Instant Coffee

You may have seen this in the news: there is a machine that can publish a book in 15 minutes -- bound, sealed and ready to read. To read the School Library Journal story, click here: Espresso.

On the other side

So, here I am, on the other side of the requirement to post on my blog, and what am I doing? Not so funny when you know human nature, or when I think about mine. Beatrice wrote that checking her blog became a daily ritual. I really like that.

Today's drama was about the weather and my practica. I hit a snag today regarding finishing the hours in the Fall. I know it will be settled, but between the heat and humidity, I found the end of my rope and sat staring at it for a bit.

Now it's a different moment. Both of my teens are sleeping on the couch, fans blowing (we are not air conditioned). I am grateful for this course's journey, and know that new rituals are in store for me, too.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, a bloggers reflection

I find it hard to separate the blogging experience from the blogging assignment. At one point at class over last weekend, after hearing the confessions of a number of colleagues, I stood up at my table and said: “Hi, my name is Julie, and I didn’t blog this week”. It seemed I wasn’t the only one sitting sheepishly, apologizing to the members of their blogging groups, promising to “do better” next week. I wonder how many members there would be in the IST611 chapter of BA (Bloggers’ Anonymous)?

Having said this, to look at my blog you would see that I was a presence throughout the semester. I felt, however, that I was never doing enough. In many ways, the blogging assignment became the place where I parked my anxiety. I think, in fact, I know, that this is because there were other people relying on my postings to fulfill their course requirements. So, if I didn’t leave a meaningful post, or (as happened at least twice), I did not post at all, the consequences were not solely mine. Furthermore, as the semester wore on, and our IST611 assignment deadlines coalesced with IST668’s, blogging truly became a dark cloud on weekly horizon.

Fortunately the nature of weather is its changeability. I do not have a totally negative view of blogging as an experience. As a life long journal writer, I took more naturally to my blog as a place to express myself, my feelings about what we were exploring, and to share insights and observations. At one point mid-way through, as I struggled under the mounting pressure to perform, I found refuge on my blog and unconditional support from Beatrice, Kate and Thea. It was invaluable during those times; I am grateful for our blogging group.

While length is never an indicator of quality, I know that I posted better ideas and made deeper insights when I had stretches of time to respond. Early on, before I started my fieldwork and practia assignment, I could take the laptop outside with early morning coffee to create my posts and respond to others. Those opportunities diminished as time went on.

To me, blogging by assignment seems artificial, but without it would I have ever continued the blog I started two years ago? My first blog entries were about the Pope John Paul’s death. Now entries include wikis, clickers, podcasting and virtual museums. I have a good feeling that I’ll continue posting, I just wonder who, if anyone, will be responding?

It's time to take stock

I am sitting here at the computer. Well,where else would I be? And actually, while we are on the topic of time spent in front of a computer screen, imagine if there was a way to clock your hours? A pedometer for digital time. I'm sure there is such a thing, but do I really want to know how much time I've sat here, looking at the lighted screen, thinking, searching and creating? Maybe I do. Maybe it's not something to shy away from; I'll bet you agree that this summer has been like no other. I wonder what that means for the future?

As I get my projects in order for this weekend's lessons, one track of my mind is running underneath my conscious actions. I am starting to pull together all my disparate and seemingly unconnected skills, experiences, degrees, talents, etc. and it's rather incredible. Even last year at this time I could not have anticipated where I'd be right now. So often, too often, I am discouraged and overwhelmed. For whatever reason (and maybe it's the last article I just read "Librarians Defeat Nuns in Spelling Bee" that put me in this thoughtful and positive mood), I want to remember to take some time and start a tick list of achievements, just to see what turns up. You many want to do it too. See you tomorrow!

Greetings from C.W. Post

Emma is participating in Freshman Orientation today, and I am playing hooky from the sessions for parents. I am sitting in the library (yep!) which has all the academic trappings enclosed in a quaint building overlooking a beautiful quad. It's amazing to think that Emma will be sitting here researching topics and checking her facebook - - - probably not in that order . . . The theme of the orientation is "iPOST". Kids and parents alike have cell phones in hand, checking in with each other or with the parent who isn't present. I, myself, placed a long text message to Emma at lunch (kids and parents ate at different locations) to tell her about my conversations with the housing folks.

I can only imagine what the college experience will be like for your little ones -- wrist phones? holographic communication? virtual tours using holographic versions of themselves?

Time will tell. In fact, I have to go -- it's time for "Sweet Goodbye's" where we share ice cream and I leave her here overnight.

Deep breath! Some things never change . . .

