4: Chromebooks and the RAT Model

Chromebooks are tech hardware that have been improving pedagogical practices for years.  Chromebooks are small laptops with touch-enabled screens.  However, unlike laptops,, Chromebook users do not save content directly to the device- Chromebooks do not offer a "libraries" or "desktop" option for saving purposes.  Rather, Chromebooks direct users to save their content to either "downloads" or Google Drive.

Chromebooks marry nicely with the Replacement and Amplification sections of the RAT framework.  Chromebooks replace standard paper/pencil assignments with Google products such as Docs, Sheets, and Slides.  Chromebooks amplify pedagogical practices by increasing "efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of same instructional practices." (Hughes, 2016). Chromebooks provide software such as Google Classroom that allows teachers to  post assignments, distribute assignment feedback, and collect assignments electronically.  This ability to organize and hold assignments electronically is a game changer in classroom productivity and efficiency.

As mentioned earlier in this post, Chromebooks also direct users to save their content within the Google Suite.  Since Google Drive and Google's other assorted products are cloud-based, this means that Chromebook users, such as students and teachers within the K-12 continuum can access their content indefinitely with any internet enabled device. 

Interested in more about Chromebooks in the K-12 classroom?  Explore these links:

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/chromebooks-classroom/

https://edu.google.com/latest-news/stories/?key_word=chromebooks

Hughes, J. (2016). R.A.T. model. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from http://techedges.org/r-a-t-model/

3: The Daring Librarian: Bitmoji

The Daring Librarian posted ways to incorporate Bitmoji into school.  The complete blog post can be found here:

https://goo.gl/LxGRpt

Confession- I am familiar with bitmoji and use my bitmoji fairly regularly to communicate on my phone.  However, incorporating bitmoji in my job is new to me and I enjoyed reading The Daring Librarian's suggestions for bitmoji school use.

Initially, I was skeptical about the process of bringing up bitmoji on my phone, taking a screenshot of the bitmoji I want to use, then emailing the bitmoji to my work email to then be opened on a school device that connects to a printer.  Seems like a ton of steps.  Luckily, the Daring Librarian points out that bitmoji has a chrome extension.  I added the extension in about 3 seconds with my bitmoji email and password and voila! Ready to roll!

Now, how to use bitmoji at work.  First example: signage.  Library rules will be followed with more fidelity if they are posted in a fun and meaningful way.  Here is an example of a New Hampshire computer teacher who used bitmoji to liven up his signage for computer lab rules:

I can see how bitmoji could enhance digital communication with my students.  I make Google Classrooms for each class that comes to the library and bitmoji would be a great addition to the posts  added to each class page for library contests, reading clubs, or assignments. Bitmoji would be a great tech tool for classroom teachers as well because it's FUN.  As school librarians, it's vital that we remember that tech can be fun for staff and that fun is an excellent buy-in for getting staff to start incorporating new tech.  As stated by Overbay, Mollette, and Vasu, "building enthusiasm for a technology initiative is crucial; without it, the best laid plans will flop" (2011).  If we start with something fun and easy like bitmoji we can establish relationships with staff and build up to encouraging staff to embed more complicated tech in their instruction later.

Overbay, A., Mollette, M. & Vasu, E. (2011). A technology plan. Educational Leadership. 56-59.

2: Self-awareness and self-protection on the Internet

I think information literacy, technology, and digital media intersect at self-protection and self-responsibility.

This week's readings and podcast helps me understand more fully how as a school librarian, it is my job to teach students how approach digital media  with a critical awareness.  I appreciated the podcast's breakdown (and rap) of practical steps to critically analyze a digital source and determine whether it is facts or fake news.  it is increasingly apparent that students need to be taught not only how to navigate digital life with responsibility, but also with self-protection.  Critically analyzing digital content with concrete steps is a way to do that.  I might take out the swear words, though.


This week's content has me wondering what happens after we teach students to approach digital content with self-protection and self-responsibility.  I think the snag in all of this comes in when students have developed these skills, but then they are confronted with an authority and/or loved one who has not learned how to critically analyze digital content.  I can only imagine how difficult it could be to stand up for facts when a young student's mother or father or trusted caregiver determinedly reads only headlines and responds emotionally to digital news. I predict the next step will be how to teach students to defend critical analysis of digital content.  That's the only way we can get students to a point where they not only critical analyze digital content and defend critical analysis of digital content, but they also use their critique skills to defend groups who are marginalized by digital content that is fake news.

Looking at my own information diet, I consume the following: cnn.com daily, postandcourier.com weekly, Longform podcast weekly, High/Low podcast weekly, and CYG podcast weekly.  All of these digital sources are "newsy" with a liberal bend.  I think a school librarian's information diet needs to be broad and at the same time, deep.  There is a wealth of information out there for us school librarians if we are willing to take the time to take the information apart and analyze the information's insides for its worth.

1: Rights in Addition to Responsibilities in an Online World

Reading the AASL article about information freedom in the school library and reading the ISTE standard that states students must learn their rights in a digital age makes me reflect on our focus when we teach digital citizenship to our students.  Our focus has been on teaching students about their responsibilities as participants in the digital world.  This isn't wrong.  Students must be taught to assume responsibility for the choices they make as they navigate online life. 

But in this time of a push back against digital companies and a call for more accountability of how these companies use our data, it is not enough to only teach students their responsibilities online.  We must also teach the students about their rights as well.   The AASL article states that "as we instruct students in the concepts of digital citizenship, we must continue to teach them that they have the right to privacy in this digital world, give them the skills to protect their own privacy, and help them to understand the importance of safeguarding their privacy" (Adams, 2016).  

That statement aligns with the Digital Citizen ISTE standard for students which states "Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical" (ISTE, 2018).  It's interesting that "rights" appear before responsibilities and opportunities in that ISTE standard.  This emphasis on student privacy rights indicates where our focus needs to be for our students to develop into fully informed and prepared digital citizens.

Adams, H.R. (2016). 65 Years & counting AASL and school librarians- Still champions of intellectual            freedom. Knowledge Quest, 45(1). 34-41.

ISTE. (2018). Retrieved August 30, 2018, from http://www.iste.org/standards/for-students