INFOhio ICoach

I chose to work through Points of View Reference Center training. This is a resource I already use, but I don't usually have time to explore it fully in the "rush" that is teaching during the year. I thought there may be some points I had overlooked that could be helpful in the future. 

The feature that is most appealing to both students and teachers is the choice of available topics to view. Everyone should be able to find something he or she is interested in. In fact, I often limit choice for some class projects to a particular category because the choices are so many. I think both teachers and parents would find the balanced approach of the point and counterpoint appealing. As a teacher, I always like the advanced search options to find related articles in the EbscoHost database. I also liked the resource shelf. That was something I had not used before. 

I also found a few of the ideas within the training to be helpful. I really like the Fayer a Cause idea. This would be great for  differentiation. I also like the Scavenger Hunt to teach students how to use the resource effectively. 

Word to a colleague: Hey, I heard students talking about a debate they are working on for _____________. Have you looked into using Points of View Reference Center in Infohio? It has so many relevant topics and allows students to see both sides of the issue. Also- the searches they can run are so much better for finding "good" sources than random google searches they end up doing. I can give you a quick crash course any time!

Reposting...The digital resource class I completed was the Ages 3-5 Digital Content Learning Pathway.  I decided to complete this class because I had already completed the K-5.  

When specifically looking at BookFlix the features that are most appealing to students would be the animated reading of the books, as well as, the interactive extension games.  From an educational perspective, I love how the text is highlighted so that the child can follow along as they are reading.  I also love pulling in the non-fiction at such an early age.  From a parent perspective, I can trust that the books have been vetted for quality and aligned to standards preparing my child for kindergarten.  As a parent I would also love the at home activities and mobile use while on the go.

Co-workers should use BookFlix as a resource for their emergent readers.  Combining fiction and non-fiction text helps to develop comprehension skills at an early age.

I completed the ages 3-5 digital content learning pathway - I know it was more than what was required, but I really found these resources to be incredibly helpful! I know that if we can start our students off on a solid path, we will have a much better time building them up as strong and confident learners.

The INFOhio Early learning portal was mind blowing! I had no idea there were so many rich resources. It is also built to be super friendly both at home and school. Our preK has iPads and I think this portal will prove to be a fantastic resource for our students both at school and to share with parents at home. As a mom, I know I'd have appreciated knowing more about this for my girls when they were younger. 

I already have an email started in my head to share the ages 3-5 pathway with the preschool teachers (and a few friends) who have little ones. Not only as a teacher can you gain professional learning credit, you can also learn about these activities that are already created and available to them, their students, and the parents they are working with. I can't wait to see what they will do with these resources. I also am excited to check out the other pathways since I will also be supporting students through 8th grade.

I completed the Gale in Context class, this resource offers a variety of resources for a topic. I am always looking for reading resources to support my science curriculum and Gale offers links to different age-appropriate magazines related to ta topic. I also like that I can easily find appropriate videos to help build background knowledge of science topics. I like how easily I can share resources with my colleagues and my students with the link button. 

Try using Gale in Context to find a variety of curated resources that will help you teach and your students learn. You can easily search for resources that are grade appropriate and easily share them with students. 

I chose to work through the World Book Student and Advanced because of the search and exploration capabilities. I think this resource is extremely appealing because of the open search, resources and information it has to offer. A resource like this provides all learners an opportunity to explore based on content. I think the citation builder, google classroom connection and ability to browse by subject would be appealing to many of our teachers as introductory resources within world book. 

I selected the BookFlix course because, at the end of the school year, I had the teachers I support explore INFOhio during a break-out session for our last faculty meeting in order to learn from them which resource would they like to explore and implement as a launching point to get their feet wet. BookFlix resonated with so many and I want to support the teachers in a personalized experience.

With this said, I do know it appealed to teachers because they shared how fantastic it is that Lexiles are provided and the already paired readings save so much time and prep. Teachers were delighted as well that Scholastic could be accessed FREE! Parents will love the ease of use and the audio component (actually, this applies to ALL users, I reckon!). Students will become immersed in topic selection. While teachers may implement in a variety of ways, students may have some voice and choice in their independent exploration as well as the whole-class integration.

BookFlix would be an easy sell to a teacher in terms of recommending: You can practice sequence, a primary learning target. Presenting informational text alongside fictional text adds to interest and engagement while meeting more learning objectives and students can explore the relationship between fact and fiction directly related to the learning experience. Finally, the ease of connecting to Google Classroom is a bonus feature!

