Archive | March 2013

Facebook (part of Unit 3 continued…more to come)

Hello fellow bloggers, I have just signed up to Facebook for the very first time…much to the dismay of my children (somehow, I get the feeling that they don’t want me to be ‘out there’ so to speak…or is it that they feel that I am invading their space???!

Anyway, I hope that you are able to find me on:

iman.habboucheh@facebook.com

Evernote entry plus reflection on tools used in Unit 2

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s273/sh/ae0bb7f8-4eac-4b15-be18-1e31064b758b/0ff9f9cbe1389fe4805bdf2504062d19

I found Evernote and Diigo very useful and helpful tools. But they are tools that I need a lot more practice. I can see the potential of how handy, quick and reliable that they could be (a tough thing to get used to , if you are like me and like to write things down on a piece of paper).

I usually check a combination of our school calendar and calendar of events http://australia.gov.au/topics/australian-facts-and-figures/calendars-of-events (which I had now saved on Diigo)

I should then take notes and plan certain events on my Evernote tool (eg. make notes, then be able to edit notes as other ideas come to mind re: upcoming events relevant to the Library (where I work)

Using a combination of these tools, would make it easier to be organised.

My ‘current techniques for keeping my work organised keeping track of resources and sharing these resources with others’ is simply by having a lot of pieces of paper neatly stashed in all sorts of places, which has me spending quite a bit of my time trying to relocate these pieces of paper.

I try to be organized…I don’t know how I get myself in these situations…I think that I am putting something away in a safe place, in a place where I know that I will find it again BUT I end up putting it somewhere so good that I feel that I will remember where I had put it but end up forgetting where I had put it in the first place, until I find it again and have an aha (now I remember) moment (very frustrating)

And the way that I share resources is either by telling my colleagues or sending an email with some information. Or I may write it down and hand them a piece of paper.

The way that I ‘imagine that the tools that we have used in this unit would change my workflow’ would hopefully be in a positive, much more efficient and much, much, much more reliable way to relocate notes, pages, web sites etc., etc., etc..

I feel that it is very important to teach students workflow and organization techniques as this would make their learning and life much easier to navigate. It would provide them with skills that would be looked upon as favourably when looking for employment in the future. Having such skills could also help them to discover what field of work that they are most interested in pursuing.

I work in a primary school library. The students are from grade preps to year 5s,  so it is a little difficult for me to answer the question of ‘What have you noticed about the workflow and organizational strategies of students?’ I can only comment on what I have observed within the library. I feel that students need to shown how to use these digital tools. They need to be given instruction.

I recently had a year one class in the library, where I needed to instruct them on how to go to the ‘Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge’ site. I was able to show the whole class, by using our interactive whiteboard, step by step instructions on how to access the site and how to use their username and password. The class was able to reflect and remember the steps together.

On the other hand and looking at this question from a different point of view. When a year 5 class was in the library, they had homework and tasks that they needed to do, written in their school planners (diaries). Our year 4 and 5 classes all have ipads and are soon to be introduced to Edmodo (a positive step…I’m sure that they will be able to teach me a thing or two…children seem to pick up this technology so easily)

Digital technologies and internet access has changed the way we organize ourselves in almost every single aspect of our lives!!!

It’s not very often when I see someone opening the yellow pages to locate a business, we can no longer buy our tickets on our trams (I miss our conductors), we no longer need to wait in queues in a bank (we simply access our telephones), we can pay our bills online, we can go to a site where we are able to purchase airline tickets and  we can check ourselves in, we organize our time so differently today…we can schedule our time to suit us! Amazing. I would have to say that there may be a lot of positive aspects of digital technologies and internet access BUT I also feel that there are negatives.

p.s. Navman, Tomtom, etc., are all wonderful technologies that can show us how, where and how long to get to somewhere but I still love my Melway. (or am I getting off the subject?…just thought I’d share)

My First Blog Entry – Unit 1

  • My name is Iman Habboucheh. I am a mother of three. And when my youngest child started school (back in 1999) I began my transition back into the workforce. First I began volunteering at my children’s school, assisting in the classrooms but most of my time was being spent in the library. I then began a course, which had taken me 7 years to complete, in Library and Information Services, via Victoria University. I am currently a library technician, with a wonderful position in a primary school library. I intend to continue my studies with Charles Sturt University with the aim of obtaining my librarianship (I was informed that this could possibly take up to six years!!!!…What have I done??!!)(It’s funny, but when you enjoy doing something, it doesn’t really matter how long it takes :):))
  • My skills and experience with Web 2.0 tools are very, very minimal and I am still trying to get my head around a lot of the terminology. I am hoping to getting around using them more often, just as soon as I am told and shown how to! (I am a quick learner and I am good at picking up new technology BUT I need to be SHOWN how).
  • My current Personal Learning Network consists of sites and organisations where I rely for my information…is that what you mean? Because I generally receive my information from newsletters (flyers), conferences, colleagues, sites which are relevant to libraries and to our school community, for example: www.alia.org.au/,  cbca.org.au/ .
  • My goals, in terms of this program are that I hopefully, truly, truly hopefully get a good grasp and understanding of PLN and how to use it to the fullest capacity. I hope to meet new colleagues and people where we could share and learn from each other. And by the end of the year, I hope to have already started on my journey through Charles Sturt University (my first half of the next 6 years of my life!) I hope to  know a lot more about PLN before then 🙂 🙂