Educational Websites To Use With Digital Camerashttp://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/gadgets.html

Hello all! This is our last week of blogging. For my second to last post, I found some great educational websites on how to use digital cameras either in the library or classroom settings. I hope you all find these useful and appreciate any comments that you may want to share. This process of blogging has been interesting and I have learned a great deal.

http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/gadgets.html

http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ucfcasio/qvuses.htm

http://drscavanaugh.org/digitalcamera/whatdo.htm

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech147.shtml

Why Post Complaints?

I posted an article this week about some complaints about digital cameras. For any issue I like to know the pros and the cons of something. I look at both sides. Next week I will be posting some sites about how to use digital cameras for educational purposes. So far, I have found some great sites. I look forward to hearing more of everyone's thoughts.

Complaints about using Digital Cameras

This week I wanted to provide a resource about complaints about digital cameras. Digital cameras are great to have in the classroom and the library but as with all technology there can be a down side. I thought this was an interesting article about what people do not like about digital cameras and why.


http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/15005/camera-complaints/

Webquests

This week we have been discussing webquests. I had not idea what a webquest was and I did not even realize that I had created one. Webquests are inquiry oriented activities that allow students to explore the world wide web. There are endless possibilities on how they can be utilized. It is difficult for me, because I have learned about so many great ideas but I do not have a library in my school yet. Hopefully, at some point this school year is will be built. Luckily, I will be able to go into the classrooms and put some of these great ideas into use.
Here is a website that provides more ideas about webquests:
http://webquest.org/index.php

Second Try

Here is a web site that again provides useful information about digital cameras. It is also great to incorporate any technology into one's library, but cameras expose students to photography which is art. You can incorporate digital cameras into almost any lesson and any curriculum area. If you search within the eschoolnews website it also provides resources for educators to find ways of budgeting digital cameras into the budget successfully.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=1095

Buying Digital Cameras

WebXact

This week we have been discussing webxact. This is an evaluation tool for anyone to use to evaluate a website. In addition, I have learned that it takes so many different elements to correctly and accurately evaluate a website. The webxact tool, I feel should not be used in isolation. First, we need to learn how to evaluate a website on our own, without using any tools. Then we can use these tools to reinforce whether or not a website is reliable.
One of the most important things we should be teaching our students is how to evaluate not only websites but all information. We also need to teach our students that Google is not the end all be all of researching and finding information.
By only using these evaluation tools, they can sometimes make mistakes. People make mistakes and so does technology. We, as educators need to be knowledgeable about reliable information and pass this knowledge to our students.

User-friendly information on Digital Cameras

For this week, I found a website that is much more user-friendly than the first article I posted. It explains how the camera works.
One of my blogger group members stated that the digital camera is a necessary piece of technology in school libraries. I feel that is should be required in all school libraries. Here is the website: How Stuff Works

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/digital-camera.htm

Definition of Digital Cameras

I apologize for doing this a little backwards this week. I was on beach mode. Here is the definition of digital cameras.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_camera

iTunes and Podcast in the Library

So, the question is, should we be using iTunes and Podcasts in our school libraries. Personally, I say yes we should. Music can be used to teach and learn almost any subject area and it is fun. The moment a teacher incorporates music into a lesson, the students are hooked. It is a great motivating factor. Students can listen to books and learn about different forms of music in the library by using iTunes and podcasts. As with anything else, this technology needs to be monitored and certain items should be restricted (especially for younger children). I feel it can open so many children's minds to new experiences and knowledge. It will be interesting to see how other librarians utilize this technology, what works and what doesn't work.