Sequential Narratives to Inspire Reluctant Readers

Introduction

Courtesy of WhyNotRead

 With the emergence of the digital age and subsequent changing of cultural interests and values, children face even more barriers to reading for pleasure than they ever have before.  Sequential narratives, or graphic novels, have the ability to serve as a stepping stone to help inspire those who for whatever reason choose not to read into transitioning from being considered as a reluctant reader, into reading for enjoyment.  It was extremely difficult to narrow down the great selection of graphic novels available.  The following bibliography is, and always will be, a work in progress as new titles are published and old titles are added.

Rationale

Amidst 21^st century tools and technologies, it has become increasingly difficult to captivate young readers.  The inability of strictly text based novels to reach the diverse needs of many readers has seen the subsequent emergence and rise of sequential narratives used not only for personal

enjoyment, but also for educational purposes. For reluctant readers, those who for whatever reason choose not to read, the graphic nature of a sequential narrative offers a less intimidating and more entertaining form of reading that also seeks to bridge the gap between instant gratification and a lifelong enjoyment of reading. The visual representation and pace of these multimodal art forms increases reader comprehension by improving language and literacy development through contextual clues located within the entertaining illustrations themselves.  Readers are drawn to graphic novels because of their illustrations and become consumed by their sharp dialogue, character development, and entertaining plot lines that provide multiple perspectives and focus on an emotional connection to the reader.  The high ratio of picture to

Courtesy of The Guardian

text and speed of sequential narratives are what speaks to reluctant readers who are not inclined, do not have the desire, or are too preoccupied with various other activities to read for pleasure.  While the following bibliography is by no means complete, the selected graphic novels feel subversive and exciting to those readers who are deterred by a large amount of text to decode.  In addition, there has been an increase in graphic novels to support all areas of curriculum development including many adaptations of Shakespeare’s work that have the potential to connect with students struggling with the language and style of his traditional plays.

Courtesy of The Odyssey Online

Medium

Using the power of information technology to extend my educational reach, I have chosen to present my bibliography in the form of a Pinterest board.  Pinterest is a highly effective tool for educators and librarians seeking to collaborate, inspire, curate, and research a variety of topics.  Each user has the ability to follow many boards, organize their information, create boards, and add 'pins' to their personal account choosing whether or not to make the information public or private.  The board I've created for my bibliography is titled 'Sequential Narratives to Inspire Reluctant Readers' and is a publicly shared resource for anyone to 'pin'.  In addition, each pin includes a small synopsis and a recommended grade level.

It's Showtime! A Vision Realized

This is it, I made it! It's been a long learning experience and finally my vision is realized.  It's my hope that the infographic I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into is shared widely and is beneficial to many educators that are beginning to understand and develop their own personal learning networks (PLN).  The purpose of the infographic is to detail the many aspects of a PLN including the who, what, when, where, why, and how along with the struggles or challenges that may arise along the way.  This is meant to be a concise guide for any educator seeking information on PLNs.

I'm very happy with how my infographic turned out.  Once I understood the formatting tools Piktochart uses, it was just a matter of placing the right information in the correct spot and locating the visuals I wanted.  I'll admit, this was incredibly time consuming but in my opinion, well worth it.  I'm a very visual person and sometimes I can spend too much time on small details.  However, when it comes to an infographic the small visual details are what makes your work stand out!  As mentioned in a previous post, I was having trouble condensing my information into small, manageable details.  My infographic has a lot of information, maybe too much and I think this is one area that could be improved on.  Towards the end of my infographic's production, it was helpful for me to constantly remind myself of the popular adage 'quality over quantity'.  I consider this the biggest challenge I faced during the creation of my infographic as I was able to pick up the technology aspect pretty quickly.

