Invitation to advise the PBS NewsHour through Classroom 2.0′s EdIncubator
Posted: January 25, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »The following is a message from Steve Hargadon and our friends in the Library 2.0 and Classroom 2.0 communities. As a librarian, I support efforts to engage instructors and learning professionals to help shape and co-create quality materials. This is just one of many opportunities:
“For over a decade the trusted voices of the award-winning PBS 
NewsHour’s education team have been working tirelessly to provide educators, teachers, parents and students with an abundance of free current events resources. They offer a daily video blog, lesson plans, two weekly news stories, original student-produced pieces and their newest initiative the Student Reporting Labs. As they continue to improve their content they want to have a conversation with YOU!–to test out new ideas and to hear your thoughts and experiences.
PBS NewsHour is the first Classroom 2.0 “EdIncubator” project, designed to help education projects or initiatives build advisory councils with real educators, administrators, parents, and students giving real feedback. To help PBS, join the NewsHour group at http://www.classroom20.com/group/pbs-newshour (you will need to be a member of Classroom 2.0, so if you are not be sure to join that network first). Feel free to pass this invitation on to any colleagues you think might be interested. There is no compensation for participating, but you’ll earn the undying gratitude of project lead Leah Clapman and the good folks at PBS!”
Links to Search Local Newspapers
Posted: January 24, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Whether you are doing research on newsworthy items in the area or just want to see the headlines from the day you were born, access to local newspaper archives is a good thing. In order to help you find the local news you’re looking for, we’ve created links that will search specific local newspapers in the newspaper databases we subscribe to. You can find these links in under our databases A to Z list or databases by subject page. Under Newsstand you will find links that will allow you to search the Iowa City Press-Citizen and the Des Moines Register. Additionally, in the description of EBSCOhost’s Newspaper Source Plus you will find a link that allows for searching the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
So if you are looking for local news sources, or a specific database to start your research, be sure to check out Article Databases A-Z or Databases by Subject, both accessible from the Library’s Homepage. Happy searching!
Apps in Education
Posted: January 18, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 3 Comments »It can be frustrating finding mobile-friendly sites when getting some research or studying done on the go. Here are some mobile-friendly websites and downloadable apps I think students and faculty alike will find helpful. Check them out and let us know what you think!
1. Library Website — The default homepage for the library is not very mobile friendly, however our alternative homepage is very handy when using our site from your mobile device. Bookmark this URL: guides.kirkwood.edu and you’ll always have the library at your fingertips!
EBSCOhost app
2. EBSCOhost- This popular database has developed its own app, and by following the instructions it will be set up to connect automatically with your k number and password. To get the EBSCOhost app, first download it onto your device (it’s available for iPhone/iPad and Android devices). To activate it, go to the Kirkwood Library EBSCOhost site on your computer or mobile device and scroll to the very bottom of the page. Click on the link “EBSCOhost iPhone and Android Applications”. You’ll be prompted to enter your email address. EBSCOhost will send you a link that activates your app, and you’ll be ready to start searching.
3. WorldCat – WorldCat’s mobile site is a quick handy way to locate libraries that hold the book you’re searching for. Bookmark this URL and you’ll be searching WorldCat’s mobile-friendly site customized to display Kirkwood Library’s holdings: kirkwood.worldcat.org/m
*UPDATE!* 4. Ebrary just announced their iPhone/iPad app! Just go to the app store and search ebrary to add this new app to your device, allowing quick access optimized to the smaller screen.
There are many more apps that are great study aids. Here are just a few:
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Wolfram|Alpha mobile page
Wolfram|Alpha – This is a free “computational knowledge engine”. This means, according to their site, it will: “Answer questions, do math, instantly get facts, create plots, calculators, unit conversions, scientific data and statistics, help with homework—and much more.” And according to me: it’s very cool. Their mobile site is free (bookmark: m.wolframalpha.com) and their app cost a few dollars. It’s available for iPhone/iPad and Android devices.
- Flashcards+ – Create your own flashcards or access their large database of other users’ flashcards for a handy way to study. It’s available for iPhone/iPad and Android devices, and it’s free.
- SimpleMind – A handy mind-mapping tool for organizing your thoughts around a class discussion topic, a research topic or anything you want to wrap your mind around. It’s a free app!
There are many many more apps for students. Just Google apps for students and you’ll see lots of helpful articles and blog posts with lists of apps to try out. Let us know your favorite by commenting below!
Podcasting for Teaching and Learning – Interview with DJ Hennager
Posted: January 11, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: faculty, interview, podcasting Leave a comment »One of the neatest thing about being a librarian at Kirkwood is the opportunity to get to know my faculty colleagues and hear about their innovations in the classroom. From Kirkwood CASTLE , T4LT podcasts from our distance learning gurus, and the myriad faculty led workshops at KCELT, I never want for learning here.
