Wikis- Julie Bigham

I knew nothing about wikis before I started this class. In fact, I had used wikipedia often, but never questioned the name or what it was. After our first assignment using wikis, I tried to think of ways that I could use them in my media center setting. Initially, I thought that it would be neat to use a wiki along with the media center webpage. It is a ton of work, though, and so far, I haven't had time to set one up. Since we are working on pathfinders now, I think that a wiki could be used to allow people to access the pathfinders while in or out of school. Wikis could also be used for collaboration among media specialists from various schools and grades within a district. Currently, the media specialists in my county meet about 4 times per year, but with wikis, we could collaborate throughout the year without meeting face to face. The only issue would be making sure that everyone utilizes the wiki. Depending on the purpose for the wiki, various elements would need to be present in order to ensure that people would use them for collaboration. For example, in this class, holding students responsible for a certain number of postings and then grading those postings is one way to ensure collaboration. Also, having very specific guidelines as to the types of postings is necessary. I think that some people will be reluctant to use wikis because they are uncomfortable with technology, especially anything new.

Wikis

I must admit that I wasn't overly excited about this particular aspect of technology when I first encountered it. I've learned more during our reading assignments and working with wiki's in this class. Honestly, I am not sold at all. I found that this would be more work for the media specialist, plus we would have to continuously monitor and update the content that is posted. I could see this tool acting as a great source for a "few" responsible teachers who were unable to meet on a regular basis to discuss time sensitive topics, but unlimited access would scare me. The reading indicated that wiki's have been utilized since 2000-2001, but it doesn't seem to be a very popular and reliable tool at this time. On the other hand, for those who don't mind reading the postings and utilizing it as a learning tool, this would be a great opportunity to effectively communicate to a larger group of individuals.

Wikis - Jami

Honestly, my thoughts about Wikis are pretty neutral; I could either take or leave them. While I am a huge proponent of technology and innovation in the media center or any medium for that matter, I have been ambivalent about wikis. This is in large part due to the fact that I prefer simplicity and there seems to be too many steps to create or edit them in my opinion. Further, my experiences prior to and during this course are wikis are somewhat arbitrary and unreliable. I have seen literature suggesting wikis be used to keep groups or individuals abreast of information as simplistic as meeting minutes, or as complicated as biographical information on presidential candidates such as John McCain and Barack Obama.

For meeting minutes, I simply prefer email. Why should I go through another portal for something so simple? I do not believe in leveraging technology just because it is new. New doest not always equate to efficient and being a bottom line individual, give me efficiency.

Relative to biographical information, the first time I had the opportunity to explore wikis in-depth, I was gravely disappointed. I had already been cautioned by educators and friends alike that wikis could be modified by ANYONE. That said, I heard them, but did not LISTEN. One day I asked my students to complete a table containing biographical information on each presidential candidate; at that time, there were quite a few. Much to my chagrin, a student raised their hand after seeking information on Barack Obama in Wikipedia to share with me the passage. Drum roll please… It said “Barack is a terrorist and he sucks…” over and over again in all capital letters. While I greatly appreciated the teachable moment, I was gravely disappointed to witness how others leverage technology to degrade others. I do realize this was an isolated incident, but feel very strongly that wikis should be a tool monitored with extensive checks and balances. Some of which include invitation only participation, passwords, and an application process.

Perhaps one day I will absolutely love wikis. However, today my take on it is like some weather forecasts, “fair and partly cloudy”.

Funtimes with WIKIs

In my opinion, wikis are a great tool to communicate amongst department members as explained in the Library 2.0 text regarding the RefWiki from Ohio State University. There are many benefits to this type of wiki like having the information available anywhere and not just at work from Outlook public folders, which by the way I never check. In a K-12 school, the media specialist can advertise programs on the wiki, post training videos or documents. Also, the wiki may be a better idea because is free and you don’t have to depend on website administrators for updates because you can update them yourself. As a media specialist I can see myself creating a wiki where I can post Pathfinders and Webquest for teachers and students to use when creating projects like the Decatur High wiki which I would consider a research guide wiki.

