New Tools for Innovative Collaboration

Social Media in the Life of the School Library

Florida State UniversityCollege of Communication & Information

New Tools for Innovative Collaboration

Social Media in the Life of the School Library

Presented By :

Dr. Linda SwaineFSU College of Communications & Information

Robert VandagriffGraduate Assistant, FSU CC&I

Conversation Overview

Statistics ReviewCurrent StandardsLiterature Review

Introduction to Tools & TechnologyExamples from Colleagues

Getting StartedWhat Will I Implement?Questions & Resources

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3

Part

Part

Part

Defining Social Media

“Social Media is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism, one-to-many, to a many-to-many model, rooted in conversations between authors, people, and peers.”

~Brian Solis Author and Digital AnalystBrianSolis.com

Growing Online• In the last five years, home Internet

access has expanded from 74% to 84% among young people.

• The proportion with a laptop has grown from 12% to 29%; and Internet access in the bedroom has jumped from 20% to 33%.

• The quality of Internet access has improved as well, with high-speed access increasing from 31% to 59%.

*Statistics selected from the 2010 Generation M2 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation

The Need For Guidance

In a typical day, seven in ten 8- to 18-year-olds go online (70%).

They are far more likely to go online at home (57%) than at school (20%) or in some other location, such as a library, community center, or friend’s house (14%).

*Statistics selected from the 2010 Generation M2 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation

The Moving WebOver the past five years, the proportion of 8- to 18-year olds who own their own cell phone has grown from about four in ten (39%) to about two-thirds (66%).

The proportion with iPods or other MP3 players increased even more dramatically, jumping from 18% to 76% among all 8- to 18-year-olds.

*Statistics selected from the 2010 Generation M2 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation

New DestinationsThe three most popular computer activities among 8- to 18-year-olds are going to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook (:22), playing computer games (:17), and watching videos on sites such as YouTube (:15).

Two activities that barely existed five years ago—social networking and YouTube—appear to account for much of the increase in time spent using computers.

In a typical day, 40% of young people will go to a social networking site, and those who do visit these sites will spend an average of almost anhour a day (:54) there. The percent who engage in social networking ranges from 18% among 8- to 10-year-olds to 53% among 15- to 18-year-olds.

Social Network-ingPlaying Games

Video Websites

Other Websites

*Statistics selected from the 2010 Generation M2 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation

Facebook Is Shrinking The WebEven if a web page does not already have a Facebook presence

Facebook now integrates Wikipedia-style technology to find and display information whether it exists or not.

The Rise of Video

Exceeds 2 billion views a day

24 hours of video uploaded every minute

Average person spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube

More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all 3 major US

networks created in 60 yearsStatistics compiled and released by website-monitoring.com

The Social Connection

Statistics compiled and released by website-monitoring.com

Knowledge & Use of Web2.0

0102030405060708090

100

% of Media Specialists

(2009). The 2.0 Tech I Can't Live Without. Knowledge Quest, 37(4), 34-35. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

The AASL Standard

Emerging Needs

The International Society for Technology in Education standards identify several higher-order thinking skills and digital citizenship as

critical for students to learn effectively for a lifetime and live productively in our emerging global society.

These areas include the ability to:

• Demonstrate creativity and innovation• Communicate and collaborate• Conduct research and use information• Think critically, solve problems, and make decisions• Use technology effectively and productively

For Teachers

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Information Literacy

“In 1989 the American Library Association defined information literacy as "a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information"

Association of Colleges & Research Libraries (2000, ALA.org)

“Learning has a social context. Learning is enhanced by opportunities to share and learn with others”

“Collaborating more closely with the technology coordinators in our schools would result in students benefiting from social technologies as we educate our colleagues, breaking through the outmoded perceptions that Web 2.0 tools are unsafe.”

“Where is the active, social learning that we know can occur with our leadership? I think, no matter what our own ecosystem lacks, we can better express our belief that learning is social for 21st-century learners”

~ Laura Brooks

A New Direction

Brooks, Laura. "Social Learning by Design: The Role of Social Media." Knowledge Quest 37.5 (2009): 58-60. Library Lit & Inf Full Text.

