HCE: Web 2.0 Technology Tools and Applications in Education

Wordle from project
text

Introduction
Debbie Faires’ course, Libr 246 Technology Tools and Applications Advanced–Web
2.0, has been most instrumental in bringing my Web 2.0 skills up to speed.
How I wish that I could have included this final project as part of my ePortfolio—my
newly acquired skills in applying social technologies to educational environments
have had the opportunity to blossom through further application. I have also realized
that I still have so much more to learn! However, I am not alone. While immersed
in school library fieldwork this semester, I have witnessed that many K-12 librarians
and educators have fallen behind in keeping up with and integrating Web 2.0 tools
into their personal and professional lives. Stringent district filtering policies,
stressed and apathetic staff members, as well as limited technological training
are major barriers to fostering technology-based social scholarship within schools.

In Donna Baumbach’s article, “Web 2.0 & You” (2009), she summarizes her 2008
survey of school library media specialists in Florida to establish baseline data
about their knowledge of Web 2.0 tools. She finds that a much higher percentage
of students use Web 2.0 content than library media specialists. The numbers
of library media teachers who have not had any experience using mapping tools,
RSS, podcasting, blogs, and wikis are rather shocking. In response to the survey
results and obvious need for professional development with regard to Web 2.0 tools,
Baumbach, Lee, and many other collaborators from the University
of Central Florida have developed the
WebTools4U2Use
wiki using Wikispaces.
The fabulously extensive resource provides a wealth of tools in many categories
with information about each type of tool as well as five suggested applications
to test drive and more to explore. Categories include Audio & Podcasting;
Blogs; Calendars, Task Management & To Do List Tools; Drawing, Charting &
Mapping Tools; Photo and Photo Sharing Tools; Portal & WebPage Starting Tools;
Presentation Tools; Quiz & Polling Tools; RSS, News Feeds & Aggregators;
Social Bookmarking Tools; Social Networks; Video Tools and Video Sharing; Wikis;
Word Processing & Productivity Tools; and Other Cool Tools 4 U 2 Use. Geared
toward library media specialists, the wiki provides category-based background,
suggested applications, and examples for using Web 2.0 tools within educational
settings.

Plan
of Action
In my final project proposal, I suggested giving the current Hillview
Crest Elementary Media Center website,
a fresh design and Web 2.0 facelift. My goals included incorporating some of the
resources that are already being used in the current site, as well as enlivening
the interface with dynamic content, social networking opportunities, and synchronous
communication. Additionally, I sought to create a toolbox and “how-to” guide to
assist teachers in making their own Web 2.0 classrooms step-by-step. In theory,
the virtual library media center for my final project would boast a new design
and Web 2.0 elements that include:

• Dynamic blogs and feeds via RSS
• Wiki Camp for school-wide wikis
• Google docs/calendar for scheduling classes
• Social Networking Nings for school staff, students, and parents
• Facebook group for Hillview Crest Media Center
• Flickr group and badge
• Skype conferencing capabilities
• IM chat window
• Screencast showing teachers how to request books
• Screencast intro to the website
• Review blog: vodcasts, podcasts, and written reviews of library resources
• Survey/poll: which 2008-2009 CYRM nominee do you think will win?
• Twitter feed for hvcmedia
• Delicious bookmarks feed
• Mashup map of Alameda County libraries and school libraries
• Mashup of other school blogs (if the other schools have blogs…)
• Amazon wish list

My
Process
Seeking to deepen my understanding of using Web 2.0 tools in school library media
programs, I proceeded to read the entire “Social Scholarship” themed March/April
2009 issue of Knowledge Quest, journal of the American
Association of School Librarians. Then,
applying what I learned, I constructed a new version of the current
website for the Hillview Crest Elementary
Library Media Center, with a Web 2.0 facelift. The new
site, created in Weebly,
pulls together many of the components I read about in Knowledge Quest.
Beginning with Anna Koval’s “The 2.0 Tech I Can’t Live Without” (2009), I made
a personal goal to try as many of the ten applications she suggested, that I had
not previously used. Namely, Weebly,
Poll
Daddy, Sprout
Builder, Jing,
Google
Analytics, and Google
Gadgets.

