Tag Archives: Week2

Ready to go!

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Motivation

One of our volunteers as parents showed her favorite books to me so enthusiastically, and she explained those books in a lively way, which was a very motivating moment. I was thinking what are the reasons behind it. When you find or read a book, which more or less means to you a lot, you want to share how good it is with other people. Her direct reflection suddenly becomes so dynamic/reliable to persuade me more than any other vendors such as the library journal, subscribing magazines, and on-line reviews, which you do not know who is who. I thought this should be shared with other parents/students/teachers openly. They could be golden resources for students/parents/teachers out/inside of our community.

All remixed/reused/recombined again!

In addition, every Wednesday’s program titled ‘Smith’s bookshelf’ within World Business Satellite(WBS) TV Tokyo on air every weekday starting from at 11:00 pm has come to my attention. A well-known person recommends his/her beloved book ever read to the TV audience, and give enough reason to support his/her view on how it could/might have influenced on or/and changed his/her life. This is very dynamic enough to give a chance to the audience to get interested in a book, which otherwise you might not even get to know.

I was thinking of how or why it has been so successful that every book introduced to the audience every Wednesday via that channel tends to be sold more than ever after the program is released to the media. Is it  the person himself or herself that introduces his/her special book to the audience?

Extra value

The reason behind it makes sense to me when that thinking process reminds me of one of my days  in our library, in which one of our lovely/enthusiastic readers as parents’ volunteers shows her memorable experience via a book, whose story intervenes with some parts of her days spending with her children in another city/country.  This story has an appealing element of environmental issues exposed to readers, and all of a sudden, another extra value thanks to her story has been added to that book by one of our parents.

I always have difficult time when mystery readers come to our library to look for the best book to be read to the specific graders. There are plenty of books, and each book has its quality, which I recommend to them since they of course ask me to suggest any interesting books to attract students. There are three steps I always follow. I ask parents what kinds of book they want to read to students, and I show them the new book shelf and the mystery readers’ special collection, which I have already collected/selected beforehand.

Remixed with Mixi and Smith’s shelf

However in the end, it is parents themselves who choose what they want to read to students no matter how attractive a book I select is to me as a library staff. One of the solutions to such a limited information from me and her/his overwhelming will/vigorous power to look for a special book at a special occasion as a mystery reader’s role suddenly all get connected with an idea built upon Smith’s shelf, Mixi and our regular reading activity ; mystery reader organized by KG/JS classes. This is what we call remixed. As long as it is transformative, it could be away from copyright law/issues, and it could be protected by the notion of fair use. Let’s see how we could get it started!

Outline:

We will have an online readers’ suggesting book relay station for the whole community of our school in touch with other people, who live in outside of Japan including peers and experts in UK, Singapore, China and Switzerland.

Target audiences:

Possible connected/collaborated people would be our school community including our students, parents, teachers; the whole or some parts of families of my ex-colleagues, who live in other sides of this world ; my friends’ families  living in other countries ; students’ friends living overseas

Students→Parents→Students→Teachers in Japan get in touch with each other connecting to those people in other countries.

The autonomous participation:

Each parent/student/teacher will be a navigator of his/her loved book to be suggested to each other to read it to mystery readers(, which specifically relates to our school’s reading activity) for instance. Mystery reader is normally a signed-up volunteer as one of our students’ parents, who picks up a book to be read to a specific class. Students love this activity so much.

Hopefully this station will become a resource for them to look for books, which otherwise they would never think of.

This differs from other vendors in the sense that if your acknowledged/related people around you recommend their interesting books, they become more attractive/reliable ones to read. More intimate relationship to books might be made.

Technology tools:

Blog(Weebly)

How I should prepare:
Students will set up a main station using Weebly, which our school has got pro-account. Since this would be my trial project to see how it could work, I would register it by myself at first with free account.

In the case that this could work well, be developed into demanding and promising station(, which must be approved officially by our school.) its account could be upgraded into pro-one(premium). This stage’s necessity would depend on how well this is actively connected/collaborated with out/inside of our community.

Technology integration and me

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Integrated Technology into the service

 ‘—and her recent IMLS-funded “Digital Libraries to School Libraries (DL2SL)” project will explore how media centers can take advantage of free Web resources and how librarians can successfully integrate them into collections and services.’

(By Debra Lau Whelan — School Library JouRNAL, 05/01/2010)

This article makes me think that how I could integrate technology into the service we offer in our library. To put it in other words, how can librarians successfully integrate free Web resources into collections and services?

This process refers back to how technologically integrated services we could offer to users too. SAMR and TPACK model makes sense to teachers, and theoretically I could imagine, yet if you do not teach, you would not really understand how those two models can be embedded into your teaching curriculum.

