Georgia Public Broadcast is an Awesome Resource

The current school that I work in does have a video distribution system but it has not been functional in years. The equipment has been ordered and is in the process of being installed. I contacted the Instructional Technology Specialist for Media Services. She stated that our district does not have a login for the Georgia Public Broadcasting Digital Education area. I found the Georgia Public Broadcasting Resources to be an outstanding site. The GPB Digital Education area exposed me to many new and interesting programs.

I was truly amazed at the number of workshops and ready to use resources that were available. I immediately signed up for the newsletters. I requested a field trip for the Magnet students to attend the android workshop at Georgia Tech. I am sure my biological children will also benefit from the robotics classes. The Georgia Public Broadcasting website is a resource that I will introduce to the faculty and students.

My district teaches Discovery streaming videos as a part of the professional development courses. I plan to sign up and attend the next session. It is an amazing addition to the classroom. The online assistance in the core academic areas will be a tremendous asset to the faculty and students in my school. The website was bright and engaging. I was impressed with the resources, the ease of navigation and the usefulness of the information provided.

I contacted a middle school in our district that does have a video distribution system. The Media Specialist is a UWG graduate and was delight to provide the requested information. Elizabeth Bridges, Media Specialist at Arnold Middle School states that they use the video distribution system to broadcast live announcements each morning. During the day a power point presentation is constantly running with the announcements posted.

There are four channels available for use in the school. Educational videos and special reward videos can be played using the video distribution system. It is designed so that the teachers could control the system from their classroom telephone. However, this feature has not functioned for some years.

Video Distribution Systems and GPB Resources: Great but Under-utilized Tools

My mentor Jessica Airman was the one who was mainly responsible for the video distribution system at Cartersville Elementary School last year when she was the media specialist.  The system that they use is closed circuit TV, and it is not digitally transmitted over a data network, rather, it is sent through a cable distribution system which is transmitted from the media center to a specific channel on all of the TVs in the school.  The teachers do not have input into what is transmitted, and usually the system is used to show special, school-wide videos such as those for Red Ribbon Week and Read Across America day interviews.

Last year Jessica was also in the process of working on a video news production for her school, and although she was heading up the project, a few social studies and special area teachers worked with her in a support role to create the student-led news show.  A group of about 5-6 students were on the show, and they were chosen based on an application and audition process, which was voluntary.  The group changed periodically so that more students were able to participate in the program.  The students made school announcements, told the date, said the pledge, read the day’s lunch menu, read about the week’s character trait word (i.e., “Perseverance” and what it means), and often the principal was a guest speaker.   This is the same kind of information that is given over the loud speaker most mornings of the week.  The video broadcast news show was in its developmental stages last year, with the intention of making it an every-Friday event (at her previous school, it was a daily production), but they were barely able to get it off the ground before Jessica’s position was cut by the district and she returned to a fourth grade classroom as a full-time teacher.  Since then, because there is no media specialist to produce the video, there hasn't been a student-run video news show at Cartersville Elementary school.

I also asked Jessica about the Georgia Public Broadcasting resources that are available to teachers in her school.  Not many of them use the resources, but she says that some let the children do the reading activities on PBS kids.  She also said that a few teachers used Discovery Education’s resources, like the streaming videos and the puzzle makers. 

  In my opinion, if the GPB resources that are applicable for the students in a particular school were collected for teachers in an easily accessible place, like a LMC website, it would be much easier for teachers to get to them and use them in the classroom.  That’s why it’s so sad that schools are cutting media budgets- without the manpower and expertise that media specialists provide for  running programs like student-created news video productions and updated resource collections like a great LMC website, access to technological resources becomes very limited for teachers and students in schools.  In a learning environment where technological tools are often the best and most interesting way to learn, the students who don’t have access are really missing out.

Georgia Public Broadcasting Resources and School Video Distribution Systems

I interviewed my mentor, Mary Allen, regarding our video distribution system at my school.  As a teacher, I have to say I did not know much about it.  This is how she answered the questions:

1.       Does your school have one, and is it working?

Yes, we have one and it is working.

2.       What gets sent out over the video distribution system? School news? Cable and/or broadcast programs? Channel One? What else is it used for?

We can only broadcast over a few channels, but we can choose which ones they are.  One station is the School Information Channel which shows the scrolling announcements.  One channel if for broadcasting video to the entire school, and then the others are of our choosing (or the principal).  So, we broadcast a local news channel, the Weather Channel, the History Channel, and CNN.  We do not broadcast Channel One.

3.       Do teachers have any input or control into the distribution system and if so what (for instance, some video distribution systems let teachers control what is sent over the distribution system through the number pad of their telephone!).