Weebly

Just as Rita’s Cool Tools for Library 2.0 podcast
and screencast
explain, Weebly
is an easy-to-use tool for creating a virtual space to collect the elements of
a virtual library or classroom. No matter what environment, subject, or level
taught, a virtual classroom can help foster interactive learning through the most
commonly used Web 2.0 technologies. With Weebly, creating a Web 2.0 site is as
easy as building with Legos—piece by piece, the drag-and-drop interface allows
the user to combine any number of components to construct a website that suits
specific needs. The sample
website I created for the Hillview
Crest Elementary Library Media Center merely provides one of many possibilities
for organization, as well as the wide variety of elements that may be included.

Account
Set-Up
First, I set up a free account and selected the option to register my URL as a
subdomain of Weebly (i.e. http://hvcmedia.weebly.com).
Upon notification that my URL was available, I published my website right away
to ensure that I would get my chosen URL, and then proceeded to create pages by
clicking Pages > New Page or New Blog. I quickly discovered that in order for
any of my changes to go live, I needed to click the orange Publish button in the
upper right corner to see the changes I had made.

Pages

Then, on paper, I made a list of categories to include in the navigation bar,
complete with subcategories as well as format (such as regular content pages or
blogs). Blog pages work well for content that will be continually updated as well
as content from which the author wants to enable comments. After clicking on the
Pages tab and creating and naming all of my new pages and blogs, I rearranged
the list of pages to reflect the order I wanted them to appear in the navigation
bar.

Designs

I then selected an appropriate design for the number of links I had settled on
by clicking on the Designs tab and rolling over each one to preview with my content.
Once I was satisfied, I double-clicked to select the design I wanted. Being rather
indecisive, it was nice to be able to “try on” so many options and change my mind
countless numbers of times.

Editing
Pages
Once a link to each page appeared in my navigation bar, I simply clicked on each
one to access the new page and then edited them individually. I often found myself
referring to the Help button in the upper right corner to find answers to my specific
questions or to simply scan the FAQs in search of basic tips for using Weebly.

Elements

Within the Elements tab, the basic Paragraph with Title, Paragraph with Picture,
Picture, Title, and Paragraph elements are pretty self-explanatory. I also experimented
with the two-column layout and was even successful nesting two columns within
a two-column layout. To add each element, I would simply drag and drop to the
page where the red dashed lines indicated its placement. Then, I would click upon
it to edit the attributes such as the text formatting options, location of image
upload, or linking characteristics.

Linking
When linking elements, I had the choice of setting the link to either a larger
image, another page within the website, a website URL, file, or e-mail address.
I found that when linking to a document, such as a PDF, I had two choices, to
add a document download icon to my page as a multimedia element, or to create
a new page for files, add them there as multimedia and then text- or image-link
to them as files from the file dropdown menu when setting the link.

Embedding Custom HTML
The Custom HTML element is one of the most powerful among Weebly’s offerings.
Into each Custom HTML box I added code for several different types of Web 2.0
apps—polls,
gadgets,
calendars,
translators,
maps,
flash
animations, IM
chat windows, and wish
lists. When it comes to embedding scripts
and code into the Custom HTML element, the sky is the limit—simply cut and paste!
I have learned that when I notice a useful application on a site I am visiting,
I make a point to register, customize, and add the widget to my own space. For
example, I added the ClustrMap
on my home
page after I noticed it on the WebTools4U2Use
wiki. I simply clicked on their map and completed a simple form to open an account
with my own website URL and e-mail address.

Contact

To add a Contact Form to my contact
page, I went to Elements > More,
and dropped the Contact Form element onto my page. Along with a form, I added
code to a Custom HTML element for a Meebo
IM chat window as well as a link to Skype,
phone number, and e-mail address.

Multimedia

Throughout the website, I used several types of multimedia. From Elements >
Multimedia, I selected from Paragraph with Picture, Picture, Photo Gallery, File,
YouTube
and Google
videos, Flickr
Slideshow, and Google
Maps. Unfortunately, at this time,
the Audio Player is only available with a for-cost Pro account; however, it would
not be difficult to add a link to an .mp3 file. My Toolbox
page has a collection of categorized
pictures that are linked to outside websites. As my audience is K-5 children,
their teachers, and parents, clickable graphics and minimal text are ideal. In
an effort to keep things relatively simple, I limited the items in each category
to between 3 and 5 choices.