First of all, I thought I should understand how the technology integration could work for me working in the library. If you could tell what it means to yourself, it would be easily applied to any other cases, which could refer to helping users including teachers, parents, and students.

MARC records

Everhart and Mardis as two members of Florida State’s Partnerships Advancing Library Media (PALM) ‘s research team created an application called Zotero, which makes the 21st century librarians much more happier when they have to do cataloging. It looks like enabling a variety of resources viewable on the web to be cataloged since nowadays non-print resources are part of user’s lives and being very much used. Although I have never cataloged non-print materials(, which are outsourced by our vendor, who hosts our OPAC system), this invention by Everhart and Mardis will help librarians to explore any sorts of non-print media resources or materials, which could be added to our collection according to our selection in a minute. Non-print materials as electrical resources could be more specific to our needs and demands in our school, which could reflect on our school curriculum or philosophy.

SAMR

If I could successfully utilize this tool and make any kinds of outer-resources(free web-resources) available online imported into our OPAC(, which means that we could control which materials we want for our system more specifically depending on your TPO), which phase could I belong to in the case of SAMR model?

Title: SAMR koping. Attribution: by eggib Birger Eriksson. Date: November 1, 2011.

Free-web resources are for everyone, yet if they are selective enough to meet the need of our curriculum, they could be easily accessible as users look for correspondent physical books.  I see this process in the phase 2 as augmentation since Zoetro seems to be just a tool for me to catalog, and it expands external possibilities for us to have outer free source materials in our OPAC although the evaluation process for external resources(, which are our non-contract online items) involves Bloom’s taxonomy.

Then what would be possible for us to do if this task could go up to one more level as the phase 3: modification. Once I get used to using Zotero or as I use it more, I could research how other librarians use it for, and any other additional benefits for us to use it. When we come to the point to customize it for our systems, we might need to develop an application integrated with Zotero as we consult with our technology specialists or external developers.

However the important thing in here is that we are going to use Zoetro not for the technology integration purpose itself but for providing more flexible non-print resources or opportunities as our part of service integrated with teaching curriculum. As Mr Garry Baker points out  in his recent post, the technology integration has to be transparent.

‘Technology in the classroom should be like windows: we see past the media to the information and gain better understanding of the concepts. Just as children ask for books but what they want is a story.’

The purpose to use the tool is to enhance our database and collections according to our needs.

TPACK

In the case of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge(TPACK), the method to use Zotero for our enhanced collection could refer to Technological Knowledge(TK) itself, and Content knowledge(CK) in addition to Pedagogical knowledge(PK) needs to be input if the task can be regarded as the authentic technology integration.

Title: TPACK framework. Attribution: By David T Jones David Jones. Date: April 13, 2011.

As Jeff Utecht ,who had cited Marc Prensky’s article applied his idea to Marc’s theory, the task of MARC records in an augmented way could relate to the question: ’Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in New ways?’ However I would like to use that tool for this inquiry: ‘Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?’.

Methodological  research

In order to strive for this point, the steady observation of the fact that how free Web non-print resources are utilized is necessary just like what Debra says in her article that researchers are trying to find out how inventors or creators collect information for their entirely new things  and so is our constant communication with staff/teachers, other users and technology specialists.

Credentials:

  • ”Up, Up, and Away: How a group of researchers is reinventing school libraries” by  Debra Lau Whelan. School Library Journal. 05/01/2010. Online. Media Source, Inc. 2011.
  • “It Takes a Village: Full Tech Integration Plan” by Garry Leroy Baker. Garry Leroy Baker El Zocalo. Posted on . Online. WordPress. 2012.
  • “Shaping tech for the classroom” by Marc Prensky. Edutopia.12/2/2005. Online. The George Lucas Educational Foundation. 2012.
  • “Evaluating technology use in the classroom” by Jeff Utecht. The thinking stick. January 23, 2008. Online. The Thinking Stick. 2010.

  • “Beyond Substitution: The SAMR Model” by 2011 Summer Tech Institute. 2012. Online. WordPress. 2012.

  • “Description of the TPACK Image” by OER in Mathematics Professional Development Project partners from Maine RSU#54 & RSU#11 and staff from Education Development Center, Inc. 2012. OER in Mathmatics. 2012. Online.

  • “SAMR_koping Ruben Puenteduras SAMR-modell som pusselbitar, på Köpings vis…” by eggib Birger Eriksson. Flicker. November 1, 2011 in Koping, Vastmanland, SE. 2012. Online. Yahoo Inc. 2012.
  • “TPACK framework” by David T Jones David Jones. Flicker. April 13, 2011. Online. Yahoo Inc. 2012.