My journey through the first semester in the teacher-librarianship program at the University of British Columbia has been incredibly informative.  I've moved past the stage of observer and consumer of information and computer technology to advocating for it.  The progress I've made through several inquiries, explorations, discussions, and developing resources is priceless.  Not only have I been exposed to the formal term 'personal learning network', I'm now a passionate 21st Century educator and advocating for PLN implementation.  While I'm by no means proficient with information computer technology or web 2.0 tools, this is a huge step in the right direction as our education system begins to transform and professional development is flipped.  Moving forward, I hope to continue to develop my skills and make connections with other educators around the world and maintain a robust PLN in doing so.

F.A.I.L- First Attempt in Learning {A Future Vision}

As expected, progressing through my vision in creating an infographic has certainly had its ups and downs.  Having minimal experience with infographics is a challenge all in itself.  The primary reason I chose to create an infographic is because it caters to my visual learning style.  Not only are infographics aesthetically pleasing, but they are also concise with their information.  The purpose of this post is to be as transparent as possible as I reflect on my past, present, and future struggles and triumphs of completing my vision.

Struggles & Triumphs

Past

Previously Created Infographic

Strategies & Roadblocks

Prior to beginning my future vision, I was unsure of how I wanted to represent my learning.  My journey had taken me from being oblivious to a personal learning network, to embracing, even advocating for personal learning networks.  I personally enjoy infographics so after some early brainstorming with the assistance of my instructor, Aaron Mueller, I decided that this was the direction I wanted to take.  However, my experience with infographics was limited.  Approximately a year ago I attempted to design an infographic for my learning commons and ran into several problems troubleshooting and producing an design that was effective and up to my standards.  This time around, I'm determined in creating an infographic that will surpass the quality of my previous attempts.

In order to achieve this goal, I have the following strategy:

1. Comprehensive search on what infographic platform to use

2.  Troubleshoot the domain to understand the functions

3.  Compile my research and sources into concise, manageable information

Resources, Technology & Format

Image Courtesy of Piktochart

Since I'm limited in terms of time and ICT skills, I knew I wasn't ready to tackle Adobe Photoshop in order to complete my infographic.  Therefore I had to choose from several already established infographic software applications.  However, I didn't know which of the applications to choose from. Limiting myself to strictly free software, I located 10 free tools for creating infographics by Sarah James, 17 Resources to Help you Create Killer Infographics by Salman Ahsan,, and 5 Great Online Tools for Creating Infographics by Randy Krum.  After reading through the articles, I created a Piktochart  and Visual.ly account to test the waters.  After troubleshooting with both domains, I determined that I preferred Piktochart over Visual.ly. Not only is the platform easier to use but the free template options were more to my liking.  Piktochart also works in conjunction with Google+ allowing for easy access to maintain several domains with one account and password such as Gmail, Blogger, and YouTube etc.  Moving forward through my vision, Piktochart seemed to be the better fit,

Present

Technology & Roadblocks

Image Courtesy of Bank Lawyers Blog

Currently, my main struggle involves the learning curve associated with troubleshooting Piktochart.  Understanding how icons, formats, and other various functions are utilized is the bane of my existence.  However, learning a new system takes time so I expected this.  I'm happy I chose not to go with Adobe Photoshop.  Piktochart challenges me, but doesn't overwhelm me which I feel would have happened otherwise.  While the platform can be frustrating at times, I'm still capable of working through the problems that arise.

Condensing my information on personal learning networks has taken much more time than I thought it would and I believe it will continue to take energy as I progress through different sections of the infographic.  It doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist when it comes to organizing and formatting things.  This is an area that I continue to work on and will have to keep reminding myself about as my vision is realized.

Full View of
Draft Infographic

Future

Strategies & Triumphs
So far, I'm very happy with the progress I've made on realizing my vision.  For once, the infographic I've produced is up to my standards (so far..).  Despite the positive strides I've made, I still have a long way to go.  I'm approximately halfway through completing my infographic and the hard part is just about to begin.  As mentioned in the 'Present' section of this post, I'm really struggling with condensing my information into concise but valuable chunks.  I've established a 'pathway' in my infographic that will lead learners through the various processes and stages in how to establish a comprehensive network, but I'm unsure of how to accurately represent the stages and in which order I should put them.