Jing

Having previously used a 30-day trial version of Camtasia
Studio to create several screencasts,
I decided to use Jing,
a FREE TechSmith
product, to create a “how to” screencast for requesting
materials through the online catalog.
I did go ahead and purchase JingPro for $15 per year to enable easy conversion
and upload to YouTube,
as well as higher quality MPEG-4 video (instead of flash), and the elimination
of Jing advertising from the videos. Although the videos are limited to only 5
minutes and features are limited, Jing is both a free Web 2.0 tool and also compatible
with Mac and PC.

Compared to Camtasia Studio 6, with fewer options, Jing is definitely simpler
to learn to use than Camtasia Studio. However, Jing’s simple interface
and lack of extensive features results in non-existent post-processing and hence,
rather unpolished presentations and frustrating recording sessions. The drawbacks
include: videos are limited to five minutes, and unless the producer has access
to Camtasia Studio or another editing software, he or she cannot re-record the
audio separately or add intro slides/music to the presentation. That being said,
Jing is a free and essential tool for educators—it allows the creator to quickly
record, publish, and access videos for point-of-need instruction.

Google
Analytics
I
have also embedded a Google
Analytics script to track numbers,
locations, and time spent by visitors on the website. These numbers can be used
to present critical proof to administrators, parents, and board of education members
that the school library is an essential and useful component in information access
and student learning. To include the Google Analytics script, I registered for
an account with Google Analytics and then copied the code. In Weebly, I clicked,
Settings > Search Engine Optimization, and then pasted the script into the
Footer Code section before clicking Save.

Other Elements I
did use several Dividers (horizontal lines), found under the Elements > Layout
tab, to separate content that seemed cramped. I did not use Google AdSense due
to the audience of my website, but was able to see how easily it is to integrate
revenue into a website. There were several other elements such as online bookings,
games, and Nabble forums that I did not feel were appropriate for my site, so
I did not include them.

Blogs Successful
and effective blogs are truly user-centered—harnessing the energy, passion, and
attitude of individuals with a common cause. According to Web 2.0 guru, librarian,
and educator, Meredith
Farkas, blogs are “defined by
their content and community actions” (2007, p.14). Although a blog should advertise
a clear purpose, it should contain
a variety of post components—from lists of links to short blurbs, from paragraphs
to multi-part essays—variety is key in maintaining an interesting blog. I like
to vary my blog content with photos, instruction, creative compositions, video
tours, witty posts, slideshows, thoughtful essays, announcements, and thought-provoking
discussions to keeping visitors engaged and begging for more! Regular updates
with fresh content by multiple, credible authors can usually draw a large following.
Most importantly, a successful blog creates community by connecting people with
unique and common interests.

Weebly blogs are well-coordinated within the website—the streamlined appearance
and color scheme help to blend the two together. The blog sidebar allows the site
creator to add Author Info, Feed buttons, Categories, and Archives among other
things. When adding each post, there is a field for adding tags to categorize
the content. When published, each post has a link for visitors to make comments.
The site administrator can set the comments feature to display the comments upon
approval. Especially useful in educational settings, this feature prevents virtual
vandalism and abuse. To change the comment settings, from the Weebly blog page,
click Manage Blog > Settings > Allow Comments > Approve First > Save
Changes.

Twitter

Weebly makes it a breeze to add a Twitter Badge to the Blog Sidebar. First, I
created a Twitter
profile for the library media center. I selected a profile and password that are
easy to remember when logging in for daily tweet updates. In Twitter, it is also
nice to customize the account location, bio, and picture by clicking on Settings
and then updating the information. To integrate the Twitter Badge into the Weebly
Blog, once on the blog page, I clicked on Elements > Blog Sidebar > Twitter
Badge. After dragging and dropping the Twitter element to the sidebar, I set my
login information to the library media center account I had previously set up.

Delicious
Linkroll
I also added Delicious Linkrolls to both of the Blog Sidebars. I clicked on Elements
> Blog Sidebar > Delicious Linkroll, and then customized the account information
to pull content from the appropriate account. I placed a different linkroll on
each blog. The web2studio
linkroll in the sidebar of the Learning
News Blog is for staff and school library
colleagues to access links to Web 2.0 resources. The hvcmedia
linkroll in the sidebar of the Reviews
Blog provides students and staff with
lists of recommended and award-winning books.

