Recommendations+for+Librarians

Zoomerang has a variety of uses across content areas and for professional development. Here are some ways that school librarians could support and promote the use of Zoomerang.

 * Leading professional development sessions, and then use Zoomerang to gather feedback about the usefulness of the sessions
 * Offering one-on-one coaching, and supplement or differentiate with Zoomerang-provided videos (see Tips for Creating Surveys); be accessible and available to help colleagues
 * Inviting colleagues to observe a library lesson that uses Zoomerang for instruction and/or for assessment
 * Conducting a needs assessment or assessing prior knowledge (for staff or students)
 * Offering to create survey(s) for a classroom teacher, as part of collaboration
 * Modifying surveys for content area teachers to use in different grade levels
 * Offering it as a reflection tool for students and for teachers. For teachers, this would provide a way to self-assess their personal use of the media center.
 * Including it as a polling feature for students on the school library website (content of poll would change on a regular basis).
 * Collaborating with math teachers to have students analyze, interpret, and report survey results (narrative, graphs).
 * Extending students’/classroom’s reach by surveying students in other locations (such as at a pen pal school in the U.S. or beyond). Could use it for seeking opinions, perceptions, and attitudes from other perspectives.
 * Learning about students: A “getting to know you” survey/interview tool at the beginning of the year that includes questions about reading interests, habits, attitudes, and recent books they’ve liked. Could do a separate survey to determine students’ prior knowledge of and experience with specific technologies, and what kinds of technology they’d like to gain experience with.
 * Identifying students’ learning preferences using simple language and examples (Ex: I would rather write a book report than create a book trailer OR I would rather listen to a story than read it to myself.
 * Using it for action research items, to generate quick feedback (from students or staff)
 * Gathering student feedback on peer or teacher presentations; use feedback to improve future student products or improve instruction
 * Networking: What are other librarians in your personal network (and beyond) doing?
 * Some practical applications: Use Zoomerang to survey the school climate for teachers/staff and or students. Also use it for Media Class or recommend that teachers use it to poll students' perceptions on their ability to learn, relational issues, and their general comfort in the classroom. Using Zoomerang also supports AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (2007). See Digital Citizenship and Ethical Use on the @Product Information page for some examples.
 * Gathering input on specific topics, perceived needs, image of school library, attitudes, etc. from other school stakeholders: parents, community leaders, local businesses, local public library. This could reveal areas to improve marketing, public relations, and other communication efforts.
 * Soliciting student input to inform collection development decisions.