 No, this system doesn’t allow for that.  We control it from the Head End Unit in the library.  For example, whatever we choose to broadcast over our channel 12 is the same channel seen in all classrooms.

4.       Does your school use a digital system, transmitting TV content over the data network? 

 No, we do not.  This is very old system.

5.       How does your school and district use Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Resources?

We use this service over the internet.  The school has an account that the teachers then create their own accounts from.

I got my school code from my mentor and started to explore the resources on GPB.  There are thousands of videos and other materials such as lesson plans and student worksheets available for anyone with a log-in.  There are also categories to help teachers narrow their search.  For example, you can narrow your search by subject: English/ Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Health, Careers/ Work Place Skills, Research/ Study Skills, Teaching Practices, Visual and Performing Arts, and World Languages.  It also allows you to filter your search based on grade level: K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, and 9th-12th.  

Before this week, I had visited the PBS site a few times to supplement my lessons, as well as NPR, but I had never seen anything about GPB.  I have to admit that I was a little put out that I have had access to this resource probably for my entire career, and had no idea it was available to me.  I think what I liked most was the fact that some of the videos were in the neighborhood of 2-6 minutes, which is the perfect length for a lesson activator.  Kids love seeing clips because it helps them understand things so much easier.  I am looking forward to using this resource in the future, and I encourage all of you to check it out as well.

(M. Allen, personal communication, October 22, 2012)

Video Distribution Systems & Georgia Public Broadcasting

Video distribution systems or closed-circuit television makes it possible to show SchoolTV News shows, Bookfair promotional videos, PowerPoints, videos, and cable and broadcast programs, etc. throughout the school.  At my school, we do have closed-circuit television and it is currently working.  It is used only by the media specialist and teachers do not have any input or control over what is displayed. We do occasionally have technical problems with our closed- circuit television system, for which we have to call in our technology assistant or technical director.

We have access to closed-circuit television on Channel 34.  This is specifically for the viewers in our school.  This is my second year as the media specialist at Cherokee Elementary.  I use the closed-circuit television system daily to show our school news program, The Bulldog Beat.  Our crew comes in each morning and does the live show, while teachers and students watch on closed-circuit television in their classrooms. After the show is over I set up a PPT that includes school related announcements and a digital clock that is shown throughout the day. Some teachers keep it on all day, while others feel it is a distraction and turn it off and only view it when needed or at the end of the day.  Here are two pictures of what we show on our CCTV.  The first is the opening slide of our morning show. It switches between a PPT and live TV using a video camera and other equipment.  The second is our PPT w/ clock and announcements.

Our closed-circuit television has also been used to show Scholastic Bookfair promotional videos and fundraising promotions.  I have used it to show PPTs of Leo our library mascot’s adventures, new books that are available, or pictures of our Storybook Character Pumpkins. The closed-circuit television is used for recognition of students and staff as well.  It is also used to show VHS & DVD movies that more than one teacher is showing. 

Our school district does use Georgia Public Broadcasting. We have a link on our school district’s website to Discovery Education/ United Streaming videos. We have access through a username and password. Most teachers search for videos to enhance units of study to meet Common Core and Georgia Performance Standards. As a media specialist, I often search for videos for to support the teacher’s curriculum.  For example, a fourth grade teacher requested materials on the Hopi tribe.  I gathered books, but we didn’t have any DVDs.  Using Discovery Education, I found several short videos to recommend to him.  Discovery Education is a wonderful resource for teachers.

Socially Accepted

I was talking with my mother last week about the use of social media and devices in the classroom, discussing the pros and cons. She is a counselor in a high school. She informed me that her school is beginning the process of integrating mobile devices into the classroom. The school was already using classroom sets of iPads in some classes, but now they will allow students to bring tablets, cell phones and smart phones into class to use during the lecture. The idea is that students can respond to questions via text message or research topics from their desks. I asked about students that didn't own such a device and she said that the school would have a few that could be used during class and that students would also be encouraged to share.
Thinking back to when I was in school, it seems so foreign to allow such devices in class, but what a great idea! First, it puts internet in students' hands in the classroom. Second, it prevents the clandestine use of devices during class because cell phones and tablets are on the desk anyway. Students will have less chance to send secret text messages to friends.
The articles I read about social networking sites were mostly positive as well. One mentioned sites such as LibraryThing, but I personally prefer Good Reads. I can see Good Reads being utilized in Literature classes. It is a great way to see what books friends are reading and how they felt about them. My friends and I have Good Reads accounts and I often find new books by reading a review on one someone else read.
I'm not sure I can see the usefulness of sites like MySpace, Twitter or FaceBook in the classroom, unless the class had a page that the updated frequently with updates about class assignments or projects.
Freedom to surf the internet during class can have its drawbacks, too. There will always be one or two that abuse the privilege. Teachers will inevitably find students playing games or chatting with friends rather than paying attention in class, but that happens anyway without the technology in the classroom. Kids passing notes and reading comics has been going on in class for ages. Technology simply changes the way notes are passed.

