From a practical viewpoint, wikis seem to be an easier alternative than a
webpage. Funds and/or district regulations
make the creation of a wiki a reasonable
choice, unless a school requires that the school's website should have a functional webpage for the media center. Either way, the focus of this blog is to seek out support from willing participants.
I agree with the community approach
to sharing ideas as to what content and features to display for each grade
level, although ideally, the final say is best kept with the media specialist. That being said, any editing options would
have to be given to those with training, although the verbal contribution would be a group effort.
An appreciated addition would be for the media specialist
to add in links to Common Core GPS standards as well as book titles to
accompany the theme. As well,
pathfinders could be posted, allowing students and parents to explore topics
online that relate to particular curriculum areas.
One particular area that media specialists may want
to add is an award section. The titles
of books and their authors who have won a Newbery or Caldecott Award would be a
great resource for teachers to add book reviews to after their class has
critiqued the book. Furthermore, the nomination of the GA Book Award finalists,
the list of winners from the school, and the final award list would be most
appropriate with a picture of the book as a link to more background information
on each book.
With limited time for students, teachers,
administration, and parents, any
eye-catching video of story time or a library lesson on research skills, etc.
would allow guests to see the school library media program in action. Photos could be attached from the Book Fair and
notes from "ABC" members in the Afterschool Book Club could be
included by fourth and fifth grade students in a K-5 school.
Finally, allowing the Specials department to have
their input could be worthwhile. Among
the art teacher's eye for color and design, the music teacher's ear for
background music, the physical education teacher's hands for helping, the
counselor's nose for character eduacation, and the numerous ways the technology technician
(aka computer teacher) may be able to contribute
to ideas for the webpage or wiki- the job of keeping up with a webpage or wiki does not have to be overwhelming.
Blog 3 Response - Falls
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your ideas on what to include in a media center webpage. Links to the common core standards would allow parents a direct link to see what exactly their child is learning in school. The award section idea is good as well as this is a great way to promote books and provide links that will allow students and teachers to learn more about the book. A video of story time would allow others to catch a "glimpse" of the value that media centers provide to education. Another idea would be for the media specialist to create a pathfinder using their own voice to teach on a particular topic. This would allow your voice to be heard and put the media center on the "radar." I also like your specials department ideas. This allows the teachers to have a platform where their classes are featured. Some other suggestions for a website might be featuring student work and projects and providing a survey section so that teachers, students, and administrators can let you know the things that they enjoy about the media center and the things that they could improve upon. Creating a media center webpage allows the media center to be on the "radar" with students. It should provide exciting information so that students will want to come visit the media center every chance they get.
Although I like Wikis and find them very informative and useful if they are done correctly, I don't find them easy to use. I think they may offer a certain level of convenience for those who may be technologically challenged and don't know how to do a webpage. I am not saying that I am a technology expert because I am far from it but I will say that the experiences I have had with using Wikis have been difficult for me. I guess I just find them complicated to operate and it can be challenging with centering the objects that you are placing on the pages.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of getting input from various specialists in the building to assist with putting together the website. I think it would be nice if the music specialist added some links that would be beneficial to students that could assist with music instruction and likewise for the science specialist and the art teacher. To me the ideal website would be one that is useful to parents, teachers and students alike. I feel as though it should be a resource for anyone who uses it. The most important aspect that I have seen so many websites lack is a translation feature. I saw one website that was translated into at least six languages. That's the most beneficial resource yet, in my experience.
I like the idea of the community approach you mentioned about getting ideas from others as to what to include on the web page. It is especially good for parents and stakeholders to add input. The idea of adding award book information to the website would be very good as a resource for teachers and students. I agree with your idea of having teachers do book reviews of the award winning books.
ReplyDeleteHaving the common core links available on the website would be a great tool for teachers. Since common core is fairly new, most teachers like myself are interested in using whatever helpful information to them.
Your suggestion of having a creative video that would showcase and highlight events around the school would be excellent for parents, stakeholders and visitors to see. Lastly, you mentioned that it would be beneficial for specials teachers to give their input on information that would be great for the web page. This would be a great a great idea.