Online Search Engine Reflection

This week I focused on search engines.  What I found is that they are not all created equal.  Here is my favorite scholarly search engine and kid friendly search engine.

Microsoft Academic Search

https://academic.microsoft.com/

This was by far my favorite search engine for scholarly articles.  There were good graphics on the website and it was very easy to search for different topics.  One feature that I loved was how easy it was to filter topics.  For example, I was able to filter topics based on affiliation, field of study, and year of publication.  I felt that the sources were credible, and I liked how specific I could get when searching.  This is definitely a website search engine worth checking out.

KidRex

http://www.kidrex.org/

If you are looking for a safe search engine for your child, I highly suggest KidRex.org.  The graphics are very cute and look a lot like Google for kids.  When searching for a topic, an image is located next to every website link so that the child has a visual of what can be found if they click on the link.  The only downside to this website was the advertisement box found at the bottom of the screen.  I could just see my own children accidentally clicking on the link.  However, I was unable to find any kid friendly search engine that did not include some sort of advertisement, so teaching children not to click on advertisements is probably a good lesson to learn.  Overall, this is a child search engine worth checking out.

What search engines do you like using?  I'd love to find out if you checked out these links, and let me know what you think.

Digital Image Manipulation Reflection

This week I explored websites to learn ways to change or create pictures.  First, I thought of editing photos so that I could create new signage in the library.  I learned that if I want to change a photo by cropping, filtering, or adding text, websites like Adobe Photoshop or BigHugeLabs are  the place to go.  These websites offer many great features that allow for lots of creativity.

Another popular type of image is an infographic.  These images contain data in a visual way so that others have a better understanding of specific information.  This week I decided to use Easel.ly to create an infographic about the library at my school.  I loved the templates offered and felt there was a lot of freedom to change the template to fit the information included. 

It was a lot of fun trying out different images.  What ways have you changed or created a photo?  Leave your comments below.

Using Glogster for Blended Learning

Using Glogster, I created this interactive lesson for third graders about government.  I was able to easily use one of the Glogster templates to add pictures, videos, and activities.  The only downside to Glogster is that only six templates are free. 

Infographics

A great way to inform patrons of important information is by creating infographics.  These digital images can let stakeholders know quickly and easily what makes your library special.  Our brains prefer images over text, so by using charts and graphs to share detailed information there is better understanding of content.  This image was created using Easel.ly.  Here is a link if you would like a closer look:

https://www.easel.ly/infographic/r9xwsh

As always, I would love to hear what you think!

Podcast Reflection

This past week I came out of my comfort zone and learned all about podcasting.  I discovered that most podcast environments do not actually record, they only publish.  I had to find a recorder, like Audacity, to actually do the recording.  This was a bit complicated when I had to figure out how to export the recording as an MP3 file. 

My favorite podcast environment out of all the ones I researched was Podomatic.  If you are new to the podcast world, I highly recommend checking it out.  The website took me step by step through the podcasting process. 

In the end, I learned that creating a podcast is way easier than blogging.  In a podcast, you just say what you are thinking.  You are not worried about misspelled words or grammatical errors.  The whole process was fun and it will definitely be something I try again.