Week 15:  The Fond Finale

Well here we are at the very end of the semester and I can't believe how quickly it flew by.  I went from a complete neophyte to a seasoned pro in 15 short weeks.  Okay, that is just a little bit of exaggeration; okay, okay, a lot of exaggeration. When we started I hadn't even heard of most of the tools/apps that we played around with, but I do feel like I did learn an awful lot in that short time and, even better, mostly had fun while doing it.  

I thought the first part of the course where we played around with various apps and tools was particularly helpful. The only way to learn, at least for me, is by doing. I'm particularly enamored of screencasting (I used Screencastify) and Padlet.  I also had never thought of using Flickr as a teaching tool and I really enjoyed learning about certain features that were new to me.  At present, the only teaching I've done (other than one-off instruction in the library) is how to use the databases so incorporating other technology is still theoretical for me. But I recently had a conversation with a friend whose son struggles with getting words down on the page so I showed her how to install the Read & Write extension and she is very excited for him to try it. 

The modules on social media and gaming were eye opening. I created Twitter and Instagram accounts that I promptly let lie fallow, though my kids occasionally look at them to see if I'm missing anything. Honestly, it feels like too much work to keep up with it--I don't know how teens have the energy (said like a true old person!).  As for gaming, it is a big enigmatic world to me: my gaming is limited to Scrabble and other word games that I play online with friends. But now I have a least a little understanding about the appeal of gaming and the importance it plays in some peoples' lives and that it can enhance creativity and problem solving skills, as well as be a place where people can role play without being judged.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned in this course is not to be intimidated by technology. Before this class, when my teacher friends would talk about their favorite tools, I would feel panic rising and a worried expression surely crossed my face that betrayed my ignorance. Now, I'm much more self assured and can even talk the talk sometimes!

Top Ten Technology Tips for Teachers Redux (with Annotations)

1. Don’t feel like you have to master every product out there. Choose one of each type to know really well. Yep, still think this is true, maybe even more true because I realize how many products are out there that I've never heard of.

2. Exception to tip #1: If you are like most districts which rely heavily on Google: you need to know everything Google.  Take the time to learn it well and keep abreast of new applications. Confession: there are still lots of Google apps/tools I haven't tried but I definitely intend to!

3.  Most of us have our a particular computer/operating system that we feel most comfortable with, whether it is a Apple product, Windows, Android or Chrome. You need to be able to use them all! Still on board with this one too, but I admit to never having used an Android product.

4. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help from a variety of sources. Within your own school you will find a surprising breadth and depth of technology knowledge. Everyone has their favorite and they just might have the answers you need.  Also, students are a great resource!  Just today I learned about an app, Audacity, from a foreign language teacher who said she used to use VoiceThread but it cost money so she was hoping to use Audicity instead. I had heard of VoiceThread but not Audacity so today I learned about new tool from a teacher.

5. Don’t exhaust yourself by trying out every new technology as soon as you hear about it.  It is okay to wait to see how others like it before taking the plunge. I would add to this that it is important not to become set in your ways and just stick to what you know--be open to trying to new tools. 

6. Remember that technology is supposed to help you to teach and your students to learn.  Don’t fall into the sunk cost fallacy of keeping doing something because you’ve invested time (or money) in it. If it isn’t working, be willing to scrap it and try something new. On the flip side, don't throw out something that works just because something new has come along. One of our science teachers uses Blackboard instead of  Google Classroom--she has used it for years and it works really well for her. She also likes it because she knows that when the students get to college they will most likely be using Blackboard not Classroom.

7. Do your research and talk to colleagues about what the like and dislike before investing the time into learning something new; remember though that everyone has different needs and skill levels so take theirs and yours into account when evaluating suggestions. Your fellow grade level subject matter teachers are your best allies in this department--don't go it alone.

8. Using technology such as a website or blog is a great way to communicate with parents but you need to keep it up to date--nothing is worse than a website that was started with the energy of a new school year and then languishes after a few months. In other words, don't bit off more than you can chew--think it through before going all in on a new tool that you need to keep on top of. You don't want it to become a burden.

9.  Model technology use in the classroom. This means more than just posting assignments and grades online or using a smartboard. There are lots of applications that enhance learning and are also fun for students. Get them hooked!. Sometimes we assume that just because students were born with a device in their hands that they will pick up new technology easily but that is not necessarily true. Just like us they need to be shown how to use it. Integrating technology into the classroom can expand your repertoire of teaching tools and engage students in creative ways.