Strategy going further:

1. Quality over quantity

                 - What are the most important aspects of developing a PLN?
                 - What did I struggle with most?
                 -  What advice would I have appreciated when I first discovered PLNs?

Enhanced View of Draft Infographic

Work Cited

1.  Adobe Photoshop CC. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.adobe.com/ca/products/photoshop.html

2.  Ahsan, S. (n.d.). 17 Resources to Help you Create Killer Infographics. Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.mastermindblogger.com/17-resources-to-help-you-create-killer-infographics/

3. James, S. (n.d.). 10 free tools for creating infographics. Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.creativebloq.com/infographic/tools-2131971?page=1

4.  Krum, R. (n.d.). 5 Great Online Tools for Creating Infographics - Blog About Infographics and Data Visualization - Cool Infographics. Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2014/10/10/5-great-online-tools-for-creating-infographics.html

5.  Create Easy Infographics, Reports, Presentations | Piktochart. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://piktochart.com

6.  Start creating, sharing & exploring great visuals today! (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://visual.ly

Why Personal Learning Networks? A Rationale

Scope

After delving through my goals for this assignment this past week, I'm left with a more concrete vision of what I expect my future project to detail.  To reiterate, the scope of my future vision project is to create an educational infographic that is now focused on the following:

Image courtesy of TeamBonding

• What is a PLN?
• Who is a PLN for?
• When can you use a PLN?
• Where can you use a PLN?
• Why you should use a PLN
• How to develop a PLN

Rationale

Thanks to the internet, the concept of a learning network isn't new, it's simply evolved.  We now live in a world of abundance and with that abundance comes access to several degrees of information and people.  At times, the constantly changing online world can be very overwhelming and distracting.  Especially when you consider the multiple updates, downloads, severs, and applications that the internet provides.  Learning how to ethically navigate information and computer technology in order to develop proficiency has become a pillar of transformative education and 21st century literacies including the American Association of School Libraries, International Society for Technology in Education, and National Council of Teachers of English.  This is important because as schools and organizations are re-envisioning how and what students are expected to learn, teachers should be asking the same questions of themselves.  As Will Richardson (2012) quoted in his e-book Why School: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everything, "the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn," and this includes educators (p. 365).  A developed personal learning network can act as a powerful source of professional development and support for teachers as they take ownership of their learning by turning social networks into learning networks through informed practice.

Image courtesy of GeoMarketing

Audience

The infographic I'm in the process of creating will be for other educators who are in the beginning stages of discovering what a personal learning network is and how to establish one.  The infographic will be available to my peers, colleagues, and educators around the world who may need a visual representation of the process involved in creating a personal learning network.  The infographic will walk teachers through the benefits of a PLN and how to avoid becoming overwhelmed with one by providing 'tips' separated by stages.

Work Cited

1.  Richardson, W. (2012).  Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere.  TED Conferences Publishing. [EBOOK]

2.  The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition

3.  International Society for Technology in Education. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf

4.  American Association of School Librarians. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf

Future Vision- What next?

Image courtesy of SuccessIMG

Image courtesy of Learn Dash

At such an early stage in my career as an educator, it can be hard to widen my scope of vision to include the future.  Most of my time is consumed in the present learning how to effectively manage the many different 'hats' a teacher wears.  When I first started to consider my vision of the future, I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go in.  I knew that I wanted to centre my vision on either 'collaboration' or 'personal learning networks' but I didn't know how.  As I reflected I realized that over the past several weeks I have been acquiring the skills and knowledge on how to establish a meaningful personal learning network (PLN) through many topics of inquiry.  Prior to this course, I had no idea what a PLN was and as I entered the beginning stages of my PLN development, I began to establish myself and become more comfortable in the online environment.  Although I am no where near proficient, I've come to learn that the support system a teacher relies on and contributes to can be a powerful source of professional development, especially for beginning teachers.  After some discussion with my professor Aaron Mueller, I decided that I would use the development of a PLN as my inspiration for creating some sort of infographic, perhaps something like 'Beginners Guide to a PLN' or 'PLN 101'.  Throughout the coming weeks I plan to refine this idea as I gather more information and begin troubleshooting.  In the meantime, I've been reviewing my previous blog posts including Will Richardson's YouTube video and have been gathering many different types of infographics as inspiration for what I might strive towards.  Above I have provided an example on an infographic by Learn Dash on Blended Learning 2.0.   In addition, I located another YouTube video by Edu-Sketch on 'How to Start PLN' that you can view below.  This video provides me with more concrete 'steps' or 'stages' to a PLN rather than just information.

