Volume 2, Number 1

The Scanner

In this Issue:

Tools of the

Trade

SIGMS provides a support network to school library media specialists and oth-ers in leadership positions who are work-ing to promote the use of instructional technologies to enhance student learn-ing. It provides a forum where we can consider and explore ways in which we can best use existing and emerging tech-nologies to improve and enhance teach-ing and instruction, student learning and management, helping students and teachers become competent, critical and ethical users of information.

What is SIGMS?

Page 2

Our Organization

Page 3

President’s Message

Page 4

Professionally Speak-

ing

Page 5

Providing Leadership

as a Teacher Librarian

Page 6

Top Ten Ways to

Spread the Advocacy

Message

Page 7

SIGMS Newsletter

Guidelines

Pages 8 and 9

Recap: Position State-

ment

Page 10

2011 SIGMS Technolo-

gy Innovation Award

Page 11

What’s Your Opinion?

Our Organization

QR Code for SIGMS Wiki

http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/

Executive Committee

Lisa Perez Chair Chicago Public Schools Dept of Libraries leperez1@cps.k12.il.us Maureen Sanders Brunner Chair-Elect Pike High School MSD Pike Township, Indiana mdsbrunner@gmail.com Shelee King George Vice Chair Peer-Ed skgeorge@peer-ed.com Laurie Conzemius Communications Chair Pine Meadow Elementary School conzemius@q.com Brenda Anderson Professional Development Chair Montgomery County Public Schools brendadanderson@gmail.com Joyce Valenza Member-at-Large Springfield Township High School Erdenheim, Pennsylvania joyce_valenza@sdst.org

Committee Chairs

Advocacy Kathy Sanders Taylor Prairie IMC Director kathy_sanders@mgschools.net International Librarianship Lesley Farmer California State University Long Beach lfarmer@csulb.edu Newsletter Carolyn Starkey Buckhorn High School admin@jojo-starkey.com Webinar Jennifer Gossman Holy Redeemer jgossman@insightbb.com Andrea Christman Rosa Parks Middle School An-drea_L_christman@mcpsmd.org Technology Innovation Award (open)

Second Life

A Message from the SIGMS Chair The 2010 – 2011 school year has

started off with many great oppor-

tunities for SIGMS members. In

September, we held our annual

“Call for Volunteers”. I am

pleased to report that dozens of

SIGMS members indicated an in-

terest in working with our organi-

zation.

Our SIGMS Professional Develop-

ment Chair, Brenda Anderson,

and a host of committee members

have very capably overseen many

learning opportunities geared to-

ward supporting the technology

needs of school librarians. We

were especially enthused to work

with ISTE to bring you a special

webinar in September called

“Meet the ISTE Authors.” The

SIGMS webinar committee has

been hard at work bringing you

monthly webinars on a variety of

topics and, new this year, we have

built a collaboration with SIGILT

to deliver the “1 Tool at a Time”

series. In addition, SIGMS mem-

ber Lesley Farmer has continued

our Tapped-In series of chats on

international topics of interest to

librarians. And, SIGMS concluded

a successful 2 ½ year run of the

Second Life virtual learning com-

munity meetings with programs

hosted by Richard Byrne, David

Jakes, and David Loertscher.

Our ISTE SIGMS Advocacy State-

ment continues to benefit our

members as they work with ad-

ministrators and other stakehold-

ers to define their libraries’ roles

in the school. You can see the

statement at our wiki at http://

sigms.iste.wikispaces.net. From

this work, we have now launched

the new SIGMS Advocacy Com-

mittee, chaired by Kathy Sanders,

to continue to provide advocacy

tools for librarians.

SIGMS has recently launched a

call for nominations for the 4th

annual Technology Innovation

Award. Every year, this prestig-

ious award highlights the work of

two teams of collaborating teach-

ers and librarians at the elemen-

tary and secondary level. This

year’s nominations window closes

on March 1, 2011. Find out more

about the award at http://

www.iste.org/membership/awards

-and-recognition/list-of-awards/

sig-media-specialist-technology-

innovation-award.aspx.

The SIGMS Executive Committee

has a number of events planned

for the remainder of the school

year. Watch for regular communi-

cations from our SIGMS Commu-

nications Chair, Laurie Conzemi-

us, about upcoming professional

development opportunities. In

addition, soon you’ll hear about a

SIGMS video contest, organized

by Laurie and SIGMS Vice-Chair,

Shelee King George, in upcoming

weeks.

