#CPD23 Thing 17&19: Showcasing Your Expertise and Reflection
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Prezi
My first encounter with prezi left me a little sea sick after sitting through the presentation. Prezi's key feature is its zoom capability, allowing a presenter to highlight important aspects of a presentation. If done well, this is a highly effective tool! If done poorly, you might be a little green afterwards (zooming overkill anyone?).
I have dappled with prezi, but the blank canvas and somewhat intermediate learning curve leaves me frustrated every time I attempt to create a presentation with it. You also have to map out your entire presentation beforehand in order to have the cool ending picture show up correctly. Oftentimes, I just don't have that kind of time.
Aside from the above criticisms, I have been able to use prezi to present with for the new student orientation where I work. The assistant librarian created it (and did a stellar job!), and we have collaborated to present the material together.
One idea that I'm intrigued by from the original Thing 17 post is the idea of using Prezi to take the place of a presentation/classroom handout. In looking at the example, I'm still not quite sure how this is fully used as a handout replacement, but I'm planning to investigate this further.
One other idea/revelation that I've had comes after seeing THIS prezi. I'm considering an attempt to turn my monthly reports into an interactive presentation. The only downside is that my Dean has voiced a comment to me, saying that he prefers to have a printable document. Perhaps I could create a simple word file that lists the points within the presentation. Either way, doing the report in the form of a prezi might help me to showcase content, eliminating my wordiness tendency ...
**pondering further
Slideshare
Now onto a tool that I use frequently. Slideshare allows you to upload your presentations and pdf documents, making it very easy to share with others. Ways I've used slideshare:
- I teach an information literacy course and use Google Sites to keep assignments handy for students. All of my weekly lessons have been uploaded to slideshare and embedded on the course website.
- I have used slideshare in conjunction with bit.ly (shortened url's) to give students continual access to my one-shot classroom instruction session information. You can see an example here from a business plan instruction session.
- Similarly, I uploaded my recent professional presentation (a pecha kucha) and provided the link in the form of a QR code within my closing slide. Those interested were able to grab the link in order to have my references.
My most favorite ...
- I love gaining inspiration and techniques from other presenters. It keeps ideas fresh and I am able to find new ways of showcasing information within slide presentations - priceless!
Thing 19: Reflection Thoughts So Far ...
I really have enjoyed the program so far. While I have already been using many of the items discussed throughout the program, I have gleaned new ideas and uses for many of the tools. I am also developing my own version of the 23 Things program for our faculty. Some of the posts so far have been beneficial to finding new ideas for web 2.0 technologies. Since my program will be faculty/higher-ed based, the focus has been shifted from a personal productivity program to a participatory classroom program. It has been super fun to work on and I can't wait for it to go live in a little over 12 weeks (eeek...lots more work to do!).
More 23 Things to come...
#CPD23 Thing 18: Capture...Screen Capture That Is
As I'm getting caught up with my 23 Things program, Thing 17 has apparently been postponed...so I'm jumping to Thing 18 - screen capturing.
There were several options discussed in the post for this Thing, but one I use daily is Jing. I never knew how many screenshots I took in a day, until Jing made it easier for me. I use Jing screenshots along with their edit menu options (circling, arrow pointing, and text) to:
-Send how-to instructions to students via e-mail.
-Send a linked screenshot to a chat reference student to make sure we're both on the same page.
-Add screenshots to how-to flyers for the LRC
Really, the possibilities are endless (example below)!
I have also used Jing to create screencast tutorial videos. I started with Jing until I found out that it doesn't upload to YouTube (unless you have the paid version). If you don't need that perk though, it's a great tool to use with a manageable learning curve. I am so very thankful that my IT department allowed me to download this software option - I'd be lost without it!
Now, while the original 18th Thing mentioned Screencast-O-Matic as an alternative, I have found Screenr to be a great option for screencasts with YouTube upload. In looking at Screencast-O-Matic though, I'm intrigued by the 15 minute time option.