Feed
Reader
Essentially, the Weebly Feed Reader, located in the Elements > More tab, allows
the website creator to publish RSS feeds from any number of sources. For a simple
description of RSS is in less than four minutes, I like to refer to a video from
CommonCraft called RSS
in Plain English (2007). It
is here that we learn how RSS is simply a useful tool for harnessing the Web—it
funnels (or syndicates) desired content to the reader, instead of having the reader
wasting valuable time visiting blogs and news sites individually to check for
updated content. Essentially, RSS is a faster way to read the web. Meredith Farkas,
author of Social
Software in Libraries, states, “RSS is the key to staying
informed and preventing information overload” (2007, p.49). We can use RSS to
make information highly portable, “so that it can be read in different places
and used in multiple ways” (p.50).

RSS allows the website or blog visitor to customize their experience. They can
subscribe to feeds and receive content when and where they want. To reap the benefits
of RSS, one must sign up for an aggregator such as Google
Reader, Bloglines,
Pageflakes,
MyYahoo!,
FeedRaider,
DailyMe,
etc., and connect the aggregator to favorite websites by adding subscriptions.
Keeping a lookout out for RSS feeds, when I find one I want to subscribe to, I
simply click on the RSS icons within the page or the orange RSS auto-detect button
in my browser toolbar.

As a librarian and educator, RSS feeds are a big deal because I can now become
the RSS middleman, “syndicat[ing] and remix[ing] existing feeds from a variety
of sources to provide useful information for [my] patrons” (Farkas, 2007, p.60).
The Weebly RSS Feed Reader simplifies the information dispersal process. I have
taken advantage of dynamic updates to put the same content on multiple pages at
the same time and broadcast updates from my Learning
News and Reviews
blogs as well as the New
Haven Unified School District News
and Alameda
County Library Blogs to the home
page of my website. By simply pasting
the feed URL and designating formatting attributes for the feed output, the content
appears to be seamlessly integrated into the page.

Mashing-Up
Feeds in Yahoo! Pipes
I did use another process to combine feeds from both my blogs into one feed as
well as individual feeds from all of the Alameda County Library blogs into another.
Through the Yahoo!
Pipes no-code mashup process, I was
able to combine multiple feeds into one and add titles to show which blog each
entry is coming from. For more information on the details of the process, refer
to my earlier posting, Mix
and Match with Mashups. The combination
of feed mashups with Weebly’s Feed Reader, allows me to condense and dynamically
update content from multiple internal and external sources.

Poll
Daddy
On the home page of the website, I added a Poll
Daddy widget to determine which of
the 2008-09 California Young Reader Medal book nominees is a favorite. In Polly
Daddy, I added media (book cover images) to each of the answer options responses
and customized the look and feel of the widget. I set the poll to only allow one
response per cookie to prevent multiple responses from one computer, but did not
select cookie and IP address to continue to allow multiple respondents from the
same network, such as a school computer lab.

Google Calendar After
looking at several websites using both GoogleDocs
spreadsheets and Google
Calendar for scheduling, I decided
to go the calendar route. I have seen spreadsheets used effectively to organize
volunteers as well as in secondary library media centers where several classes
were scheduled during any given class period and a calendar format would have
seemed cluttered. I simply created my Google Calendar, clicked > Calendar Settings
> Calendar Details and then copied the code in the Embed This Calendar section.
After viewing the calendar on the designated page, I went back and clicked the
Customize the color, size, and other options link to make some minor adjustments.

Google Gadgets Because
the New Haven Unified School District is so diverse, I added a Google
Translator to each page to allow parents
and extended family to convert the page text into their native language. In addition,
I added a Google
Clock to the About
page, adjacent to the library media
center hours.

Flash
Animations
For fun, I decided to give SproutBuilder
a try for creating my own promotional Flash animation to display on the home
page. After selecting and editing a
template animation and then adding my own content, I embedded the generated code
into a Custom HTML element, and voila—an attractive and FREE Flash animation!

Wiki Camp On the Wikis
page, I have set up a library media center Wiki Camp for gathering and sharing
student- and teacher-created wikis with the learning community. Not only can students
and teachers visit the wiki camp to access their own wikis, but they can also
take a peek at what other classes have been up to. My objective with the Wiki
Camp is to help publicize technology-assisted collaborative learning throughout
the school site, district, and beyond!

