01.+Getting+Started

8/16-22

I have set up an FAQ Forum in the DISCUSSIONS link on Blackboard. At any time that you have a question, post your question to this area. If I don't see the answer right off hand, someone else in the class may know the answer. **I encourage you to help each other.** In order to facilitate this forum, I want you to subscribe to the forum. When you do this, you will receive an e-mail indicating that there is a new posting on the FAQ Forum.
 * PREPARING FOR QUESTIONS YOU WILL HAVE IN THE FUTURE**

After you have subscribed, the SUBSCRIBE button will turn to UNSUBSCRIBE. That is how you will know that you have subscribed.
 * HERE'S HOW:**
 * 1) Go to the DISCUSSION BOARD link and click on the FAQ FORUM.
 * 2) There will be two buttons on the top left
 * Create Thread
 * Subscribe


 * SET UP HOMEPAGE**
 * Set up your homepage in Blackboard. Instructions are herein the class wiki. Tell us that you have set up your homepage in the forum set up for this in Blackboard. Read everyone's homepage and greet and meet each other. The survey is to be part of your introduction to each other. Due this during the first two days of class.
 * As soon as you have written your biography and posted your picture, do two things:
 * Post on Bb that you have completed your biography.
 * E-mail me if you would permit me to use your biography and picture as part of a hallway display in Lovinger showing off who our students are.

You will be creating a blog which will act as a blog for your reflections and as a resource tool for future reference. You may use any blog source you would like. I am suggested Blogger as your platform as a Gmail account gives you access to all things Google and you can use the same login for Gmail, Blogger, and Google Reader. You can design your blog however you would like to but I want everyone to be able to subscribe to the COMMENTS on your blogs. After class gets started, I want to encourage you to comment on each others' postings. An easy way to see if someone has posted a comment is for you to subscribe to the comments in your Google Reader. It is another way to have a discussion.
 * SET UP YOUR BLOG**

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 * Be sure to complete the part "About me"** so that when we read your blog we will be reminded of your personal/professional environment. Particularly important is that you upload your picture. In distance learning we have to make our connections with each other and each time we read your blog we will be reminded -- "oh, yes, I know who that is."


 * I want to be able to subscribe to the responses on your blog.** If you are using Blogger, I want you to be sure and add the "gadget" "Subscribe to."

IF YOU WANT TO TURN YOUR BLOG into a PDF file (oh, I don't know why -- maybe to show to your boss or your grandmother who doesn't have Internet acces, Richard Byrne gives instruction on how to do this with a Blogger blog http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/08/blogbooker-turn-your-blog-to-pdf-book.html. (Added 8/17)

SELECT A CURRENTS PROJECT - You will have one research paper for this class which will be due toward the end of the class. Select your topic and begin collecting material for the paper.
 * Decide on a project and set up Google alerts, start following on Twitter or Facebook, and start looking for material to put together from the various resources listed above.
 * Twitter cheat sheet http://www.scribd.com/doc/20128389/Twitter-Cheatsheet


 * SET UP YOUR PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT** - The library field is a dynamic field that is changing every day. In order to be better practitioners we can learn from others in the field and take advantage of their ideas. "Life-long learning" is more than a catch phrase for librarians. We must devour information on a daily basis, ruminate on the meaning of what we've read, and use the information to modify our learning environments.


 * Subscribe to the discussion group, LM_NET []. There is no better way for someone administering an LMC to get ideas for solving all the myriad problems that the LMS has to deal with than reading about how someone else has already solved it! The idea is for you to scan the postings that come in during the week and select two to comment on.