Tips I've learned while doing screencasting:
-Because I'm cheap and don't want to buy the software, I've been bound by 5 minute tutorials. As such, it is absolutely necessary to have a written script for recording.
-I had an accidental run once where my audio didn't come through the screencast, but the video was captured. It actually worked very well to be able to show the captured video in full screen mode, and re-record the audio on top of it. MUCH smoother!
I have wanted to try recording the video in segments and uploading to iMovie to add zooms, along with more editing options. I haven't tried this yet, but may consider that in the future.
As for podcasting (the 2nd item mentioned in Thing 18), I haven't created my own podcasts, but I have been an avid podcast listener for a few years now. My favorite podcasts include:
-Adventures in Library Instruction
-Podcacher
-T is for Training
More 23 Things to come ...
There were several options discussed in the post for this Thing, but one I use daily is Jing. I never knew how many screenshots I took in a day, until Jing made it easier for me. I use Jing screenshots along with their edit menu options (circling, arrow pointing, and text) to:
-Send how-to instructions to students via e-mail.
-Send a linked screenshot to a chat reference student to make sure we're both on the same page.
-Add screenshots to how-to flyers for the LRC
Really, the possibilities are endless (example below)!
Now, while the original 18th Thing mentioned Screencast-O-Matic as an alternative, I have found Screenr to be a great option for screencasts with YouTube upload. In looking at Screencast-O-Matic though, I'm intrigued by the 15 minute time option.
Tips I've learned while doing screencasting:
-Because I'm cheap and don't want to buy the software, I've been bound by 5 minute tutorials. As such, it is absolutely necessary to have a written script for recording.
-I had an accidental run once where my audio didn't come through the screencast, but the video was captured. It actually worked very well to be able to show the captured video in full screen mode, and re-record the audio on top of it. MUCH smoother!
I have wanted to try recording the video in segments and uploading to iMovie to add zooms, along with more editing options. I haven't tried this yet, but may consider that in the future.
As for podcasting (the 2nd item mentioned in Thing 18), I haven't created my own podcasts, but I have been an avid podcast listener for a few years now. My favorite podcasts include:
-Adventures in Library Instruction
-Podcacher
-T is for Training
More 23 Things to come ...
Labels:
LibraryCamp,
presentations
I Survived: A First Professional Presentation Experience
Before I get into the topic of this post, I want to say thank you to everyone who stopped by and read my advocacy post. It seems that there are those of you out there in the same boat, or at least feeling some of my same frustrations. If nothing else, it's nice to know that I'm not alone. Librarians - press on! We are making a difference to some, and that's where our focus should be.
Now then - on to today's post: I survived!
This past Friday I presented my first library presentation to a room full of colleagues and peers as part of the Allen County Public Library Library Camp. It wasn't just an ordinary presentation though...it was a pecha kucha. If you don't know what that is, picture a series of speed presentations - all 6 minutes and 40 seconds long. It's harder than it looks, especially since I'm used to hour long classroom presentations where I'm able to explain in depth a certain topic or concept. For a pecha kucha though, there's simply not enough time to go too far in-depth.
Before I share my presentation slides with you, I wanted to commemorate the fact that I was pretty calm. I was fully expecting to be nervous as heck (after all, I changed career paths from piano performance due to nerves...), but the day before, the night before, the morning of, and right before the presentation I was cool, calm, and collected! All I can figure is that my over preparation payed off. Because of the time limit, I had written a script and practically memorized it so as to stay within the 20 second per slide time factor. This helped tremendously! I was also quite happy that my micro DVI to VGA adapter for my macbook worked like a charm (thanks to hubby for tracking one down for me). By using my mac, I was able to have presenter tools displayed which further helped me to feel more in control.
After the presentation, several people came up and said what a great prez it was, and many said they gained a few new ideas. Mission accomplished!
So with that, here are my slidedecks. Feel free to leave comments with how you've used QR Codes and Poll Everywhere with your libraries!
Now then - on to today's post: I survived!
