Miss Black Reads - SLIS 761

In a journal article about mobile learning (m-learning), the authors discuss personalization, collaboration, and authenticity as characteristics that are key to effective learning through the use of technology (Kearney et. al, 2012). When used effectively and through scaffolding, Chromebooks can be great tools for teachers because they offer opportunities to personalize learning, create relevant and authentic tasks, and help students collaborate easily with their classmates and peers. Chromebooks are Google’s version of a Macbook; they operate using Google Chrome and Google’s online tools. These tools, such as Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets, etc., can also be used offline for learners who may not have internet access at home. (If you want to know more about Chromebooks, their features, and how to use them, check out Holly Clark’s blog post here . She also has an entire tab on her blog dedicated to Chromebooks and Google!) Personalization, collaboration, and authenticity are ...

Hello Educators! Our school is nearing the end of the first nine weeks, which means that students are quickly working to turn in all of their work and parent-teacher conferences will be happening soon. As a district that utilizes Google Classroom, we get this comment regularly from parents and guardians: “I have no clue how to check my child’s Google Classroom!” So, in an effort to assist you AND the parents/guardians of our students, I have created a tutorial video using Screencastify that shows them how to check their child’s work and missing assignments. You can view it below, and feel free to share the link with the parents and guardians of your students! Screencastify is an effective and easy tool that you can use to help students, parents and guardians be successful this year. We are in the third school year that is impacted by COVID, which means that we are facing quarantines and eLearning days in the midst of face-to-face instruction. Screencastify is Google Chrome extension t...

In a time when everyone is inundated with information, quite literally at their fingertips, Clay Johnson makes the claim that we need to be “conscious consumers rather than mindless scrollers” (Gungor & McHargue, 2017). Johnson is the author of The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption . During a podcast episode with “The Liturgists,” he discusses that as individuals who likely get the majority of our information from scrolling on social media, we must be mindful of the motivations behind those organizations regarding what information they are feeding into our newsfeeds. Johnson says that these online platforms operate on systems that filter out information that we might disagree with, and instead expose us to content that align more with our interests and beliefs. This leads us, as consumers, to receive an unhealthy “information diet” because we are not being exposed to varying perspectives or taking time to analyze sources for accuracy and legitimacy (Gungor & Mc...