What did your edtech year look like?   Let’s create a snapshot.

As this school year comes to a close, I’d like to call on you to share your discoveries and your wisdom and to help me reflect.

Which edtech goodies, tools, apps, platforms, and strategies worked so well for you in 2012/2013 that they will become a part of your on-going toolkit or practice?

What were your biggest issues?  What flopped?

Okay, I got carried away with the questions, but please share a little of your experience this year and I will compile a post.  You don’t need to complete every box.

If I am lucky enough to have many responses, I may do a second round with multiple choice voting options.

I can’t wait to see and share your responses!

(Here’s a direct link to the form.)

joyce

Just about a year ago, I shared my excitement about Adam Bellow’s (eduTecher’s) Alpha launch of his clipboard service for education, EduClipper, as a kind of school-friendly, student-safe Pinterest on steriods, without the shoes.

EduClipper is now ready for prime time–growing as a collaborative, global, digital curation hub, search/discovery tool and portfolio platform.

It is also free.

I recently spoke with Adam and asked him to share his hopes for EduClipper:

I wanted this to be more than a gallery. Unlike Pinterest, it’s not just for pictures. Users can showcase and annotate projects and resources from multiple platforms–websites, documents, videos, images, slideshows, etc.

I also wanted to develop an easy space for students and teachers to collaborate on the same network. 

Originally, EduClipper was designed just for teachers.

For years now, we’ve been sharing and collecting instructional and ideas resources on platforms like Twitter, but we haven’t been able to easily and safely share in the same network as kids.  Edmodo is very cool networking platform, but it’s closed.

So, the goal was to build in real collaboration–to allow students and teachers to curate with each other.

Teachers can create and share with groups and subgroups; they can scaffold and share content appropriate for specific groups of students.  The tools foster the ability to differentiate, so there is no need to teach to the middle. 

students have already decided to create their own digital portfolios with EduClipper.   They can decide for themselves whether the work they clip should be just for school or for their personal portfolios.

The plan is to take off some of the school elements.  Students will be able to establish their own accounts and when they graduate, to export the content they curate. 

We have an extensive blacklist and work hard to keep the space safe.  We’ve included lots of safety precaution and public/private options, giving teachers the ability to decide on appropriate permissions. 

The platform is similar to the Pinterest model in that users share both individual clips or collections of clips as boards.

At this point we have tons of districts interested.  No fees are planned for this or next school year.  It will always be free to teachers and kids.   School purchases, with premium features and analytics will be available for a fee. 

• Introduce/use EduClipper as a search tool for instructional ideas
• Curate or link to Clipboards of lessons plans, bulletin boards, video content, etc. on your library site
• Create boards for schoolwide/department/grade-level sharing of best practice
• Curate Clipboards for a school-wide archiving of student work
• Coach your kids in developing annotated, reflective learning portfolios across disciplines and grade levels.
• Work with classroom teachers to create annotated galleries of student work in response to an inquiry challenge.
• Curate boards of materials to support flipped classrooms in your school
• Curate content (authors, books, activities, trailers) to support your school’s reading culture
• Collaborate on meaningful inquiry projects with other schools/classrooms/libraries by curating Clipboards of responses that reach beyond regional/national borders.

Claire’s sketch notes

After our first/last highly successful poetry slam, demand grew for us to schedule a second event before the school year ended.  And last week we did.

Although I worried that final projects, prom, graduation, finals, etc. would get in the way, the kiddos from my dear Literary Mag, Gay Straight Alliance, Book Club and Gallery Club, again assured me, Dr. V, there will be poems.

This time around we combined the slam with a Gallery opening.  And so, my art teacher friend, Mark, worried if there would be art.

I had four poems in hand the day of the event.  Mark had three pieces of art.  Because of the success of the last event, we decided to go with the flow.

It all worked better than we could have imagined.   Last time I carefully researched what a slam should look like and organized a traditional slam.  This time around we bagged the judging and tried to celebrate the art and validate our poets in new ways.  We asked students–Lana and Maria–to emcee.

Mark and I had a major creative breakthrough right before we started.