This past Friday I presented my first library presentation to a room full of colleagues and peers as part of the Allen County Public Library Library Camp. It wasn't just an ordinary presentation though...it was a pecha kucha. If you don't know what that is, picture a series of speed presentations - all 6 minutes and 40 seconds long. It's harder than it looks, especially since I'm used to hour long classroom presentations where I'm able to explain in depth a certain topic or concept. For a pecha kucha though, there's simply not enough time to go too far in-depth.
Before I share my presentation slides with you, I wanted to commemorate the fact that I was pretty calm. I was fully expecting to be nervous as heck (after all, I changed career paths from piano performance due to nerves...), but the day before, the night before, the morning of, and right before the presentation I was cool, calm, and collected! All I can figure is that my over preparation payed off. Because of the time limit, I had written a script and practically memorized it so as to stay within the 20 second per slide time factor. This helped tremendously! I was also quite happy that my micro DVI to VGA adapter for my macbook worked like a charm (thanks to hubby for tracking one down for me). By using my mac, I was able to have presenter tools displayed which further helped me to feel more in control.
After the presentation, several people came up and said what a great prez it was, and many said they gained a few new ideas. Mission accomplished!
So with that, here are my slidedecks. Feel free to leave comments with how you've used QR Codes and Poll Everywhere with your libraries!
#CPD23 Thing 16: Advocacy and Why Libraries Really Do Matter ...
**Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own, and not those of my employer.**
More 23 Things - this time Thing 16.
ad·vo·ca·cy (noun)
The act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending -- dictionary.com
I feel as if every day I am advocating in some way, shape, or form - or at least trying to. Most days, it feels like an uphill battle, but I press on ... I'll give you a bit of background:
The campus where I work has struggled to see the importance of our Learning Resource Center (the name for my library). Much of my frustration that you will feel within this post, stems from the fact that the leadership's opinion of the library and what we are there to do is based very much on perception. For instance, if we are seen sitting at our desks looking at the computer (which is how I can be found during most of my work day), the perception is that we are sitting with nothing to do, perhaps playing on Facebook (which I rarely open), desperately waiting for someone to come in and ask a question. Now, if I were to list for you my daily activities and the projects that I'm currently working on, I might lose all of my readers due to the massively long post length. I won't do that...but take my word for it, I'm not slacking at my desk! On the contrary, I am very much involved in projects that benefit our organization as a whole (not just my campus), and I am implementing two amazing programs that are sure to be a big hit once they are said and done.
I give all of this background information not to complain, but rather to indicate that I am constantly trying to find new ways of promoting my library services and resources to both our student population, and our faculty and staff (so if you have ideas, please let me know in the comment area). My hope is for the staff in particular, to somehow miraculously have a light bulb moment that instantly shows agreement of our importance. To be honest, I don't see this happening, but I can rest easy in knowing that those that matter (academics), know and understand what we're trying to do for the students of my campus. Many of the students are already showing great improvement due to our classroom instruction sessions and the information literacy course that I teach.
But - is it enough to stop fighting and accept that some people just aren't going to get on board with what we're trying to do? Where is the line crossed where advocacy turns into nagging? I'm not sure what those answers are, but I do know that we are making a difference in the lives of the students we see day in and day out, and I continue to preach that message. We are building faculty relationships, albeit slowly, and assisting with curriculum enhancement. We are providing professional development opportunities that far exceed what has been done before. We are instructing students to think critically about information sources, with hopes of seeing better research. We are helping students to become APA pros! We are embedding ourselves into classrooms in order to increase student retention and boost confidence in school work. We are assisting students in a virtual environment by way of our chat reference service ... Do the staff see this? No. And it's partly because they see and perceive what they want to see. I won't get into the for-profit mindset, but you can imagine where I would take this post if I let myself.
Just know, that at the core of what I am trying to accomplish on my campus, I am continuing to have a student-centered mindset. I work as if I am working for the students. They are the one's that appreciate and see what we are trying to do, and I am so thankful for those that continue to use our services, many of which we now know by name. Every teachable moment is a joy and helps me remember my focus.
