Project Two: Creating a Prezi

My completed project for Project Two is two-fold: it consists of a Prezi presentation regarding the NETS standards, made available below:



The second part of my project involves a Word document--explaining how each NETS Standard example adheres to the six steps involved in the ASSURE model. This document can be found by clicking here.

What I adored most about this project was that it involved my own critical thinking to encourage the critical thinking of future students. As someone who hopes to eventually pursue academic librarianship with professor status, I fully understand the importance of involving young students in myriad technological tools. In this semester alone, I have experienced sites such as Lino, Voki, Blogger and Prezi; in my LIS program I have been introduced to tools like Google Hangout, Camtasia, WikiSpaces and many social media sites. These sites and tools all come prepped with their strength and weaknesses--each with the potential to highlight various student works and help in the research and/or teaching processes. I cannot begin to say how grateful I am to be equipped with the necessary skill-set to someday teach these tools to others!

Unit Four: My Voki

Unit Three: My Experiences with a Wiki

A wiki is defined as a collective intelligence tool that enables collaborative editing of documents on the web. While a wiki is believed to be a useful tool for the classroom and student collaboration, I imagine it serves equally as useful in the business environment.  According to an article in InformationWeek Software, a wiki has four main features:

• A simple (and free) way to build and manage content
• Support hyperlinks and has simple text syntax for creating new pages and cross links between internal pages on the fly
• Accessibility from everywhere without any software installation (just a browser)
• Easy to track and constantly up-to-date

During my undergraduate career I had the pleasure of participating in many classes pertaining to digital rhetoric--involving the combination of classwork,  language and technology.  Because of these courses, I also was able to participate in many collaborative wikis, which mostly involved classmate introductions and group collaborations.  Not only does a wiki allow for collaboration among group members, it can also act as a drop box or repository type thing for different resources--i.e. pertinent articles, coursework, or anything else that relates to the course content.  All of the course information can be put on a wiki as well, including documents such as: syllabus, points of note, and announcements.  A sample of a wiki page I created utilizing WikiSpaces as a college sophomore is pictured below:

The layout of a wiki is usually clean and crisp and easy to use.  A student is also able to utilize basic html (such as linking to outer websites and uploading images), which is essential in the day of online resumes and digital portfolios. 

While increasing the student understanding of wiki operations is essential, I also recognize the importance of a wiki in a potential business or corporate environment.  Using a wiki in the business sector would enable users to gather and share information, foster information flow within the organization and allow equal collaboration and access to resources and ideas.  I know first-hand what a problem communication can become among various departments; having a general wiki for the entire corporation would help eliminate those holes in the miscommunication.

Works Cited

Foux, G. (2005, December 17). Wikis: Enabling Effective Knowledge Sharing Across the Organization - . InformationWeek | Business Technology News, Reviews and Blogs. Retrieved July 21, 2013, from http://www.informationweek.com/software/information-management/wikis-enabling-effective-knowledge-shari/175003662

Unit Two: NETS-S and Lino

This week our class explored the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S), and held our discussion through utilizing this very innovative web application tool, titled Lino.  While the discussion itself was incredible, I am instead choosing to dedicate my blog posting for this week toward Lino—which is an online web sticky note service that can be used to post memos, to-do lists, ideas and photos anywhere on an online web canvas.  It helps people connect and communicate in a really rather adorable and efficient format; this is exactly how I like my web application tools!

In a way, the tool itself sort of reminds me of some kind of hybrid among Blackboard discussion, Prezi and Pinterest.  Lino is basically a giant cork board that anyone with a link can provide “sticky note” commentaries onto.  Beyond the unique (and colorful!) discussion we had as a class, I also learned that Lino can be utilized for myriad other tasks, including:

• ·         Free layout of your pictures and movies
• ·         Send emails and notes online
• ·         Remembering special dates and deadlines
• ·         Use “stickies” to share files among friends and colleagues
• ·         Use as a hand tool for meetings
• ·         Share ideas with texts and pictures
• ·         Use from your smartphone!

I could see a library benefiting from this site—or any educational environment.  I know that at the library where I work (Novi Public Library), following children book discussions the librarians often put together Prezi presentation webs for the children to have access to the information discussed.  I feel like venturing out to other sites such as Lino—a site providing similar aesthetics and provisions—a librarian can expose more instructional technological applications onto people. J  As librarians, we have a responsibility to be pioneers of technology; what better way than to expose new technological tools frequently and to diverse audiences!  With that said though, I do recognize that the aesthetics could potentially become visually confusing with a lot of people posting.  Surely if we can figure out Pinterest though, we can figure out just about anything.

Unit One: My respose to the ASSURE Model

For this week, my class learned about the ASSURE Model, a model which involves a very delicate process for establishing, creating, implementing and revising instructional technology.  The most interesting aspect of the model for me involves the steps for selecting methods, media and materials in addition to the utilization of media and materials.  Upon exploring the ASSURE Model, I discovered that perhaps the most important aspect of instruction is not necessarily the topics themselves, but how one utilizes the teaching tools to successfully instruct others on the topic.

To me, pedagogical learning has always been the most beneficial form of learning.  I can read the same chapter on repeat multiple times, understand it, memorize the facts for long enough to perform well on a test but ultimately never remember the subject or any of the actual vital information.  It has thus always been upsetting to me when teachers and professors spend a great deal of instruction time just relaying facts, or reading lectures from a pre-written script.  I need to visualize examples and absolutely have to participate in experiences or discussions to fully understand something.

I do not think I am alone in this.  I vehemently believe that as a young professional, I have grown up with and in the Information Society.  I know technology because I have been surrounded by it: I remember in sixth grade my teacher chastising me for "writing" my rough draft on the computer rather than with a pencil and paper (as an aside: does anyone even do assignments with pencils or paper anymore?!).  I know that during my undergraduate career the course entitled "Critical Theory of Literature" was often the most intimidating to students--but a class I took so much from because it involved an expectation for me to continually place various works of literature in a variety of different lenses.

In a way, teaching instructional technology involves a very similar process to any other type of instruction.  As an instructor (whether as an academic librarian teaching actual courses or a public librarian providing seminars and instruction on e-readers and transferring VHS to DVD), I must remember that having only one method for instruction is never a good idea.  In the same way that reading or hearing a lesson does little for me, visualizing a technology process may be fervently unhelpful for someone else.  I must also remember that just because I grew up with computers and technology, does not mean everyone else understands it or is as comfortable with it in the same way as me.  Technology is important to instruction because it allows us to attempt all of these different teaching styles in effective and innovative ways.  I could teach a course on downloading a book to an e-reader by doing it in front of a crowd, or I could find multiple e-readers and go through the various processes of each.  I could have a Prezi presentation in the background, or videotape the processes and make the instruction available on the library's website.  Each method will appeal to different types of people, which is why variety in teaching instruction is so vital.  The ASSURE Model ensures this, which is why I enjoyed the topic so much!

A sample of a possible survey that could be sent out to patrons upon completing an instructional session on downloading e-books to their E-Readers is available here:
Click here to take the survey on the E-Reader Instruction as a follow-up to help your library improve future seminars!