Wyant SLIS Blog

I explored a lot of different blogs and sites this week to find one that I wanted to share. I finally found one that encompassed everything our resources this week shared also. EveryLibrary posted Library Makerspaces Spark Creativity on the blogging site Medium. Makerspaces provide students with opportunities to engage in STEAM activities in the library. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math. These activities can be part of a collaboration with the classroom teachers, or stand alone activities in the library. Either way, students will benefit. “On top of the academic benefits that a makerspace provides, students are also trained to build a mindset that revolves around teamwork, problem-solving and innovation” (EveryLibrary, 2022). By students creating, discovering, and even playing, they have the opportunity to learn things more authentically that they would in traditional classroom settings and lessons. ( Hlubinka et al., 2013) The learning in Makerspace...

  Interacting with the Seven Digital Deadly Sins was eye-opening. While I think the content is too intense or graphic for my elementary kids, the messages are important to share, even with adults including myself. Envy was the one I explored the most because I struggle with it honestly. The biggest message for my students I took away from this Digital Deadly Sin was not to share everything and to realize not everything you see online or what you hear even in person is always accurate. The people on YouTube are planning and editing to make the videos they do. The person who shares tons of pictures from their big vacation may have been miserable during the trip. These types of situations can lead to students getting upset or even depressed. I’ve seen many times when even stories in class about what students did over the weekend can send students into an emotional downward spiral. The study of the Screenshots curriculum was interesting, especially with the comparison between females...

 One thing I’ve realized in education, especially throughout this program, is that accessibility impacts everyone and using different tools benefits everyone in some way. According to the Center for Universal Design, there are seven principals to help achieve accessibility; these include equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use. (Spina, 2017) When these principals are kept in mind, accessibility can be achieved with the physical space as well as the digital space. Copeland states, “Perhaps the single most important factor in implementing any form of assistive technology, however, is the idea that technologies should be evaluated and selected so that they can best meet the individual needs of our students” (Copeland, 2011, p. 68). My school has many students with many different abilities and many different languages. When looking at assistive technology, it’...

iPads can be a beneficial tool in classrooms. An iPad is a touchscreen tablet made by Apple. It can connect to the internet and apps are downloaded from The App Store. The school district I work in provides iPads for all students in grades Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grades to use. The apps on the iPads are controlled by the district technology department. Teachers and students can choose from a selection of approved apps to download onto each device and can request for an app to be added. I chose to evaluate the instructional use of iPads using the RAT Model. “RAT is an assessment framework for understanding technology’s role in teaching, learning and curricular practices” ( R.A.T. Model , 2016). The letters in RAT mean replacement, amplification, and transformation. ( R.A.T. Model , 2016). Replacement refers to using technology to replace an activity that is already done in the class, Amplification is when technology is used to enhance or “beef up” an existing activit...