Time flies . . . THEORY -vs- PRACTICE

My apologies to my fellow bloggers ---- I have not given you very much to chew on lately. Currently I am in the library at Canarsie High School, getting a bird's eye view of a world that is eons away from what I work in back at P. S. 160. First, there are 31,000 books here -- it resembles an academic library far more than a school library. Having said that, it is very warm and welcoming to students. Kids come by every period to say hello to the librarian and "hang out" with their favorite genre (usually comics, cars, computer games--it's ok with the librarian to play because she doesn't consider it her job to police them).

As far as technology goes, not much here but the computers. No smart board, no television, no VCR . . .

The library is automated with the Mandarin system, for circulation and inventory. I've spent some time entering books into the catalog --- via the Library of Congress.

I'm observing and seeing the differences between theory and practice. Last week an economics class came in to research issues on social security, minimum wage and the Great Depression. The teacher stood in the middle of the library, read out a list of 7 or so questions, and told the kids to GOOGLE each topic and look for the answers. In addition, he nodded toward us (there are 3 interns) and said that the librarians would be happy to help us find print material. That's it.

My supervising librarian (who is an absolutly brilliant woman who is leaving this post at the end of the summer to take on a position at a juvenile detention center in the Bronx) was available to assist students, but she did not address the class as a whole.

I couldn't help but think that having known what they were going to research in advance would have made their time more worthwhile. As it was, I looked for some existing webquests on the Great Depresssion and the other topics. It was playing catch-up and turn up some resources, not many.

These high school students only knew GOOGLE, or ask.com, or to type in the whole question in the search box. I'm cosidering working on a series of lessons on webskills for my practicum. I'd love to see students come in with more of a clue regarding research. That is where this high school IS like my elementary school: these digital natives may be comfortable with their digital birthright, but they have been given so much more than they know -- funny that it will be the digital immigrants that lead them on . . .

I could do that!

In keeping with our theme of "there is no such thing as a free lunch", Bookshare is a great idea, but it is not free. As I recall, each book cost about $10 to download. This is a wonderful service for impaired readers everywhere, but it is not a service I could use in my library. I could, however, start something like this by recording books and making them available as an audio file, or a podcast (definitely the technological flavor of the month).

As with catalog shopping, I find that as I review different web based services, I may not be able to afford them, but they give me an idea for a new program or service I could offer with some ingenuity and adaptation.

Similarly, I have been hungry to produce a "reading rainbow" type program with my students reviewing the books. It's so easy to do ---- has anyone else tried?

Think before you click!

One of the downsides of the clicker technology is the cost. From what I read, it's a few thousand dollars for a college seminar class (200 clickers and the software). Colleges often pass the cost of the individual clicker onto the students (of course). I think it would be fabulous if some of us banded together and wrote a grant for a demonstration project in our schools. For a article of 7 things you need to know about clickers, just "click" here.

Podcasting anyone?

I just viewed the suggested Weekend Project show where I observed the step by step guide to producing a podcast. I know I should wait until I am in a different frame of mind, but given the way the week looks, here goes! I've reached my saturation point regarding technology for a while. I can absolutely see the application of podcasts in the classroom and the library. I foresee students and faculty alike, coming to the library for assistance in locating podcasts of their choice. I'm just a bit overcooked on the whole idea.

Having said this, the Weekend Project show was very simple to follow. The announcer gave clear steps and took time to explain things without too much jargon. It was tedious, however, to view and review the cnet and jeep ads . . . boy, I am grumpy, aren't I?

It's a beautiful day, here in Holliswood and I spent most of it in front of a laptop getting some technology work out of the way before the new class this weekend. So, that explains it! It's time to say goodbye to this virtual world for a bit, and enjoy the July 4th celebrations. I hope yours are REAL! I'm looking forward to seeing you all in Manhattan on Saturday!

Technology in Education Web Site -- 1:1 computing lessons learned

Just a quick aside to let you know about a US government site that has lots to offer in general, and a paper on 1:1 computing that summarizes the issue, and offers suggestions for those of us who are trying to implement similar programs at our schools. It's the Technology in Education Resource Center. In particular, take a look at Lessons Learned by Providing Laptops for All Students.

"And the Survey Says . . . "

Welcome to the second half of the course and our new blogging topics! Mine is CLICKERS: hand held devices that students use to transmit comments on a class, or answers to questions posed by their teacher. It's the classroom equivalent of the game show audience polling devices we've seen on television for a number of years. To get started you may want to take a quick look at the ALA's short missive on the use (and abuse) of clickers by clicking here!

Two birds, one stone

This week, the suggested article by Fred Bartels, "Reflections on the RCDS Laptop Program After One Year", is in actuality an evaluation of an early 1:1 computing program. Written in November of 2000, the report still has a lot to say about not just how to craft a 1:1 computing program, but dares to ask the question: should we have 1:1 computing at all? Chock full of technical information, Bartels' report could be read like a users manual, though many of the hardware and software details have changed considerably over the past 7 years. The analogy he uses is an automotive one, and if you read nothing else, read the middle paragraph on page 15 where he compares a laptop program to a transportation system. I am particularly fond of this analogy, having been known to say that creating, maintaining and implementing technology in our school is similar to changing a tire at 60 miles an hour.

