Learning From My Colleagues

This week I had the opportunity to view presentations from peers about topics related to technology use in the school library.  I would like to highlight a few things that I learned about.
Storybird allows users to create a digital storybook.  I enjoyed viewing Kathryn Koller's Storybird creation on how to use this resource in your library or classroom.  I can see this being a very motivating form of writing for students.  I am looking forward to setting up a class and using this with my 6th graders during writer's workshop.  I think that they will love it!
Shelfari is a virtual bookshelf that allows users to rate books, write reviews, create book groups, and have discussions with other Shelfari users.  I learned a lot by viewing Katherine Block's presentation.  This gave me an overview of the features that Shelfari has to offer.  This would be a great tool to place on your library webpage.  I think that it would also be fun to use with older readers (gr. 6-12).  Students would appreciate the social networking features the site offers.  I look forward to testing this out with middle school students next year.
PhotoStory3 is a Microsoft program that provides a simple interface for students to use digital storytelling.  Dyann Vilez did a great job sharing the features of this program in her presentation. I was disappointed to find that it is not available for Mac.  So, I did some additional research to see what else is available.  Tech4Teachers suggested using iMovie, which is what I would have suggested as well.  I also wonder if iPhoto would be a good option?
Diigo is a Web 2.0 tool I have heard a lot about, but haven't really explored on my own.  After watching Kelly Nelsen's video, I will trying this out myself!  I was amazed to see all the ways that Diigo can help me make sense out of my hundreds of bookmarked websites!  Thank you so much Kelly!!