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 * Find podcasts that deal with technology, librarianship, or leadership. You can either go to the Web site and listen to the podcast or subscribe to the podcast through iTunes (free, of course). If you subscribe to it through iTunes the podcast will be downloaded automatically to your computer whenever the podcast is posted. You can listen to the podcast on your computer or have it transferred to your MP3 player for listening on the go. Some podcasts are not produced every week. **You are to listed to approximately 1 hour of educational podcasting each week.**Some suggestions that you can find in iTunes:
 * New York Times Book Review
 * NPR: Books
 * Books on the Nightstand (Michael Kindness and Ann Kingman)
 * NPR: Technology
 * TEDTalks
 * November Learning Podcasts (Alan November)
 * The Library Channel, ASU Libraries
 * bit by bit (Bob Sprankle)
 * EdTech 101 Podcast (Brian C. Dvorak)
 * Teachers Teaching Teachers (Paul Allision, Susan Ettenheim, and Thomas Locke)
 * Teacher 2.0 (Rodd Lucier)
 * Cool Tools for Library 2.0 (SJSU SLIC Library 246 Students)
 * EdTechLive (Steve Hargadon)
 * Moving at the Speed of Creativity Podcasts (Wesley A. Fryer)
 * EdTechTalk - Women of Web 3.0
 * Subscribe to a minimum of three blogs that deal specifically with libraries, school libraries, or technology. Rather than going in to read them each day, I would suggest you use an aggregator like Google Reader that automatically collects the new postings from a blog into one place. You can either point to the blogs and read them or collect the postings in one place. Google Reader <[]> is one of many aggregators. I will list some of my favorite blogs below, but you may choose others. Your will report on your readings every Friday.

> Here are some suggestions:
 * [|2 Cents Worth] by David Warlick: "Teaching and Learning in the New Information Landscape"
 * [|ALA TechSource] from the American Library Association/
 * [|AASL Blog] Official blog of the American Association of School Librarians
 * [|Bib 2.0] just won first place in the Salem Press Library Award (2010 - Jeri Hurd)
 * [|Blue Skunk Blog] by Doug Johnson, one of our foremost thinkers about school libraries.
 * [|Free Technology for Teachers] an outstanding blog by teacher, Richard Byrne to keep up on the latest Web 2.0 technology
 * [|Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day] - Ferlazzo is a classroom teacher with a huge interest in Web technology
 * [|Information Wants to Be Free] by Merideth Farkas, librarian, writer, teacher and tech geek.
 * [|Libraries and Transliteracy] by Bobbi Newman, Brian Hulsey, Buffy Hamilton, and Tom Ipri.
 * [|Library Stuff] by Steven M. Cohen, senior librarian at Law Library Management, Inc.
 * [|Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch] The latest in technology from library media and technology guru, Kathy Schrock.
 * [|Library Advocate] A California school library media specialists shares ideas and resources with you!
 * [|LucaCept] Intercepting the web by Jenny Luca: "I’m fascinated by Web [|School Library Monthly]2.0 applications and their potential in educational settings."
 * [|NeverEndingSearch]Joyce Valenza - Simply one of the best school library blogs being published
 * [|Not Too Distant Future] - Carolyn Foote, a Texas media specialist, comments here
 * [|School Library Journal Blogs] //School Library Journal//, one of the most important voices for school librarians has a number of blogs. Choose from this list blogs that coincide with your particular interests.
 * [|School Library Monthly] Blog from the journal by the same name
 * [|Shelf Consumed] by Leigh Ann Jones, library coordinator for Frisco, Texas ISD.
 * [|Stephen's Lighthouse] A blog for all librarians by Stephen Abram.
 * [|Swiss Army Librarian]"or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk"
 * [|Tame the Web]by Michael Stevens, a important guru and thinker about libraries in general.
 * [|Technology Tidbits] by David Kapuler, school technology integration specialist.
 * [|The Fischbowl] by Karl Fisch, technology guru and math teacher.
 * [|The Unquiet Librarian] Buffy Hamilton's blog which is thoughtful and filled with new ideas
 * [|Web 2.0], a feed from //School Library Journal.//
 * [|Barrow Media Center] Andy Plemmons - there aren't enough elementary blogs and this is a good one.
 * [|Diigo Group - teacher-librarians]- Every day there are links to fantastic information sources.
 * [|Librarian By Day] Bobbi Newman - provocative and thoughtful