SIGMS is already making plans for

ISTE 2011. In the spring, you’ll

hear more details about the

SIGMS Forum and the SIGMS

Breakfast. Also, expect a commu-

nication soon from our SIGMS

Chair-Elect, Maureen Sanders

Brunner, as she calls for volun-

teers to help plan our annual “21st

Century Media Center Play-

ground” at the conference.

I very much enjoy working with

SIGMS members and I often say

that I benefit more than anyone

from the privilege of working with

such a dedicated and talented

group of professionals. I think we

are all stronger as we band togeth-

er to support our professional

needs. At a time when our profes-

sion is experiencing great chal-

lenges and seismic shifts of defin-

ing what we do, I am happy that

SIGMS can help our members to

sustain a continued growth of

technology skills to meet our

needs.

Lisa Perez

SIGMS brings you two exciting webinar series this year: ISTE SIGMS webinars and 1 Tool at a Time webinars.

With the wealth of education webinars to attend, why choose to participate in these particular webinars?

Time spent attending a SIGMS professional development event, is time well spent. Our webinars offer:

Practical content to apply to teaching practice

Great presenters who are ed-ucators leading the way in tech-nology integration

Professional networking

Free professional develop-ment from the comfort of your home

Free resources

Many of the topics focus on the professional needs of media spe-cialists, however the content is applicable to any educator want-ing to learn about the latest tools, news, and issues in the educational technology world.

SIGMS wants to support your professional development on an on-going basis, so check out the resources found on our webinar wiki pages. Here you will find links to archived webinars and associated presenter resources.

Professionally Speaking

Brenda D. Anderson Professional Development Chair

ISTE SIGMS Webinar Series

http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/Webinars

Upcoming Event

February 10th , 2011

8 PM Eastern 7 PM Central 6PM Mountain 5 PM Pacific

Topic: ISTE Affiliate Status for Your State Organization

Presenter: Kathy Sanders

Archived Events

From January 3, 2011:

Creating a Community of Tech-nology Learners in Your School or District

From December 1, 2010:

Digital Text, AT & Everything UDL

From September 28, 2010:

Meet the ISTE Authors

2009-2010 Webinars are availa-ble on the SIGMS wiki at http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/Webinars.

The 1 Tool At a Time: Build Your Toolbelt webinar series is brought to you monthly by ISTE's SIGMS and SIGILT. Each webinar lasts for 30 minutes and focuses on a particular tool. Classroom integration strategies are high-lighted and there is time for dis-cussion.

Previews of the upcoming 1 Tool at a Time events as well as ar-chives of previous events can be accessed at http://1toolatatime.wikispaces.com

ISTE SIGMS Events Calendar

To stay in the know about all the useful, professional development that SIGMS provides, just book-mark the SIGMS Events calendar: http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/

Providing Leadership as a Teacher Librarian As 2010 comes to a close, numer-

ous top ten lists appear, on eve-

rything from entertainers to ath-

letes to Web 2.0 tools. Rather

than create a top ten list, I

thought I would take a moment

to share just a few of my favorite

resources for providing leader-

ship as a teacher librarian in my

school. I encourage you to check

them out and add them to your

toolkit!

http://www.iste.org/connect/

special-interest-groups/sig-

directory.aspx

ISTE, and in particular, SIGMS:

Yes, as Communications Chair,

you knew I would say this, but

let me tell you why I mention it

here. We are allowed to share

resources with everyone, regard-

less of affiliation with ISTE. Con-

sequently, when SIGAdmin (for

school administrators) discusses

their current shared book you

can include your administrator

in the conversation. If mobile

learning or video conferencing

happen to be hot topics in your

district you have SIGML or

SIGIVC to turn to. There is a sig

for every interest – and as media

specialists we have many reasons

to stay connected to more than

one. The number of monthly dis-

cussions, webinars, events and

activities being produced by the

sigs is large: it is well worth your

while to take a look at many of

them. As an ISTE member you

can join as many sigs as you wish

and as often as you need to,

which allows you to be an in-

credible resource for your staff.

http://

teacherlibrarian.ning.com/

TL Ning: I am continually

amazed by the wealth of re-

sources available at Teacher Li-

brarian Ning. Who else but Joyce

Valenza could create for us a

community ning with the depth

of TL? I encourage every teacher

librarian to join and contribute

to this growing community.

