Sunday, November 25, 2018

Presenting….Coldstream Library Learning Commons!


Here is how the new and improved Coldstream Elementary Library Learning Commons webpage looks:


You will find my final vision product through the link, Mrs. Acob’s Website !!!!

      I loved doing my final vision project, as I am walking away with a useful, helpful, engaging, safe and curated space to house resources and links as a means of communication for my learning community!  I have wanted to do this for a few years and am so happy to have it started!  Initially I set out to create a link for teachers to learn about the technology available to them in our school.  I was looking for a one stop option to house this information for teachers.  My vision adapted to become a central and inviting library homepage that would be useful for my whole learning community.  I believe my site is a welcoming first impression to our school library and I hope my goal of it being easy to navigate has been attained.  I have information in place for students and teachers, but in the future I plan to have more for students, teachers and parents: perhaps study tips for students, e-books, a place for book reviews, internet safety for teachers and parents, more video tutorials on technology, and updated links.
      I feel things went well with this project, but with only 300 words to reflect here I cannot go into all the details of my MANY technology speed bumps I navigated through!  Safe to say I have stepped out of my comfort zone and spent way too many hours talking at my computer and asking it questions, like “why can’t I move this tab over????”.   I originally started with my given school website (Scholantis), but was too frustrated with its tricky-to-use interface.  It was way too technical for me and I felt confined to their style of webpage, as well. 
retrieved from: https://www.weebly.com/ca
I moved to Weebly, which allowed for different templates and it was much easier to make a simple website where I learned to embed videos, add links, and make new tabs.  It was a HUGE learning curve for me, but attainable with Weebly.  I can also share that I definitely took longer than Aaron with his one-go-at-it
retrieved from: https://screencast-o-matic.com/
screencast-o-matic videos.  However, it is a simple site to use and one I will be using again to add more videos to explain technology our school has to offer.  I know many of you are expert tweeters, but I was a virgin tweeter at the start of this course so was proud of myself that after some trial and error, I managed to add this to my home page.  It is going to be an excellent way to communicate with parents, share out ideas, display student work, and demonstrate the learning taking place in our space!
Screencast-o-matic on Microbits

      I use the word ‘final’ vision project loosely in this post, as I have more to add and this is in no way a finished project.  I know my site will need to change and adapt to meet the learning needs of my learning community as my community grows and changes.  A big focus  on my site is resources for our school wide inquiry for students and teachers.  I know this will be an area that will be added to and changed, as we journey on this inquiry path as a school. I will gladly take feedback from all of you to make my site better (please note…the sd22 digital resource link will NOT work for you, as you need to be on one of our school computers).   I will say I feel triumphant with my final artifact and know that with my new found knowledge, I can be sharing out the site to my colleagues and students!

References

- Coldstream Elementary School. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.sd22.bc.ca/school/coldstream/Programs/library/Pages/default.aspx
Heather, A. (2018). MRS. ACOB'S WEBSITE. Retrieved from https://coldstreamlibrary.weebly.com/
Screen Recorder & Video Editor | Screencast-O-Matic. (2018). Retrieved from https://screencast-o-matic.com/
Weebly is the easiest way to create a website, store or blog. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.weebly.com/ca

4 comments:

  1. Hey Heather,

    I love your website! When I first clicked on it I was completely drawn to the layout, and fonts that you chose. It is so organized and easy to navigate. I like how you have the Twitter feed on the right side. What a great way for families to see what is going on at your school. The organization of tabs for students, teachers and parents is so simple and effective.

    Your final vision project has the great opportunity to grow and change over time which is what I like about mine as well. It will be so useful to have a solid usable website. It can be so overwhelming to start a big project like this in your own time so having that initial push from a course is perfect.

    Great work on this and thanks for all the great ideas and comments the last couple months. Time has flown by.

    Take care!

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  2. I love it! What a great website and I can't get over how much information you have already got on it. Really impressive. It also looks like it will be easy to maintain. You've truly created a working document that will serve both teachers and students alike. Nice work, Heather:)

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  3. Well done! I can fully relate to the idea that "final" is a loose term when writing about the project. A website is an ever changing document. The little video you made to demonstrate microbits is a great way to quickly and effectively acquaint teachers with the new technology and capacity. Your website is already providing me with some items I would like to include on my Scholantis website such as information from PAC!

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  4. Awesome job Mrs. Acob! I will definitely be looking to update our Kidston website so it mirrors what you have done. The look is so much more appealing, and offers a clean and easy way to navigate the district site...I will be talking to you about this soon!!! :)

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