I really don’t see a big problem with a wiki being a “storage cabinet” if the purpose is to have accessibility to important files like Webquests , media center forms, etc. But if the purpose was for collaboration then the following elements must be present:

ü Genuine and strong interest for the topic

ü For a classroom wiki, incentives such as participation grades or extra credit when students contribute information of value

ü For a school media center, teachers must have access and permission to post to the wiki

Lastly, I really tried to think of some drawbacks to wikis for media centers and I really could not think of anything. Please respond to this post with your opinions and any drawbacks that you may know of.

~Malena

Podcasting - Jami

As a future media specialist, I view this as an opportunity to promote teamwork and build relationships with faculty and staff. That said, it would be my absolute pleasure to incorporate one of the cornerstones of my profession, collaboration.

I would immediately tell the instructor how excited I was to be working and learning together and though I know very little about podcasting, I would take the following steps:

1. Leverage my experiences in this class.
2. Research podcast development on the internet and other print resources.
3. Consult technicians in our technology department to dimension the optimal approach.
4. Review my findings to ensure I fully understand.
5. Set up meeting with the instructor to plan podcast develpment targeted to his specific objectives.

While I can not speak for the instructor, I have tremendous respect for those who can admit without reservation their skill set is limited, yet their desire is strong. It is my hope he would feel as I do and appreciate not only my willingness to assist, but also the tenacious spirit with which I addressed his needs. I am confident that through collaboration and research, we can hit a homerun!

Podcasting

A teacher approaches you and asks you if you can help him to start up a podcast for his class (something like Radio WilloWeb). In truth, you may know little about podcasting. So, how do you respond to the teacher? Do you tell him farewell and good luck? Do you tell him you don't know much, but you're willing to find out? What is your role? What are the reasons behind how you choose to respond to this teacher?

I would respond to this teacher by offering to assist them with the research to begin developing a podcast. I am not an expert in this area so we would learn this technology as a team. I would also want to offer a learning session on "How To Podcast" or "Podcasting" to several interested staff members who will utilize the tool for classroom instruction. I would also offer simple step-by-step instructions on the process and links that could help the teachers. This could be an ongoing project that would be available to the teachers so that each user could add links or offer helpful suggestions for others. My mentor was recently given full control of the media center website so she could post helpful information for the parents (bookfairs, AR/RC information) along with a media center calendar of upcoming events. These posts could include many of the students she wants to recognize. I could really see the students enjoying this tool.

Julie Bigham-Podcasting

Even though I've read the required reading for this class and created one podcast/vodcast, I would certainly consider myself a novice. Therefore, I would have to let the teacher know that I know very little about podcasting, but that I'm willing to learn and go through the process with them. Of course, I would have to order the necessary equipment to be able to produce a podcast, and I would have to subscribe to one of the free services. I view my role as the media specialist to be one of support to faculty, students, parents, etc. We have a technology specialist at our school, however, I feel that I should be open to "new" media that presents itself, as well. I would do my very best to help the teacher start podcasting. Fortunately, we have some very helpful technology folks at the central office that have been a huge help to me in the past, I'm sure I could count on them again if I needed to. The reason that I would tell the teacher that I am a novice with podcasting is so that the teacher would not be expecting help at that exact moment. I think if I'm honest with the teacher, he or she would allow me a little time to get the answers they need.

Podcast-Mitchell

As a person who likes and enjoys technology, I would definitely help this teacher start up a podcast, with the emphasis being on start a podcast. I see my role as an instructor who will guide this teacher in creating his first podcast. I would help him download all the necessary software, and let him know about all of the additional things like headset/microphone, etc that will need to be purchased. This teacher would have to know that there is a certain amount of time that has to be devoted to creating and posting the podcasts. If his podcasts become popular and then the teacher and class do not continue to create new podcasts, podfading may occur as stated in the Library 2.0 text. It is imperative that the teacher knows that I am not his podcast coordinator, I am a resource and willing to help him get started. Taking on the instructor role is the best approach because as a media specialist I would have many other instructional and program tasks to do, and can not become the person in charge of all the podcasts. I think that podcasts are tools that all content areas can benefit from and will therefore conduct several in-services or professional seminars about podcasts. These seminars can be in podcast or vodcast format so that teachers can see what the end result would look like.

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