Whether you’re looking for ideas

when working with elementary

students, pathfinders, more in-

formation about a hot topic such

as QR codes or animation, or

need support for your position,

you will find it here!

http://

webtools4u2use.wikispaces.co

m/Webtools4U2Use

WebTools4u2use: This website

was created to provide a place

for school librarians to learn

about web 2.0 tools and how to

use them in their media centers

and schools. Each type of tool is

listed (Audio & Podcasting,

Blogs, Calendars, etc.) and a

page about each type explains

how they can be used in media

centers, the top 5 from that cate-

gory and then a long listing of

many, many additional options. I

have found this page to be an

excellent and thorough listing!

These are three of the resources I

find myself utilizing continually.

In the coming months I’d like to

hear about the ones you’re using

in your schools and media cen-

ters. It is through sharing our

knowledge and tools that we all

become stronger and more valu-

able to our districts.

Laurie Conzemius Communications Chair

ISTE SIGs

TL Ning

WebTools4u2use

SIGMS has launched its newest committee with the creation of the SIGMS Advocacy Committee. Now more than ever we need to make our voices heard, tell our stories and build the case for the importance of 21st century school library programs. So as a brand new year begins, here are the top ten ways you can spread the advocacy message:

1. Build Relationships Start with

people you know and make connec-tions to key stakeholders by build-ing those relationships. Trust is key to having your message heard and acted upon.

2. Tell Your Stories There are so

many amazing learning opportuni-ties happening in the schools. Share what you do and how your program is central to student learning and innovative schools.

3. Invite Key Stakeholders to

visit your library and school. Suc-cessful school libraries in the 21st century are dynamic learning envi-ronments and are very different from libraries of the past.

4. Document What You Do Us-

ing data to document student learn-ing, professional development, and quality collections is critical. It builds the case for the importance of professionally staffed school li-braries for school success.

5. Make Effective Use of Time

Take advantage of brief opportuni-ties to update key stakeholders. Use those opportunities in the hall, ele-

Top Ten Ways to Spread the Advocacy Message

Kathy Sanders Advocacy Committee Chair

vator, or office to give a quick up-date or deliver a key message. Five minutes can go a long way if your message is well planned.

6. Be Knowledgeable Make sure

you have researched the issue before you build your case or ask your question. Be brief, and provide the stakeholder or leader with the es-sential information that they need to know to make an informed deci-sion.

7. Make Regular Contacts.

While the initial contact with a key leader or staff member is important, follow-up contacts are also essential.

8. Know the Needs of the Stake-

holder To effectively build your case; it is important to try to under-stand the issue from a variety of points of view and personal objec-tives. If outcomes can benefit both parties, they are much more likely to be successful.

9. Know the Key Person to Con-

tact. Often contacting a staff mem-ber or assistant may be the best way to build your case with the leader or policy maker.

Work Together It is true that there is strength in numbers. Build sup-port among a many colleagues and constituents to support your mes-sage. Many voices go a long way and policy makers and district stake-holders listen to numbers. Remem-ber to build support in the commu-nity as well especially among par-ents.

Even though our committee is rela-tively new we have many opportuni-ties planned. On Thursday, February 10 at 7:00 PM CST we will be hosting a SIGMS webinar Making Connec-tions- the Benefits of ISTE Affiliates for You and Your Organization. Stay tuned for more information through the SIGMS listserv and communica-tion channels.

Speaking of communication chan-nels be sure to check out the wiki for more advocacy information. http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/advocacyportal. In coming weeks we will be posting more details and in-formation.

We are always looking for good vol-unteers, so if you have ideas or would like to help with the advocacy committee-we need you! The up-coming months are going to be criti-cal times for school libraries at the state and federal level. What you do can make a difference in our future and the future of schools. If you would like to get involved please contact me at Kathy_sanders@mgschools.net. We are also looking to develop an infor-mation network at the state level to disseminate legislative updates and action alerts related to school librar-ies and technology. If you would like to help spread the word about the legislative news or know of someone who would, please contact me.

Thank you for all you do! Each day you make a difference and together we can build a strong future for in-novative school libraries and student success.

SIGMS Newsletter Guidelines The SIGMS Scanner is the news-

letter of ISTE's special interest

group for library media special-

ists and related school leaders

working to promote the use of

instructional technologies to en-

hance student learning. This

newsletter will feature SIGMS

business items, SIGMS profes-

sional development alerts, mem-

ber article submissions, personal

success stories, and links to great

resources. We will be publishing

3 newsletters this year.

Winter (January 2011) Tools of the Trade Spring (March 2011) Teaching and Learning Pre-Conference (June 2011) Professional Development Policy Issues

Deadlines associated with The Scanner may be found on the SIGMS wiki at http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/SIGMS+Scanner+Newsletter+Guidelines.

