Final Assignment

Let me preface this by telling you that I am writing this following an 8-hour day of writing technology curriculum for K-8 schools in our district. Coming up with the negative aspects of technology in education should not be a problem :)

Seriously, I think the hardest thing about this assignment may be paring down to one cohesive piece. My initial reaction to the question is just the challenge of keeping up. This problem is twofold: 1) can a school provide an adequate amount of hardware and/or software, and 2) can a teacher/media specialist keep up with innovations enough to be able to teach the use of these technologies.

Beyond that, the next biggest issue has to be safety/ethical considerations. Regardless of whether a school can keep up with the latest innovations, the fact is many kids are going to be able to experience them at home. The more I think about it, the more it seems like schools really are coming in the back door - having to react to what kids (many kids, anyway) already know rather than teaching them something new. This also causes problems in terms of interest.

In the end - this is a HUGE topic that could go in many different directions - I better get off this blog and figure out a way to get it focused in the next four days.

Newsletter

My plan for the newsletter is to be a general information product with the following articles:

NEWS: new website (I know, the horse is dead so I should stop beating it!) and the fact that our magazines are now available for checkout.

Featured book(s): Both my assistant and I have written book reviews this semester and I will put one or both in.

New Service: Tutor.com (in conjunction with the Rochester Public Library).

I am sure all of you are dying to read this page-turner so I will give you the special "Classmate Rate" of $5 per issue - they would make a great holiday gift for your in-laws!

Brochure

I am going to create an informative brochure highlighting some of the "highlights" of my library. I think this could prove to be a very beneficial endeavor. I am seeing this brochure as a promotional product that I can use with students, staff, administration as well as parents/general public. This all depends on whether I come up with something respectable, of course.

Poster Idea

Sorry I am a day late:

Nothing earth-shattering, but I have designed a poster to help promote my library website (since the school never had one, it's been hard to get the word out).

PowerPoint Assignment

What is up?

Being at a small (budget) private school, pushing the envelope of copyright laws is not unfamiliar to our school. Because of that, I am hoping to use this PowerPoint assignment to "kickstart" what may be (probably will be) a conversation I need to have with my staff.

In an attempt to adhere to the guidelines for this assignment as much as possible - the PowerPoint I submit will just be a part of a larger presentation with a focus on copyright as it pertains to A/V and technology-related entities.

I also have to admit that I am probably running a big risk grade-wise here due to the fact that I am still not an expert on copyright (although last semester's class was definitely an eye-opener) and I do not have the time to become one before this is due next week. May Heidi have mercy!

Anyways, the project I submit will definitely need to be tweaked/improved/polished before I present to the masses - so I will gladly welcome feedback.


THAT IS ALL

My "Other" Website

Here is the address for my homework assignment:

http://faculty.css.edu/hjohnso2/StudentsWebsites/BradHaugen.html

My School Website

I had a few people in the comments ask me to post the address for my library blog/website. I do not know of a more convenient way to reply to comments, so I thought I would make a post on it (is this extra credit, Heidi?:))

http://lourdeslibrary.edublogs.org

Feel free to look around. It is definitely a work in progress, but I started from scratch over the summer. I chose edublogs because our district does not really have a viable web format as of yet. I like it, but it is very limited in terms of design options and the like (but, hey, it's free).

Please feel free to look around if so moved, I would appreciate any feedback any of you have.

And so it begins...

Welcome to my first post on my grad-class blog. I do have a scarce amount of blogging experience which I should explain up front. This summer I decided to participate in the 23 Things on a Stick program which was my very first venture into blogging. From there, I have actually developed a blog for my school library (http://lourdeslibrary.edublogs.org) which I plan on going live with when school starts on Wednesday.

I guess my reasons for choosing a blog format for my job website fits into the first question for this assignment. First of all, I really like the way a blog allows you to update and post news without having to change the entire site. I plan on using the front page of my blog to post news and such about the library in a timely fashion. Hand-in-hand with that, not so current posts will eventually "disappear" so I do not have to worry about deleting the post about August's new arrivals come October or whatever - it will eventually end up in the archives which is fine. At this point, I do not plan on making my blog interactive. The main reason for this is that this is totally new to the school that I am working in (they did not even have a library homepage when I started) and I know there is some reservations from the powers that be about internet safety and the like. But, besides their concerns, I do not believe that I am ready to be totally interactive. If someone has a comment or suggestion for the library, I advise them to email me with such information. As I get more comfortable with this endeavor, I can definitely see myself opening up to the idea of interactivity. I am already brainstorming ideas such as online book clubs/discussion groups, etc.

As far as my overall opinions of blogging - that is where it gets tricky. While I myself like and use the format, I cannot say that I am a huge fan of all blogs. I guess what bothers me the most is the way that anonymous voices have been given such power in our society. I am all for the First Amendment and a person's right to free speech - however, I believe that with such priviledge comes the responsibility of standing behind what you say and claiming it as your own. Nothing bothers me more than the "comments" section that online newpapers are now using and the fact that no one who posts their thoughts/opinions have to take any credit/blame/responsibility for what they say. I think this is especially important to keep in mind when blogging in an educational setting. Giving children the opportunity to say whatever they want without hlding them accountable for it can be a dangerous thing. That is something that I am currently working on as I think about opening my own blog up to commentary and the like. Having said all that, however, I still am in favor of using blogs (particularly in a school setting) because I think it is important to expose kids to something that appears to be becoming a prevalent (maybe even necessary) form of communication.

I look forward to working with and sharing such ideas with all of you throughout the semester.