Two years ago, my district installed Promethean boards in every classroom and gave every teacher a laptop. At the same time, I had been personally exploring Web 2.0 because I kept hearing about it but didn’t know much about it. When the new technology came together with what I was learning about Web 2.0, I saw a perfect opportunity to change the way my library and I interact with readers, and vice-versa. The Promethean boards and Web 2.0 tools allow me to regularly interact with every student in my schoo. I can virtually be everywhere at once, whether my students and I are in school, at home, or on the road!
How to Use this Page
This is a web-based "handout" to help you connect with your readers using tools such as Blogger, PowerPoint, Screencast-O-Matic, and more. Below this posting you will see a series of screencasts that will help you create bookcasts (Internet booktalks) and interactive blogs that you can use as reading discussion groups.
If you would like to view any of the screencasts, you MUST use the Firefox browser or have the latest version of Internet Explorer installed. I highly recommend that you install Firefox as your default browser. It's faster, more secure, and consistently superior to Internet Explorer.
For more great Web 2.0 resources, please visit Web 204U.
For general comments or questions, please use the "comments" link directly below this post. A pop-up window will open.
Pros and Cons of Bookcasts
Pros:
- Bookcasts are audiovisual--students can not only hear what you have to say about each selection, but they can see the covers and even material from inside the book
- A bookcast allows you to give a booktalk to every student in your school, and beyond.
- Screencast-O-Matic allows you to record instructions with screenshots that students can reference later, even at home.
- Once your prep work is done, recording the bookcast and uploading it go quickly.
- Your wonderful book talk is preserved for posterity . . . or at least for students who were absent or would like to go back and listen again for more reading suggestions
Cons:
- Bookcasts require plenty of preparation. It takes a lot of time to select titles, write the script, gather images, and create the Powerpoint.
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Basic Bookcast Steps
- Create a Destiny resource list of titles you'd like to booktalk
- Create a PowerPoint template for your bookcasts
- Use TitlePeek or Google for cover images
- Use one book cover per slide
- In the "Notes" pane, type your script for each book
- The grunt work is done! Now comes the easy part, which happens all at once: hook up your microphone, open the PowerPoint, and get Screencast-O-Matic ready to record. Record the PowerPoint as you read from your script.
- Print the PowerPoint with notes
- Stop recording and upload your screencast
- Copy the embedding code, paste it into a new blog post, and voila! You have created a bookcast!
Basic Discussion Group Steps:
- Create a Destiny resource list of books.
- Create a new blog at Blogger.com or Edublogs.org.
- Be sure you have chosen to moderate comments, and have them open in a pop-up window.
- Remove the "Next Blog" link from your header. Google "remove navbar blogger" to find instructions for this step.
- Create a folder on your desktop for book cover images.
- Using Destiny Resource List thumbnail images, right-click on each and "save as" in your book covers folder.
- For each title, publish a separate post. Upload the appropriate cover image for each from the folder you created.
- You can edit any post now or later to add your own summary or review.
The Navbar
Allowing the NavBar to remain at the top of your blog can be a problem if a student uses it at home. Clicking on the "Next Blog" button could take them to an inappropriate site. While Blogger frowns on it, I recommend disabling the NavBar from any blog meant for student use only. This link provides directions: Disable NavBar. Please DO add a Blogger logo to your page--Blogger makes all this possible.
Viewing the Screencasts Below
Click on the blue Play box to view any screencast. You can also view it full screen in a new window by clicking on the "Click to see full size at Screencast-O-Matic.com" directly below the image. When you're done, close the screencast window and you'll return here.
Create a GMail Address
Create a Blogger Account
Creating a Screencast
No, my voice hasn't changed--but I didn't want to reinvent the wheel, so here is a screencast on how to create a screencast courtesy of Screencast-O-Matic.com. Clicking on the image takes you to a full-screen version in a new window. Close the window to return here.
TIPS
- Create a "junk" e-mail account that you use for online activities such as signing up for hit counters, Java scripts, and so on. It will rapidly fill up with junk mail, but who cares? Simply delete the spam from time to time.
- Use the same user name and password for all your "public" online activity. The user name can be all or part of the address of your "junk" mail account. If you make up different ones each time you'll never remember them all.
- Reserve different, special user names and passwords for critical, secure accounts such as personal e-mail, online banking, and so on.
- Print out the sign-up page whenever you join anything online, even if you are only trying it out.
- Try everything at school first to see if it's blocked by district filters. Don't invest valuable time in anything before you find out if it's accessible at school.
- Test everything you do in Internet Explorer and Firefox.
- If your school has a variety of computers, test your content on the slowest machine you can find.
