The Outcomes of Fall Online Learning

If you recall, I, like many others, had to get used to online learning this fall. While I still generally prefer in-person learning, I did appreciate the chance that I got to engage in some practical projects that utilized digital technology to practice professional and academic skills. The best part about digital projects are that they’re easy to share, so here are some of the products of my fall semester.

Storytime Skills

In LIS 482 – Library Programs and Services for Children, we spent a lot of class considering the various elements of storytime programs for all ages of children from infants to school-aged children. We had two projects to practice and share storytime skills, and because our class was online we shared these videos through YouTube videos. While the production values on these videos aren’t strong, I did minor bits of editing and considered what makes good video programming.

Hello Song

Our first assignment was to create a demonstration for a “Hello Song.” Hello Songs are a commonly used storytime practice that are used to create a routine for the children and caregivers. I chose to do a song called “Here are ____ and _____” that came to me from the ladies at Jbrary.

Skill Demonstration

Our second video skills video was to do a video demonstration of any storytime skills be it a craft, song, finger play, movement activity, or anything else that could be used in a storytime. The one requirement for these video demonstrations were that they had to come from a storytime resource that we also created an annotation for. I chose to do a craft demonstration because I created an annotation for the book Artsy Toddler Storytimes: A Year’s Worth of Ready-To-Go Programming by Carol Garnett Hopkins.

PIcturebook POrtfolio

This fall, for CHL 403 – Picturebook, I read what felt like half a million picture books. 100 of those picturebooks were for the Contemporary Illustrations Portfolio (CIP) that required reading works illustrated by at least 50 different contemporary illustrators and writing mini essays of 20 individual illustrations by 20 different illustrators that were taken from the 100 books read. We had the option to compile out CIP’s through Google Sites, which I jumped on immediately. The esssays consider medium, design, and engage with critical sources.

My CIP can be found by clicking the following link: Contemporary Illustrations Portfolio

I’m not sure if my spring classes will come with any interesting digital projects, but I’m happy with the outcome of my fall projects in the midst of this weird season to be a student.