What is a wiki? As Meredith Farkas explains in Social
Software in Libraries (2007), wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian—and quick
they are when it comes to creating and accessing information. She states, wikis
level the playing field, “democratizing the process of Web content creation” by
“giv[ing] everyone the ability to take part in creating and editing Web content”
(p.67). Wikis are great tools for creating information sources collaboratively.
Wikispaces and PBWorks
(previously know as PBWiki) are top choices
for educators. For more on wikis, read my recent post, The
Wonderful World of Wikis.

Network

No library media center would be complete without serving as a hub for schoolwide
collaboration through social networks. In “Collaboration in the School Social
Network” (2009), Barbara Schultz-Jones shares the results of a recent pilot study
of collaboration networks of five school library media specialists in north Texas.
Librarian-staff collaboration interactions usually range from no interaction,
exchanging information informally, providing books/resources when requested, consulting
on course content, providing course materials, to designing a unit of study and
presenting it with a teacher or administrator. From her research, Schultz-Jones
maintains that social networks are key elements for “building relationships that
enable the delivery of information literacy skills to students, teachers, and
administrators within the school’s learning environment” (2009, p. 25).

School library media specialists have a duty to reach out to staff, students,
and parents to determine how they can better meet the information needs of their
school community members. The American
Association of School Librarians has
stated that “the school library media specialist’s opportunities for cultivating
authentic, information-based learning have never been greater, and the responsibilities
are also more crucial than ever before” (1998, p. 47). Taking a central role in
the creation and management of the social networks at a school site can better
enable the library media teacher in maintaining a higher level of awareness, trust,
and collaboration, resulting in the advancement of information literacy within
the school.

On my Network
page, I set up three Nings—one
for staff, one for students, and one for parents. As a facilitator for each of
the private Nings, I would be responsible for verifying e-mail addresses and sending
out invitations. After gathering members for several weeks, I would designate
interested individuals to be assistant moderators for each social network. In
a Ning members can blog, provide status updates, send group and private messages,
upload videos, create interest groups, and participate in discussion forums. Nings
are a fantastic free social networking environment for keeping content safe within
designated boundaries. Unlike Facebook,
Nings created for a work environment, private group, or club don’t have to include
explicit details from each member’s social life—they can be maintained solely
for serving social networking needs within a specific collaborative environment,
such as a school.

Challenges

After over twenty exciting hours of planning, building, and fine-tuning the new
website interface and accompanying
resources, I still feel as though it is not yet finished; however, I have come
to learn that a great website is always a work-in-progress! Of course nothing
ever works as smoothly as it should—the learning process can be quite frustrating
at times—perhaps my stubborn personality helps me continue through the struggles!
Working with so many different applications, I had to take the time to set up
many accounts and experiment with each application.

For the most part, Weebly is relatively to use. However, I spent a tremendous
amount of time waiting for elements to load on the page before I could edit them.
As the speed of my Internet connection is twice as slow as it was before I moved
locations, I am sure a faster connection would have helped. Often, I would catch
myself in awe, sitting at my computer wondering how it is possible that creating
a website is so easy these days! Working online gave me the advantage
of not having to continually save my work as well as not having to store the webpages
on my own computer.

However, the greatest challenge facing this project is the environment in which
it must take root. The current New
Haven Unified School District Library Improvement Plan
outlines the importance of the library’s role in encouraging lifelong learning.
Overall, the district takes pride in being technology-savvy; however, there is
a stringent protocol for petitioning to unblock specific accounts for teacher-
and librarian-created wikis, blogs, websites, YouTube videos, Flickr accounts,
etc. My site supervisor expressed frustration that
her Hillview Crest Media blog
could not be accessed by students on school computers without her having to submit
a “tech help” request to designate the specific URL as “appropriate.” Due to this
hurdle, her blog has remained inactive since last summer. The district technology
staff claim that web 2.0 tools and content hosting sites are blocked for security
reasons to prevent students from accessing inappropriate content. However, I feel
as though stringent filtering policies do more harm than good. Access to
Web 2.0 tools, assists with helping students learn how to use them. To educate
information and technology-savvy students, we must demand a supported core of
services focus on the outcome of helping our students reach their full potentials.