So, when thing 16 asked for thoughts on our involvement in larger advocacy circles, I must be honest - I'm not sure I have much else left in me aside from what I'm already doing at my place of work. While I am passionate about the direction that libraries are taking and the technology opportunities that are present, I just don't have much more energy left to put forth within a larger environment - for now.
Stay tuned ... more cpd23 to come (on a lighter note for sure).
More 23 Things - this time Thing 16.
ad·vo·ca·cy (noun)
The act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending -- dictionary.com
I feel as if every day I am advocating in some way, shape, or form - or at least trying to. Most days, it feels like an uphill battle, but I press on ... I'll give you a bit of background:
The campus where I work has struggled to see the importance of our Learning Resource Center (the name for my library). Much of my frustration that you will feel within this post, stems from the fact that the leadership's opinion of the library and what we are there to do is based very much on perception. For instance, if we are seen sitting at our desks looking at the computer (which is how I can be found during most of my work day), the perception is that we are sitting with nothing to do, perhaps playing on Facebook (which I rarely open), desperately waiting for someone to come in and ask a question. Now, if I were to list for you my daily activities and the projects that I'm currently working on, I might lose all of my readers due to the massively long post length. I won't do that...but take my word for it, I'm not slacking at my desk! On the contrary, I am very much involved in projects that benefit our organization as a whole (not just my campus), and I am implementing two amazing programs that are sure to be a big hit once they are said and done.
I give all of this background information not to complain, but rather to indicate that I am constantly trying to find new ways of promoting my library services and resources to both our student population, and our faculty and staff (so if you have ideas, please let me know in the comment area). My hope is for the staff in particular, to somehow miraculously have a light bulb moment that instantly shows agreement of our importance. To be honest, I don't see this happening, but I can rest easy in knowing that those that matter (academics), know and understand what we're trying to do for the students of my campus. Many of the students are already showing great improvement due to our classroom instruction sessions and the information literacy course that I teach.
But - is it enough to stop fighting and accept that some people just aren't going to get on board with what we're trying to do? Where is the line crossed where advocacy turns into nagging? I'm not sure what those answers are, but I do know that we are making a difference in the lives of the students we see day in and day out, and I continue to preach that message. We are building faculty relationships, albeit slowly, and assisting with curriculum enhancement. We are providing professional development opportunities that far exceed what has been done before. We are instructing students to think critically about information sources, with hopes of seeing better research. We are helping students to become APA pros! We are embedding ourselves into classrooms in order to increase student retention and boost confidence in school work. We are assisting students in a virtual environment by way of our chat reference service ... Do the staff see this? No. And it's partly because they see and perceive what they want to see. I won't get into the for-profit mindset, but you can imagine where I would take this post if I let myself.
Just know, that at the core of what I am trying to accomplish on my campus, I am continuing to have a student-centered mindset. I work as if I am working for the students. They are the one's that appreciate and see what we are trying to do, and I am so thankful for those that continue to use our services, many of which we now know by name. Every teachable moment is a joy and helps me remember my focus.
So, when thing 16 asked for thoughts on our involvement in larger advocacy circles, I must be honest - I'm not sure I have much else left in me aside from what I'm already doing at my place of work. While I am passionate about the direction that libraries are taking and the technology opportunities that are present, I just don't have much more energy left to put forth within a larger environment - for now.
Stay tuned ... more cpd23 to come (on a lighter note for sure).
Labels:
conferences,
cpd23
#CPD23 Thing 15: The Benefits of Conferences as Professional Development
I had the privilege of attending one ALA conference so far (Chicago 2008), and it was the highlight of my library conference experience so far. I went with 2 gals from school while we were in our last year of the MLS degree, and we had a blast! It was the year of Neil Gaiman...so how could you NOT have a blast?! As the picture suggests (and that's not me :D), the line for Gaiman was super long, snaking its way out and around the exhibit hall. There were meetups with twitter friends and the LSW group met one night at Giordano's. The sessions I attended were very good as well. Many big names covering all the hot topics - it was a librarian's utopia! Much of what I enjoyed though, was the being able to network with other librarians - sharing ideas of what's working and what's not.
