Learning 2.0

Thing #18

2008-01-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

I had a great time exploring some items on the award list. The first place I visited was the games. While there I played Guess the Google. In this game you are given a set of google images. You guess the search term that is used to obtain the images. Some were simple because the search word was in the images, or they were a common color. Others were a little more challenging to find the common link. To add difficulty to this you only have 20 seconds. I also played around on Games2web.com. It is full of short games to pass some time. Some are as mindless as moving your mouse to make squares disappear, and others flashed numbers and colors and you had to guess which item was removed. I might be a good thing that gamming in blocked by the district...I could forsee these games used frequently!

I also took a look at the One Sentence site in the fun stuff catagory. Participants wrote a sentence that was really revealing of themselves. Here is an example of one of the entries written by the user named 1up; I realized what irony was when I reached for my box of birth control hidden in a baby's onesie!

Thing #17

2008-01-11T18:54:00.000-08:00

I really like using the web-based productivity applications. I used Zoho writer and it was as easy and familiar as Microsoft Office. I looked into the other publication applications also. It seems these days I have about 3 or 4 computers I work on. I am constantly having to save to my flash drive and then upload to the other computer. Watch out flash drive manufacturers....web-based apps are trying to put you out of business!

In our previous tasks, I thought wikis were the ultimate collaboration tool. These web-based productivity applications are the icing on the top. Now after the research/collaboration has be completed, the groups can produce their findings. After production, they can publish them to the public, e-mail them to the appropriate people, and be proud of themselves! It makes me think that soon we may not need paper copies of assignments anymore. In my graduate classes everything is done electronically...with public school catch up with that?

Thing #16

2008-01-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

Editing a wiki was super easy. If you know how to click the edit button and type, you can do it. I didn't go as far as uploading pictures or documents, but I feel it would be just as easy.

At school I would like to create a wiki for the students to have an avenue to suggest what should happen at our school, library, or classes. This might encourage students to have a voice. I know that this wiki would need to be heavily monitored to weed out any inappropriate material, but the school and administration might be surprised at what the students would suggest. Perhaps if the students felt like their thoughts and voices are being considered, some of the discipline problems might fix themsleves.

Thing #15

2008-01-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

I think Wikis are the wave of the future. The posibilities are endless. It's like collaborative learning at its best. In the schools and libraries they could be used for research projects, book clubs or any other club, parent/teacher communication, or just for fun. Classes could also connect with other students from all over to collaboratively learn. You could have study buddies across the nation or even the globe! Having a library wiki could be a good way for hesitant communicators become active participants. Shy patrons could give their ideas and book suggestions more easily.

I also think I would like to create a wiki for my family. Now that all of my cousins have grown up and we live scattered around the U.S., having a family wiki would allow us to share what is going on in our lives much easier.

Thing #14

2008-01-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

As I reflect on what Library 2.0 means to me, I get excited to know that I am beginning my librarian career at a point of change. I feel like I am getting to come in at a great time when many of us are still learning these new and exciting things. Had I not become a librarian for a few more year, I may have missed out and would feel behind. I would not have been the best librarian I could be.

Library 2.0 means to me that we are aware of the needs of our patrons. We need to be on the lookout to meet their needs in anyway possible. Whether that is by the internet, new books, or new technologies. It seems that we need to be super flexible and willing to change our ways in order to ensure that our library can serve students/patrons the best. Today that may mean getting out the laptops and researching the current event. Tomorrow it may mean searching books for needed information. Than again it may involve learning by creating blogs, wikkis, myspaces. It will be everchanging.

In the future, I think libraries will need to be filled with not only great books, but the best technologies they can find. I don't think the web2.0 will be disappearing anytime soon. Then when we feel we have a hold on that web3.0 will be around the corner. I fear for myself that after I complete these tasks, I will become complacent and not search for new things. I will again need the 23 things!

Thing #12

2008-01-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

Thing 12 was a harder task for me. I generally do not spend a lot of time on social networks. I would rather meet friends face to face and spend a good time with them that way. But I did learn a lot.