Inspired by the sketch-noting that has been part of major cultural events like TED and SXSW and by the success of a recent lesson we presented on visual note-taking, we provided paper and markers and asked student artists to respond to the poems they heard by sketching memorable images, phrases, ideas.  In addition, Lit Mag decorated the Gallery with a garland of students’ six-words poetry  stars.

six-word poems

I asked some of our Slam planners to reflect:

Lauren:
In many ways this Slam felt like a perfect conclusion to this year. Everyone seemed even more comfortable sharing parts of themselves this time.  People were writing poetry as they listened to others and getting up to share it a moment later. Not everything was perfectly polished but all of it was from the heart. The poetry was incredibly personal and it was really interesting to see a different side of some students. It’s amazing what people are willing to share with you when you give them a chance to be heard. I loved the art being created to accompany the poetry. Many of them gave such great insight not only into the poem but also the artist and the lens through which they saw the Poetry Slam. Our garland of six words stars seemed to be the perfect bridge between poetry and art. 

A lot of people have said things to me about what you leave behind when you graduate. I’m just so incredibly proud to be leaving behind the Slam. Some students seemed to think the Slams were a long running Springfield tradition. (Which definitely made me feel better about the moments that felt awkward or last minute) For a long time it felt like a nice idea but something we would never be able to pull together and it definitely seemed impossible to garner interest. But with a lot of time and planning we were able to make not only one but two Slams happen.

Lana:

This year’s poetry slam  was great! I’ve never been one to read, write, or even listen to poetry. But at the Poetry Slam, I did them all. I always thought poetry had to be deep and meaningful and even sometimes rhyme, but I learned though that poetry is an outward expression of you!  So before the Slam I wrote my own poem that represented a part of high school life, leading me into graduation. I was a little nervous about it, but everyone was so supportive and kind that it lessened the pressure. And everyone loved it. Through the Poetry Slam I was able to know people I had already thought I knew on a much deeper and more personal level.  All around the Poetry slam was a great experience and a great way to finish off my senior year.

Maria:

We were worried about not having enough poems, but so many people wrote poems on the spot that we went right until the end of the Slam. Our school is filled with talented writers and it was great to see them get up and express themselves. It was really inspiring.  I’m not the best writer, but when it was over I felt like I wanted to go home and write pages and pages of poetry. I am so excited to plan and participate in our future Slams.

Here’s a bit of the flavor.

Explaining sketch-noting

Senior counter (subject of Lana’s poem)

I am a big fan of the talented, adorable and slightly wacky author/illustrator/kidlit blogger/podcaster Katie Davis.

I am also a big fan of the slightly wacky, digital animation tool PowToon with its cool themes, props, animated characters and transitions.

So what happens to the equation when a popular picture book author/illustrator partners with digital, comic-based presentation/video maker platform?

That’s the question Katie Davis will answer at her upcoming webinar.

Here’s the problem.

We’ve been working hard at making business solutions work for kids’ creative projects. As cool as they are, these platforms weren’t really designed for us.   Although PowToon offers free, awesome style-libraries and animations, it’s not yet all that connected to the world of kids.  There are no little chickens.

The addition of a Katie Davis theme is likely to change that game and perhaps, start a trend.

I created a website and was trying to get kids to use my art to create social media.  But that was before drag and drop and it didn’t go anywhere.  It was too hard to keep up.  And I got busy doing other things.

The time is now ripe.

Katie was drawn to PowToon and to the enthusiasm of the very serious, white-jacket PowToon scientists behind the platform.  She pointed to their helpful short tutorials and how responsively they  solicit and accommodate users’ suggestions–how they let folks in on the progress of upcoming features.

She  is now excited about making tons of stuff for her new theme and that those  very serious scientists are going to make her stuff dragable, droppable and animatable.

So, what’s it going to look like?

Katie’s been listening for months, collecting ideas for just what to include in the new theme.

Readers helped to crowd-source a long PowtoonWishList.   Blog post comments revealed an interesting mix: requests for books, trophies, alligators riding skateboards, hopping cows, and students and teachers with a variety of facial expressions.  (Among the items definitely coming in an early packet is a little girl in a burka.)  

Big picture: Imagine what it might look like if more of our favorite illustrators contributed to improving more of our digital storytelling platforms.  Imagine what it would look like if we had the graphics we really need to support storytelling and flipping.

Katie hopes that her contribution will pave the way and so do I!

Use this link to sign up for Katie’s free webinar.  (Details to come after signup)

I recently added this handy infographic Creative Commons: free photos for bloggers by Foter to our resources and hope to use it as a teaching tool in September.