I have also had the opportunity to attend my State's library conference for about 4 straight years. I am especially excited about the upcoming conference in November because ... I'm presenting! I will be presenting with one of my favorite colleagues, Erin of tad_overdue. We are both super excited, and it's my first chance to give back to my profession with a bit of what has worked for us tech-wise in the classroom.
As for further conferences, I just picked up on The Digital Media and Learning Conference. It looks like it will be a very beneficial conference...and I plan to follow via Twitter. Additionally, there's Computers in Libraries that I would love to one day attend. I see librarians online that attend one conference here...another conference there... turn around and there at another one somewhere else 2 months later. I wonder where the funding comes from and the leniency of employers. I so very much wish that I could attend every conference of my liking... but I'm pretty sure that would be frowned upon. Where's the balance? So readers, if you're out there, how have you handled conferences in the past?
Stay tuned for CPD 23 Thing 16 ... I'm almost caught up!
#CPD23 Thing 14: Managing the Sea of Information
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| Creative Commons License by Walt Stoneburner |
Since becoming a librarian within higher ed, I have had the opportunity to teach an Information Literacy course each quarter, and I have shown Zotero to students during the last few weeks of the course. It has been a bit frustrating because my institution uses internet explorer like it's the greatest browser of all time - [sigh... that's a post for another day], and I found out that portable Firefox won't work for student accounts (so my bringing in flash drives with portable Firefox and Zotero installed didn't work either unless I was logged in as myself). Since that fiasco, I have been using diigo with great success. While it has nothing to do with citing sources, it does help keep research organized.
So back to my initial comment about Zotero being a tool for personal use...
As I was reading the post for this "thing," one comment stuck with me. Isla Kuhn stated, "managing information ..., and helping others to do so too demonstrates our worth in a new way, and is a very useful skill. We’re not just there to help people find information, we can help them manage it to more easily achieve their goal." This key point is something I haven't thought of before, but Kuhn is absolutely right! The tools that we use personally, can surely benefit the library population, be it students or patrons, in a significant way. Helping people manage the information they find is just as important as helping them to find the credible information in the first place (and by doing so, we boost our resumes with new skill sets and tools to boot).
So far during this post, I have discussed Zotero, but there were two other citation organization tools that were discussed for this "thing." Mendeley is one that I have looked into in the past, but I never wanted to download it to give it a try. Zotero has worked so well for me that I haven't wanted to dive into something different (if it 'aint broke...don't fix it). But, this "thing" has me digging deeper to find pros and cons of using Mendeley over Zotero.
*Jennifer Vinopal of Library Sphere sees Mendeley as being beneficial due to the academic networking options available. Additionally, the citation cross-referencing features provides a collaborative research atmosphere, in my mind similar to what delicious created with collaborative bookmarking.
*Jodi Schneider wrote in 2009 with hopes that Mendeley would eventually integrate with Zotero. It seems Mendeley heard the plea and the desktop application now offers the ability to import your Zotero library. Schneider also mentioned the 1 point that has always made me hesitate to move solely to this platform - Mendeley really only provides a way to organize pdf files. I'm not sure this is enough for my research endeavors.
*Aaron Tay of Musings of Librarianship also provided an excellent write-up comparing EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, and Wizfolio. Excellent post I tell you...excellent!
Perhaps this exploration is the push I have needed to give Mendeley a real try. I have it downloaded and will give it an honest trial run...but I still must say that Zotero is so easy! It's easy to learn, easy to teach (even with the hiccups I mentioned above), and easy to use all the way around.
The last citation tool discussed was CiteULike. Kuhn describes this tool as being similar to delicious, but with "articles, rather than websites." While this seems like a good option, especially for my students, I find the interface to be clunky. There's no bookmarklet (to my knowledge) which would make it easy to import items into the CiteULike library, but because it is web-based with no download necessary, it would be easy to access your library at any time, on any computer. I suppose there are pros and cons to every system.
For now, I'm still leaning towards Zotero. I'd like to hear from you too - what's your favorite citation tool?
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