Proposals for feature and short articles should be 100 words or less and submitted through this Googledoc form: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dFppbmwtT19EM3pIcm1SYmxBVk9iVUE6MQ#gid=0

a) Feature articles and personal success stories should be be-tween 500 and 1,000 words. A maximum of 2 photos and/or graphics may be submitted with the article. b) Short articles of less than 500 words are welcome. These arti-cles may be accompanied by 1 photo or graphic. c) A new feature will be a "What's Your Opinion?" column where SIGMS members will be asked to express their views on a hot topic in 50 words or less.

After notification of acceptance, final versions of articles and oth-er submissions should be sub-mitted to sigms.newsletter@gmail.com.

Additional information re-garding SIGMS Scanner submis-sions should addressed to sigms.newsletter@gmail.com.

Carolyn Starkey Newsletter Committee Chair

Issue Themes

Deadlines

Article Lengths

Final Submissions

Information

Article Proposals

School librarians perform an in-

tegral role in promoting the

effective use of educational tech-

nologies in their schools.

About School Librarians

School librarians are profession-

als who hold teaching degrees,

as well as librarian certification.

School librarians may also be

referred to as teacher-librarians

or library media specialists.

School librarians are in unique

positions within their schools

because they:

collaborate with all teachers

in the building across grade

levels and subject disciplines.

work with all students

throughout the students’ ac-

ademic careers.

are instructional leaders in

their schools who serve on

curriculum, school improve-

ment, and planning commit-

tees.

frequently provide profes-

sional development to their

colleagues in areas related to

instructional and technology

resources.

teach a wide range of local,

The Role of School Librarians

in Promoting the Use of

Educational Technologies

state, and national curricu-

lum, information literacy,

and technology standards,

including all ISTE NETS

standards.

often serve as primary tech-

nology integration specialists

in their buildings.

About School Libraries

Libraries support the curriculum,

promote literacy development,

and foster lifelong reading habits

among children through the de-

velopment of carefully selected

print collections and the infusion

of educational technology.

Libraries provide:

a wealth of educational re-

sources for students in the

form of online databases;

eBooks; audiobooks; online

catalogs; creativity and re-

search tools; and profession-

ally vetted websites that are

available at school and home.

ready access to technology

hardware, including comput-

ers, printers, assistive tech-

nologies for special needs

students, presentation equip-

ment, digital readers, and

cameras, as well as a variety

of specialized educational

software and online applica-

tions.

equitable access to technolo-

gy for students of all income

levels.

flexible, broadly available ac-

cess points for technology

whether the school uses com-

puter labs, portable devices,

or a hybrid model.

a location that encourages

individual study, group col-

laboration, and large group

presentations.

About School Librarians & Ed-

ucational Technology

School librarians play a critical

role in the infusion of education-

al technology in their schools. In

particular, they:

support the use of technology

throughout the school by

working closely with the

school's technology coordina-

tor or fill the role of the tech-

nology coordinator when a

separate position does not

exist.

Recap:

Position

Statement

serve as information literacy

and educational technology

specialists in their schools.

address educational technol-

ogy and information literacy

skills instruction embedded

in the curriculum.

provide technology training

for teachers, administrators,

and parents.

work with teachers, counse-

lors, and administrators to

prepare students to succeed

in higher education, the

work place, and in society.

help students develop im-

portant digital citizenry at-

tributes to demonstrate re-

sponsible use of information

and technology.

provide leadership in the de-

velopment of local infor-

mation and technology liter-

acy standards.

Educational Technology Is-

sues Faced by School Librari-

ans Today

In today's difficult economic

times, many school districts have

chosen to cut non-classroom

teaching positions. These cuts

run counter to a large body of

research that indicates that a

strong library program, staffed

by certified school librarians,

correlates with significantly

greater student achievement.

Short-term savings are obliterat-

ed by long-term consequences of

denying students equitable ac-

cess to educational resources

and instruction provided by the

school's information literacy spe-

cialists and technologists -

school librarians. As schools

close their libraries or staff them

with non-certificated personnel,

students lose access to profes-

sionally managed print and elec-

tronic resources. At an unprece-

dented time in history when stu-

dents require development of

complex information literacy

and technology skills to succeed,

a robust school library program

is a prerequisite to success.

