You will create your account on WordPress and use it as a place to document your ASR experience. Use your blog as your way to reflect on how your project is going, the steps you are currently taking and what you think your future steps will be. It’s important for you to blog 4-5 times a month in order to fulfill the requirements of the project.
I was just about a teenager when the internet became popular, with that being said I would consider myself to be someone who grew up in an era that was up and coming in the world of Social Networking. I remember when email became the greatest form of communication and from there chatrooms, AOL instant messenger and so much more opened up the world of social networking. It’s amazing to see how far we have come since then. Chatrooms are no longer needed with things like NING or SKYPE. AOL instant messenger has become a thing of the past with Facebook and Twitter. Both of these things accomplish what AOL was working towards. Leaving Away messages is the same as setting your status on Facebook but Facebook gives so much more to the Socialization. You can find out so much about someone through their profile and comments written on their walls. Twitter allows you to communicate with someone instantaneously. I also can see professional uses within Twitter and NING or SKYPE that would not have been possible with AOL. I have been able to see these transitions over time and know that collaboration has come such a long way in the world of education.
The internet itself is such a great source when doing anything in the education field however I have come to see Social Networking allows collaboration to come to life and within that collaboration it becomes so much easier to find resources, “talk” with other teachers, and expand upon ideas you may have already had. However, social networking isn’t just limited to the educational world (though that is where I saw the strongest benefit for myself) it is also an important part of Big Companies. In viewing the slides associated with Adam Brown’s Coca-Cola podcast, I came to see the benefit of having social networking tools for big companies like Coca-Cola. He mentions in his podcast that several years ago he would have said the companies website was not just coke.com but also google.com. He states that now he wouldn’t say just coke.com but google.com, twitter.com, facebook.com, youtube.com and various other networking sites. This opened up my eyes to the idea that we are not just limited to the one resource we are used to having but all of these networking sites are available for not only our collaborating and resources but also for companies to use for various forms of advertising.
I also listened to the Social Media and Education Podcast. This podcast gave me an insight into the way we collaborate, communicate, learn from each other and help each other. Sarah Robbins-Bell mentions that we are being faced with a conflict about how we use knowledge and how gain technology. She teaches us not to be afraid of technology but to learn the way to use the technology as a benefit. She mentions how children see things differently then we once did, she mentions her son relies on Google in order to find an answer to his questions. She talks about how if we are unaware of things that are shifting and how we can use those shifts then we will be left behind. This statement goes along with my current thoughts on incorporating technology and using it to the benefit of my classroom. I know that the use of technology aids me in reaching my students and incorporating them in a way that they need to be taught. They have grown to rely so heavily on technology as their means of communication as well as their way to gather information that we need to include that in our daily lessons in order to reach them. I think Social Collaboration on the internet is the key to helping educators learn different modalities of technology to use and the ways to use them. Using the resources that are being provided to us on the internet the various social networking tools is a great way to reach our students. I also found these same thoughts in the podcast interview of Steve Hargadon about Classroom 2.0. Steve Hardgadon is the creator of Social Networks Classroom 2.0 this interview starts off by asking him what he has been really focusing on recently. He mentions that his current focus has been on how to open the world of technology and social networks and how to involved educators. He talks about different projects he has been working on including a social network that is designed to be like a Facebook for educators. I thought this was such a fantastic idea and feel very motivated at the thought of it. Facebook is a social network I rely heavily on in my personal life and think it would be fantastic to be able to use it as an educator to post articles and resources I am using as well as find others who teach within my grade level that I can learn from and find resources from. Although, we have been using twitter for educational purposes, I find myself getting caught up in the social aspect of it and following celebrities and such instead of following the librarians and am not seeing an overwhelming professional benefit to it. Whereas, if there was something like Facebook or Twitter out there for just educators then I would only see the professional benefit to it and could use it for it’s intended purposes. That is what I love about the NING community I joined, I am able to follow other teachers and find so many resources through my NING that I would love to have that same opportunity from something like a Facebook for educators. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this podcast and the different comments made by Steve Hardgadon and the benefit I find to his work.
I loved the article I found out Collaborating 10 Principles for the Future of Learning. I have spent a lot of this module examining the idea about Social Networking but have lost a lot of the benefits of collaborating. This article allowed me to have some insight on the collaboration side of networking. The ten principles are self learning, horizontal structures, from presumed authority to collective credibility, a de-centered pedagogy, networked learning, open source education, learning as connectivity and interactivity, life-long learning, learning institutions as mobilizing networks, flexible scalability and simulation. Though I found them all to be useful and understandable the one that stuck out to me the most was learning as connectivity and interactivity. I like that idea that all of this technology only helps us to connect better and interact more. As I have mentioned in various posts, I would love to be able to use one of these social networking tools in my classroom to allow my students to connect to another classroom in a different area of the country and I think that is what spoke to me about the idea of connecting and interacting through the collaboration aspect of social networking. I liked how this article defined the 10 principles and opened up my eyes to see where education is heading from the technological standpoint.
I also looked at the site Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership. I like the idea that there is something out there for administrators and teachers to gather information from. It showed you various electronic resources where you could click and it would take you to an example of that form of technology. It also gave and abstract which gave some quick background information on that type of technology. I found this resource to be very beneficial and useful for learning about technologies I may not have known about and various sites that are useful as a professional. Within this site there was also a Community button that led me to an online Admin community that administrators could join to collaborate and share resources that go beyond those mentioned on the original screen. Although, I am not an administrator, I saw the benefit to this website even from a teacher standpoint because of the technology they mentioned.