Moving forward, I have three goals:

1. Refine my vision, what in particular regarding PLN's will I be detailing
2. Determine what medium to use in order to produce my infographic
3. Gather 2-3 different resources for better understanding

Work Cited

Infographic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infographic

Personal learning network. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_learning_network

Edu-Sketch: How to Start a PLN. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqSH5TMYlz4

Will Richardson - Personal Learning Networks. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMIG0xOySCc

Innovation Education- A Reflection on Collaboration and Lifelong Learning

Image courtesy of the Patterson Foundation

As I reflect back on my learning over the past several inquiries, the concept of collaboration appears to span each topic.  I have come to understand that the true notion of 'learning' only fully takes place when we as an educational community share our knowledge.  In doing so, we not only better ourselves but we add back to the educational community we rely so much upon.  Up to this point, the inquiry phase of my learning has seen me through two distinct phases: discovery and exploration.  Initially, I discovered the potential impact web 2.0 tools such as Twitter and Google + could have on my education and prepared myself to step into the world wide web as an informed educator willing to discover new avenues of learning through reflection and feedback.  As any wise investor does, I wanted to maximize my returns.  However, I must admit once I began my exploration phase, I was overwhelmed.  Despite this, I tried not to get discouraged and personally have come leaps and bounds since I originally started my journey. That being said, I'm still in the initial stages of using web 2.0 technologies to evolve my educational practice.  I continue to 'lurk' and acquire information from various individuals and sources but have yet to fully provide my own innovations in critical thinking to the community aside from these blog posts.

Moving forward, I plan to continue my development as a learning partner by beginning to be more outspoken about my passions, perspectives, and ideas through various mediums. Since creating this blog post, it's no surprise that one of my key takeaways in furthering my own collaboration and lifelong learning comes from a fellow classmate, Meagan Cordeiro.  Through her blog, Ms. Cordeiro TL, Meagan exposed me to the concept of EdCamp, which as a relatively new teacher and teacher-librarian I had never heard of before.  I hopefully plan on attending a local EdCamp in the near future to expand my horizons!  Until then, when I feel comfortable enough and when the topic being discussed is of interest to me, I aim at participating in an #edchat.

With that said, I think it's clear that the inquiry topics that resonated with me the most touch on the importance of collaboration and involve professional development and personal learning networks.  The power of collaboration is the innovation of education as we reinvent the ways in which we teach and learn.  Powerful web 2.0 tools only increase the opportunities that lay before us and enhance our experience.

Work Cited

Lee, Su Hun. "EdCamp 101." YouTube, 11 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

Corderio, M. (2015, February 16). Ms. Cordeiro TL. Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://mscordeirotl.blogspot.ca/2015/02/developing-ict-skills.html

Literacy Without Borders- World Libraries & ICT

Image courtesy of Room to Read

Having just started my graduate diploma in teacher-librarianship, I'm only beginning to wrap my head around the idea of managing a learning commons, and to be honest, the concept of world libraries had never crossed my mind.  I began my inquiry unsure of where to start or what to look for.  That being said, 21st century learning has been embraced by many developed nations around the world.  Countries such as England, Canada, and Germany have the already established infrastructure needed to support the integration of web 2.0 technologies in the classroom.  Developed countries are economically, financially, and politically stable enough to utilize these resources.  But what about developing countries?  How do they support literacy, library, and information computer technology (ICT) skills?  What initiatives are currently in place to assist developing nations acquire the resources they need?  In order to explore these questions further, I will focus my inquiry on a specific organization called Room to Read.

