School TV News

I enjoyed interviewing the student producer, Christian, and the teacher advisor, Mr. Markley to learn about our live morning news show, the Wildcat News. Started last year as a project of our media specialist, Wildcat News was produced each morning in a small room off of the media center. This year the set was moved into its official home in the production studio off of the Explorations in Technology classroom. Wildcat News airs each morning with a premade picture promo (produced by students using Photostory) beginning at 8:25 and then a live five to seven minute news show starting at 8:30. The news show includes a moment of silence, the Pledge of Allegience, weather report, "On this day in history" highlights and school announcments. The student council campaign speeches were also given during the news show in September. Mr. Markley actually gathers the announcments and puts them into Power Point slides that are read from a monitor by the news anchors. Eighth graders must apply to be members of the Wildcat News crew and must also be recommended by a classroom teacher. The crew consists of a student producer, two anchors, one weather announcer, and a four member tech crew. Although the anchors and weather person change quarterly, the tech crew remains the same. Mr. Markley looks forward to adding the Television Broadcast and Video Production modules to the curriculum in his Explorations in Technology class and to producing the Wildcat News during the class rather than before school. Mr. Markley will teach the use of video production and editing equipment, including a green screen. Although the Wildcat News has started out small, I see opportunity for growth and potential for a much more complex production within the next few years. I look forward to watching the growth of Wildcat News and the increased use of technology for our students.

Social Networking: Beneficial or Dangerous

Social Networking is Beneficial

Social networking refers to the connection between people for various reasons.  The application of social networking by using the Internet has expanded these networks to include at the basic level a person's acquaintances and friends but also their friends' acquaintances.  It is said that you can connect any two people through less than six acquaintances.  The idea is that the amount of people that can be connected grows exponentially as you move farther from a central person.  An online networking site allows for easier access to these connections and the ability to potentially act upon them.

Social networking not only allows the participants to connect with their friends but also with others who have similar interests.  Many sites allow for the creation of groups and blogs that provides opportunities for subscribers to interact with those who share their interest.  There are groups on subjects such as religion, music, movies, political views, and many more.  All users create a profile where they provide information about themselves and their interests.

There are many different social networking sites and many of them begin by being directed at a specific audience.  I want to look at some of them but this is not anywhere near an extensive list. 

             MySpace - MySpace is the largest social networking site with more than 100 million members.  This site has a large base of musicians.  Many budding artist share their work on their pages while professional artist promote their most recent productions.  Although there are many artist there are also many other  people and companies that also have a page.  If a media center wanted to verge into this world of social networking MySpace would be the place to do this.  One reason is the number of participants that would be presented with  the information.  MySpace is also very user friendly and accessible to all.  It is important not to merely recreate a media center website but cater to the audience.  Many media centers have audio materials available and there is a component on MySpace that allows for a song to be linked and played on the media center page.  This would be a great place to present new and exciting materials as well as tips to using the media center.  There could also be a blog feature where patrons could freely give their honest opinion on the media program and ways to improve them.

             Facebook - Facebook started as a networking site at the college level.  It has been expanded to include high schools, corporations, organizations, and geographical areas.  There is a little more security related to Facebook because people can only see the profiles of those people or organizations that are set as friends or are in a particular network, such as school or geographic area.

             LinkedIn - LinkedIn is a social networking site for those who are business oriented.  On the site people connect in order to find business opportunities.  This site limits contact to those people who are friends.

             LiveJournal - LiveJournal is a blogging website that connects users.  This could be useful in a media center to allow for literature circles.

A media center's use of social networking site could be deterred by the fact that many of these sites are blocked by the county making access to them difficult.  There is also discussion that leads to the use of social networking in correlation to the online cataloging system.  The idea is that the program would allow users to rate and comment on books.  Some websites, such as Amazon, have already implemented this type of networking.  The views of others can be useful when selecting a book.  I have used these comments to help in my selection of materials.

Social Networking is Dangerous

Social networking sites are not always fun and games.  There have been some serious dangers that have developed as the Internet has become used more often.

          Online Predators - Online predators have become a real threat and many adults, parent especially, fear that children will unknowingly become victims for there people.  A social networking site is a dream for these predators because the users, teenagers or children, often put personal information without considering the repercussions.  There are also many younger users that can be susceptible to falling prey.  The most important thing is education about what should be shared online but the sites are trying to help by providing privacy controls that limit access to part or entire profiles.

           Spyware and Viruses - People who create these viruses often create fictional websites that link to the virus.  User knowledge is the best way to try to prevent these occurrences.

