Scoop.It is a tool that allows you to curate information from the web and share it with others. This video explains how Scoop.It works:

So far I have created three topics on Scoop.It, and they are already creating interest and gathering followers:

BYOD – “Resources & links relating to ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policies in schools”

School Library Design – “Designing school libraries/learning hubs for 21st century learning”

PYP – “Resources & links relating to the IB Primary Years Programme”

Scoop.It is relatively easy to use. At present is still under beta testing and you have to apply for access. Once you receive access it is relatively simple to set up your own topics or follow others.

It takes a little tweaking to get the keywords right so that the searches deliver relevant ‘scoops’. I’m still not entirely happy with all the keywords I’ve used in some of my topics as there are still a few too many irrelevant hits. Managing the sources that Scoop.It trawls is a simple process.

Scoop.it is a great tool to empower students with, providing an opportunity for them to refine their search and synthesis skills. On reading the Terms and Conditions for use of Scoop.It there appears to be no age restrictions for users.

Library of the Early Mind “is an exploration of the art and impact of children’s literature on our kids, our culture, and ourselves. From the first stories we hear told to us to those childhood heroes that stay with us a lifetime, the impact on our culture runs deeper than what we might expect…..
The film features nearly 40 prominent authors and illustrators talking about their work, its genesis and its impact.”

This documentary is now screening in selected venues in the United States, I wonder when it will be available in Australia? I’d love to see it….

I’ve posted on the Library of the Early Mind Facebook page to ask them.

The headmaster announced the transformation in a recent school newsletter:

It is a challenging and exciting time involving many hours of research, planning, dreaming, and brainstorming. I’ve found inspiration through my PLN and via the web. Some of the resources I’ve found to be particularly helpful and inspiring:

• Margaret Sullivan’s SLJ article Divine Design: How to create the 21st-century school library of your dreams
• Lyn Hay’s presentation at SLAV’s Future School Library Scenarios conference:

The word map below illustrates the global pervasiveness of  social networks. Click on the map for a link to further data. Nicholas Lamphere, Social Media Instructor and Consultant from the Harvard Human Resources Center for Workplace Development, has created an excellent prezi entitled Introduction to Social Media. It’s well worth a view.

How are you using social media in your school? Is it blocked?

We have a library Facebook page at TIGS. Our school captains also use Facebook as a way of communicating with their peers. And, yes we have a school Facebook page…but Facebook is blocked in our school. I think there is a real dilemma here!

At present I am, in cooperation with key executive, working on new Acceptable Use Policies for our Junior and Senior Schools. One of the main objectives is to facilitate the opening up of our filter. I am trying to achieve greater access for students while being sensitive to the needs/demands of parents and concerned staff. It’s a tough battle! Having come from a school with very little to no filtering, it’s been an adjustment for me and something I and many students find very frustrating.

I am an advocate for the use of social media in student learning and believe schools meed to embrace these tools if they are to reach out and communicate with the wider community as well as engage students with a broader and more authentic audience.

I plan to encourage blogging next year through the use of a school hosted WordPress site. We will continue to facilitate the use of a broad range of social media as we introduce a digital citizenship program throughout the school next year. I am excited about all the possibilities and hope that other staff members will embrace these technologies.

There were two interesting articles this week about the distractive nature of social media and web 2.0. The New York Times featured an article, Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction, arguing that computers, the web and cellphones pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning for teens. Megan Garber, writing for the Neiman Foundation at Harvard, offers an interesting rebuttal to this.

Where do you sit?

….”school sucks”

….knowledge is not a cheeseburger….sharing what we know doesn’t mean we will lose it or use it up. In fact when we share what we know we build on and solidify our knowledge

….”certified” doesn’t necessarily mean “qualified”. An alarming statistic – 90% of middle school science teachers in the US do not have any form of science training…. How many teachers are teaching subjects that they have no formal training in? (My question: How many school “librarians” have no formal library qualifications?)

….learning by doing. Hands on learning is essential!!!! We don’t learn by sitting & listening in lecture halls and classrooms. The perfect science lesson = “Mythbusters”

What do you think?

Our school does not block these sites, indeed we actively promote the use of social media, most particularly nings, wikis, and  skype, but also flickr, youtube and facebook, and for the young ones, club penguin. In an international school environment where students have friends and family located all around the world it is vital for them to maintain these friendships and support networks, and social media provides the perfect medium for this.

Ever wondered about the ‘Cloud’, what it is, what it means for libraries? This presentation by @elyssa covers all the bases:

and from @heyjudeonline, this fabulous presentation about the semantic web – something we all need to be more informed about:

I have included both these resources on my Library2.0 netvibe page – my ‘out-loud’ thinking and reflecting page of stuff on 21c libraries. There’s just so many wonderful resources to help schools and school librarians move their libraries into the 21c. No excuses….

This week, Grade 4 students created their own reading wall to share all their favourite books.

Recently Grade 2 used Wallwisher to kick off their Unit of Inquiry on chocolate. They created a wall to post what they KNOW about chocolate and a wall to post what they WONDER about chocolate.

I’ve used Wallwisher as a live brainstorming tool to compile questions and ideas in a group and in workshops. We project the ‘wall’ up on a screen and watch as everyone posts their ‘sticky notes’. It’s also a handy tool to gather input from colleagues and students after hours and/or over a period of time.

Recently I conducted a reading workshop for parents in which we discussed the importance of reading aloud, learned how to choose appropriate books, and shared some tips about how to effectively read with children.

I created a Reading Matters netvibe to help parents access the myriad of resources and information available on the web.

We used the Netvibe during the workshop to structure our exploration of some of the key resources. There are some wonderful videos, blogs, book trailers, review sites and research articles out there!

Her model lesson with Grade 4 students on fiction and non-fiction reading is terrific. Angela uses an apples and oranges metaphor to differentiate between non-fiction and fiction reading. I love this metaphor. Such a simple and effective way to illustrate both the importance of balanced reading and the different way we read fiction and non-fiction books.