Universal Design for Learning toolkit

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Free Technology Toolkit for Universal Design for Learning. Universal Design for Learning is the practice of providing multiple methods of "representation, engagement and expression" for all students to maximize their learning. Once again Joyce Valenza, along with Karen Janowski, hit a homerun with their wikispace - udtechtoolkit - a free technology toolkit for Universal Design for Learning in all classrooms.

"re-tooling"

If you read through my "old posts" you know that this blog began as a place to collect my thoughts and resources as I re-think and re-shape my role as school librarian. Be on the continual look-out for helpful hints and ideas from anyone who has generously left breadcrumbs - Joyce Valenza has pulled together a list in an article for Tech & Learning... http://techlearning.com/blogs/25886

Booktalking 2.0

Just came across a great article in eVoya by Joyce Valenza (someone you should definitely know about if you are a librarian!). She has shared wonderful ideas and links to booktalk 2.0 tools. These are great resources to propel you into a whole new era of booktalks... http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200710tag_team_tech.pdf

I have flipped for FLYP

Have you heard of this multimedia magazine online? Watch this clip which explains what FLYP is all about: ( http://www.flypmedia.com/what-is-flyp ) "FLYP is a dynamic online, multimedia magazine that combines text, video, audio, animation and interactivity into a new kind of storytelling." Read, watch, listen, interact. Wow. Isn't that what our classrooms should look like? Think of the applications in our teaching methods. And what that would mean to our students in terms of the way they learn. Oh! wait a minute... we ARE doing that in classrooms everywhere! Everyday our teachers are engaging students in the classroom and challenging them to be more interactive - inviting them to become immersed in their reading - showing them the dynamic world of their topics. This online magazine, though, brings us to think about an important point concerning our teaching methods: we are indeed incorporating more and more online content. We can access all these fantastic resources. We share with our students videos and demonstrations, primary documents, interviews, audio recordings, timelines - you name it - in ways that can't happen without technology. Not only can we introduce these resources and experts to our students, but through our information literacy instruction we can also help them LEARN to DISCERN what is important and what isn't. We can help them discover the best ways for them to SHARE what they learn and CREATE new information from all this input. We can show them how to keep learning, and re-learning throughout their lives.

You learn something new every day!

After a long dry spell of not posting to this blog, I'm back. I actually have been trying out some new features in blogging. If you look to the right side of the postings, you will see a sidebar with feeds, Shelfsari (which is a visual list of books I like or am reading), and links to sites that I have found very useful. I actually use this blog for my own convenience to reference sites again. There is just something about seeing them listed that way....

Another new feature in this blog is the addition of audio - you can listen to each posting AND you can even subscribe to my podcast feed - so try it out - there is a subscribe to the Odiogo feed button on the sidebar.... Let me know how it works out for you!

Wikis, blogs and nings! Oh, my!

OK, maybe I've gone OVERBOARD, but I'm certainly NEVER BORED! I am experimenting with this blog (http://noodlenotes-rhs.blogspot.com), the Central A& M High School Library NING (www.camhslibrary.ning.com), and starting up a wiki (not yet published!) My idea for the wiki is to use it as a sort of interactive library newsletter that is constantly available and able to be updated all the time. I have been using Google and iGoogle for some time now, but have been experimenting with adding gadgets to my iGoogle page and working on using it as a workspace tool. I love it... With Google docs you can create forms and surveys - then send them via email and when the responses come back to you via email, they automatically populate an excellent EXCEL speadsheet... Then think of all the ways you can sort and filter the results!!! The surveys can also be accessed directly on the web instead of through email. Just today I sent out a first trial survey to see how it looks and works - so far so good - one response already (ok, I sent it to myself, then took the survey and clicked SUBMIT! Don't I count, too?!)

Enlarging text tip

Did you know that if you use a scroll mouse you can change the size of text on the screen very easily? All you have to do is click your mouse into the text, then press the control key while you roll the scroll on the mouse. When you have reached the size that you want to use, just let up on the control key. Your setting will hold until you change it, or log out....