Local Media Center Webpages are Inadequate

Jurkowski states that recent surveys indicated that 90 percent of the libraries have a web site.    This statics prompted me to explore the websites in my school district.  I am sad to report that the majority of the schools on all grade levels did not have a web site or the site included the minimal information. I was disheartened, having to search the school website to locate the library/media center webpage.  Many of the local schools had the media center webpage hidden under departments.  Several media center webpages only lead to the online Destiny catalogue.

 The list of websites provided for review by Dr. Cooper was extensive.  However, I felt it was necessary to make an effort to view a good number of them to make sure I was not being too harsh on my assessment of my school district.  Wow, does not begin to express how impressed I was with the websites.  The most crucial element for me, at first glance, was the colorful and engaging home pages.  This was particularly prevalent in the elementary and middle school sites.  The headings were simple and uncomplicated to follow.  Images, animation and podcasts were used to assist the entire group of stakeholders maneuver the site with comfort and ease.  This was a tremendous improvement from the webpages featured by the local schools in my district.

I do not consider the plain old webpage to be outdated.  Many of the exemplary webpages had blogs and wiki pages available for various content areas.  The use of new Web 2.0 technology can be integrated into the webpage.  The technology and resources that are directly related to improving student achievement is needed on the media center webpage.  This will be different for each school.  However, the wiki pages that explain to students and parents how to use the various online resources that have been purchased for their use is extremely important.  The digital library is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

I really liked being able to locate the media center webpage with ease.  I liked reading about the library staff.  It was great to have pictures and videos of the media center.  It was very convenient to have an interactive calendar to reserve equipment and time in the media center.  It was awesome that teacher projects, assignments and webpages were either listed or linked to the media center webpage.  I was thrilled to see the book fairs listed.  The online resources were available with brief explanation on what they were and how to use them.  The virtual tour of the media center which included library policies for students and teachers was great.  An online E-books catalogue was outstanding.

I see the value of a media center webpage.  The user friendly webpages addressed the needs of the student, parent, faculty member and administrator.  I like the benefit of having critical information available with no restriction of time.  The media center is the heart of the educational facility.  The webpage is another important aspect to improving student achievement.  Time and financial resources would be well spent to enhance the capability of the media center webpage.

LMC Websites: The World's Window into your Library, Your Students' Window to the World

           Websites are an convenient way for library media centers collect and distribute important information.  They are also a great way to promote the media center.  Teachers, students, and parents can easily access a LMC website any time of the day or night to find school information or retrieve many important resources.  So what kinds of things are crucial to have on a LMC website?  The best websites I have seen include these types of information: contact information, an easy-to-use OPAC, easy access to age-appropriate databases, links to educational resources arranged logically (by grade or subject), and a format that is inviting (not intimidating!) for the user.

Each website I viewed contained a homepage with the school’s mailing address and phone number with the library’s extension, the media specialist’s email address, and the hours of operation.  These items were displayed prominently and in many cases there were links to the email addresses so that they could be quickly and easily clicked for access.  Some pages, including the one from North Elementary School (my favorite example) (http://north-lmc.nes.noblesville.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/integrated_home.phtml?gid=1613599&sessionid=8bb2783ab722bf08edb7708e97e00049&t=) included a welcome message that introduced the library and its resources to patrons.  North’s welcome was set up as a slideshow- very engaging! 

Each website also had links to its own OPAC, usually through Destiny.  A special feature of North’s webpage was that it also linked to neighboring libraries’ OPACs, including the local public library, the library at the University of Illinois, and the Library of Congress.  This is an idea that I hadn’t previously considered, but I think it’s a great idea to (at the very least) link to your local public library’s OPAC or webpage.

The databases and other web resources on the LMC sites I viewed were geared toward the populations they served.  Those intended for students were displayed prominently, either from the home page or from pages sorted by grade level.  For instance, North’s site has links to the databases on the homepage and also contains links to pages with resources appropriate for each grade level.  I like this organizational system, my only complaint is that the grade level links, though (awesomely) sorted by curriculum topic like mini-pathfinders, are just text.  This is fine for the older grades, but I think that primary students would have an easier time clicking on icons.  It would be cool to make the grade level resource pages in a wiki format, that way teachers could act as contributors and would be able to add great resources or delete old links without the media specialist having to act as the ‘middle man’.

