The Happy Librarian

Creating a learning environment that accommodates a diverse range of learners and their preferences should be the goal of any teacher. However, it is often hard to truly accomplish that goal. How do we create appropriate activities that are inclusive without permanently sacrificing sleep? Introducing, Kami!    On their website, Kami is described as the "World’s #1 digital classroom tool creating flexible and collaborative learning environments for millions."  When thinking of ways to equip students to interact with content and show understanding of a skill, I often think of students who need to receive information and communicate outside of standard written text. Kami is a web-based program that can interact with different types of documents in a collaborative or independent setting. Once the document has been loaded in Kami, the toolbar allows students to engage with the page in a variety of formats. Please note, there is a free version of this program with limited tools...

This week I will be taking a look at the application opportunities surrounding the Viewsonic ViewBoard Interactive panels. I will be specifically looking at the IFP6550 model (now discontinued), which is advertised to have 10-touch capability, an embedded stereo system, digital whiteboard software, cast software, USB and HDMI ports, and HD resolution. This tool has the opportunity to enhance the ability to share, interact with, and collaborate with learning. I want to explore ideas for implementation with this panel, and determine its alignment with the M-Learning Framework  (Kearney et al., 2012) .    (Kearney et al., 2012) Personalisation Personalisation is defined in the M-Learning Framework as including, "learner choice, agency and self-regulation as well as customisation."  (Kearney et al., 2012).  This part of the framework aligns with the current push for personalized learning and student voice and choice when it comes to education. In a personalized lear...

Welcome back, readers! Week 4 of SLIS 761 had us diving into technology programs and the leadership roles that librarians play in the world of technology integration. I was excited about this week's blog prompt. Last year I was the only virtual teacher for my school's third-grade team. As a tech-lover, I tried to implement new programs and shared ideas with other virtual teachers when I could, but this was the first time that I have created an official document surrounding a program that I was unfamiliar with. I created a newsletter-type template to share the information with teachers in the event that I want to actually share the information rather than simply completing the assignment. I truly believe that Tinkercad is a program that would benefit our learners, and I am already listing lesson ideas that I could implement in the library this year using it! Fortunately, it is already on the list of approved programs for my district, so I will be able to integrate it into our li...

Welcome back, readers! Our information in Week 3 of SLIS 761 (Informational Technology in School Library Programming) focused heavily on the relationship between information consumers and the world of information literacy, technology, and media. As access to the internet and social media has grown, consumers of information find themselves spammed with everyone from news outlets to their great-aunt Barb sharing their opinions and interpretations of events as though they are absolute, indisputable facts. As a result, consumers who are cognizant of this shift are finding it more and more necessary to vet sources of information in order to avoid "fake news." Though the term fake news has been around for years, it was brought to light and discussed more openly during the presidency of Donald Trump. As a current library media specialist, I am charged with helping elementary-aged students understand that "we were guaranteed a free press, we were not guaranteed a true press,...