Virtual Reality - Chris Kleit

The increasing use of Virtual Reality in school libraries is a reflection of the digital age. Virtual Reality provides an opportunity for libraries to expand from their traditional role of providing access to information and the tools necessary for understanding information, to providing guidance to access information.  Virtual Reality in schools “consists of technology, primarily phones and viewers, that simulate a 3D experience, that immerses students in an environment otherwise unavailable. For education purposes” (Foglesong, 2019). Trevor Foglesong, a Teacher Librarian and technology lead at his school district, added the Google Expeditions (Virtual Reality) app as a type of maker space activity designed to help students visualize information in a new way in order to increase their ability to retain information (Foglesong, 2019). Since investing in the Expeditions app, Folgelsong has seen the positive impact that a Virtual Reality trip can have on student learning. He states that a student who merely listened to a lecture on the circulatory system will almost always forget what he had heard by the end of the school year. However, being immersed in a Virtual Reality trip that travels the lengths of the human body, will certainly have a lasting impact (Foglesong, 2019). Click on the below instructional video on how to use Google Expeditions with students.

Works Cited: 

Foglesong, Trevor. “Virtual Reality Changing Our Library Services, Not Our Vision.” CSLA Journal, vol.

     42, no. 2, Winter 2019, pp. 9–10. EBSCOhost,

     search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=134571623&site=eds-live.

Pioneer RESA Tech. "How To Use Google Expeditions with Students." YouTube, 21 Sept. 2016, https://youtu.be/0KgYntZ35fY

Digital Storytelling - Chris Kleit

Academic libraries are centers of education and they serve the students, faculty, and staff at their institutions through the implementation of digital storytelling programs. Digital storytelling can help students develop information literacy skills, which are vital for conducting research and information gathering from a variety of different sources. Students can develop visual literacy by creating and consuming digital stories because it encourages them to combine words with images, an important skill to have in the digital age. Digital storytelling can also help students to learn how to interpret images in a more abstract manner. For example, they can “see how images may be associated with concepts or emotions as opposed to having only a literal meaning” (Czarnecki, 2009).  Digital storytelling has also encouraged faculty to connect with both students and the scholarly community in new ways. For example, the personal voice “used in digital storytelling gives many a new and creative outlet for both talking about and thinking about their work in different ways” (Czarnecki, 2009). Click on the video below to watch the digital story titled "Universal Love" from Cowbird.com. Cowbird is a public library of human experience, with over 70,000 stories.

Works Cited:

Czarnecki, Kelly. “Chapter 4: Digital Storytelling in Different Library Settings.” Library

     Technology Reports, no. 7, 2009, p. 20. EBSCOhost,

     search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.211232127&site=eds-

     live.

Cowbird.com. "Universal Love." YouTube. 25 May 2014. https://youtu.be/uLcSuVGPqzw.

Libraries in the Digital Age - Chris Kleit

School library professionals are having to change the way they teach in the digital age.  For example, Chris Barnabei, a librarian at Chambersburg Area Career Magnet School took on a new role as technology integrator/librarian after his school implemented a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and project-based curriculum in which students are required to use iPads in their classes. Chris and other library staff have always taught their teachers new technology skills as a group, but now they work with them one-on-one to show them how to plan projects with the use of technology and also how to use apps and other resources in their classrooms.  In addition, besides teaching them skills in research and information literacy, Chris makes sure that he is available for tech support during class sessions. Chris found that while having to reinvent himself to stay relevant in the digital age has been a lot of work, it has also been very rewarding. Chris’ advice to anyone else who is willing to undertake a similar endeavor is to “have a willingness to take risks and learn from our failures” (Hammond and Barnabei, 2013).   Watch the short video below about the role of librarians in the digital age.

Works Cited:

Hammond, Joanne K., and Chris Barnabei. “Reinventing Ourselves in the Digital Age.” Library 

     Media Connection, no. 6, 2013, p. 14. EBSCOhost,

     search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.346371567&site=eds-live.

Harvard X. "Role of Librarians in the Digital Age." YouTube. YouTubehttps://youtu.be/C-QAEIcPNII. 30 April, 

     2019.