I also used the article 10 Ways Library Schools Should be Teaching Social Media to help form my opinion and ideas about Social Networking and Collaboration. I liked the pointers and tips that were given and the importance of all. I particularly liked when they mentioned, “Community has long been an essential part of the library’s function, and it only follows that your library should be doing everything it can to encourage the growth of its user base, both physical and virtual”. I completely agree with the idea that the library is where community building begins. I have always thought the library was the center/soul of the school and I think it is important for the librarians to promoting the idea of communities and taking that beyond just the school community and opening it up to the web and the communities within the web. The librarian has the essential job of keeping the school up on technology and though every teacher should be doing that within their own classroom it’s important for the librarian to be encouraging and promoting to establish the school community and expand upon it.
All of the research I completed truly allowed me to see the benefits to social networking and collaborating in the education. I know I can personally benefit from the exposure I have received because of the understanding of communities and the importance of using the networks for my professional growth. I have not yet thought of a way that I could include these things within my own classroom but my ability to grow as a professional by using the websites for professional uses will help my classroom all around. I went into this module thinking that social networking could only be used in my personal life. I have learned so much more than that now and see so many professional benefits to social networking. I can definitely see how students in upper middle and high school could benefit from having these things available to them and see how those teachers could use this more for classroom experience. Knowing what I know I feel like my uses for social networking and collaborating will be more for educator to educator and not very much teacher to student or student to student because of the age level of my students. I think some of the roadblocks teachers may face is too much information. I think that sometimes it can be frustrating and overwhelming when there is too much information to use and teachers have trouble finding the right site or the right networking tool. I also see a roadblock when trying to use this for student-student because unless you have a situation where you know every student has access to the internet it may be hard to coordinate anything that will happen outside of school and also the privacy issues and trusting your students to use it only for the intended purposes. I think the benefits to social networking and collaboration outway the roadblocks and definitely through my own research and reflection truly see uses for myself!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53918203@N04/sets/72157625014149462/with/5015715057/
My story is about Libby’s, my dog, first water adventure at 10 wks old! She loved every minute of playing and splashing in the water tub at my brother-in-laws graduation party. Needless to say, she was the highlight of the party 
After creating this story in 5 frames, I feel that this activity could be used to support literacy because students could use this as a way to advertise for books they have read, summarize stories, sequence events…etc. Students could create them and share with whole class or post to a classroom site for everyone to view and comment at their leisure. Teachers could also create short stories for students to read over the frames and present literature in a different way. I also think students are being given information through a media that reaches them and motivates them in a way that books can not.
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337
This is a blog put created and updated by a first grade teacher in Canada. I thought this was an awesome way to keep in touch with parents and discuss what is happening in the classroom. She includes a great deal of videos which is awesome for parents and students to see. What a great way to motivate your students. She also has a link mentioned that connects you to her alphabet wiki where students are able to see the letters of the alphabet and view a video they made that discusses the letter they are focused on. There are some things that I can’t imagine being able to include within my own, if I were to do this with my classroom, including listing students names down the side and including some information. But overall, I imagine this is a success and thought it was so awesome to look at!
http://www.grandviewlibrary.org/Archive_Grandview_default.aspx
The Grandview Elementary Library has an awesome blog with lots of different links to click and explore. It even included a button to “Skype an Author”. Students also have access to the digital pencil that they can use to complete projects. There are lesson plans that the librarian uses and the AASL standards. There is also a great listening center with Readers Theatre, poetry and storytelling. The whole library catalog is also included in this blog that gives students, parents and teachers access to the library from home!
http://msshapiro.blogspot.com/
Ms. Shaprio uses this blog to communicate what is happening with her classroom. What I loved most on her blog was her Shelfari on the side. Shelfari is something I used in my Children’s Lit class and had no idea it was something that could be linked like that! I love that she can post current read-alouds to keep parents informed and maybe even give suggestions to check out of the library.
http://web.mac.com/gberthiaume/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog.html
Just like the other two first grade teachers blogs I have viewed, this teacher uses her blog to communicate what is going on within her classroom. She updates parents on special activities going on within the room so they are aware of what their children are doing. I also liked that she included links at the top of her blog to take parents to various other sites that keep them updated and informed. I think this is a great way to update parents!
http://schools.shorelineschools.org/ridgecrest/blogs/freeman/
Ridgecrest Elementary Library uses this blog to keep everyone informed of what is going on within the school and to let them know how different activities went after they occured. With giving the ability to comment, parents are able to communicate back with the librarian to give their take as well as give input to upcoming activities!
http://pettuselem.blogspot.com/
This blog is used for the librarian to give updates on new books and discuss books he/she has read and likes. On the side of the blog there is a section for primary and intermediate book trailers to give information on upcoming books and tell students what they should look forward too! There is also a spot on the side where there are links to all of the teachers blogs. I think this shows great communication within the school and also allows all teachers to see what is going on inside of the others classrooms. Sometimes we get so blocked in by our own four walls that we are unaware of what could be going on elsewhere in our building. By every teacher having a blog the school is opening up those four walls and communicating freely.
http://ehsslibrary.edublogs.org/
This is a blog that is used souly for communication. Questions are posted asking about what students favorite picture book is, who their favorite author is, why authors write and so on. Students/parents/teachers are able to respond and share with everyone else their favorites in the realm of reading
I had so much fun looking through all of the different blogs out there created and used by teachers and librarians that I just chose a few of my favorites to mention on here. I can definitely see a benefit to using a blog not only for the classroom but also one that could be schoolwide and maintained by the librarian. I also feel that after the initial set up the blogging would not take too much time to continue to maintain.
