Thing 34: Collaborating, Connecting, Sharing

Thing 34: Collaborating, Connecting, Sharing

As I was browsing the topics and deciding which “thing” to work on next, this one caught my eye. At first I didn’t think it’d be one to delve into, but when I noticed the option for an “EasyBib add-on” for Google Drive, my interest was piqued!   My  library has a cart full of ChromeBooks, so I’ve been learning many things Google new this year.   Interestingly enough, I happen to be teaching citations and EasyBib to my 6th graders this week!  The other new tool I explored more in-depth was Kaizena.

I started by reading through the reviews on the link provided and found some mixed reviews. It sounded like the EasyBib add-on works great for basic sources, but is not the best for higher education and more complicated documents, speeches, etc.  I decided to try it out by adding the regular link to EasyBib on my library website ( http://mms.dboces.opalsinfo.net/bin/home ) with a tab for “Citation Tools”.  Up until this year I’ve used Knightcite, so that is also still shown as well.

Students found it easy to enter websites and book titles into EasyBib. They generated their list of citations, and could then check off the ones they wanted to include in their research project. (Sometimes students ended up with duplicate citations, so I had them be sure to select only one if they were identical.)  I was amazed to discover upon clicking “export” that EasyBib sends the citation list directly to Google Docs for my students!  It clearly identifies the document name, and was super easy for my 6th graders to work with. The only downside besides the occasional duplicate citations (which could very well be student error!), is that we failed to realize that if the student didn’t finish citing all of their sources in one sitting, the citations they DID complete would not be saved for the next time. Oops!  Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way and when my 6th grader exclaimed, “Wait! It didn’t save the citations I made yesterday!”.  Lesson learned! I will definitely continue to use EasyBib with Google. I need to check in my Tech Director to see if I am allowed to activate the add-ons myself, or if that is something she needs to manage.

Next, I decided to learn more about Google add-ons by browsing the article “15 Best Google Drive Add-Ons for Education”. I had no idea Google could things like this! I tweeted the article out to my Twitter followers, tagging a couple of my fellow educators (@MCSDlibrary). There is an add-on for everyone, whether English, Math, or Library! Amazing! I explored a couple of them, including Kaizena, since I noticed it appears on both the “thing resource list” AND within this article. As I watched the video tutorial, I couldn’t help but think it was much like Google Classroom, which students are already familiar with, and didn’t think Kaizena was something I would look into adding.  I suppose it would depend on the student population a teacher works with, since it allows for the audio commenting rather than just textual. For me, I don’t see myself continuing to use it at this time.

Some of the resources listed in this “thing” that I was already familiar with. I am already a very active user of Google Drive, and use it to share documents with students and colleagues quite often, and I learned about appear.in while working on one of the other “things” in this course (maybe last year?).  I created an appear.in account and now my son actually uses it to “meet up” with his fellow 4th grade buddies after school virtually.  He uses it more than me! My daughter introduced me to a similar app that isn’t mentioned in this “thing”, so you may be interested in checking out “HouseParty” as well. At first I was put off by the name, but it does work well for collaborative efforts (my 8th grader uses it to work on collaborative homework projects with her classmates).

I also took a look at the Six Tools for Collaborative Brainstorming – A Comparison Chart but wasn’t immediately drawn into anything on the chart (plus my school does not have BOX so it wasn’t easily compatible to view in Google Docs).

The Best of Breed 2016 website was great though, and I bookmarked that one. It will be a good reference when I need to look for a particular type of learning tools. I especially appreciate how it is laid out into the 4 categories for quick selection!

Lastly, I check out the “New Tools” libguide from Springfield township, and WHOA! What an amazing collection that is!  Another bookmark went in for that one… a bit much to digest at once, but it will be a great resource when I am looking for something specific.

I love how I am able to glean so many new resources in every “thing” I complete.  It keeps me motivated and always trying out new things with my students.  Another great learning activity!