Image courtesy of Room to Read

Room to Read focuses on providing quality education to communities across Asia and Africa.  The organization aims to increase literacy and gender equality in education. Room to Read offers several programs ranging from library development and book publishing to to school construction and reading and writing initiatives.  In terms of developing a world library, Room to Read works with existing communities in the construction and management of the libraries it establishes. Having established more than 17,000 new libraries since the year 2000, Room to Read has reached many local communities that have limited access to resources and as a result, have promoted literacy and independent learning.

Building partnerships with local communities and government bodies, Room to Read provides access to many resources that increase literacy.  That means providing the logistics involved in the organization of educational developments.  However, Room to Read doesn't provide much insight into how they foster ICT skills within these countries.  Most of the programs the organization offers involve increasing literacy skills through quality goals, construction, instruction, and print resources.  The only piece of technology information that their website details is somewhat unclear.  Room to Read states that "in places where community libraries or Internet access are non-existent, Room to Read libraries serve as one of the few resources for independent learning and information-gathering for curious young minds ".  A reader can only infer from this statement that Room to Read provides Internet access to the communities it assists.

Ideologically, Room to Read is great! As are many other organizations that promote literacy in developing countries.  Thinking critically though, I wanted to delve into the barriers that these organizations face when attempting to integrate ICT technology.  The Educational Technology Debate has published a great article by Clayton R. Wright that considers these obstacles called 5 Key Barriers to Educational Technology Adoption in the Developing World.  Wright's barriers include: electrical power, Internet connectivity, training and professional development, value teachers, and sustainability.  It is my hope, that organizations like Room to Read fully explore these barriers when they consider the access to information they are providing rural communities with.  Personally, I believe Wright's issue of sustainability is the most important aspect of integrating ICT technology in developing countries.  The question of sustainability is at the heart of ICT success in these nations.  Key questions need to be raised such as what happens when initial funding has ended?  Who will support the program after volunteers have left?  So while providing communities access to tablets, libraries, and other ICT resources has educational merit, organizations should fully consider how they plan on sustaining their developments after they have implemented them.  In another of his articles titled Recurring Issues Encountered by Distance Educators in Developing and Emerging Nations, Wright implores organizations to "recognize that technology is only one component of educational transformation".  I immediately understood what Wright was saying.  Providing rural communities with access to ICT resources is not the sole factor in assisting developing nations transform their educational practices.  Like students in developed countries, organizations need to consider the many literacies involved with ICT, digital literacy, information literacy, network literacy, media literacy, and computer literacy etc still need to be taught!  Wright also explores other factors that need to be considered before implementing ICT technology such as copyright issues, troubleshooting, technology updating, curriculum, cultural considerations, and many more.

There is a myriad of issues that face organizations like Room to Read.  The ideology behind assisting developing nations with ICT technology and education reform is fantastic, however the practicality of the issue is much more complex and many organizations face heavy criticism if they are not fully prepared.

References

1. "Room to Read." Room to Read. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.

2.  Wright, C. (2014, April 16). 5 Key Barriers to Educational Technology Adoption in the Developing World. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://edutechdebate.org/2014-ict4edu-trends/5-key-barriers-to-educational-technology-adoption-in-the-developing-world/

3.  Wright, C., Dhanarajan, G., &Reju, S. (2009).  Recurring Issues Encountered by Distance Educators in Developing and Emerging Nations. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning. 10(1) Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/608/1180

Learning Partners

Building Professional Partnerships and Pedagogy

Professional development has entered the 21st century via web 2.0 tools and networks and in response, individual educators are digitally re-mixing their learning to include global perspectives.  Educators are learning, experiencing, sharing, and growing in several different communities and as they do so, they bring their new found knowledge back to their own school environment.  However, sometimes at no fault of their own, educators become isolated in their school community and are unable to share their skills with colleagues.  A Teacher-Librarian (or any other teacher for that matter) can take on a lead role in terms of professional development within a school to help negate some of these underlying issues that pertain to sharing new skills and resources by providing a variety of different avenues for peers to develop their own skills through collaboration.

