Let's see...what were my favorites? I think Google documents is a winner. It will be great for sharing and editing documents online. I also think for keeping track of bookmarks, that Del.icio.us will be an asset for students and staff members alike. I also really like the Librarian's Nings that are online. They are super in communicating with librarians around the nation. I joined a couple of the groups and look forward to discussions.
On the fun side, I liked Image Chef and some of the other online generators for making cute odds and ends. The students will have fun with this site! In keeping up with news, the RSS feeds were a good lesson. Now the information will come to me rather than me going to it. I absolutely fell in love with the virtual bookshelf from Shelfari. I ran across this in another of the Library2Play's blog and of course had to have my own. (See it at the bottom of my blog!)
My main problem with all of this is in me being able to remember it all. I may need a refresher course at some time!
As far as how this exercise has helped my lifelong learning skills... I think I would have to say it has given me a little electrical stimulus to get me excited about all the cool 2.0 tools available to everyone. I was amazed and certainly got quite excited about some of them.
I cannot say that there was anything too surprising in this mission. I guess my biggest surprise is in how many people blog. That is something that doesn't interest me much, but obviously it does to many people around the world. I enjoy a limited time on a computer and would have to prioritize the blogs and alerts I subscribe to or feel way overwhelmed.
I think this would be a difficult endeavor during the school year. I am glad I was able to do it during the summer. It is quite time consuming. Maybe make the "class" shorter...
I would definitely like to participate in another online class such as this. I hope the district will offer more online classes.
A word or sentence to describe this activity? Hummmm. An eye-opening experience into cool and useful Web 2.0 tools. Something like that...
That's all folks! Guess I need to go comment on your sites. Good luck and have fun.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thing 22
Ning's are way too cool! I didn't know these exist. I really liked the two that are related to libraries - especially Texas School Librarian Ning! It is nice to have a site that is particular to your interests. I joined one of the groups and look forward to participating in future discussions. It does look like it is rather new - there aren't very many members. If you are a Texas School Librarian, then I encourage you to join so we can have a better communication base.
I think this Ning will be better than the ListServe I currently subscribe to. I haven't even been checking it lately because it seems that most of the e-mail generated is not of any use or interest to me. I just seem to check all and delete all the time! In the Nings you can select groups that have common interests.
I took a look at Ning for Teachers, but not for very long. The whole page was too cluttered and confusing to even draw me in to look for a group that might be interesting. They need to change its appearance.
I like the fact these teacher/librarian nings are separate from Facebook and MySpace which our students are using. I don't want to run into any of them while socially interacting on the web!
Thank you for showing us Nings!
I think this Ning will be better than the ListServe I currently subscribe to. I haven't even been checking it lately because it seems that most of the e-mail generated is not of any use or interest to me. I just seem to check all and delete all the time! In the Nings you can select groups that have common interests.
I took a look at Ning for Teachers, but not for very long. The whole page was too cluttered and confusing to even draw me in to look for a group that might be interesting. They need to change its appearance.
I like the fact these teacher/librarian nings are separate from Facebook and MySpace which our students are using. I don't want to run into any of them while socially interacting on the web!
Thank you for showing us Nings!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Thing 21
I think podcasts/vidcasts could be wonderfully beneficial. What if you can't make it to a meeting? I would like to see various school district's meetings recorded and placed on a server where you could access them. I can also see his for lectures. Why not record them and have them available later to students who either missed it or just needs to revisit the content a second time? Seems good to me!
I experimented with PhotoStory. I made up a book review of the current Lone Star Award books. I will be able to use this next year. I can link to my web site or whatever for students to find out more about the books on the list. It is probably a little longer than most - it contains 19 book reviews... Let me know what you think!!