I’ve been particularly interested to follow how our faculty and staff are using YouTube to create, share, and transform their teaching and learning. DJ Hennager is a Science instructor with several popular videos on YouTube and a passion for using podcasts to transform his classroom, increase learning, speed innovation, and improve teaching. He was gracious enough to share his expertise with me in an email interview.
Nicole Forsythe: Tell us about yourself: who you are, what you teach, and whatever else you want to share about yourself.
My name is D.J. Hennager. I am a dad, a husband, and a teacher of students in Anatomy and Physiology II and Human Nutrition.
NF: So you make and use video podcasts for your classes. What subjects do you podcast and how do you use them to teach?
DJ: My podcasts generally support my Anatomy and Physiology II class but I also make videos that I hope assist my colleagues in teaching.
The more I use YouTube, the more I think it solves many teaching dilemmas to create a richer learning opportunity for students. Essentially, the way we teach now creates some pretty defined limits (time of learning as class is at a particular time, length of attention as you must pay attention for 110 minutes, number of repetitions as you may only hear this once even though the brain has difficulty deeply processing new information, type of input as you will get much of your information from reading a textbook, etc). These defined limits also limit the type of learner. If we are to compete internationally, we need to expand our population of learners. Said another way, if I want to learn through reading, the situation that allows that is somewhat limited; I need to set aside time and space to read. If I can learn through listening, suddenly I have a great deal more opportunities to learn. Essentially, I can learn anytime my hands are busy but my brain is free; when I am mowing the lawn, driving to work, cleaning the garage, waiting at my daughter’s dance class, etc. I believe that YouTube greatly opens up the student’s opportunity to learn.
Additionally, the social collaborative nature of YouTube will, I believe, lead to improvements in teaching. By making videos, you can share your teaching methods with others. This sharing motivates me to higher quality, but it also forgives me of incorrectness because the social environment will improve the content. Additionally, by seeing how others teach, I can build on my teaching when I am exposed to superior methods. While there is some fear that video will replace the instructor, if the instructor uses video to consistently accelerate what it means to teach, then video will not replace the teacher, teaching will innovate more rapidly.
NF: How long have you been podcasting? What inspired you to start doing it?
I have been creating podcasts for two years. I started because there are just some topics where you would like to be able to draw out the bigger picture, how the individual topics are interconnected. While students seem to really understand the connections during the lecture, I was often hearing things like “it made so much sense when you drew it out in class, but when I got home, I lost it.” So, the podcasts were a way for the student to revisit the lecture as it was drawn in class and essentially have the lecture wherever they are; on their iPod, on their phone, on their computer at home.
NF: How has it changed your teaching?
I see teaching as helping the student get the most out of themselves for an acceptable amount of frustration. Any time technology simplifies learning and reduces that frustration, I can ask more of my students; whether by introducing more complex subject matter or by using activities that are higher-order learning. Additionally, having delivered content outside of class, I then have more time in class for discussions or coaching.
NF: How much time and effort have you spent on production – from idea to finished product?
At this point, since I am really just recording videos of subject matter I have covered in class, it takes about an hour to record and process a10-minute video. I think once I realized that students simply want you to replicate the classroom by drawing things out, rather than producing glossy animations, the process was greatly simplified. I record a drawing, edit it quickly, and publish it.
NF: How do students respond to your podcasts and/or the way your teaching has changed?
I have an on-line survey to collect input after the completion of a course; students can visit a Google form and provide input. On the question “I regularly use your YouTube videos and find them beneficial” where 1 is “strongly agree” and 5 is “strongly disagree,” the running average is a 1.5. I can also judge a bit by YouTube insight which indicates that my videos were watched ~600 times a month in Iowa. I interpret that to indicate that students are using the YouTubes.
NF: Anything else you’d like to share?
If you love to teach, you love to teach. Just looking at one’s insight numbers - how many view and whether the video was watched to the end can be quite fulfilling. Whether it is teaching the one who commented that they were inspired to stay in school, seeing that you are teaching the third world, or seeing your views tick towards having taught a million, YouTube expands my ability to teach.
***
As a librarian, I see my role not only in connecting students to resources, but connecting ideas, people, technology, and trends. DJ helps me to think through how I can be a better teacher and understand how social technologies empower the learner and teacher in us all. Other teaching-oriented Kirkwood podcasters include gkpeter, kirkwoodlms, and your always-learning Kirkwood librarians.
What do you think? Are you podcasting? Why not? What have you found?