Image courtesy of Sullivan Heights Learning Partners

Collaboration is extremely important to me.  I would not be as successful as I have been without the generosity and support of several educators within my past school community.  While an educational member of Sullivan Heights Secondary, I was exposed to a great form of collaboration called Learning Partners.  A portion of Learning Partner's mission includes the following:

"We believe that supporting teachers as they strive to integrate innovative instructional and assessment practices, directly impacts student learning and achievement." (Sullivan Heights Learning Partners)

Learning Partners is a department that spearheads collaboration, inquiry, and resource-based teaching by providing teachers, whether new or experienced, with the motivation and support to explore information and communication technology related to specific curriculum and pedagogy.  Specifically, Learning Partners provides a support system by encouraging collegial collaboration through release time, inservice, and workshops such as "Teacher Drop-In Day" which involves "hosts" and "visitors" to observe a variety of different teaching practices within the school.  Associated with Learning Partners includes the following hashtags: #sullilearns and #learningpartners.  These hashtags are used in conjunction with twitter to connect educators and inform them of practices.  Sarah Garr of Sullivan Heights Secondary explains how to take Learning Partners to the next level in her blog Writing My Way Into Understanding.

Image courtesy of EdTech Magazine

In addition to Learning Partners, Pinterest is another good source of collaboration for organizing an online professional development hub within a school community.  "Boards" can be created for specific resources or categories making the information easy to locate for educators.  Once found, a teacher can "pin" the information to their boards saving it for later reference!  Edudemic provides an easy to follow guide equipped with an infographic to fully explain how and why Pinterest is a good tool to use when seeking to support teachers ICT development.  Edudemic has also published a library specific guide to using Pinterest.  The following are some local examples of Pinterest being used by librarians in the Surrey School District.

1. Sullivan Heights Secondary Learning Commons

2.  Elgin Park Secondary Learning Commons

As you can see, these librarians have done an excellent job of organizing their content for "pinners" to include innovative titles with reliable resources for both students and staff alike.

Image courtesy of Educators Technology

Using web 2.0 technologies to inform your own education practice as a teacher has enabled educators to tap into engaging networks like never before.  However, if these learnings are not shared, we are doing our students an injustice.  By sharing these resources with colleagues and promoting ICT skills through a variety of mediums such as Learning Partners, Pinterest, YouTube channels, iTunes U-Courses, school hashtags, and inservice, our educational community grows for the better.  

Bibliography

1. Learning Partners- Facilitating Peer-Mentoring, Collaboration and Teacher Inquiry: Learning Partners: Facilitating Peer-Mentoring, Collaboration and Teacher Inquiry #LearningPartners. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://sullilearningpartners.blogspot.ca/2014/04/building-culture-of-collaboration.html

2. Garr, S. (n.d.). Writing My Way Into Understanding. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://teachergarr.blogspot.ca

3. The Teacher’s Guide To Pinterest. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.edudemic.com/guides/the-teachers-guide-to-pinterest/

4. 20 Ways Libraries Are Using Pinterest Right Now. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.edudemic.com/20-ways-libraries-are-using-pinterest-right-now/

5. Sullivan Heights Learning Commons (shshhrh). (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from https://www.pinterest.com/shshhrh/

6. Elgin Learning Commons (epslibrary). (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from https://www.pinterest.com/epslibrary/

Education Without Borders

Image courtesy of Ask a Tech Teacher

Cultivating a Personal Learning Network with Twitter

21st century learning has revolutionized professional development for educators with the emergence of web 2.0 technologies.  With continuous access to over 3 billion internet users (InternetLiveStats) it has never been easier to curate a community of extended learning through a variety of different mediums or networks.  Tied by passion and interests, personal learning networks (PLNs) are immediate, interactive sources of knowledge that use the power of connectivism to inform users. However, the initial stage of generating a PLN can be somewhat overwhelming to users due to the vast amount of tools available such as YouTube, Google+, and Delicious.  Not knowing where to start or how to start is a problem for many educators, as it was for me.  Through this inquiry, I want to specifically look at maximizing the potential of Twitter in cultivating a PLN.  Originally seen as a social networking site, Twitter has taken the realm of education by storm. The following YouTube video briefly delves into the global benefits Twitter has for educators.

