Comments on: Reinventing Libraries

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:18:31 +0000

Lori just keep asking. Make sure you back it up with solid lesson plans tied to standards that demonstrate the need for the programs blocked, and dont give up. Far too many IT with no educational background are making this decision for our students, and they have not been trained to make pedagogical decisions. Explore the district one so you can make informed comparison when you go back t ask again for it. As for K12 Online–I would ask DAILY. This is terrific PD for your entire district.

By: Lori June

Lori June — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:14:35 +0000

Cathy, I feel your pain with the filters. I have been trying to access some of the K-12 Online Conferences this week during my lunch time at school, only to find the video sites blocked. As one of the SCASL “23 Things” I spent hours setting up a Delicious account and tagging all 355 of the bookmarks I imported from IE on my home computer so that I could have access to them at school. When I tried to visit Delicious at school today, you guessed it – the site was blocked. IT’s response to my request to unblock it, at least for teachers? “You can save bookmarks in eChalk.” (Our district’s webpage software program.) So much for 21st Century learning.

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:41:55 +0000

Pat–SL has a lot of sessions for educators. The key to know about them is to join their organizations so you can hear about their events in Second Life. All the Special Interest Groups in ISTE send out invitations to their SL activities. I actually heard about the Loertscher preso from 2 sources, School Library Journal and ISTE-SIGMS. I also hear about events from Twitter and DEN. I get emails all the time form the various groups in SL I have joined too, reminding me or inviting me to join. There is even a South Carolina Group in SL. I’m hoping someday there will be a SCASL-SL group. Anyway, thanks for commenting.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:22:07 +0000

I have been trying SL a little bit and attended a book talk in DEN the other night. They were talking about Brain Rules and it was a great discussion. I can see more and more organizations/businesses using this type of venue for meetings now that the economy is going south. I wish I knew of more events to go to but I’m slowly learning. Thanks for sharing about your experience.

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:25:12 +0000

Joyce –even though i mention you by name, that was not intended as a dig. It is totally self criticism for falling in a trap I built myself. I loved that your comments kept pulling me back to the real issues and not further into my self constructed traps. Glad to see you there last night, and doubley glad at the numbers who showed up. You are no Pollyanna. FAR from it.

By: joycevalenza

joycevalenza — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:36:17 +0000

Cathy, I guess I wasn’t very clear in my one-liners last night. My glass is NOT half-full. I worry that for this particular equity/intellectual freedom issue we are not taking the leadership roles we should. I meant to call for activism, not to demonstrate *Pollyannaism.*