Clark and Kozma Media Debate

Clark's argument that media is simply a delivery device and that it does not influence student achievement was made in the mid 1980's. Kozma, on the other hand, argues that certain learning tasks can be accomplished with the help of media. Media includes technology, "spoken language, printed text, pictures, numbers, graphs, and musical scores." The concept and debate of changing media in learning has existed since the days of Socrates.

After reading about the debate, I am torn. If this debate was solely on technology, I could easily side with Clark. But when you consider technology is only a small piece of the puzzle and media includes texts, I have to agree with Kozma. Regardless of a teacher's skill, media has an integral role in the educational process in order to engage students, assess understanding, encourage collaboration, etc. I think that teachers and media make a complete picture of education. One without the other is inadequate and I think teachers would agree that it is a codependent relationship. Now I will say that media on its own or in the hands of an ill-equipped teacher is not as effective as it could be. Good teachers plus the right use of media equal success for students.

"In spite of various volleys back and forth by Clark, Kozma, and others there remains no
conclusive evidence that any one medium is more effective than any other. Clark still uses this to conclude that specific media choices are irrelevant to educational outcomes, while Kozma remains optimistic that effects will become noticeable and suggests we consider the effects based on the attributes of the medium rather than the specific medium itself." (Moffat, 2013) When it comes to solely looking at technology I agree with much of Clark's research and arguments. One of the most frustrating things I've seen in classrooms is the use of technology simply for the sake of technology. In my research on this debate, it seems that 21st century educational minds focus on the technology portion of this debate instead of the larger picture of all media, which was at the center of the original conversation. My role as a librarian would be greatly inhibited if I didn't have access to great technology and amazing literature. These media in particular allow me to teach my students how to successfully analyze information, navigate the internet, and develop a love of reading.


Sources:



"The Media Debate." The Media Debate. EduTech Wiki, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Becker, Katrin. (2010). "The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21st Century." Academia.edu - Share Research. N.p., Retrieved from http://mtroyal.academia.edu/ on 16 Nov. 2016.

Moffat, Dave. (2013). "Clark and Kozma Debate Is It Still Relevant." Retrieved from https://dcmoffat71.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/clark-and-kozma-debate-is-it-still-relevant/ on 16 Nov. 2016.

Podcasts

My experience with podcasts includes one podcast that I made during an earlier grad school class where I discussed a pioneer in the world of library science and a couple where I had to interview students about library usage. Outside of school, my husband subscribes to a few sports related podcasts that I only listen to on long road trips so like comics, this is not a medium I have a lot of experience with.

My podcasts were all done through the website podbean.com and I have found the site to be very user friendly. It offers many features that go way beyond my needs including analysis tools, crowdfunding options, and iTunes support.

In my research on the use of podcasts in the classroom I came across some great websites with a variety of ideas on how to incorporate the media into an educational setting. This Scholastic article (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/9-podcasts-teachers-and-kids) features a list of podcasts that students can listen to in order to learn about topics such as animals, languages, books, science and poetry.

This We Are Teachers website http://www.weareteachers.com/10-podcasting-projects-teachers-should-try-in-the-classroom-2/  features projects for students and I chose one of these for my sample podcast. I love the idea of allowing students to create a podcast as a way to demonstrate understanding. If I needed to share information with students, especially information from the library, then I would either make a video or a screencast. I am having trouble imagining a scenario where students would benefit from listening to a podcast by me, but I like the idea of students using them to share information with each other. One of the ideas on this website is to have students create a reading radio. I recruited help from my son who is a reluctant reader and up until recently, had never been excited about a fiction book. Here is a book tease by my son for the book The Terrible Two.

Sources:
Macpherson, Erin. (2014, August 7). "10 Podcasting Projects Teachers Should Try in the Classroom -       WeAreTeachers." WeAreTeachers. N.p., 18 Aug. 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

Richards, Emily. "9 Podcasts for Teachers and Kids | Scholastic.com." Scholastic Teachers.                      Scholastic, Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

Comics

I will start off by saying that I am not much of a reader of comics so this task was a challenge for me. The students at my school are big fans of graphic novels so the idea of allowing students to create a comic is very appealing. On makebeliefscomix.com (http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/How-to-Play/Educators/) the ideas for incorporating comics into the classroom is full of great ideas but are more of an ongoing project that students would need several days to complete. Students coming into the library would only have a limited amount of time to work on a task like this. It took me over an hour to complete mine! For library application purposes, it could be a project GT students complete for their yearly project. I also can imagine it being an activity that middle school students would enjoy doing as a technology library lesson. An understanding of story elements and summarization can be demonstrated through the creation of a comic strip.