The poster promotes use of Foter as an image source, emphasizing the issue that more than 99% of Creative Commons photos are not adequately attributed, and that

bloggers using Foter.com attribute CC photos properly, which is greatly facilitated by our “ready to paste” attribution info. Every time they intend to use a searched image, all they need to do is copy the image and the accompanying attribution details into their blogs.

In addition, the poster presents a handy and attractive teaching tool by illustrating details relating to Creative Commons licenses and demonstrating how and where to note attribution of CC photos in online projects. (For some, this may open debate regarding traditional documentation in informal publication.)

Combined with Creative Commons license information and its simple License Chooser, the infographic could be a useful tool in your September ethical use initiative.  I hope it will also help push students to select a license of choice to include on their own work.

How To Attribute Creative Commons Photos by Foter

Side note:  Similar to Wylio, Foter, offers a go-to search for more than 190 million free Creative Commons images from many online sources and offers simple tools to help bloggers easily and ethically insert those images into posts.

Infographic: How To Attribute Creative Commons Photos by Foter

PBS recently announced that its PBS LearningMedia, the media-on-demand service for PreK-12 educators, now offers more than 30,000 free, carefully cataloged, standards-aligned, digital resources.

Honored with two 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards in the Education Technology category, these resources were specifically designed to address national curricular gaps for high-quality digital media.  The new content features interactive games, images, videos, and instruction from such PBS and PBS KIDS programs.

The new content includes

CONSTITUTION USA: Videos, lesson plans, interactives and images from the PBS program. The new content allows students to explore the meaning and relevance of the U.S. Constitution for all Americans.

DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD: Videos showcasing the hit PBS KIDS preschool series’ social-emotional curriculum to help early learners build the social skills necessary for school and life.

MAKERS: Women Who Make America: A collection of videos from the critically acclaimed program with lesson plans that explore the pioneering contributions of women.

SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED: Video segments, informational texts, discussion questions and suggestions for extension activities to enhance students’ reading, viewing and appreciation of Shakespeare’s works. This content is deigned for students in grades 8 -12.

Middle School Math and Literacy Collections: New interactive math and literacy collections targeting subjects not widely covered in the digital space.

• Online lessons for blended learning: The Walmart Middle School Literacy Initiative produced by WGBH offers blended, cross-curricular lessons that enhance the literacy skills of struggling readers and writers in grades 5-8.
• Digital learning objects: Created in partnership with the Gates Foundation, these objects explore complex math topics such as understanding integers, making math fun and relatable.

I spoke with Tami Mount, Senior Director of Digital Product Strategy and Content.

Tami shared,

We’re excited about the Codie Awards. It’s a tribute to the PBS team and the teachers across the country who helped build the content. We add 200 to 500 new resources each month, from on-air content, as well as locally produced material.

PBS is  completely aware of the need to understand and develop new content models.

As more schools adopt digital curricula, there will be less focus on texts. We know that kids are sitting on the floor in groups with iPads on their laps. We need a trusted source–a destination to find media to use and share.

 

Tami also shared that school librarians are particularly interested. 

She met with her daughter’s school librarian last week,

and it was an easy sell. Our resources are completely connected to curriculum.  I’ve been with PBS for the past three or four years, and never once has a teacher said, “I don’t have time for these materials.” We frequently hear, “Oh my gosh, you have that?”  Our creators are such beautiful storytellers and our purpose is to take this rich media, catalog it, and create context.

I pressed Tami to choose one favorite of the tens of thousands of LearningMedia resources. 

After quite a struggle, she chose a video segment from Between the Lions.

An Egg is Quiet, is the beautiful, vocabulary- and content-rich video production of Dianna Aston (author) and Sylvia Long’s (illustrator) nonfiction picture book.

The story that shows places where eggs sit, different colors of eggs, and different shapes of eggs. The story then explains that eggs bear a little creature inside, with tiny holes in its shell for air. The story shows the baby chick’s progress from resting in the egg to hatching. Key vocabulary includes: egg, quiet, colorful, shapely, round, oval, pointy, tubular, clever, camouflage, textured, hard, soft, gooey, smooth, rough, shell, yolk, albumen, and noisy. This video segment provides a resource for Text Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Language and Vocabulary Development.

Tami asked me to imagine it projected for a primary classroom and pointed to the value of resources like this to the primary grade teacher for whom science may not be a specialty.