I completed the Explora for Grades 6-8 and Explora for Grades 6-12 training.  There are a couple of primary reasons I chose thise digital resource.  First, our teachers are constantly searching for high quality digital materials they can use to supplement classroom instruction.  The other reason is since I support grades 7-12, I wanted to use a resource that is available across those grade bands.

This resource is appealing to both students and staff because of the high quality digital materials available that can filtered using a variet of conditions.  Parents will find this appealing because students can access most materials in a consumable mode best suiting their needs.

Explora will be a resource teachers will buy into because of the variety of print, image, and video media available at students' finger tips with an easy to use search tool.  This high quality instructional resources can be shared in a variety of ways including print, cloud storage and LMS assignments.

I chose The World Almanac for Kids. I went to the Grade K-5 Resources and read the descriptions of the digital resources, and decided that I would like to learn about a resource that I have never used. 

The home page will grab the kiddos attention at first site because it looks colorful and contains interesting information. To introduce the site to students, educators and parents, I would begin by playing a game, and checking out the Did You Know? 

I work in an elementary school and the teachers are always looking for good resources to use for research. It is difficult to find anything appropriate for the younger kiddos. This resource is perfect. It has good information, it is easy to use and most importantly, it is eye appealing to grab the attention of students. I would suggest that teachers allow their students to investigate the site on their own (after a brief introduction). While the students are checking out the site, I would tell the teachers to check out the Teacher Resources (top right corner of the home screen next to the apple).

1. I chose to complete the class for Gale in Context. I chose this because I wanted to learn more about a resource I had never explored that students could use for research.

2. I think the feature of this resource that would be most appealing to student is the visual ways to browse topics. I think they would also like to see many formats of resources available about a specific topic. I think educators will like the quality resources that are available for the topic. I think they coud also utilize the ability to assign an article through Google Clasroom, and to have students add highlights and notes, and then download them to Google Drive. These can then e shared to teachers. I think parents who are not English native might like the translate feature.

3. Students can research a topic and find articles, magazines, photos and videos about it. They can build digital reading skills by highlighting and writing notes on the article and save them to their Google Drive, 

• I chose to explore BookFlix because the students in my elementary school seemed most familiar with this resource.  I wanted to learn more about it so I could share with teachers all this resource has to offer.
• BookFlix offers fiction and nonfiction pairings of books and are great for non-readers, beginning readers, and strong readers.  The fiction selections are animated and make each book even more appealing to all readers.
• BookFlix has a Puzzlers section that focuses on word recognition, fact vs. fiction, and sequencing skills but disguises these skills by using a game format for students.
• Teachers have access to ready made lesson plans.  Lesson planning is made easy becasue teachers can see where the lessons allign by selecting appopriate national standards such as CommonCore and/or state standards,
• Teachers can also share specific book pairings on Google classroom and incorporate it into their reading rotations.

I chose to complete the class on Explora.  I am really excited about our students being able to search for encyclopedia articles about topics they find interesting.  I wanted to finally take some time to really look at Explora and all that it has to offer.

The features I think the students will find most appealing are definitely the graphics and the large variety of topics they can research.  Educators at one of my schools will be very happy that students can limit their searches by Lexile number.  I believe we all will be very happy that our students can find interesting, reliable information from periodicals that are up-to-date.  As an educator, I am also very happy that it is so easy to see when an article was published so educators and parents can help to put things in context.

All students need to know how to do research and Explora will help them to get away from simply "Googling" things.  They will find it easy to use, they will love the friendly way it looks and helpful category suggestions, and they can have the inherently shorter articles to read rather than looking for information in longer books with heavier texts.  A favorite feature is the choice between HTML versions of articles which can be read aloud or the PDF which looks just like reading a magazine or newspaper.

I chose to complete the class on Explora. I work with students in grades 6-12 and wanted to choose something that applies to a range of students. I feel that students are often just Googling to find information, and I want to be able to show them how to research for reliable and up-to-date sources.

