Infographics and Their Uses

We humans, are visual creatures. We process the world we live in through images, pictures, graphics, and more. So why do we not use this information to help us learn, to help us teach? In her book "Doodle Revolution", Sunni Brown discusses how important it can be to use visuals for processing information. Whether we are in a meeting, a class, a conference, or anywhere. In this book, Brown discusses how everyone can use visuals in their own way to help them, everyone is different, and everyone processes information differently. Infographics are something that is discussed in this book.

Link to Amazon

There are quite a few options for creating your own infographic. Depending on your personal preference, you can draw your own, or you can create one online using one of the many online infographic creation services. In this blog, I will discuss three of the online services. If you would like information about drawing your own infographic I suggest you check out Sunni Brown's books and TED talks, as well as "The Sketchnote Handbook" by Mike Rhode.

Link to Amazon

The first online infographic service that will be discussed here is Easel.ly. This service at first glance seems to be more kid friendly, has easy to use templates, and guides the user through using this service. This service allows users to insert charts, images, shapes, text, and more. After playing around with this service I can see how this would be a useful tool for those who are just beginning with infographics. Users do not need an account with this site to create an infographic.

Another online tool that can be used to create infographics is Infogr.am. When looking over this site I noticed that it is more complicated to use and navigate than any other online service that I have used or seen. The templates that are available seem more intended for corporate use than for the types of infographics that I am used to, or that I would be interested in creating. Users need to have an account in order to use this service.

The last online service for creating infographics that I will be reviewing in this blog post is Piktochart. This service is very similar to Easel.ly in that it can be very user friendly, however, it has more options available when adding to your infographic. There are banners, text boxes, shapes, and more that can be used in infographic creation. This site requires an account for users to create infographics. The account is free and users can create their account using Google. This is the service that I chose to create an infographic for this blog post about Social Media using information from the Pew Research Center.

Blogging, Reading Blogs, and More!

In our day and age there is so much information that we have the access to online, with more being added everyday. It can be very difficult for us to keep up with the overwhelming amount of information and resources that are out there. A tool that I have recently discovered to help with this overwhelming amount of information is an RSS reader.

Even with RSS readers there are many different options available. After referring to an article written by Vicky Cassidy regarding the best feed readers, link here, I decided to use and RSS reader called Feedly. One reason why I chose this reader over the other ones is how the site was organized.
When you open the reader the sidebar on the left has the categories you have selected, with the blogs you have subscribed to underneath. Each blog entry that you are viewing, for the day, is displayed with a large block picture, with a short blog description to the right of the picture.

Another reason why I chose to use this blog reader is that you have the ability to choose a category that you are interested in, then choose the blogs from there to follow. This is very helpful if you are new to using this type of service and you are not sure what to follow. Lastly, I chose this reader because the user dashboard is clean and simple. Some of the other services seemed cluttered to me and when using things like this a cluttered dashboard can be confusing and discouraging. 

After creating my account on Feedly I browsed through the education, technology and library categories to find blogs to follow. Below are links to each of the blogs that I chose, a few from each category, and a short description of what is posted on each.

The first blog that I chose to follow is sort of, well, interesting. This blog, Awful Library Books, is a site where librarians can post books that are, well, awful, books that they are weeding. After a book is posted the owners of the blog comment. This site, while unconventional, can be helpful when wondering whether or not to weed a book.

Another blog that I chose to follow was Library Stuff, which posts resources that will assist with collection development, professional development, as well as other resources that will be helpful for librarians and educators. Each post is short, and includes just the right amount of information. Recent topics include resources on ProQuest, Gale, and Microsoft.

Lastly, the third blog I chose to follow on Feedly was LISNews. This blog posts news related to all types of libraries. This site pulls in information from different libraries, different news groups, and other related sources, putting good resources and stories in one place. Some of the stories include library openings, online security, eBooks, and more.

One fun blog that I followed on Feedly was Unshelved. This blog creates cute comics that are about libraries and librarians. Sometimes it is fun to take a step back and laugh. Here is an example of one of their cartoons.