Teachers are deeply involved in developing resources.

According to Tami:

We ask teachers what they have and what they don’t.  With both Shakespeare and The Constitution, we worked with educators to raise funding to create content specific to the classroom and to leverage the great work of program and integrate it in a meaningful way.

The entire PBS system has embraced LearningMedia. Tami shared

The programming budget includes funding for the classroom use of clips.  We work to clear rights for classroom use. We re-edit and contextualize stories, to make new complete digital stories. 

And we are very proud of the metadata that makes this work discoverable.

LearningMedia was founded on the importance of local connections. Tami shared that 65 to 67 % of content is created by stations. Your sign-in is routed to your local station, so they can work directly with teachers in the community.

One example of a local station working directly with teachers is Central Pennsylvania station WPSU’s Blue Ribbon Readers program that addresses the needs of low achievers. The interactivities developed by one station to improve word recognition and reading comprehension are now used nationwide.

I asked Tami about usage rights:

Our resource pages list permitted use–whether users may stream download, share or modified.  Permitted use is based on the individual rights for a particular piece of media. For instance, Shakespeare is currently stream only.  Our biggest barrier is clearing rights, but we are working hard on that.  We can really see the value in students downloading, re-narrating and re-sharing media.  That’s where you can see learning happening.

In an effort to continually enhance and improve, PBS studies how resources are used by teachers.

The alignment of resources to the Common Core has made it easier for us the look at math in particular. It is simple for me to take that clip on integers, do an impact study, see where content is bubbling and what teachers are drawn to. 

We are constantly listening and looking at data. 

See also PBS Free Resources to Fuel Summer Learning

This year, we added another element to this tradition. We asked them for a memory card.

It hasn’t caught on quite as well as the college plan card yet, but I think it will.

Shouldn’t we ask students to stop and think before they bolt out the door?

Students who’ve shared so far recalled informal learning experiences as favorite memories–field trips, gaming events, assemblies, clubs, concerts.

I have a feeling this activity might be as powerful with younger students.

As your 2nd or 5th/6th or 8th graders move up, what might they reflect on as their best memories of their experience in your library or building?  How would this affect the way you plan activities?

And, although I didn’t get a chance to do this with an entire class of seniors yet this semester, I’ve been informally grabbing individual kiddos–my interns and those passing through in study hall–asking them to explore the library websites of their intended universities.

This morning Gabe and Alexis explored Penn State and American.

Alexis was very impressed with the resources she discovered, and said,

Wait a minute. These LibGuides look just like ours. It feels like home already.

Looking ahead at college library websites

The background:

YALSA President H. Jack Martin and Crystle Martin, Postdoctoral Researcher for the Connected Learning Research Network, have been moderators the free virtual chats, which will look at the roles social media and teens play in the future of public and school libraries. Crystle and Jack will facilitate discussions with Renee Hobbs, Chris Shoemaker, Wendy Stephens, Joyce Valenza and many more about the challenges surrounding leveraging social media in library programs. YALSA members are invited to participate and to share what has or has not been working in their own libraries. Participants will explore best practices from across the globe to implement in their library.

I’ve been listening in for the past three weeks.  

This coming Tuesday, May 28 at 1:00 PM Eastern, Buffy Hamilton and I have the opportunity to participate on the panel: Teens and the Future of Libraries: Sharing Best Practices

Please help me prepare to discuss and represent best practice relating to both school and public libraries.   

What would you want the research and the edtech worlds to know about what’s going right relating to teens, tech, social media and our own spaces and practices both physical and virtual?

Leave your best ideas, along with links  in Comments or email me at joycevalenza@gmail.com

You are welcome to participate in real time, and ask questions on Livestream, watch live on the Connected Learning Google+ Page, and contribute to the #futureoflibraries conversation on Twitter.

The very active, idea-rich YALSAblog is also hosting conversations about the webinars. See Linda Braun’s recent post.

Each virtual chat has been (or will be) archived.

• May 2: Kick-off: Teens and the Future of Libraries
• May 7: The Importance of Youth Access to Technology in Libraries
• May 14: Effectively Leveraging Social Media in Library Programs
• May 21: Getting Library & IT Administrators On-Board with Leveraging Social Media
• May 28: Teens and the Future of Libraries: Sharing Best Practices 

connectedlearning.tv and YALSA will publish a summary, with tools and resources, at the conclusion of the series.