Personally, I just started to use Twitter properly.  As the image below adequately depicts, I was originally in 'denial' of it's benefits.  But through a little exploring, I have come to see the potential of Twitter to provide powerful professional development. That being said, Twitter is still a world in which I don't fully understand.  With constant updates, re-tweets, favourites, and hashtags, it can be incredibly difficult to sift through all the information Twitter provides.  Not to mention determining what information is important and what information isn't.  So although I entered the 'curiosity' stage of my development as a Twitter user, prior to this inquiry I was at a loss regarding how to effectively use the network.

Image courtesy of Rich Kiker

As mentioned previously, sifting through Twitter to find the right information can be time consuming.  However, Twitter provides an interface function called 'Lists'.  Lists allow a user to organize their followers into categories that separate personal interests from educational interests in the form of hashtags or followers.  This feature makes it easier for a user to cultivate their PLN according to certain areas of passion without having unnecessary information popping up.

Image courtesy of Ed Tech Review

In addition to lists, Twitter has a multitude of functions that many users are unacquainted to.  However, The Twitterholic's Ultimate Guide to tweets, hashtags, and all things Twitter by Sue Waters provides a multitude of information on how to dramatically increase the benefits of Twitter for educational purposes.  Waters effectively breaks down Twitter into more manageable pieces detailing basic information as well as more complex processes.  I was particularly interested in Waters segment on Twitter clients. I never considered that I would need other web 2.0 tools to help run a certain application before.  For instance, during previous Tweets I noticed that the URL I was providing was particularly long compared to many other users.  After some searching, I discovered Bitly, a tool for shortening URL links.  The power of Bitly is important when you consider that Twitter only allows 140 characters per tweet!  In addition to Bitly, I became informed of other organizational applications such as TweetDeck and Hootsuite. Through these mediums, a user can schedule, organize, and filter content with Twitter.  It's a matter of personal preference between the two clients however TweetDeck vs. Hootsuite- The Essential Guide may be of use when deciding between the two.  At this stage of my PLN, I'm still exploring my options and have yet to come to a definitive decision on which client I prefer to use.

While I've only begun to get my feet wet when it comes to Twitter, I feel slightly more confident as a user by implementing many of these tools and strategies.  I will continue to grow my PLN and work hard at incorporating new information technologies to improve my experience and learning.

Bibliography

1.  100 Ways To Use Twitter In Education, By Degree Of Difficulty. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.edudemic.com/100-ways-to-use-twitter-in-education-by-degree-of-difficulty/

2.  TweetDeck Versus Hootsuite - The Essential Guide - RazorSocial. (2015, February 2). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.razorsocial.com/tweetdeck-versus-hootsuite-essential-guide/

3.  The Twitteraholic’s Ultimate Guide to tweets, hashtags, and all things Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.theedublogger.com/2012/02/13/the-updated-twitteraholics-guide-to-tweets-hashtags-and-all-things-twitter/#before

4.  Twitter Usage Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.internetlivestats.com/twitter-statistics

The Stairway to Reading

Courtesy of Estes Park News

Inquiry Blog Post #1: Fostering Reading Cultures in Schools

As our education system has embarked on the 21st century, learning has focused itself on incorporating new forms of literacy to increase student's educational opportunities and to develop proficiency with web 2.0 tools and technology.  Traditional literacy has in some cases, become undervalued in the flashy wake of media literacy, digital literacy, and network literacy.  Therefore fostering a reading culture within a school can be an uphill battle for many educators, but the Learning Commons can be a valuable tool in the fight to help ignite the desire for recreational reading in students.