Something else that is related to blogging is Tumblr. This blog site has been growing in popularity in the past few years, with many users being teenagers. On this site you can have your own blog and you can easily view other people's blogs. This site, however, is not set up like a normal blog or blog reader site. The format of this is very similar to Twitter, with blogs and people that you follow feeding to your personal dashboard. This is a type of social media and blogging that I need to look more into and get more practice with. Tumblr could be a very useful tool for teachers and librarians. There are many other educators on this site and they are sharing wonderful ideas everyday.

This display uses Blippar to create and interactive
display with augmented reality.

When deciding who to follow when creating my Tumblr account I searched "Library Displays" and I found a few interesting libraries that had some great ideas. One librarian that I chose to follow was from the Seller's Library in the Teen section. They post great library display ideas that will pull in teen patrons with things that they are interested in.

Another library that I followed was the Medford Library Teen Tumblr page. They create interactive displays as well. One that I saved and am going to use in my library next year is their post about March Madness. This is a great idea that I think will get my patrons interested in reading some new things.

Want to follow me on Tumblr? Here is the link to my account!


Blog readers and blogs can have very impactful uses in the classroom and in the library. Knowing about the blog reader services and sites like Tumblr can be very helpful to librarians and teachers. This information can help make sure that you keep up with everything you are interested in!

Happy Learning Everyone!

Naomi Emory

Educational Technology

Technology is something that everyone has, and takes for granted, but is not necessarily something that everyone adequately understands. With all of the technology available, and the uses that it could provide, it is important for schools to provide lessons and means for student to explore the technology that is and could be available to them.

One way that schools can provide this to students is through makerspaces. As described by the Horizon Report makerspaces are places where students, particularly in K-12, can investigate things that interest them, including skills that can be beneficial for the student’s futures. Another item that this report discusses is the fact that makerspaces could help students be a part of or “to become agents of change in their communities”, (p. 39). These ventures are not only applicable for public libraries but for school libraries as well.

The Horizon report discusses how certain school libraries have become “Learning Commons”, (p. 39), making the library not only a space that is known for books, but has areas that are devoted to investigation and inquiry. This move in many schools shows the importance that makerspaces can have in education, and how they can benefit learners at all levels in our school systems.

In his article Libraries as Makerspaces?, Tod Colegrove, discusses the reluctance of many librarians to adopt makerspaces within their libraries, as well as some instances of librarians embracing the model within their libraries. One of his arguments is that libraries have been a sort of makerspace all this time, we are just now adding new technologies and resources, plus officially giving it a name. Another argument that Colegrove has is that the library can facilitate learning in a makerspace by providing technology resources for students to use in their enquiry, or even use some of the unused space in the library to give students a place for their projects to take place.

In my opinion makerspaces can be  an amazing resource to have in the library, if it is done correctly. As Colegrove mentions in his article, makerspaces are a continuum, there is no ONE right idea/model that will work for everyone. This is why I think that many people are scared or reluctant when they hear the word makerspace. I discussed having a makerspace in the library at the school where I just accepted a job, and the administration seemed very reluctant. However, after discussion with them about what makerspaces could look like, they were more accepting of this idea.

As is mentioned in both of the articles that were previously mentioned, makerspaces can be very beneficial to our libraries, whether we are at a public or school library, elementary or secondary. These spaces can provide areas for students to openly investigate, to try out experiments based on what they are learning in science, or even try to figure out solutions to problems in their community, the possibilities for a makerspace are endless, you only have to have an open mind and an active imagination.

Citations

Colegrove, T. (2013). Editorial board thoughts: Libraries as makerspace?Information Technology and Libraries (Online), 32(1), 2-5. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.shsu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1356913023?accountid=7065

The 2015 K-12 Edition Expert Panel. (2015). NMC horizon report: 2015 K-12 edition., 38-39. Retrieved from https://shsu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1995069-dt-content-rid-10193432_1/courses/LSSL539101416/2015-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf

Facebook and Twitter

Everywhere we look there are people on their smart phones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media platforms. If you were really to pay attention, you would notice that people, especially teenagers, are on their smart phones more than they are interacting with the people around them. In this day and age, libraries and schools need to be using this to their advantage. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Technology discusses how teenagers view interactions online as more preferable to those in person and these interactions will create relationships between these persons.