As a final note, DJ has started experimenting with engaging students in discussion via Twitter. See how his first attempts went in this T4LT podcast: http://t4lt.blogspot.com/2011/10/t4lt-interview-dj-hennager-on-back.html.
Over Break Hours
Posted: December 15, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Break Hours, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Kirkwood Community College Leave a comment »Both branches of the Kirkwood Community College Library will have special hours between the semesters. Please check that we are open before you make a special trip. Our article databases and eBook collections will remain available online 24/7. The following are the hours for the Cedar Rapids branch. The Iowa City branch will have the same hours with the exceptions of being open from 8 am to 8 pm between Mon., January 9th and Thurs., January 12th and being open from
1 pm to 5 pm on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
| Sat., Dec. 17th – Sun., Dec. 18th | CLOSED |
| Mon., Dec. 19th – Thurs., Dec. 22nd | 8 am – 5 pm |
| Fri., Dec. 23rd – Mon., Jan. 2nd | CLOSED |
| Tues., Jan. 3rd – Fri., Jan. 6th | 8 am – 5 pm |
| Sat., Jan. 7th – Sun. Jan. 8th | CLOSED |
| Mon., Jan. 9th – Fri., Jan. 13th | 8 am – 5 pm |
| Sat., Jan. 14th – Sun. Jan. 15th | CLOSED |
| Mon., Jan. 16th | 12 pm – 5 pm |
| Tues., Jan 17th | Normal Hours Resume (Classes Resume) |
Get More Out of Google from HackCollege
Posted: December 12, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Are you getting the most out of Google? HackCollege has assembled the below tips. Which is your favorite?
Created by: HackCollege
New database – the Association of Computing Machinery’s Digital Library
Posted: December 1, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Interested in computer science? Want to know how computing is changing the world? Just looking to geek out and read about neat things like wearable computers, computer science in service of democracy, or developments in artificial intelligence in gaming ?
Kirkwood Library Services is pleased to announce we now subscribe to the Association of Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Digital Library.
Some articles that may interest you, dear reader:
• Broadening participation: a community college strategy
• Findings from the NSF-ACM strategic summit on computing education in community colleges
• Impact of student training on the perceived ease of use and ease of navigation of a learning management system
• OpenCourseWare: open sharing of course content and design
• Creating virtual collections in digital libraries: benefits and implementation issues
Access is available for all current Kirkwood students, faculty, staff both on campus or at home – as always, if you’re off campus just log in with your K number and EagleNet password.
Curious about ACM? “ACM, the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, delivers resources that advance computing as a science and a profession. ACM provides the computing field’s premier Digital Library and serves its members and the computing profession with leading-edge publications, conferences, and career resources.” (from http://www.acm.org/)
As always, please let your Kirkwood Librarians know what you think of this resource and if we can help you in any way – we’ll show you how to use this database, come to your class and provide tailored instruction, helping craft research assignments, or assist instructors in designing information literacy-related course objectives.
Until then, enjoy geeking out!
Late Late Night at the Library
Posted: November 29, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cedar Rapids IA, Finals Week, Kirkwood Community College Library, Library Hours Leave a comment »To aid in your preparation for finals week, the Cedar Rapids branch of Kirkwood Community College will extend its hours and remain open until Midnight from Monday to Thursday from Monday, December 5, 2011 to Thursday, December 15, 2011. Closing times on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will remain at their normal times. After 9:30 pm there will not be a reference librarian available to help with finding information, formatting or technology issues, etc. but if what you need is a quiet place to study late at night, the library is the place to be.
Again, the Cedar Rapids branch ONLY will be open until MIDNIGHT from December 5-15, 2011, Monday-Thursday only. Good luck during finals!
| Mon., Dec. 5 - Thurs., Dec 8 |
7: 30 am – MIDNIGHT |
| Fri., Dec. 9 | 7:30 am – 5 pm |
| Sat., Dec. 10 | 8:30 am – 4 pm |
| Sun., Dec. 11 | 3 pm – 8 pm |
| Mon., Dec. 12 - Thurs., Dec 15 |
7: 30 am – MIDNIGHT |
| Fri., Dec. 16th | Start Winter Break Hours,Check back here for more information. |
Update for Chrome Users
Posted: November 10, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Catalog, EBSCOhost, Google Chrome, Kirkwood Community College Library Leave a comment »We previously reported that neither the EBSCOhost database, nor our Voyager catalog system worked with Google Chrome. We were just informed by EBSCOhost that they have fixed the compatibility issue, so can now use Google Chrome when you’re using EBSCOhost database. However, the catalog remains incompatible. Please stick with us as we continue to work towards a solution.