Bartels also uses the concept of a "virtual playground" to explain what computers bring to the educational experience, thus supporting the investment of time, money and personnel. The key is acknowledging that laptops give students freedom to work at their pace, on topics of interest, in ways that work for them. The challenge is not to get the laptops, it is to change our pedagogical model so we aren't just using this new technology to do what we already do, just faster (or maybe with a splash of color . . .).

I found it interesting that nowhere in this document is the library mentioned! At the Rye Country Day School, student training on the laptops is done by each department (English-word processint, Math-spreadsheets, Science-graphing, foreign Language-databases, Humanities-web page creation, Art-painting and drawing). No library. And yet, he makes the case for critical thinking and inquiry, just not in the name of research.

Pre-I Pod, Bartels anticipates the new technology that has come into play since his report hit the presses, or the web. He predicts small, hand held devices with screens capable of reading books and producing graphics.

I am still thinking about a question he posed, and did not answer: "What is interesting about the lack of clearly measurable educational benefits to laptop use is the almost equal lack of "hard" evidence that any computer use in schools is beneficial. In fact, there is considerable controversy about whether computer use in the larger society has created measurable increases in productivity". (p. 10)

Are we doing "more with more", or just less?

Swimming upstream

If this is to be an honest forum, I just want to note that tonight I really hit the wall regarding balancing the workload: the collaborative technology project put me over the top! I know in my heart of hearts that it will all get done, but I am honestly confused by the structure of the assignment, and the mounting venues within which we are operating this semester. I do like our little enclave here in blogging land, ladies. I look forward to sharing more as the weeks progress. Tonight was a low point, plain and simple.

Tagging 101

During our cataloging course when we were learning the ins and outs of the Dewey Decimal System, we noted the difficulty in finding all the references for a certain topic if the topic spanned more than one Dewey classification (dogs as mammals, dogs as pets, dogs as workers, etc.). Add to that, any esoteric reference (It's a dog-eat-dog world, It's raining cats and dogs . . .) and the problem is compounded exponentially.

Currently, in my technology discussion group, we are discussing whether Library Thing will replace Dewey. At first blush I felt the question was comparing apples to oranges. I still think they serve different purposes, but after viewing Tagging 101, I very clearly see that tagging ANYTHING (books, videos, photos) makes the ability to retrieve it much more likely.

I see tremendous applications for our kids trying to piece together research on everything from dogs to Minnesota: to the extent that they can "browse" the connections others have made to their topic, not only will they get a birds-eye-view of content, but also insight into different ways to connect their content to other topics.

Corita Kent (one of my soul mentors) said that creativity comes from unexpected pairing: thoughts, pictures, words, ideas, events. Well, tagging takes one person's expected association on a topic and pairs it with other people's associations, many of which will be unexpected. It's a lot to ponder.

1 : 1 computing, or no laptops left behind

You know about this, but most likely you don't recognize the title. Rather than a chicken in every pot (sorry President Hoover), 1 :1 is a computer on every lap (student and teacher alike). It is hardly a new idea, Maine just celebrated their fifth year of 1 :1 using Macs. Apple commissioned a paper to showcase the effects of 1:1 computing, which clearly outlines its definition and educational implications. You can access it by clicking here.



I remember hearing Alan November speak a few years ago and he predicted that within 5 years each student would have an "hand held device" of their very own and it would revolutionize education, transforming everything we now know as "school". Well, it's not quite 5 years, but almost every high school student has a hand held device, a cell phone, that increasingly is able to perform everything they need to be in touch with their world.

1 : 1 computing is here on the college level --- as my daughter gets ready to go to C. W. Post next year she needs a laptop. It isn't a want, and a desktop is just impractical. This is an example of my "trickle down technology" theory: whatever we see in college now, we will see in elementary school soon.

Forget those sharpened number 2 pencils, make sure Johnny has his power cord in case his batery dies during Social Studies . . .

Long Time No See . . .

I started Visible Grace over two years ago, long before I knew I would attend Syracuse University, and eventually use this site to fulfill a requirement for a course. At that time, a good friend of mine had just started blogging, and she swore by it: she was/is a young mother and was/is read by others with childrearing tales to tell.

Originally in 2005, I wrote that these posting would be about "me" -- well, I didn't get very far! In the meantime lots happened to "me", and now I am here again!

As the rain falls outside, and my son writes a three page paper left to the last minute, I renew my commitment to these pages. According to my syllabus, postings will focus on 1 : 1 computing and clickers.

In addition, readers may find musings about the environment (I bike to work each day). the garden, good soups, teaching and being taught, and good books --- for starters.

Welcome, back.