Critical Assumptions“While children are exposed to online media at an increasingly early age, studies have shown that many adolescents do not possess the expertise required to search the Web efficiently or critically assess the credibility of what they find (Bilal, 2001; Eastin et al. 2006; Kafai & Bates, 1997; Kuiper et al., 2005). Older teens in high school face similar challenges. For example, when citing sources for essays about science topics, one study found that participants did not fully comprehend the differences between Wikipedia articles and other sources (Forte & Bruckman, 2008).”

Contrary to popular belief, growing up in an increasingly wired world does not provide a greater understanding of technology or its importance and application. These lessons require instruction.

~ Eszter Hargittai

“Trust Online: Young Adults' Evaluation of Web Content.” International Journal of Communication. 4:468-494.

The Opportunity For Guidance

“The most compelling reasons to use these technologies, then, are two-fold: our users are already there and may be talking about us; and by using these technologies, we better understand our users and help them become savvier consumers and creators of information. “

“Social Networking and Web 2.0 in Information Literacy." International Information & Library Review 42.2 (2010): 137-42. Library Lit & Inf Full Text.

~ Click, Amanda, and Joan Petit.

The Opportunity For Guidance

“Unfortunately, we've wired the classrooms in this country and then disabled the computers; we've blocked young people from participating in the new forms of participatory culture; and we've taught them that they are not ready to speak in public by sequestering them to walled gardens rather than allowing them to try their voices through public forums.”~ Henry Jenkins, Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Art at USC

Original Post: HenryJenkins.org

The Opportunity For Guidance

“Providing school librarians with the authority to override the filter, for other teachers and students alike, will help to shift the role of the school librarian to ‘information literacy specialist.’ Every override will offer a ‘teachable moment’ for the librarian to address the assessment of credibility.”

~ Willard, Nancy.

Willard, Nancy. (2010) “Teach Them to Swim.” Knowledge Quest. 39:1.

The Virtue Of Literacy“By responding to the changes that are occurring in today’s information culture, school library media specialists can facilitate learning experiences that situate information literacy as a fundamental literacy shaped by today's society, culture, and ever-evolving technologies.”

Information literacy instruction must include helping students learn to pick and evaluate the best resources for their personal learning networks from print, subscriptions, and free sources. By helping students tap into the ever burgeoning streams of information, we help them experience a sense of "flow“ while they engage joyfully in learning.”

~ Hamilton, B. J.

Hamilton, B. J. Transforming Information Literacy for NowGen Students. Knowledge Quest v. 37 no. 5 (May/June 2009) p. 48-53

Where Do We Go From Here

“A social media policy can help establish clear guidelines for staff members who are posting on behalf of the organization as well as employees with personal social media accounts. There are also standards being created for users, letting them know what's acceptable to post to an organization's blog and community pages.”

“Many school libraries have social networking Web sites blocked by administration whose official policy is not to engage in social media -- but that doesn't mean that employees aren't Twittering and networking through individual accounts. So even those libraries might want to consider establishing some standards.”

~Kroski, E.

Kroski, E. Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy. School Library Journal v. 55 no. 10, p. 44-6.

Information Policy & You

Why should an information policy be defined?

What should the policy include?

How does this apply to our social media presence?

The Situation At Hand

“We are not encouraging use of social media at school”

A selection of responses we received to inquiries regarding social media.

“Our emphasis is more on internet safety rather than making the best use of the social networking technology out there”

“I use Twitter to communicate the goings on at my school and to make announcements and such”

“We provide blogging, social walls, chats, etc through our Moodle and Gaggle.net… but we will not leave our network wide open”

New Tools: Glogster

Custom Poster Collages & Community

Glogster Homepage

New Tools: Diigo

Offers a free learning community with social tagging, bookmarking, and highlight.