I think as educators it's important to know about social networking because it is what our students know and are passionate about. This knowledge lets us get into their heads a little and hopefull it will make our instruction better. It also helps us let our students know that we are someowhat human and personable if we can share thoughts about our Myspace. Somehow they think we are "cooler" if we know what they know!

This can be a very time consuming thing for anyone. You could spend hours creating your space or network. I want to know how anyone gets anything done with all the neat gadgets you can use on these sites. I also realized just when I thought I was getting the hang of some of these new things....I am humbled by what I don't know.

As I was working on Myspace and Ning, I found that I had to spend a lot of time just exploring all the features before I could begin to think about using some of them. This took a lot of time. I liked that after I explored MySpace, I could use alot of that knowledge of how things worked in Ning.

All in all, I'm not sure how often I will get on Myspace and update, but it is good to know what it is all about. Oh yeah...here is my Plain Jane Myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/motleylibrary

Thing #13

2008-01-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Social bookmarking sounds like a great thing. I have not used this before, but I use so many different computer from work to home that I need a site like this!

I think this will be great for research. When a topic is decided, a bookmark could be created then may the site additions begin. I think it will be interesting to see how students will tag things. I love to find out how their mind works.

Librarians can use this tool to share and network. I am constantly looking for new ideas, and this would be another perfect spot to find them.

As we work through all the tasks, I found that lots of these tools give us new avenues to share and network with one another. I remember when I was super excited about America Online because I could easiy find new friends. I thought now the world is at my fingertips, and the world is getting smaller. Now this is even more true. Anything I want or need to find is just a click away. If I can't find it...surely there is someone out there that knows what I need.

Thing #11

2008-01-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

I found that Library Thing is relatively easy to use. I liked being able to put my personal library in and now I can share that with friends and family. I can recall many conversations about book I wanted to suggest to friends and forgetting the title or author. Now they can look at my library catalog and know what I am up to!

As for using in the school's library, I'm not sure about it. Since we have a great online system and software, I don't think Library Thing would be applicable. I can certainly see me suggesting Library Thing to my co-workers and students. They can begin sharing their books and getting books suggested to them.

Here is the link to my Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lfawcett

Thing #10

2008-01-04T08:47:00.001-08:00

I used the Image Chef generator to create this image. I thought I would e-mail it to a friend that has moved away!

I thought this was a really fun excercise. I think this will be a great way to spice up signage in libraries, classroom, and schools. At first I thought about introducing the students to this concept, but on one site they had adult images. I guess as with everything else, you have to search the site meticulously to ensure that it is proper to use with children. Students could use this to enhance projects, or just to have some fun. I also intend to use one image I made on our website.

Using the online generators was as easy as typing and clicking. It was also easy to save to your computer.

Thing #9

2008-01-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

I have the same feeling about RSS feeds that I had when internet searching began. Overwhelmed! As I was looking through the various "finders" I began to get the sinking feeling that I would never catch up. I know that I just need to take it one babystep at a time and soon I will be running with the big boys and girls!

I found that Edublog's Award Winners was a great place to find the most popular blogs. I subscribed to one of the librarian blogs. It was nice to be able to click on one that was interesting and subcribe easily. I thought Topix.net was a little confusing. I couldn't decifer whether you would be subscribing to the whole site or if you could get a portion. Perhaps I need to look at it with fresh eyes and try again!

With some of the blogs I visited, I felt like I was evesdropping in the middle of stories. It's kinda like beginning to watch a movie when it has been playing a while. It takes a little more effort to catch up.

The most useful way I have found to subscribe to feeds is to look for subscriptions in your favorite websites. If you visit a site often, then that is a clue you like the site. Why not get the site to come to you? If an RSS feed is available, then one should give it a try.

Thing #8

2008-01-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

RSS feeds are interesting characters. I like the idea of news being sent to me. Perhaps now I will be on the frontline of news instead of not knowing what was happening around me. I have to admit that searching sites or newspapers for interesting tidbits doesn't happen often for me. Now that the news can be sent to me, I have no excuses! One problem I can see happening is that I won't get around the checking back with the aggregator and having a boatload of information waiting on me when I do check in. But all that can be handled with the simple push of the delete key!