I think students will find the immediate homepage of Explora appealing. I like that there is a suggested variety of topics right there to select from, and this might help to pique a student's interest in an area he/she may not have initially thought of. I also think students will enjoy being able to view sources in a PDF format - I've found many of them are more likely to check out an article or source that is fun, bright, and eye-catching, as many magazine or newspaper articles are. While I don't necessarily believe that Lexile levels are a measure to go by, I know there will be educators that appreciate this feature for their students. Parents may also appreciate this feature as well, while also finding the quality and amount of digital resources for their students to be appealing. I believe that everyone will appreciate that students can customize their learning with the translation, etc. features.

I would tell my co-worker that Explora has a vast amount of high-quality digital content to offer students, which will discourage them from simply trying to Google answers. The ways in which the content can be saved and shared is a huge benefit as well and will allow students to access the content easily.

I chose to complete the World Almanac for Kids Elementary course because it covers a wide variety of topics and content areas. As a library media specialst, I help support students, staff, and parents on all of this content. 

The most appealing features for students are the videos and interactive games and puzzles. Teachers will love that they can search for articles and lesson resources by learning standard. Parents will love that they can go there for homework help.  

The World Almanac for Kids Elementary is user-friendly and engaging. Students will love the interactive games and puzzles, and you will love that there are lesson resources ready for you to use!  

Which digital resource class did you complete? What made you decide to complete this class?

I completed Explora for grades 6-8 and grades 9-12.  I choose this one because I am always looking to find new ways to get students to research and explore content.

What features of the resource are most appealing to students? To educators? To parents?

What makes this resource appealing to students is that it is easy to search, and contains lots of multimedia resources.  It is valuable to educators because it supports the inquiry based classroom.

One of your co-workers has approached you in the hall for help with INFOhio resources. Write two to three sentences you would use to explain why they should use this resource to support student learning.

I recommend Explora because it contains a wide range of information and resources.  It is easy for you and your students to search, and the materials in the database are all high quality.  If you are looking to develop an inquiry based classroom and support project based learning, this is a tool that will be very valuable to you.

I completed the class on Pebble Go Next. I chose this because my older grade teachers (in our K-6 building, I'm referring to the 4-6 teachers) are typically the ones who ask for help with and appreciate when I can carry over content lessons and research into the library setting. This seemed like a great resource for that, as well as being one that I had very little familiarity with. 

Students will definitely find the videos appealing, as well as the science experiments and aspects that will allow them to be hands on. The teachers will appreciate the direct links to categories and articles, as well as the timelines available in the biographies and states. Parents will appreciate that the site is easy to navigate and fairly straight forward. I think they will be able to easily follow along and help out their student if the student is using Pebble Go Next at home.

Words to a coworker: I think Pebble Go Next would be a great resource for you to use with your students for Social Studies class. They have a great, easy to use site that will allow students to access the links you can provide them, without getting frustrated about have to sign in. They have timelines and videos available to clearly illustrate concepts that the students can struggle with, as well as activities that will help to keep your students interested and engaged.

1.  I ventured out of my secondary comfort zone to explore PEBBLE GO.  I was attracted to the resource for several reasons.  First, our K-5 teachers are woefully bereft of high-quality resources for Science and Social Studies.  So there impetus is to fall for TPT odds and ends.  I need a viable alternative to offer them.  Second, I had seen the CAPSTONE ebooks last Spring while searching for high interest/easy access books on compelling topics.  Once the connection between PEBBLE GO and CAPSTONE became apparent, I was hooked.  Third, a brief exploration revealed all the tabs and ways to enter into whatever topic is being being explored--such as games, videos, assessments. 

2.  a) Students will appreciate the user interface.  It's clean and uncomplicated.  For example, for a state--there are easy access tabs that take me directly to an uncluttered subtopic, such as the song, a recipe, a game. Students can click and access audio to assist them with reading/pronunciations. 

b) Parents will appreciate the wholesomeness of the materials.  No advertisements or anything else the least bit dangerous. They, too, will like the read aloud feature that allows students to be more independent.

c) Teachers will like the ways that this material allows them to practically effortlessly differentiate--while leading a class through different versions of a shared general content.  UDL supports are built in, too. 

3.  Take a look at PEBBLE GO and its companion resource CAPSTONE.  You can almost effortlessly build a Standards-aligned unit with embedded differentiation--for Science OR Social Studies.  The content knowledge is in PEBBLE GO, where students can read, watch a video, play a game, take a quiz and more.  The digital library of fiction and informational text lets you assign different extensions on your topic, but "right sized" for your students' needs. And it's all free. You need to see this pair to believe the possibilities.