Diigo Homepage

New Tools: Moodle

•Forums•Tests•Chat•Wiki•Glossary•Uploaded media

Moodle is a free content management system, which includes support for:

Teacher Tube

More heavily moderated clone of YouTube with a focus on educators

and students

More than just video, TeacherTube

has an extensive community driven

document and image collection.

http://www.teachertube.com/

New Tools: VoicethreadFeature rich digital conversations, for a fee

Tailored to educator & student needshttp://ed.voicethread.com/#q.b62276.i322457

New Tools: Gaggle

All-inclusive content management system (fee based)

Middle of the road between the “open”

mainstream social networks and the

closed private systems.

Replicates many social network and Google App

features

Collaborate to Learn: WikisFree, community developed

Recommended Community

Wiki Software• MediaWiki• Drupal

Easy to create content

Collaborate to Learn: Blogs

They present a larger time investment to set up than a Facebook or Twitter account, but can dynamically integrate information from nearly every other web2.0 system.

Blogs, most notably the community-developed WordPress program, represent perhaps the most feature rich and interconnected platform for creating a social media environment.

Collaborate to Learn: BlogsYouTubeUpdates

Social Media Links + Twitter

Feed

FlickrSidebar

One Digital Thread Many Messages

3rd party services have also been created to facilitate this exchange, see: Ping.FM

Florida Teens Read (Wordpress Blog)

Familiarizes students with the WordPress program while allowing conversation among students to grow naturally.

Teens Read

Eryn Worcester Viera High School

BigHouseLibrary (Wordpress Blog)

Example Post (Shelfari Widget)

BigHouseLibraryAnna Koval , Teacher/LibrarianHelen Holroyd, Library Assistant

Palm Beach County Video Booktalks

• Video booktalks• Glogster Posters• Voicethread talks

Their blog incorporates:

Sally SmollarMedia Specialist

The Unquiet Library (Wordpress Blog)

Sample Page

http://theunquietlibrary.wordpress.com/

Creekview High School Media Center

Butler Middle School (Social Media)

Beryl D White-Bing, MLISEducational Media Specialist

MySpaceTwitter

Roosevelt Middle School Media Center

Roosevelt Middle School Media Center

Sample Page

Rebecca Brown SmyklaLibrary Media Specialist

Getting Started: Glogster/Moodle

Glogster’s basic package for teachers is free to use, all it requires is a basic account via email.

Moodle uses PHP and a database, installing both of these are explained in detail on the link on the previous slide!

Getting Started: FacebookIdentify your needs

Are you just displaying content to others?

Or are others creating and sharing content?

Interest Page

Group Page

Getting Started: Twitter

•Know your audience• Be concise• Avoid overload• Use Hashtags

The 140 character limit is your enemy, gain some ground by using websites such as bit.ly to shorten URL’s

Much Ado About Twitter“Some question Twitter's value. Last fall, Pear Analytics, a San Antonio-based data analysis firm, called 40 percent of the tweets it studied "pointless babble, such as, 'I am eating a sandwich now.'" But school leaders wanting to reach out to Gen X, Y and Z parents and taxpayers can make Twitter a worthwhile resource- if they make it worth those target audiences' time. “

~ Hughes, Brad. "Twittering in the Hands of School Leaders." School Administrator

Getting Started: WordPress

There is a walkthrough for a basic, unstyled WordPress blog installation from the very basic ground up on the FSUlibIT blog

Don’t Panic!WordPress is not as complicated as it seems!!

Getting Started: Web Video

Almost all of FSUlibIT’s video is shot with a Flip video player. FSU’s main campus library carries these for student and faculty use. The best value for the price.

Simple editing options are available free using Windows Live Essentials (Free for Windows users)

What Will I ImplementOn Monday?

Educational Technology Resources

Solution Tree : Teaching the iGeneration tutorials

Notable Selections• Blogging Tools & Resources • Creating Blog Posts• VoiceThread• Exploring Wikis

Web Tools Wiki : WebTools4u2use Wiki

FSUlibIT : The FSUlibIT website walkthrough