Currently I don't have much feeding to me, but I can see myself getting feeds for scrapbooking, movies and TV news, and of course news pertaing to my career as a librarian!

As for using this in the library, I can think of many uses. We could receive feeds from many of the great sites for teachers and children. I could set up an aggregator for both students to access and teachers as well. I feel like I have said this already, but the possibilities are endless.

Thing #7

2007-11-05T13:32:00.000-08:00

I never knew Google could do so much. I really liked the iGoogle page. I set mine up to show the latest news events, a joke of the day, optical illusions, and weather. I also used the Picasa web album. I have used Picasa in the past to organize my digital photos. Now it will be super easy share my photos with friends and family. Here are my photos from a PTA night: http://picasaweb.google.com/lfawcett12 Hope you enjoy.

I have had 2 questions come to mind with these tools. Is it alright to put students pictures on these websites as long as we don't use their name or our school name? Do we need to have parent permission to use these pictures?

Thing #6

2007-11-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

It amazes me what things are out there for us to simply check in to and use. I thought Flickr Color Pickr would be great to use in the art class to teach the color wheel and the brightness or dullness of colors.

I think the I will use the Mosaic Maker the most. Once I get photos uploaded to Flickr, making a mosaic lookes simple. I then can use the mosaic I create to use on the website, print for a bulletin board, or share with classes. Yet another great tool in my tool box!

This trading card is great! It would be great to use with the students when they have completed a project, a goal, or any other celbratory time. A classroom teacher could use this at the beginning of the year, then at the end to compare how much they have grown. On our campus we have a 6th grade graduation. It would be awesome to have the 6th graders make their own card and tell about themselves, their dreams and ambitions, and what is important to them. How cool is this!

Thing #5

2007-11-05T13:00:00.001-08:00

Deep-Red
Originally uploaded by kalsang35

This web-tool is amazing. I have used web-based picture organizing software before, but FLICKR goes beyond my expectations. The relm of possibilities for this is endless. I envision myself using this for my website, and getting pictures to the yearbook committee.

I chose this picture because of my love for flowers. The deep red is so pure and beautiful.

Thing #4

2007-10-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

The uses of blogs is endless. In the library a blog could be used for highlighting books, explaining new proceedures in the library or campus, explaining resources available in the library, or share new insights about reading or books in general.

Thing #3

2007-10-22T09:17:00.010-07:00

Creating a blog was a relatively easy task. Creating an avatar was another thing though. I'm not sure if the problems were with me or with yahoo. I could not get my avatar to create, thus I could not get it to export. I will try creating it again later.

Thing #2

2007-10-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

It was great to view the 7.5 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. I came from the old school of thought that when we finished school, learning was over! I love this concept that we are constantly learning. I hope to enstill this thought in the learners in my school, and my social network.

The habit that I think is the strongest in me is "Accept responsibility fro you own learning". I learned a long time ago, if you want something, you have to go get it. I've always been very independent and done things as I pleased (I'm not sure that is always a great thing!).

The habit that I think is the weakest in me is "View problems as challenges". Just last week when I was trying to complete an assignment for a graduate class, I had a little meltdown because things were just not working! To top it all off, the leftover supper I had planned to take to lunch the next day was ruined because the cricket invasion at my house! I forgot to take a deep breath and relax and "view the problems as a challenge". After a few tears, and conseling from my husband, I went to bed vowing to tackle the problems the next day. I did find the solutions to my problems, and had a great lunch despite the nasty crickets! Had I just veiwed the problems as challenges, the meltdown would have been avoided!

Thing #1

2007-10-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is such an exciting adventure for me. For the first time since being an adult, I feel that I am not on the up and up on the latest technology. Somehow I stopped keeping up with the new and front running things out there. Now here is my chance to perhaps catch up and keep up with the students in my school!

So far setting up the blog and looking at the tasks to accomplish have been relatively easy! Hope it all goes as smoothly.