C. Smith's ISCI 761 Blog

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Blog 9: Pokémon Go

Hi, Readers! This week we have been looking at how Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality can be integrated in school library settings. One of the Augmented Reality games I have found to be interesting is Pokémon Go. The reason why I was interested in this program is because right now I teach second grade, and they seem to be a little obsessed with Pokémon. Therefore, I wanted to know more about Pokémon Go to see if it would be a good thing to use within a school or public library setting. (The Pokémon Company, n.d.) What is Pokémon Go and how do I get it? From reading about Pokémon Go, Pokémon Go seems to be a spin off of the old Pokémon game I used to play as a child. This game let kids play by collecting cards with Pokémon characters on them. In this program instead using real cards to collect characters from a store or trading cards with friends, you can now use an app and collect Pokémon characters that actually look alive out in the real...

Blog 8: Makerspaces

Hi, Readers! This week I have been learning about makerspaces. According to a definition provided by the Oxford Languages, makerspaces are “a place in which people with shared interests, especially in computing or technology, can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and knowledge” (Oxford University Press, n.d.). As I read many different articles and definitions on makerspaces, I developed my own definition pertaining to an elementary library. I believe that makerspaces are places where children can come to express their new found learning through creating physical objects to represent their new found knowledge. (Provenzano, n.d.) As I think about makerspaces, I would like to create one myself for my future library. In order to come up with ideas, I researched makerspaces and came across a blog called Renovated Learning, which is actually a blog that we were introduced to in this module. I found a particular blog post called “Science + Makerspac...

Cyberbullying

What is cyberbullying? Cyberbullying seems to be a hot topic these days with the people in the world being so connected by technology. However, thinking about cyberbullying, one may really wonder what the true definition of “cyberbullying” is? In an article titled Cyberbullying: Identification, Prevention, and Response by Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin, cyberbullying “is defined as: ‘willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices’” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2022). Therefore, from my understanding, if a person uses any type of technology to cause hurt to a person, that is considered to be cyberbullying. Until now, I really never knew what the true definition of cyberbullying was. (Phillips, n.d.) What is the biggest difference between cyberbullying and bullying? As classroom teacher, I am always making sure that my students are not getting bullied or being a bully. To be honest, I...

Use of Instagram in an elementary school library...

Hey, Readers! I have created a fake school library account for a ISCI 761 class. My fake school name is Blue Hill Elementary School. I named it Blue Hill because I have a dog that is an Australian Blue Heeler named Jed. I love him so much, so I decided to make him my mascot and name the school Blue Hill Elementary. I thought about naming it Blue Heel Elementary since the mascot is a blue heeler, but I thought more about it, and I liked Blue Hill better. Below are pictures of the school logo and the school library banner I made with Canva. The picture is of my actual dog that is an Australian Blue Heeler named Jed. (School Logo created in Canva; Jed’s drawing created in LunaPic) (School Library Banner created by Canva; Jed’s drawing created in LunaPic) When picking a social media account platform, I thought about the children I teach right now. Just the other day I was talking about social media, and they could not qui...

Books, Books, and More Books…

Want a tool that can help ALL of your students enjoy books that they love? Bookshare is for you. (Bookshare, n.d.) What is Bookshare? Bookshare is an online reading tool that provides “1,185,284 titles” in many different formats that suit a reader’s preference or need (Bookshare, n.d., para. 3). These different formats include “ebooks in audio, audio + highlighted text, braille, large font, and other formats” (Bookshare, n.d., para. 2). Users of Bookshare can access it through a lot of different platforms such as “smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks, computers, and assistive technology devices” (Bookshare, n.d., para. 4) The great thing is that this resource is free to U.S. students that meet the Bookshare qualifications. Below is a video that explains more about Bookshare and can be shown to teachers and other educators to get them on board with using Bookshare. There is also a link to page that tells you about the qualifications. Link to qual...

Blog 4: Calling ALL Teachers.....

Want to hear about something that will change your whole teaching life? Have you ever heard of a document camera? I am sure you have in this digitally sound world we live in. I guess a better question is have you ever considered using one in your classroom? Or you want to use one, but you don’t know how you would use one in your classroom? The really good news is, you are in the right place! (Science and Literacy, n.d.) A document camera is a physical tool that can be used in the classroom setting to enhance student learning. It is a tool that has a camera in it that can sit easily on your desk. The camera is on a stand that is flexible so that the camera can be moved over the object that the teacher wants to show to the class. The camera can project and zoom in on any item so that it can be seen on a smartboard, OneTouch, etc., for the whole class to see. (Elmo Connecting Minds, n.d.) The document camera can meet the Technology Integration ...