            Identity Theft and Stalking - The more personal information that is shared online the less protected you are.  There are people who take advantage of the vast amount of personal information that people put on the social networking sites.

             Cyber-bullying - The introduction of all the different types of media has created a new way for kids to pick on one another.  Cyber-bullying is a serious problem.  The Internet has allowed an area for rumors to be spread much faster and there is little way of connecting the perpetrator with the crime.  The sites are not usually monitored so victims often cannot do anything.  This is a problem that does not have a solid solution yet and needs to be addressed.

              Invasion of Privacy - The fact that social networking sites are on the Internet means that most people would be able to access the information.  Simply deleting the information is not sufficient as a record of it still remains on the Internet somewhere.  Those who are determined to find it will be able to.  Many employers look at these sites when looking at prospective applicant or current employees.  The information found could have unforeseen consequences.

              Addiction - These sites can become addictive.  The danger is that people will begin replacing real life actions and friends with ones in the cyber world.  This could potentially cause issues with the development of their social skills.  Also, many times focus is place on the amount of friends that a person has on a networking site but no emphasis is placed on the depth of the friendships.  I feel it better to have fewer meaningful relationships then many superficial ones.


The use of social networking in a media center has many possibilities.  It would be an additional way to appeal to the patrons.  However, there are many issues that should be considered to provide a safe environment for the students.

Web Page

What do you see as the top do's and don'ts for a good web page design? After reading about web pages and having some examples, the design web page design is an interesting tool. The book suggests having limited links. Those links should include teacher assignments, bibliographic aids, library catalogs, and of course name and contact information of the library staff. Many web pages are designed by the librarian. It is not uncommon for someone else to design and maintain the webpage such as a technology technician, teacher, students (upper grades), library aid, district office personnel, or parent volunteer. The site should suite the audience. The web page for an elementary school is a different design than what you would see for a high school. Also, the web page should comply with school colors and make sure it is readable. When designing the web page, the graphics should match the school's other web page design.

The media center's web page is very useful providing information. The information can be updated on the web page. The web page is available to all to look at from any location. It is a great communication tool between students, teachers, and the media specialist. Its purpose is geared toward students, teachers, parents, and library staff. It allows parents of prospective students and people outside the school to view, descriptive of the media center, and a reflection of the school itself. To view some schools' web pages on each grade level, the following websites are available:

North Elementary School Library Media Center(http://www.nobl.k12.in.us/North/NorthMedia/index.htm)

Milton Middle School (http://www.milton.k12.wi.us/schools/mms/website/library/MMS_LMC/Welcome.html)

Creekview High School
(https://sites.google.com/site/theunquietlibrary/)

As the media specialist, have some ideals in mind. The school district might have certain order or policies to design the web page. Other media specialists in the area are available for suggestions, so don't hesitate to ask around.

Wonderful World of Wikis

Today's teachers and media specialists are preparing students for success in today's technological society so teaching and using technology is a must in today's schools. Wikis are one of those technologies that today's educators need to learn about and use with their students. Basically a wiki is a simple website that can be created and edited by a community of users rather than by one webmaster. The following are educational uses of Wikis:

• Create distance learning resources
• Plan a conference
• Build an online collaborative classroom
• Engage students outside of the classroom
• Faculty collaboration and communication
• Pathfinders for research projects

Although email is probably the tool most frequently used for communication, a wiki is much simplier. On a wiki, a group of people can edit and save informaton and share share links. Using a wiki for communication keeps the trail of emails to a minimum and simplifies the dissemination of information.

Another advantage of a wiki is that it is internet based and can be accessed from any computer with internet access so teachers and students can work with it at school and home. A wiki is a good place for students to store work so that they can collaborate on projects with classmates or continue their work on projects at any intenet linked computer.

The wiki that we are using for MEDT 6467 is my first experience with wikis. I like the ability it gives us to share our projects by posting them to the wiki.

To better understand how a wiki can be used , I explored the use of wikis by some of the media specialists and teachers in our school district. Here are links to a couple of them. I hope you'll check them out!

RRHS Lit/Comp and Journalism teacher who is also in the UWG media and technology program took 6467 last spring. This wiki that she uses with her journalism students is modeled after the one we are using.

Former TMS media specialist is still linked to the school's media center webpage and has a great wiki for her new school. Check it out the rules for using the wiki that she has posted.

Since the media specialist is often the "go to' person for new ideas and technologies, it is important that we know these new tools and are willing to provide training for teachers and to collaborate so that tools are being used with students. Wikis are one of the tools we need to know and the best way to know them is to use them!