Link to Page

There are many different libraries that use Facebook to promote what is going on in their libraries. One such library belongs to my mother, Greta Adams, in Anna ISD. She has a goal, with the support of her library aides, to update their Facebook page as much as possible. This school uses these pages to update parents and community members on the events that are occurring in the library. I also reviewed a public library page from my area, the Frisco Public Library. This library uses their Facebook page to update the community on the events that are going on in their library. Recently they are sharing information about the creation of their library and events that are going on to celebrate this momentous event.

Link to Page

Facebook is something that is often undervalued. People are on their Facebook pages everyday, most people are on their pages multiple times a day. Whether your library is a public library, or a school library, knowing this information will greatly benefit you, imagine how many different people that you can reach by simply having the information about your library on Facebook.

Link to Page

Twitter is another social media platform that libraries and librarians can benefit from. This platform is not only one that many people access and use daily, even multiple times daily, but is one that is increasingly accessed by teens and young adults. On Twitter librarians can follow other librarians and professional library associations to get ideas on lessons, books, and events that could effect libraries and librarians. Also, there are many authors that can be followed on Twitter. Last year, there were some teachers at my school that connected with authors via Twitter and were able to Skype with them during class so that their students could interview these authors.

A post, on Twitter, that I thought was interesting came from Ed Tech leader, Kathy Schrock. A few weeks ago she posted an online vote regarding using badges for learning incentives. This Tweet sparked discussion between teachers and librarians from many different areas and brought up many different interesting perspectives.

Link to Page

This is an amazing thing. In the past, in order for students to communicate with authors librarians and/or teachers needed to locate the author's contact information, locate the funds for the visit, contact the author, set up the visit, and then bring the author in. Now, using platforms such as Twitter and Skype you can connect with authors so much easier, cheaper, and with much less hassle. This gives teachers and librarians the opportunity to connect students with authors and to give them more life experiences than was previously possible.

While some people may be reluctant to jump into having their libraries on these platforms they can greatly benefit from giving it a shot. Schools can start out small, just posting weekly the things that are going on in the library. Then they can increase to show student work, events, ways families can get involved, and more. It does not matter what platform is used at first, just that the library is doing all that it can to connect with their patrons in the best way possible.

Happy Learning Everyone!

Naomi Emory

Is it important?

Prensky’s belief that our students are “Digital Natives” and that they learn differently from those of us who are teaching them is well supported by Bloom’s and Kathy Schrock’s guide. The revisions to Bloom’s Taxonomy show that there are changes going on in our world and that our teaching styles and methods need to support these changes. In Kathy Schrock’s guide she gives resources for teachers to resources at each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. These resources are for all different types of digital platforms that students could use.

Students have grown up in a different world than their teachers and librarians did, and that is something that needs to be understood. As Prensky mentions in his Digital Natives discussion students of today learn more from group projects and from hands on experiments than from traditional lectures. This past school year I taught fifth grade English Language Arts and Social Studies. During the year there were times when my students had the opportunity to work on group projects and guide themselves, with minimal input from me. Looking at assessment data between items that students had the opportunity to work in group and figure things out for themselves and those that they did not, the ones where they worked in groups and in their own ways were more successful. Knowing our students and they ways that they learn will lead them to be more successful in the future.

Students in our classrooms today use technology everyday, more than we can imagine. This is changing how students view the world and how they process information. This is important for teachers and librarians to understand so that we can best understand how to help our students as well as make them as successful as possible. Something that would be interesting for teachers and librarians to look at is the Mindset list. This list will let educators know how these students have grown up and what experiences they have had in their lives. This information will make it where educators know the students prior knowledge as well as what they are drawing on when they are in class. Knowing this information will help educators know how best to present information to their students in order to help their students be as successful as they possibly can.

While technology is a large part of our society today, that does not mean that it is the end all be all, or that it is a foundation for our learning, it is just one of the tools that educators can use to present information. This is something that many people need to understand when bringing technology into the classroom, you are not trying to build all of the curriculum on these technology pieces, but using them to support the learning going on in our classrooms. These ideas and resources, from Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything to the Mindset list and Bloom’s Taxonomy, can help to explain the role of technology in our classrooms, libraries, and schools.

Why should librarians care? We should care about this information because we are still teachers, but the library is our classroom. We are still teaching students, just in a different area of the school. Many times the librarian is responsible for training and supporting teachers in technology, so having this information is crucial for the success in these endeavors.

Resources and Links:

Prensky's Digital Natives Discussion

Mindset List

Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy