selling point for picking up a new author is certainly that he or she has Common Core knowledge and/or experience.’” This is not something that all publishers talked about but the fact that it is now being used as a determining factor in whether or not a new author gets signed on is startling. I did like that Rosen chose to end the article with a quote from Simon & Schuster Canada, who do not plan to alter the books that they have been publishing. For them this will continue to be about bring great literature to children, whether or not it is ‘Common Core aligned.’
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