My first attempt at a comic was on toondoo.com and I will say that I found it very easy to use. There are many options for customization and it was fun to play around with the characters, positions, emotions, backgrounds, etc. After doing a search in my school library today for books to put in a presidential election display, I ran across a book with a humorous title. I decided to include that book in my comic. (It may be hard to see, the book is called The Election Day Disaster)

Next I visited makebeliefcomix.com and appreciated the simple start up without the need for creating an account. After all the custom features on toondoo, I found the options available on makebeliefcomix.com to be a little disappointing. The lack of options could prove beneficial in a classroom environment because students wouldn't spend hours perusing all the features. There simply aren't that many options to look through. My feelings for the options however are summed up in the comic itself.

After several attempts to open Pixton, I finally was forced to give up. My computer's malware wouldn't allow me to open the site so I searched for another option and stumbled upon the delightful Storyboard That. The options available for customization are outstanding. I was able to start right away with no registration and it was incredibly simple to use. I can see this being a website I would recommend to teachers. Perhaps calling it a storyboard instead of a comic might open their eyes to the possibilities of teaching characters, setting, problem, solution, etc. Here's what I was able to produce in just about 10 minutes.

I was impressed with the ability to change everything. I was even able to adjust the lighting in the windows in the first library scene. There are hundreds of characters to choose from, I just selected the same one each time and changed the colors of her clothes, hair, skin, eyes, etc. to show the customization. Storyboard That was a fun find!

Comics would be a fun edition to makerspace. We have students who have ongoing physical projects, this could be ongoing as well, just online. I can foresee it would appeal to students who are incredibly creative, but might not be able to show it in conventional ways.  

Videos and QR codes in the library

YouTube

    Youtube can be a teacher's best friend! The resources available there and the ease of use make it a valuable asset for educators. Having students make their own videos for Youtube is taking it to a whole new level. For older students taking technology or production classes, I can see that these would be a great way for students to demonstrate understanding of the movie making process. On the Youtube channels we explored, I really liked the science experiment videos where students shot multiple phases of the experiment. When a problem occurred, they corrected the problem and tried again. Many of them had great editing, music and transitions that other student would enjoy watching while also learning about the science experiment.
     I think the mini-lessons are a great way for students to access and revisit pertinent information about research. I can see how this would be crucial for high school students who are expected to independently research and cite their sources.

Animoto

     I was looking forward to working with Animoto because I've heard about librarians using this with students who want to make book trailers. Unfortunately, it was an exercise in frustration for me. I have used several movie making programs including iMovie so I came into Animoto with expectations about customization. There was little opportunity for customizing the text placement, picture sizing and zoom, and there was little rhyme or reason to how any of it was displayed. My book trailer turned out only ok, but the perfectionist in me wished I could have had more control over the final product.
     For my book trailer, I chose The Terrible Two by Jory John and Mac Barnett. It is a bluebonnet book this year and is probably the first book my son has voluntarily read from cover to cover.

When master prankster Miles Murphy moves to sleepy Yawnee Valley, he challenges the local mystery prankster in an epic battle of tricks, but soon the two join forces to pull off the biggest prank ever seen.

QR Codes

I've seen QR codes used as way to send students exploring around the library on a scavenger hunt. Students used an iPad to read about the sections of the library and watch book trailers. I like the idea of using QR codes as a walking exhibit, having students move around the library or school to search for codes and utilize technology to learn in a unique way.

Linking students to online resources and e-book websites is also a great way to use QR codes in a practical way. Promoting those resources on bookmarks and posters is also great idea! Of course, all of this relies on users having access to a device to read these codes. Librarians would have to be intentional is their utilization of this technology making sure it matches up with the school's resources.


Sources:

Amazon. The Terrible Two (2015). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Terrible-Two-Mac-Barnett/dp/1419714910/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477876760&sr=8-1&keywords=terrible+two

Cornell, Kevin. (2015). Images retrieved from http://terribletwo.com

BBSMedia (2016, Sept. 23). Caroline's Director Video.         https://www.youtube.com/user/bbmsmedia/videos

Animoto.com

Instagram, Vine and Screencasts

Instagram

      I have had a personal Instagram account for several years and as far as social media is concerned, it is probably my favorite. Unlike Facebook, following someone on Instagram is not mutual (which is great!) I enjoy following several celebrities, athletes and musicians who allow a small glimpse into their lives. Since I work with elementary students, the use of Instagram for school has never crossed my mind. In one of the articles we read, it mentions that teachers can create class accounts and allow students (and/or parents) to participate. For younger students, I feel the ClassDojo app accomplishes this without encouraging students to use an app they are technically too young to download. But for the sake of this conversation, I found one of my Instagram posts that is relevant to the world of literature and libraries.

A little censorship of Dr. Seuss done by my daughter when she was 7.   

She didn't appreciate the nudity in Wacky Wednesday and took matters 

into her own hands. I found it about 6 years later and we had quite a laugh 

at her creative way to fulfill her need for modesty. 

Vine

      My feelings for the use of vines in the classroom are not that different than Instagram. I work in a district where the use of Twitter is highly encouraged, even rewarded! So for me, I envision vines as a  way to show off or brag about the great things students are doing in our classrooms or libraries. Last school year, our school librarian and I were playing with a makeymakey and I figured out how to play Jingle Bells with playdoh. She posted this short video and this is how I would use vines, especially to showcase cool makerspace activities.