Something × another genre

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Piecing a puzzle together

Whenever I try to search or create an appropriate image corresponding to the message or content I would like to deliver or present to the audiences, I find the process to be a constructive work, which is similar to piecing a puzzle together.

Title: Puzzle finished. Attribution : by Seth Vidal via Flicker.

My question here is how you can be sure that this design or visual image you choose or make all could fit your creative thought. To put it another way, what are the right moment you could make up your mind to select or create the right image?

As for my reflection on this blog, the concept or my thought comes first, and then I pick up the most (sound)suitable picture for the topic. Recently I try to read the description of the image in order to respect the creative author’s standpoint due to the copyright issue. Sometimes I could think other ideas coming out of browsing such images, which might end up being different from what original authors really mean by. My definition to have applied the above picture among other candidates is the above picture could be extended to represent the village, where all houses are hoping to be built way up to the hill. This whole image could be relevant to a constructive idea and the stable thinking position, to which one’s idea should be proceeded. Each piece of puzzle above could refer to any supporting thought to the big idea.

As you know, regardless of all different individual impressions, there have been masterpieces of visual works, which the high percentage of people values significantly. I am sure it might be something to do with experts’ judges or criticisms or historical/social background, yet always good (visual) art works are supposed to be good for the majority of people even if you like or not.

Multiplication

Of course we could also refer the reason to the Fibonacci sequence, which might be a necessary method or technique for us to create or think a better visual product or image eventually.

Title: Antique Japan Abacus - Soroban Wooden Calculating Tool. Attribution: by softypapa No real name given via Flickr.

Nevertheless the highly valued/appropriate visual products seem to be celebrated by any other unexpected/unpredictable sight or thought. Does it happen when your vision or thought can be multiplied by any other diverse areas? This concept: ‘something × another genre’ is what you often see in the public.

 

 

 

YouTube Preview Image

 

Unpredictable commercials

When I first watched this TV commercial released by Suntry from the 6th of April in 2011, I thought this would be one of my unforgettable commercials I would have ever seen in my life. I know that there are always pros and cons, yet the message or direction of this commercial touched my heart directly.

Suntry as the company to sell a range of alcoholic beverages such as whiskies, beers, and wines, along with other soft drinks such as oolong tea and canned coffee

Title: SuntryHallGP. Attribution: By Hazumit Hazumit via Flickr

did not promote their products at all in all the series of the singing relay commercials as the advertisements of the company to encourage the victims of the disaster in Japan although it normally costs a lot to make ads. The heart-warming commercial was created to hearten the people who had been hit by the 11 Mar 2011 Touhoku Earthquake and Tsunami.

You would not need any languages to understand this TV ads  if you viewed this at the right circumstances. If you would like to really understand the whole concept of this commercial, you would need a lot of research on not only this commercial but also the event on the 11th of March in 2011.

Media power

I think if the media could help teaching/instructing fields, they would have to be something, which get learners motivated to take a whatsoever action. This might give an opportunity for a person to think further beyond, respect and share his/her view with others. As for the other person, s/he would think of a creative idea to help them in/directly.

Electrical resources:

  • “The Fibonacci series” by Eddy Levin. Goldenmeanguage February 2012. The Golden Proportion. Online. Goldenmeanguage February 2012.

 

  •  ”Ue wo Muite Arukou” & “Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi wo” in Suntory Commercials – Part 1 uploaded by dagatagad on the 17th of Aprirl, 2011. Youtube 2012. Online. Youtube 2012.

 

  •  “ In harmony with people and nature” by Suntory. Suntory 2012. Corporate philosophy. Online. Suntory 2009-2012.

 

  •  “Japanese celebrities sing Skiyaki for Japan” by Alafista. April 16, 2011. Embracing Japanese Pop Culture. Online. Alafista.com 2012.

 

  •  “Massive earthquake hit Japan” by Lane Turner, Lloyd Young, and director of photography Paula Nelson. Boston.com. March 11, 2011. The big picture-New stories in photographs. Online. The Boston Globe. 2012

Privacy online and your dignity

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According to ‘Beware: the internet could own your future’ written by Husna Najand,

……However changing our mentality is even more important.  We have come to a point where Internet privacy rights are eroding while simultaneously, the line between our private lives and the public persona are blurring. The image you project in a proper business suit to potential employers is one thing and your Facebook profile picture may reveal something else.

Overall freedom expression (how you want to present or express yourself to the business-like public)against individual right to privacy( how you don’t want the public to be informed of officially or how you want to present or express yourself only to your private network) can be seen in this topic. In the first place, does privacy exist in this hyper-connected world anyway?

