Saturday, April 23, 2011

BP_RILS_Project



In this post I will be discussing the lesson plan for using LibraryThing as an educative resource for sharing and discussing books in an online setting and preparing them for formal gatherings.

Target Audience: 18 and older crowd, well suited for a community

Materials: Computer with internet access and interest in reading books

Objectives:
  1. Create an interactive community through their joy of reading.
  2. Share resources, references and ideas with one another.
  3. Critique opinions in a constructive manner.
  4. Interpret themes and motifs of books.
  5. Discuss thoughts and feelings with valid reasons.
Procedure (steps to the process):
  • Create a safe place online that can be accessed at anytime and anywhere for the members to be able to post freely.
  • Start “springboards” for discussions based on book types, genre as well as a member lounge for casual conversation and a help board.
  • Create parameters in which to grade or evaluate; such as logon frequency, number of posts, profile filling, length of book list, quality of contributions and etc.
  • Frequently check to see participation outside of group, whether he or she is observing outside blogs, posting in other forums or talking more in social gatherings.
  • Create a set time frame to track accordingly.
  • Collect Data.
Web 2.0 Tool: LibraryThing. LibraryThing is a web tool that acts as an online book list that allows you to create, share and discuss books in forums or groups. It can be used by both teachers and students alike and allows users to swap books or show the books you own or have read and offers recommendations based on your preferences and bookmarks you tag.


Social Participation/Social Learning: Social interaction takes place through the replying and commenting to one another in the book boards and also in the "Lounge" area for more casual conversations.

Making Connections: Connecting through healthy discussion and reading, members will be able to analyze discussions and generate appropriate feedback that will ultimately benefit and enrich both the online and real life community.

Create/Produce: The end should be a growing community of members with the ability to discuss books and relevant subjects while providing thoughtful and meaning feedback with possible examples or links to other resources of information.

Assessment:

Reflection:
a. Group leader/educator will post a discussion that must be answered by all the members. This will act as a formal reflection upon the users. Questions will be asked; such as:
  • Do you like the process?
  • What do you not like about the process?
  • Will you continue to use the program?
  • Is there another way you can use the program?
  • Any suggestions or improvements you would like to make to the process?
b. Group leader/educator is recommended to keep a journal of the process and look over it to see how or if the members progressed during the time period. Take a moment to think about the overall process. Ask yourself if this was successful and what improvements you can make to the process.

Here is a video documenting the process. Here is the direct link to the video.


The project seemed to fail with the lack of community participation. I will personally continue with it to see if anything improves. Perhaps an observation past the set scope will serve me better. Other reasons why it might not have worked was the time frame, it happened during spring break and religious Easter. True within the five days maybe my expectations were too high and my aspirations were too hopeful. I didn't want this to fail, I wanted it to work and succeed. Further analysis is needed to fully label this a failure, so with lack of data this remains inconclusive and I will keep you posted if anything develops on the matter. Thank you and until next time, take care.

5 comments:

  1. I'm sorry to hear that your RILS didn't go so well. I got a lifetime LibraryThing account a few years ago and love it. (Especially now that it has an Android app!) But I will admit that I don't use it for its social aspects, just to keep track of my books.

    Maybe it will pick up over time?

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  2. Great video! Great documentary! I became depressed watching it.:) It's only a failure if you do not learn anything from the experience. Seems to me that you gained much insight from the project, and I learned about LibraryThing that I knew nothing about until now! Thanks, Billy!

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  3. Ok, that was amazing. Your RILS falls into what you call "inconclusive", and a possible "failure", yet you make one of the best videos I've seen yet. I said this in Wimba one night, but I've got to hand it to you, while most of us have an active classroom to experiment on, there are a few people including yourself that do not have that luxury. I have no idea how much more difficult it makes all of these assignments, but I truly commend you on your effort, as well as your humor in the video. Keep up the great work, your dedication is amazing.

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  4. Agreed, this video is incredible. As is your idea to create an online book club. I participated in an online book club that posted everyday for a week, while we discussed one book. It was the topic that brought us together. It was a great experience. The author participated in the discussions as well. Don't give up on online book clubs. Maybe you just need to expand your audience base or market it a little differently. Regardless, your video made me want to look into "library thing". Thanks. Also, great art work - did you create it?

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  5. O wow, thank you all for such wonderful comments, all filled with support and encouragement. Its not a true failure since I learned things during the process. Thank you all so much for your words of wisdom that intend to carry for quite some time.

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