Many Learning Commons around the world have begun to implement strategies to help foster an appreciation for reading and as a new teacher-librarian, I have tried to follow suit.  When I was a member of the Learning Commons team at Sullivan Heights Secondary, I sought to tap into social media and advocate for the library using web 2.0 technologies such as Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, QR Codes, Infographics, and Twitter.  Using Infographics and QR Codes, I took novels that were being turned into movies and created "Read it before you see it!" posters connected to YouTube trailers via QR Codes and placed them around the library.  Despite my efforts, I don't think it was a huge success.  The format of the Infographics and the graphics themselves were not the best and lead me to believe that the posters weren't 'attractive' enough.  The Learning Commons has seen greater success through Pinterest and Twitter.  As new books are added to the library, they are posted to specific Pinterest boards.  These boards are automatically connected to Twitter and send out Tweets to followers once a book has been added.  This is a great way to keep readers informed but with only 119 followers on Pinterest, and 27 on Twitter in a school of 1400 students, the reach of the Learning Commons could be improved.  Collaborating with other teachers and teacher-librarians via personal learning networks may be the key to helping me establish a 21st century learning commons, or classroom when the time comes!  The following two sites in particular provide great activities, resources, and ideas for supporting a 21st century learning commons as the teacher-librarians do a fabulous job of extending their network to not only their own students and staff, but the rest of the online community.

Courtesy of The Daring Librarian

1.  The Daring Librarian (international source)

2. Elgin Park Secondary's Learning Commons (local source)

While many teachers and teacher-librarians work hard to establish a reading culture within their schools, the approach is from the bottom-up.  As educators, we play a crucial role in the construction of our school culture, and whether we acknowledge it or not, we are role models for our students, but teachers are only one piece of the school puzzle.  Administrative officers also have a powerful influence on students and the ability to create a positive school culture around reading based on the policies they implement and values they place, a top-down approach.  Lord Twedsmuir Secondary School (LTSS) in Surrey is an example of administrative officers taking literacy to another level with what the school calls Sustained Silent Reading (SSR).  SSR provides 20 minutes a day of recreational reading for all students at LTSS.  As far as I know, this has been going on for at least three years and is still being implemented today.  LTSS is proof that if administration is really concerned about literacy, they can do something about it.  The National Library of New Zealand has a great video on how to foster a school reading culture along with specific steps an educator can take in order to promote reading. Their website is very informative and includes many sections related to creating a reading culture such as Boys and Reading, A School-Wide Reading Culture, Reader Friendly Environments, and Reader Friendly Policies.

Courtesy of Smith Public Library

Creating more school-wide initiatives such as SSR can have a dramatic impact on a students level of recreational reading.  When I re-enter the school district in a position, I hope to establish fun activities such as Drop Everything and Read, Bookface, Book Spine Poetry etc that encourage reading.  The School Library Journal has also published a great article called "How to Create a Culture of Reading" that indicates several steps educators, and more specifically, teacher-librarians can take to develop a positive reading culture in their schools. I particularly enjoy when the journal mentions that reading is reading and to not discount magazines, newspapers, and graphic novels as an opportunity to foster the development of a students literacy.

Bibliography

1. The Daring Librarian. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/

2. The Learning Commons @ElginParkSecondary. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://elginlearningcommons.com/

3. Creating a reading culture. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/creating-readers/creating-reading-culture

4. How to Create a. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.slj.com/2013/11/events/ala-conferences/how-to-create-a-culture-of-reading-aasl-2013/#_

Welcome to Ms. Gleeson's Blog!

Here you will find my journey through the Teacher-Librarian program at the University of British Columbia.

Being my first blog, I anticipate to learn a lot this semester!

Please feel free to explore the content of my blog and comment on any posts.  To gain some insight into who I am and my experiences in education so far, visit the 'About Me' page.