I love that most of the sites I viewed had collections of resources for teachers, including links to standards and copyright information, important district information, and library policies and procedures.  Some even had ‘cheat sheets’ for how to use library equipment like LCD projectors and Smart Boards.  On my ideal webpage, these ‘cheat sheets’ would be video tutorials- vodcasts!

Another important aspect of the media center’s webpage is the ‘What’s New?’ news section that most sites I visited contained.  In this section, the media specialist could post important news related to the media center, such as book fair dates, author visits, or new titles in the library.  The news section might cover the school as a whole, with upcoming school-wide events or a lunch menu calendar.  Since many schools have weekly video news productions, these could be posted to the ‘What’s New?’ section of the website as well. 

More and more of these pages are also connected to social media, with Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.  These resources help keep older students and parents in the loop about what is happening in the library or at school.  They are another great way to stay connected to the world outside the library’s four walls.

The best library websites, in my opinion, were the ones whose formats were geared directly to the audience they were intended to serve.  I liked elementary libraries that had inviting, colorful backgrounds and simple text in easy to read fonts.  These websites, typically geared toward young learners, were full of icons that provided students with obvious visual representations of the pages they would access by clicking on them (see image from North Elementary’s website for an example of this below.)  Their links for students were grade-level appropriate.  For instance, I saw several schools that served primary students had the Pebblego  Database, which is one that I think is particularly useful for children just learning how to use a database for research.  Middle school websites were still colorful and exciting, but their links were more text oriented and contained links to resources with higher reading levels.  High School media center website design uses a bolder, more mature layout with many text links to content appropriate for advanced students.

All in all, I was excited by the possibilities I saw on the library media center websites I visited.  The webpage is an area where the media specialist can really show off his or her library while providing a good collection of resources for patrons.  These kinds of websites will take lots of effort to build and maintain, but in the end I think the hard work will pay off when LMC website use goes up.

The Good, The Bad and The Wiki

Okay, I read the readings for the Wiki posts and was mildly impressed with the concept of sharing with others in real time. Someone across the state or across the world can see an update seconds after you click the save button. I'm not sure how useful that feature is for the media center, but wikis in general can definitely be useful tools if the media specialist has the time and desire to initially set it up.

In the media center, I could see a wiki being used to share feedback about books, movies, magazines or websites. Reports could even be assigned by teachers and submitted on the wiki. A book report could include a picture of the cover, a brief summary of the story and the reaction of the reader. This kind of wiki would allow other students to read the summary and review to determine if they might like the book themselves. 

For elementary schools, wikis are most likely to be utilized by teachers. They are a great way to store information for classes in a way that the teacher can access it from any computer with internet access. Grade levels may also choose to have a shared wiki that allows all teachers from that grade to edit content and add additional information.

Alternately, teachers may choose to have a wiki page just for his or her own class. Last year, my child's kindergarten teacher had a class wiki. She had a section for pictures and videos of the kids in class, what homework was assigned each night, a discussion section where parents could write comments or make requests for things about the class and a page where she posted what was covered in class for the week. She updated her wiki often and it was a great way to keep parents informed about the progress of the class as a whole.

In middle school, students are a bit more proficient with a computer and may be ready to have access to manipulate a webpage such as a wiki. Links to subject-specific wikis containing research sources can be placed on the desktops of computers in the classroom or in folders on the desktop of the computers in the media center. If each grade had a folder, students would be able to quickly find the wiki they need, use it and complete their assignment quicker that if they had to search for research sources on their own. I still believe, however, that students need to develop research skills as well with print sources and online sources alike. I don't want wiki pages making research too easy for students. The sources on a wiki need to be limited and students required to seek out other sources for the assignments as well.

For high schools students, wikis can be very useful. They can help students share ideas and information.I would like to see each grade level having a wiki to use to share educational information. My mind immediately jumps to all the negative uses that students could find for a wiki. Gossiping, bullying, profanity, lewdness and misrepresentation  have no use in a school sponsored webpage, therefore, student wikis would have to be closely monitored by a faculty sponsor. 

Wikis in Education

Introduction

I am one of those people who knew what Wikipedia was before I knew what a Wiki was, or even how Wikis work.   I also quickly learned that Wikipedia was an unreliable source for research when looking for articles to write papers for college classes.  After all, Boeninger writes, “Its popularity has caused some debate in the academic community as many librarians, educators, and researchers question the reliability of the encyclopedia’s content” (2007).  I remember my professors saying that because anyone could edit Wikipedia, we were not allowed to use it as a source.  In my mind, these people were evil hacker geniuses, and there was no way I would ever trust anything they wrote. I have never been very technologically savvy, and it never occurred to me that when the professors said anyone could edit Wikipedia, that anyone could mean me.  

