Michael's MLIS Jots, Gems, Jabs & Jaunts

Photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash Understanding cyberbullying and prevention [ podcast ] Michael M. Grant [ Generated by Play.HT audio AI studio ] I must admit I thought cyberbullying was cut-and-dry as far as a definition goes. I thought it was the translation of traditional school-yard bullying into a digital space, such as texts and social media platforms. But I was really surprised by the lack of consensus on how cyberbullying is both defined and categorized and identified. Faucher et al. (2015) and Olweus and Limber (2018) rely on Olweus’ (1993) seminal text for the definition of bullying in general: A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students (p. 9) Bullying is typically considered to occur face-to-face in K-12 schools or in colleges...

Image from  https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Pearltrees&hl=en_US&gl=US&pli=1 As part of another project in the ISCI 761 course, I had to curate a list of resources for a specific topic with school librarianship. I opted to curate a list of multiliteracies, such as information literacy, media literacy, and news literacy, as well as some resources for research skills and tools students (and teachers) would need. I created this digital curation in Pearltrees , and I thought I would share those resources here for anyone who might drop by and like to review those. Admittedly, I don't take any credit for creating these. I only take credit for curating these into manageable collections. A social media account too As a secondary part of this project, I also had to create a social media account for a school library, so I decided to do that on Twitter . So, you can find the fictitious account for Palmetto Lake Middle School Library & Makerspace (@palmetto...

I’m a big fan of QR (quick response) codes. You know, those funny-looking square bar-code-looking things. They’ve been around for a very long time now, and their heyday was about 10 years ago. However, I think there are some really helpful ways that QR codes can be used inside classrooms and inside the school library. One way that QR codes can be used is for learners with language acquisition, or English language learners. A poignant unattributed quote that has stuck with me is: Never make fun of someone who mispronounces a word. It means they learned it by reading. And this is true for many English language learners. In our classrooms and in the school library, we can help English language learners with content-specific vocabulary with QR codes and audio files. In the following video, Richard Byrne from Freetechnologyforteachers.com demonstrates how to record an audio file with Vocaroo , a free online voice recording service. After a recording is made, you can download (or copy-p...

3D printing uses a 3D printer to create a three-dimensional object by adding plastic layer by layer based on a computer-generated design . This is also known as additive manufacturing, where material is built up layer by layer to create a part. This contrasts with traditional manufacturing methods that use a subtractive method, such as milling or turning where a machinist starts with a block of raw material and removes material to create a part . 3D printing in manufacturing is considered an inexpensive method to prototype a solution and determine its viability. Here is a brief video from Mashable magazine that explains 3D printing. [If you have trouble seeing the embedded video below, you can use this direct link to YouTube: https://youtu.be/Vx0Z6LplaMU  .] Elrod (2017) describes the process of getting from a 3D model to a 3D-printed object: 3D models are created using CAD (computer-aided design) software programs such as Tinkercad. 3D models can also be created by using...

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash Given the topic of information literacy and technology for this blog post, I thought it would be apropos to try some of the online content generators. So, I popped the topics of information literacy, news literacy, fake news, and information diets into a few of the blog content/headline tools. Portent.com suggested the following headlines: Why information diets will make you question everything << Not too bad. Why everyone is obsessed with information diets Why information diets are more popular than Beyonce How a top model makes information diets work << I almost used this one as the title of this post. ContentRow.com generated: News literacy is failing us Is it just me, or is fake news totally overrated? The simple formula for success in news literacy What your relationship with fake news says about you << The one I did use! NeuralText.com offered up less sensational headlines, like: How to...

In this post, I take a deep dive into the national standards for school libraries and technology integration. Both sets of standards are currently well established, guiding educators’ practices throughout the US. AASL standards framework The American Association of School Librarians ([AASL], 2018b) standards framework identifies six categories of shared foundations (i.e., curriculum standards) for K-12 learners: Inquire Include Collaborate Curate Explore Engage In addition to the shared foundations, there are four domains —Think, Create, Share, and Grow — with two to four specific competencies for each domain.  As Ehler-Hansen and O’Meara (2019) note, the four domains reflect increasing levels of complexity for learning, similar to Bloom’s Taxonomy or Webb’s Depth of Knowledge levels , and the four domains overlap with cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of learning . With multiple experiences in each domain of a shared foundation, learners become mor...