Presentation Tools - Chris Kleit

Prezi, a non-linear presentation of text and visuals that you can zoom in and out of on a 3-dimensional canvas, is a true alternative to PowerPoint and becoming an increasingly popular tool for library instruction. Prezi’s bracket and linking tools seem especially designed for building hierarchies, making the presentation software ideal for creating decision trees. Library staff are now creating decision trees to help English Literature students understand when a citation is necessary.  The decision tree walks “students through a number of citation scenarios, providing a solution for each situation” (Kiscaden, 2014). Decision trees are also being created to guide students through a process for downloading e-books onto their mobile devices. The decision tree functionality “allows students to walk through instructions and select what type of device they have (Android or iOS), ‘zooming’ into instructions for that particular device” (Kiscaden, 2014). Prezi offers some powerful tools for today’s library professionals. Click on the link to watch a Prezi tutorial for beginners.

Works Cited:

Kiscaden, Elizabeth. “Promoting Information Literacy with Prezi.” Computers in Libraries, 
no. 2, 2014. EBSCOhost,  

   search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=edsbig&AN=edsbig.A363191449&site=eds-live.

Prezi. "Prezi Tutorial for Beginners."

   https://prezi.com/t3juzxgelbl0/do-it-yourself-prezi-tutorial-beginner/

Digital Storytelling - Mary Fortezzo

     Digital storytelling, is a great tool to use to bring actual viewpoints of the participants. Seeing people and hearing them give an account of an event enhances the education of the student.  For example, this young man wanted to interview soldiers from WWII.  This type of storytelling preserves not only the stories but the actual history of an event.  Here is a clip that shows this Boy Scout interview a war hero.

http://highered.nbclearn.com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/portal/site/HigherEd/browse?cuecard=61641

Ellis, Rehema. "Boy Scout’s Mission: Sharing WWII Stories". NBC Learn, NBC Nightly News, 22 Oct. 2012, http://highered.nbclearn.com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/portal/site/HigherEd/browse?cuecard=61641

Digital Storytelling by Robyn Doi

Digital Storytelling was given as the Blog post topic. So my first question was What is Digital Storytelling? So the search began. First, Wikipedia states that "Digital storytelling" is a relatively new term which describes the new practice of everyday people who use digital tools to tell their 'story'. Digital stories often present in compelling and emotionally engaging formats, and can be interactive."

 To my surprise, Digital Storytelling is what my kids do all the time. My life is about photos not videos of any kind. My kids make videos about themselves or things happening around them almost daily. This is something I have not had any interest in doing. I love my photos in my scrapbooks. As the search and learning began I quickly realized that Digital Storytelling is just an extension of scrapbooking. How does this translate to libraries? Digital storytelling is a great way to show off a library or a collection in a library. It is also a great way to keep track of history by sharing stories (kind of like scrapbooking).

 I found a couple of videos that explain Digital storytelling and how to make one in PowerPoint.

Digital Storytelling with PowerPoint by Megan Grady

https://youtu.be/N2MbBSc6930

What is Digital Storytelling by Center for Arts-Inspired Learning

https://youtu.be/e5usc00wa40

Sources

“Digital Storytelling.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_storytelling.

“What Is Digital Storytelling?” YouTube, 17 Jan. 2018, youtu.be/e5usc00wa40.

“Digital Storytelling with PowerPoint.” YouTube, 4 Mar. 2016, youtu.be/N2MbBSc6930.

Virtual Reality and Libraries – Erika Westrich

When you think of virtual reality, you think gaming - shooting zombies, crashing cars and fighting bad guys; but what if you could do more? What if you could walk through a book; see images played out all around you as an audio version of the book creates words and surround-sound in your ears? How about taking a trip, to a faraway land without ever leaving the comfort of an armchair in an air-conditioned library?

These things and many more could be in our futures as virtual technology advances. Companies such as Google and Facebook are creating or acquiring apps, programs and virtual technology devises to expand their portfolios’ and our lives. Websites/Apps like With.in (and their new, kid-friendly “Wonderscope”) are paving the way for content that will support and evolve the way we use a library. Every month With.in is adding new content to their site. Currently, the content is all new and original but it is just a matter of time before books, new and old, evolve into the virtual reality world; which book would you like to step into?

Works Cited:

Lambert, Troy. “Virtual Reality in the Library: Creating a New Experience.” Public Libraries Online. Public Library Association. 2019. www.publiclibrariesonline.org. Accessed 19 April 2019.

Roettgers, Janko. “A sense of Wonder: How Within Is Evolving Storytelling in Augmented Reality.” Variety. Variety Media, LLC. https://variety.com/2018/digital/features/within-wonderland-ar-storytelling-1203020435/. Accessed 19 April 2019.

Within. 2019. www.with.in. Accessed 19 April 2019.