School librarian needs include:

adequate funding for tech-

nology, including sufficient

connectivity, electrical ac-

cess, hardware, software,

subscription databases, and

online tools to equitably sup-

port research and inquiry-

based learning.

access to relevant profession-

al development that supports

them in maintaining curren-

cy in their knowledge of edu-

cational technology and its

applications.

funding and incentives to

assist school districts in com-

mitting to staffing all school

libraries with certified school

library professionals and ap-

propriate support staff.

language in legislation that

specifically highlights the

inclusion of school librarians

to ensure that these critical

professional positions are

not eliminated due to ambi-

guity and misinformed prior-

itization.

“School librarians perform an integral

role in promoting the effective use of ed-

ucational technologies in their schools.”

Prepared by the International

Society for Technology in Edu-

cation (ISTE) Media Specialists

SIG (SIGMS) Executive Advoca-

cy Committee. SIGMS (Media

Specialists) is a special interest

group at ISTE (International

Society for Technology in Edu-

cation). Contact Lisa Perez,

SIGMS Chair, at lep-

erez333@gmail.com with com-

ments and questions.

This annual award will be pre-sented to two teams of a school librarian and a collabo-rating teacher from one pri-mary school, or its equivalent, and one secondary school, or its equivalent at ISTE's annual conference and exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 26-June 29, 2010. The deadline for submitting this award is March 1, 2011. Awardees will:

Be notified in April Be honored at ISTE's annual conference and exposition in Philadelph-ia, Pennsylvania, June 26-June 29, 2011.

Receive a one-year mem-bership to ISTE (2 per team)

Be featured in an article by Learning & Leading with Technology magazine

Receive a $1,000 cash award payable to the school media center (1 per team)

Recieve a $300 profession-al library from ISTE (one per team)

Receive a $1,000 travel sti-pend, (if attending the confer-ence), for ISTE's annual con-ference for each team

2011 SIGMS

Technology Innovation Award

Receive a free annual con-ference registration for each team member, if attending the conference

Receive an inscribed award plaque (one per team) Receive promotional opportunities

All nominations

must provide the fol-lowing nomination materials:

Describe the collaborative technology innovation pro-ject. Focus on these areas: What was the objective? What standards did it meet? How many students were involved? What was the outcome? How was the project funded? (500 word limit)

How did the administra-tion (local school, district, or other) support the objectives

of this project? (150 word lim-it)

How could the project be expanded or improved for fu-ture students? Staff? Commu-nity members? (350 word lim-it)

What data was collected on the impact of this project? Provide evidence using assess-ments, statistical measures, anecdotal information, or oth-er measures. (500 word limit)

A resume for each nomi-nee

A one-page letter of recommendation from a principal or assistant

principal stating how their leadership supported the project Project artifacts (website URL's, presentations, etc.)

Winners will be scored on a

rubric that is assessed by a

team of education profession-

als.

Click Here to Start

Your Nomination

What’s Your Opinion?

This issue Newsletter Committee member

Tom Stream asked , “What’s your favorite

Web 2.0 tool?” Column

Contributed by:

Kathy Swanger, Librarian Macomb ISD, Michigan

Tom says, “This was recom-mended by a fellow librarian, and since I'm in two buildings, I have found this tool invaluable! I'm constantly forgetting my USB device or I'm emailing doc-uments to myself so I can access from home. Dropbox is a great tool to sync your files from vari-ous computers (home or work), phones or whatever other elec-tronic device. Dropbox will save all kinds of file formats, and yes, even Mac & PC, pdf, word, pho-tos and video. According to the ad, it is backed up every night and you won't have to use a USB device or email your stuff to yourself again!”

Reviews Video Tour Download Dropbox Mobile Dropbox

Contributed by: Margaret Baker K-12 Librarian Coopersville Public Schools, Michigan

Tom says, “A fun easy and fast way for students to create a video, with or without text, set to music. It's very helpful for students to have an e-mail ac-count. Animoto offers an edu-cator account for a teacher to provide 50 students with an all-access account.”

Reviews Sample Video Showcase Get Started

Contributed by:

Karen Lemmons, High School Librarian Detroit Public Schools, Michigan

Tom says, “A collaborative web-

based tool useful to post notes;

etc. I have used it for brainstorm-

ing.”

FAQs

Demo Wall

Build Your Own Wall

Dropbox.com Animoto.com Wallwisher.com

In our next newsletter, our question

will focus on the librarian’s role in

promoting transliteracy. Watch for

our question posting via Twitter and

email on February 16th.

ISTE SIGMS

The Scanner

Volume 2 Number 1