Future
Exploration
Due to my recent Web 2.0 addiction and continual new discoveries, I must continue
to explore further applications for using 2.0 tools in education. In particular,
prompted by another article from Knowledge Quest, I am curious to try
out my own experimental virtual literature circle using social networking applications.
Paulette Stewart’s article, “Facebook and Virtual Literature Circle Partnership
in Building a Community of Readers” (2009), shares the process and successes of
Jessie, a high school librarian, in incorporating social network technologies
with book discussion groups for high school, college, and university students.

Drawing from a group of library volunteers and avid readers, Jessie met with six
students and explained how they would use the Facebook interface (specifically
the discussion board, posted items, the wall, and chat) to manage virtual communication
during the literature circle experiment. Each member of the group held a role
as either Leader (manager and quality assurance), Literary Luminary (selection
of passages from book for discussion), Vocabulary Enricher (identifying and defining
important words in the selection), Connector (finding connections between book
and outside world), Recorder (type assignments or summaries in “Notes” feature
of Facebook), or Clarifier (giving examples or suggesting alternatives). Jessie,
the teacher, maintained a role as guide and facilitator, fostering literacy skills,
critical thinking, and collaborative learning. Overall, Jessie’s virtual literature
circle was a wild success and plants the seeds for further experimentation in
teaching content through popular social networking tools.

Podcasting, Screencasting & Vodcasting
With more time, I would have liked to have students and staff help with adding
podcasts, screencasts, and vodcasts to the site content. Multimedia is ideal for
sharing excerpts from special programming, making announcements for upcoming events,
providing descriptions of new and notable books, recording interviews with guest
speakers, broadcasting library news headlines, giving audio/video tours of the
library or other specific collections, highlighting new website features, providing
instructions (such as how to use a new database or request
materials from the online catalog),
record read-alouds of public domain books for children, strengthen services for
the visually impaired, and even adding community-created content such as read
alouds, book reviews, or booktalks. No matter the subject, podcasts, screencasts,
and vodcasts can help spread the word to a wider audience.

Conclusion

I am proud to be a 21^st Century teacher, librarian, and information
specialist. As part of a group of innovative and influential educators, we are
responsible for supporting engaging and relevant learning among students and teachers.
In order to attain credibility among our colleagues, we must collectively and
aggressively seek to connect, teach, and collaborate within our learning communities
and beyond. We must begin by taking advantage of the many free new technologies
and supportive organizations that are encouraging our professional development.
We must be leaders in progressing forward along the Web 2.0 continuum in a positive
direction to assist with the evolution of information literacy education. Our
collective objectives should include not only becoming familiar with, but also
becoming expert enough in using Web 2.0 technologies, that we can serve as trainers
of teachers. Together we will help bring to pass the glory of social scholarship
among our students.

References

American Association for School Librarians. (1998). Information power: Building
partnerships for learning. Chicago: ALA.

Baumbach, D. (2009, March/April). Web 2.0 and you. Knowledge Quest, 37(40),
12-19.

Koval, A. (2009, March/April). The 2.0 tech I can’t live without.
Knowledge Quest, 37(40), 34-35.

Farkas, M. (2007). What
is social software? Medford, NJ:
Information Today, Inc.

Schultz-Jones, B. (2009, March/April). Collaboration in the school social network.
Knowledge Quest, 37(40), 20-25.

Stewart, P. (2009, March/April). Facebook and virtual literature circle partnership
in building a community of readers. Knowledge Quest, 37(40), 28-33.

This project specifically fulfills Teacher Librarian Credential competencies
within the following categories:

• Information
  Specialist (A3, A4)
• Instructional
  Leader (B3, B4)
• Teacher
  (C4)
• Administrative
  Leadership (D4, D6, D7)
• Management
  and Organization (E2)
• Communication
  (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5)
• Diversity
  (G1, G2)
• Literature
  and Literacy (I2, I4)
• Access
  (J5, J6)
• Professionalism
  (K1, K2, K3, K5)

Advertisement

Tags: Access, Administrative Leadership, Communication, Diversity, Information Specialist, Instructional Leader, Literature and Literacy, Management and Organization, Professionalism, Teacher