A Push!

I am not a specialist in computer technologies. I used to be doing word processing with Microsoft Office Word when I was a subject teacher. I did not know that I need to have so much work dealing with other computer technologies. Although I am happy that I have the chance to touch on technologies that are new to me, it had been hard for me as there was no ready resources to train myself to be a technology specialist. Therefore, I really enjoy taking this module as it gives me a chance to learn and apply computer technologies that are new to me to my job. This is the first time that I feel confident in managing new device and making learning object with new software all by myself. I can't wait trying all the stuff in my library next academic year.
Handheld technologies are becoming more and more popular and should be incorporated into school curriculum whenever appropriate to facilitate students' learning. This is definitely the trend as wireless networking is implementing in most schools and demand in using computers is becoming greater. Handheld devices are relatively cheaper and easier to manage in term of storage than laptops. Teachers as facilitators in the classroom should be familiar with using it and not let themselves fall behind students.

PPT of Learning Object

Here is the link to my Storyboards of the learning object. It is about the comparison of two art forms: Surrealism and Impressionism.

http://iln.cite.hku.hk/com/1357/users/plwong/jane_Storyboards_LO.ppt

They think it's cool!

You know why lots of students want to apply for the post of a student librarian now!!

Session 4

We are trying to put the photostory in the PDA. I need to connect the PDA to the computer and upload the photostory to the PDA. The procedures are as follows:

1. Connect the PDA to the computer.
2. Choose to synchronize with the computer.
3. Click the Explorer Button and put the PhotoStory file there.
4. Click the Start Button and Open File Explorer.
5. Open the PhotoStory file.

Happy Day!

Hurray! It works.

I've just viewed Manfield's blog. The link really works! Thanks, Manfield. Here's my PhotoStory!

I want a PDA too!

Last year, someone advised me to use a PDA to ease my work in book acquisition. Since I had no idea of how a PDA functioned, I did want to have some research on it. Fortunately, this module grants me a chance to have research and hand-on experience on the use of PDA. I do have a strong desire to have a PDA for my work. I will include it in my year plan next academic year. By checking the library catalogue through the PDA, I can be very sure to make a decision on book acquisition when I am away from my workplace. I hope I can work more efficiently and effectively with a PDA.

Although I have uploaded the photostory to the ILN Web Space, I need some help to put it on the blog. I will get to the class earlier to get it done!

Advantages and Limitations of Handhelds

Lots of people like to access information through computers. Computers have become part of our lives. It is also an important tool in the educational environment. But in a school environment, computers are usually set in the computer room or at the corners of the rooms because they require quite some space for installation. Thus, they are not really readily available to students. As wireless devices are becoming more and more popular, students may use handheld devices to facilitate their learning as students can carry the devices to places where learning takes place. The high degree of mobility encourage and facilitate the collaboration and sharing of information among students since group work can be recorded and forwarded to classmates most instantly.

It will be great if students can use handheld devices in the library as space is definitely insufficient for installing many computers and the most important is that students can bring the handheld with them as they walk around the library. It will be particularly effective for a library tour. Different parts of the library can be introduced and explained more efficiently with the library webpages shown at the same time. Library skills can be learned more readily. It will also be more convenient for TL to handle book acquisition as the library catalogue can be consulted whenever needed.

However, the screen size is really small. This limits the amount of information that can be displayed meaningfully. And the personal nature of a handheld device, to a certain extent, hinders the achievement that can be brought by collaboration. Therefore, tasks should be specially designed to suit the use of handheld devices.

Reflection on library webpages storyboards

It is very true that viewers understand very well what information the library webpages are presenting to them. Icons without captions given should not avoided as viewers probably will have doubts or wrong intrepretation of what the icons represent. Viewers may waste time on checking every icon for the content. If icons are to be used, they should be clearly labelled.

During the lesson, I could see in some of the classmates' storyboards the webpages about e-resources. This has been a problem bothering me since I started to be a TL last academic year. The ex-TL had reminded me that we should respect intellectual properties. When I attended a meeting organised by the district library, they also shared their procedures in handling the acquisition of copyrighted multi-media resources. It requires lots of labour resources as well as financial support. It would probably be very wasteful if we buy expensive items but use little of them. Someone would rather use that limited resources to buy items which has a great demand. Up till now, I have been searching for free resources from the internet. It is hoped that the viewers can have free access to the resources from anywhere at anytime through the library website.

When I was designing the library webpages for PDA presentation, I had put the focus on what I wanted the school community to know and how the library could help them. However, I think I should consider more about the effect of the screen size of the PDA device when showing the information to the viewer. I have so much information to show the viewers, but how I can present the information to the viewers in an effective and visually comfortable way is really the focus of the question.

Is it necessary to build new webpages for the PDA presentation? Or someone just use the zoom in/out function of the PDA to view the exciting pages of the library website, such as the OPAC. I hope I can surf the Net with the PDA to find out the answer to it next lesson on Saturday!

Link to my storyboards

Hi,

Please have a look at my storyboards ppt and give me some comments. Thank you!

http://iln.cite.hku.hk/com/1357/users/plwong/janes_sb.PPT

First lesson of mobile technology

I don't have a handheld device. I hope it won't cause me too much inconvenience in this module. In knowing the limitation of using handheld devices in learning, I think it's really a problem for teachers to design 'mobile learning' stuff for students. However, teachers need to equip and prepare ourselves for various mode of learniong before they are widely usable and applicable in our teaching. We can't just learn the use of mobile technology and be an expert in using them in a minute.