I attended Kennesaw State University to get my Master’s in Secondary English Education.  We had to take a technology class with Dr. Darren Crovitz.  This class made me significantly more nervous than the other classes because of my lack of experience with technology.  Sure I could fire off an e-mail, write a paper, and watch videos on YouTube, but that hardly made me an expert.  My heart would beat faster, and my neck and shoulders would tighten up with tension every time I had to start a new assignment.  Paralyzing fear and the feeling that I could not do it would plague me endlessly.  Thank goodness Dr. Crovitz was very laid back or it would have been a tougher semester.

Since Dr. Crovitz was an expert in technology, he often showed the class short videos to start the class, or even to show us how to do something.  This was how I finally learned what a Wiki was.  I have yet to see an explanation better than the following video.  It’s only three minutes or so, and I really think it is a great tool for teaching students about Wikis.  As a student, I thought, “Oh that is so easy.  I can do that.”  For those of you who are technophobes like I was, you know what a big deal that is.  Take a little time, and watch it now.

 

See?  How easy is that?!!  So, I had a Wiki group assignment, and we even had to edit a page on Wikipedia.  Had I become one of those evil hacker geniuses?  Hardly.  But at least I knew I could handle a Wiki.

Thoughts about using Wikis in the Media Center

After doing some reading, I realized it is important to determine if the Wiki is needed in the first place—maintaining one just because everyone else has one is a waste of time. (Boeninger, 2007).  I absolutely believe Wikis can be used effectively in the media center if they are needed, and at least one person is up for maintaining it.  Wikis can be best used for faculty in a departmental or grade level team communication.  Teachers can use Wikis for collaboration on “editing textbook, preparing journal articles for publication, assembling a syllabus or reading list,” not to mention creating lesson plans, inserting multiple files and or links including pictures, sounds, music, Word documents, PowerPoint Presentations, and videos (Educause, 2005).   Each teacher could then have their own class Wikis for student use if they are so inclined.  “Students can use the Wiki to research, outline, draft, and edit a collaborative project...they could also organize articles, site links, video, and other resources…users can discuss the book, share papers for peer feedback, and so on, all using the Wiki” (Bowlan, 2008).

There are some drawbacks to Wikis: inappropriate language, inaccurate information, and spam are just a few things that can go wrong (Educause, 2005).  It is easy enough to avoid these kinds of issues.  Wikis can be set up so that the users have to be invited.  This way, some random stranger is not adding information.  This aspect is what makes Wikis great tools for student use too.  Wikis can be safe places for students to collaborate and share information.

Weak Wikis vs. Strong Wikis

After examining Decatur High School’s and Apalachee High Schools’s Wikis, it is easy to see whose Wiki is weak and whose is strong.  Decatur High School’s Wiki is the weaker of the two.  It is not colorful, there are few links, and it appears as if it has been abandoned in favor of a traditional web page, which also happens to lack color and links.  Apalachee High School’s Wiki is colorful, well organized, and has useful links.  It is clear that this Wiki gets a lot of traffic, and it is updated regularly.

Collaborative Tools or Storage Cabinets???

Boeninger lists plenty of things media specialists and other educators can do in order to have successful Wikis.  One idea is to look at other Wikis for ideas—there is no need to reinvent the wheel.  Finding the right software to meet the needs of the users is important as well.  Media specialists should add users slowly so the Wiki does not get overwhelmed with too much new information at once.  Also, the users should be provided with a list of norms and rules so each person knows what is expected of him or her.  Finally, the media specialist needs to give up control to users and not get upset if users do not contribute.  While it is understandable that it may be frustrating to watch a collaborative tool being used as a storage cabinet, that very well might be what the users need at that time.  If that is what works for them, let it be.  Some people are happier to use what is available and not contribute.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Besides, forcing the issue may make people give up altogether, which is the opposite of what we want to happen (Boeninger, 2007). 

References

Boeninger, C.F.  (2007).  The wonderful world of wikis: Applications for libraries.  In Courtney, N. (ed.), Library 2.0 and beyond (25-33).  Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Bowlan, A.  (2008).  “A wikki gives a worthy book new life.”  School Library Journal.  Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590061.html

Educase.  (2005).  “Seven things you should know about wikis.” Retrieved from

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf ).

Lefever, L. [leelefever].   (2007 May 29).  Wikis in plain English.  [video file].  Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY