Reflection 1

As a media specialist/librarian I had a book club for the students in 3rd and 4th grade. One of the books that the fourth grade students chose to read was entitled: The Search for Wond-la by Tony DiTerlizzi. Once the students read the book, they had to use selected pages from the book as well as a webcam to uncover Augmented Reality in several places, revealing additional information about Eva Nine’s world. They were also able to play the Spot the Differences game that went along with the book. After they completed these task they had to post their experience with revealing the Augmented Reality and playing the game on the blog.

Wondla-Vision

Content: The students had to be able to remember and understand what they have read. From their they had to take what they have read and use it to decipher the map that would enable them to see the Augmented Reality that was Eva's World.

Pedagogy: The theories that best supports this work I would have to say is both the constructivist and the socialist. The constructivist because this activity brought them together with reading the text and using clues within the text so that they could see the map come together. In terms of the socialist theory it(book) opens a new window of opportunity for others to see what unique features that the book/stimulation has to offer that they may not have known about had their counterparts not engaged in selecting this book to read.(e.g. Other students would come in the library asking about checking out the book & finding out what website to go to see the Augmented Reality/ play the game.)  

Technology: The reason why this technology is a good match is because the students can look at the post and determine if the book is something that they will be interested in reading or something that they may want to pass on.

Other ways, that I have used a blog is by utilizing it as a place to showcase the students work. For instance during National Library Week I uploaded pictures of the PreK- Kindergarten students  favorite books that they have drawn to the blog using Photo Peach. The same students that are in the book club read books from the 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet Nominees and wrote a review of the book that they read. The reviews have also been uploaded to the blog so that students can hear the prospective of their peers to gain insight about selecting books to read. I have also used the blog as a place to download certain documents (e.g. Summer Reading list), Widgets(e.g. Dolch Words),and Links to Reading sites just to name a few.  

As a far as obstacles are concern I can't say that I have ran into any with using Blogger. In the past though when I attempted to use Edublog I found that it was somewhat harder to set up. So I think as long as you the teacher/facilitator test it out obstacles won't be a problem with this type of technology. What makes the blog worth using is that it provides a plateform for students to express their thoughts for all to see. It has the potential to bridge students with various learning communities  and engaging in discussion not just within their classroom, but amongst others within their city, state, even their world. Furthermore, it provides them with a glimpse into the direction in which technology is moving and what role that the movement will have on their life.