I am sure this does not ,in particular, for celebrities, who are always exposed to the public(or the media) even if they still do not want to. I personally think more or less they have already been ready for it or in some cases they take advantage of it before they begin with their careers since that could be a part of what they are doing for their audiences or customers. Their performances or reactions to the public and media could be good model cases.

Then how about just ordinary or shy people, who have not been ready for what they would confront with if their regular lives were suddenly exposed to the public or the media without any information beforehand unless they intend to advertise themselves? The whole point is that we have already been exposed to the public or media anyway in analogy with to the air.

Surveillance cameras are attached to the public place. All bank cash/credit cards are transmitted. I am sure it is getting both easier and even more difficult for the police to chase after criminals’ footprints due to the in/visibility of this hyper-connected society. (Invisibility refers to the public persona and so does visibility to the private.)

The second point could refer to Max Mosley’s comment written in the article called ‘privacy matters’ by BBC.

“If someone takes away your dignity,” as he puts it, “you will never replace it.”

Although this point made by BBC might be a bit far from the issue of privacy online( since BBC does not necessarily confine to ‘online’, and does include the issued tabloid newspapers), it could also explain the reason behind the everything we value privacy. It is all about how to protect your dignity. I have been thinking of why and what the privacy online matters to us.

We all know by now that there are certain types of myths or pre-conceptions that being online could possibly take kids to risky uncontrollable areas, which might facilitate ‘an epidemic of sex crimes against youth’ although the chances are low. On the other hand, Husna Najand says our private information is not as respectful as what it used to be. The default privacy setting of Facebook is certainly getting more permissive. Najand’s article could tell us how the notion of privacy has been changed. Blindly or unconsciously it has been changed to or shifted to the idea or value of sharing.

Other than customizing setting modes to your comfort level, is it time for us to think about the way to protect our dignity as we also enjoy those social networking sites?

Nothing of being surprised of

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Write a blog post reflecting on your reading: How are your thoughts changing? (Connectivism, New Bloom’s Taxonomy, Messing Around )

Connectivism always stays with us.

It is so easy for me to forget there is one fundamental thing, which could not be replaced with regardless of the impact of new media. What do you mean by “learning” ? This is the main covering issue of those articles. For me, in spite of the advent of digital age, learning itself could have little interference between internal learning theories ( ‘ Learning occurs inside a person. ’), which could lead to three conventional learning theories such as ‘Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism’ and the external learning theory ( ‘ Learning occurs outside of people. ’), which refers to ‘Connectivism’. The connectivism considered as the new principle of learning theory seems to have already lied in and been applied to our society since the primitive ages. In a learning theory for the new digital age ‘Connectivism’ by George Siemens,

 The starting point of connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual. This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed.

For instance no one could live in his/her society by oneself . They need to help each other to live in their communities, where first of all each could tell and become to understand the fundamental social rules in their lives as they go through(experience) their lives. A baby attributes his/her life to his/her parent, who build their own family, which is the smallest unit of society, where his/her baby learns his/her first society, which could eventually be collaborated within a bigger community or an institutional organization such as a kindergarten school. S/he would be expected to learn by means of being cared by or interacting with his/her family, which could also introduce or bring other types of social networks/communities. Eventually s/he would find her/his own society, which always connects to its other side/s of world. This form of connection has not been changed no matter what kinds of digital era have come.

The underlying concept : what is learning to be?

According to Connectivism, it is regarded as the new principle of learning theory or ‘ the entirely new approach’ for this digital era, yet connectivism appears to be what we already have been engaged in or attributed to. It seems to me that it is the fundamental nature of what a human being is dependent on. Then connectivism as the new learning theory described in the article will be unlikely to be surprised of although the digital world itself within social network communications does change our society. However the real meaning of learning could stay long no matter how the technology could reshape our society. The technology itself seems to be an additional equipment or infrastructure of our society although it has a huge impact on our daily lives. Yet this could not change the meaning of what is learning to be. People would of course use new different convenient tools as digital resources, which could reinforce the definition of connectivism yet it would not disturb the underlying concept of what is learning to be, which is replaced with the process.

Therefore ‘New Bloom’s Taxonomy’ seems to simply describe other ways of explaining categories, which are technological means of definitions. No matter how much technology is embedded in people’s social lives or practical implications of using technology are obvious, as the article ‘Messing Around’ could directly tell us, they have only been learning or living in the media society and the meaning of learning does not seem to be different at all from the concept of learning, which exists even before the advent of technology era. In other words, they also seem to learn something through by making mistakes, experimenting new tools or taking unconventional/unprecedented approaches and applying those methods to new aspects/features of social network communications.