10. Take advantage of any technology trainings your district offers. You might learn something you didn’t know that you didn’t know.  There are lots of really cool tools out there--have fun and explore! I know mine very occasionally offers training but unless mandatory they are sparsely attended. I think this must be technology overload, because we all think, who has the #@$# time?

And just to be bloodyminded (as my English mother would say), I would add one more to my Top 10 list (okay Top 11 now):

11.  Technology can be a huge help when it comes to working with students who, whether they are ELL students or have a physical or learning disability, need a little extra help. Translation, text-to-speech and speech-to-text apps are readily available as extensions or as stand alone programs.  Use them!

I know, I know, I failed to consider #11 in my own lesson plans, but I'm contrite!  Just this last week, several ELL students came to library and spoke into their phone and showed me the translation, and then I spoke back and they read the translation. A great way to communicate, especially for the students who are very new to English. It gives them a sense of agency and it enables me to help them better.

Module 13--Interview with a Vampire Librarian

This week I interviewed Maria D'Orsi, the LMS at Medford High School, about Follett Destiny, the OPAC that is used for all the school libraries in our district. I personally have a little over 2 years using Destiny, so given my limited experience, it seemed wiser to go with the pro. 

How long have you been using Destiny?

We have been using it since around 2011.

What did you use prior to Destiny? 

We started using Spectrum Winnebago in 2001 in the elementary and middle schools, though the high school may have been using it prior to that time. 

 Why did you make the change to Destiny?

We had to change because Winnebago was no longer being supported. I was sorry to see it go because even though the functionality wasn't broad, it was easy to do every day things. It was easy to do a topic search and make bibliography and that bibliography contained just basic information so was very readable.  I liked its simplicity and found it very user-friendly.  In any event, it was time to move to a web-based platform to make access easier for students and teachers. Funding was tight, but I was able to make the argument that by using Destiny we could provide equity between the schools by allowing us to see what the other schools in the district had so we could share our collections. 

What platforms did you consider and what made you choose Destiny?

We looked at  a bunch of OPACs, including some of the free ones, but with those you had to provide your own training and it seemed like it would not end up being worth the savings.  I discounted a lot of the OPACS right off the bat because of the user interface--we needed friendly and easy for the younger grades. Other than Destiny, Alexandria was the biggest contender. The pricing was similar, but Destiny is just so much bigger and frankly the presentation was just much professional.  I liked the idea of the bigger company that offered the support and had 24 hour service.  I liked the interface better than Alexandria's. Also, I knew so many colleagues who use it that I knew I would have immediate support from experienced colleagues if I ever got needed it.    So maybe I was swayed by the bells and whistles but most likely it was because I went into it with a slight bias towards Destiny based on my colleagues' recommendations. 

What is the cost for Destiny?

We had to pay a fair amount of money upfront to get started, and now pay about $900 per school annually which comes out of the general technology budget, not each school's library budget.

What do like most about Destiny? 

You can do almost anything you can think of. It is very easy to check the circulation history of a particular title. I can run reports for anything I can think of. I can do batch updates easily which has been very helpful when we were genrefying the library and needed to update the location of our fiction books. Cataloging is very simple as I am almost always able to locate an item by its ISBN number, and then I just need to add the material number, the call number/spine label (for nonfiction we usually keep the suggested call number), the price and location.  Printing bar code and spine labels are a breeze though sometimes we need to fiddle with the alignment.  

We also pay for Destiny to host the software which means everything is stored on their server and they do upgrades automatically. If it was stored on our servers our IT would need to download every time there was an upgrade and I couldn't rely on them to do that properly.

What do you like least about Destiny? 

I don't find Destiny to be particularly intuitive, even for the simplest things. I never know if I need to go into Reports or  Back Office to find what I want to do. I often have to go online to look for youtube videos on how to perform a basic function. Because of this, there is just some functionality that I just don't use--it might be easy but it is hard to figure out which one applies to the job you are trying to do. I know I can call customer service but sometimes I end up more confused than when I started!  Also, sometimes Destiny makes changes and things pop up and you are not sure why it suddenly started doing something new.  

Would you ever consider changing to a different OPAC?

Given the learning curve involved, it would have to be a lot better than Destiny in order to get me to switch.  Right now, I haven't heard of any that sound tempting.