Jingle bells with play dough #makeymakey #brillbroncos pic.twitter.com/XK1C3GAF4q

— Julie Artman (@BrillLibrary) December 14, 2015

 Screencasts

      I have to admit, I was excited about the opportunity to do my first screencast. I'm relieved to see it was easier to use than I thought and I love the idea of making these short videos to explain library activities and procedures. I used Screencast-o-matic and its free account offers plenty of options to fit my needs. For my first video, I took this opportunity to show my students how to locate and complete the bluebonnet quizzes I am implementing this year through Google forms. 

Infographics

       When I first started looking around at infographics, I thought 'cool, but how can I use this in my library?' But the more I explored and read about the use of infographics in education, the more I recognized the potential of this unique, user-friendly medium for representing information. One of my first thoughts was for the GT students in my district who are required each year to do a project. These students are often sent to the library for help with their project and this might be a fresh new way for these students to demonstrate understanding of their given topic.
       I also love the idea of making a cool graphic to represent data for students. If I wanted a creative way to show students how to do self-checkout, I can see that an infographic would be better than a standard list (that they will ignore anyway). As I started considering what my first infographic would be, I remembered a list sent to all librarians in my district about reminding teachers what we can do for them. I decided to take this list and create an infographic with that same information.

      I took the information from the list made by our Information Services department and added some of the educational technology resources our district has available. Teachers often forget about some of the e-book programs we use and I felt this would make for a great reminder. 

     

Easel.ly

I really wanted to like Easel.ly because I liked the themes it had available and after spending about an hour using it, I wanted to come away from it with a usable product. Unfortunately, I found it to be slightly cumbersome and after getting frustrated with resizing and moving objects around, I gave up. I did like the tools that Easel.ly offered and the layout of it's site, but it wasn't perfect. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, wanting everything to be centered and I found that the formatting didn't always allow for that. 

Infogr.am
I did not spend a large amount of time playing around on Infogr.am because it honestly did not make a great impression on me. I watched several videos on YouTube for each of the three sites we were asked to review and they all seem to have the same functionality. Infogr.am's templates were all line graphs and since that was not how I wanted my information represented, I decided this was not the site for me.

Piktochart
After playing around on Easel.ly and struggling with some of the formatting, I was relieved to find the functionality of piktochart to be so user friendly. The tools are quite intuitive and I was impressed with how easy all of the features are. There are many templates to choose from and the huge amount of images, shapes and graphics available is ultimately what won me over. The entire site worked logically and would be great to use with students.

Blogs to follow

I chose the Blog Reader feedly to track ten library and education centered blogs. Historically I have not been one to follow blogs, but many of the blogs I came across are tied to Twitter accounts that I already follow or have found through Pinterest. I like the simple format of feedly and multiple viewing options. In the "title only" mode, the blog posts are listed to resemble an email inbox while the "pictures" mode, resembles Pinterest. I like the default "magazine" mode that shows a horizontal list of the most popular blog posts, followed by a vertical listing of posts by date. Each option allows you to hide posts so they disappear from view or save the posts so it can be easily accessed in the future.

Blogs I chose to follow:

http://librarymakerspace.blogspot.com 

This blog is managed by a public library in Massachusetts that offers programming for adults, teen, and children. Their posts focus specifically on the maker movement, highlighting the activities they have featured in their library. Many of the posts revolve around 3D printing, which is not in the budget for my elementary campus but is interesting none the less.

http://frizzleblog.scholastic.com

Edu@Scholastic is a blog hosted by Scholastic Inc. that features articles on the issues and trends relating to literacy, teaching, early learning, family & learning, community and equity. The blog is specifically written for educators and school leaders.

http://lisnews.org

Library and Information Service News offers a link to wide variety of articles and blog posts relating to literacy and libraries. In the most recent listing, subscribers can find stories from national news outlets like CNN.com, regional newspapers like the Houston Chronicle, and college papers like the Stanford Social Innovation Review. The purpose of the blog is to offer a one stop shop for current news relating to libraries.

http://awfullibrarybooks.net

This blog is quite entertaining! It is designed for librarians to share the outdated and sometime ridiculous books they come across in their collection. The blog is managed by two librarians who have authored a book about the holistic approach to collection development. Librarians can submit a photo and description of the books they find in their collection and the two authors have a very witty way to feature each book.

https://www.nypl.org/voices/blogs/blog-channels/childrens-literature

The NY Public Library's blog offers book lists that are seasonally relevant, character features, book recommendations, author quotes. For anyone who loves children's literature, it is a great resource for what is current and relevant amongst young readers.

Others I chose to follow:

http://www.edudemic.com

http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com

http://ilearntechnology.com/wordpress/

http://www.edudemic.com