I experimented with PhotoStory. I made up a book review of the current Lone Star Award books. I will be able to use this next year. I can link to my web site or whatever for students to find out more about the books on the list. It is probably a little longer than most - it contains 19 book reviews... Let me know what you think!!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Thing 20
I began with looking for book trailers on YouTube . I had seen some in another blog and thought I would see if I could find any of interest. It would be a different method of getting kids excited about reading. Here is the one on Airman. Ioin Colfer's latest book that I just loved! (more so than his Artemis Fowl books...) I thought it was short and sweet. Some of the ones I looked at were way too long. One to two minutes is about the right length. It is too bad our school district blocks this site.
I had trouble with the TeacherTube videos. They were impossible to watch as they kept buffering every 5 seconds. I am using a wireless connection, so maybe that is the problem. I wouldn't want to use this site if this is a frequent occurence! Did any of you all have difficulty with the videos as well?
I did find a couple that looked promising, but like I said I couldn't finish them. One was a librarian along with teachers talking about how Literature Circles work. It was long - about 30 minutes. Another I looked at was a library tour. Sort of like a virtual tour of a library...
I had trouble with the TeacherTube videos. They were impossible to watch as they kept buffering every 5 seconds. I am using a wireless connection, so maybe that is the problem. I wouldn't want to use this site if this is a frequent occurence! Did any of you all have difficulty with the videos as well?
I did find a couple that looked promising, but like I said I couldn't finish them. One was a librarian along with teachers talking about how Literature Circles work. It was long - about 30 minutes. Another I looked at was a library tour. Sort of like a virtual tour of a library...
Monday, July 7, 2008
Thing 19
Gosh, I am still amazed at what all we are finding on the web in this journey! Some of these award winners we have already discovered in our lessons! Some I was already familiar with, such as Geni and Craigslist. Our family has quite a geneology outlined in Geni. It is a fun site if you haven't already discovered it. Of course many people use Craigslist to look for items locally to buy or sell.
I first went to some of the book sites other than Library Thing. One of them that deals in used books, Biblio got my attention right away. I was trying to find an old, out of print geneology book of my family. I was not able to find it, but it did look like a promising site if you are looking for rare or out of print books.
I then went to a music site, Last. I have been using an I pod when I go to the gym, so I thought I would check it out to see if they had audio downloads. What I found was quite interesting and I think will be beneficial to the Theatre Arts teacher at my school. She always assigns a Performing Artist project and the students have a hard time finding appropriate information and videos of their chosen artist. Here you can search for an artist and find out all sorts of interesting information about them - including all albums they have made, listen to their songs, biographical information with pictures and what I liked best YouTube videos of them performing their songs. It will link you to sites (of course) where you can buy their music if that suits your fancy.
I first went to some of the book sites other than Library Thing. One of them that deals in used books, Biblio got my attention right away. I was trying to find an old, out of print geneology book of my family. I was not able to find it, but it did look like a promising site if you are looking for rare or out of print books.
I then went to a music site, Last. I have been using an I pod when I go to the gym, so I thought I would check it out to see if they had audio downloads. What I found was quite interesting and I think will be beneficial to the Theatre Arts teacher at my school. She always assigns a Performing Artist project and the students have a hard time finding appropriate information and videos of their chosen artist. Here you can search for an artist and find out all sorts of interesting information about them - including all albums they have made, listen to their songs, biographical information with pictures and what I liked best YouTube videos of them performing their songs. It will link you to sites (of course) where you can buy their music if that suits your fancy.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Thing 18
I explored Google Docs. I was able to copy and paste from an existing Excel spreadsheet into one in Google Docs easily. The whole creation of a spreadsheet was very easy! Here is the link to my Summer Reading 08 shared spreadsheet.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pfxzv2pm_FXH2s4seWJ9xWA
I can see several reasons that could make this advantageous over Microsoft Office. Of course the main reason being the sharing aspect. Being able to make a document "shareable" and then "editable" is super! Their tour gave many reasons for sharing rather than e-mailing a document. I will have to give some thought on how I might utilize this online document creator.
Another reason could be cost. Microsoft Office is quite expensive to for the regular public to buy. Maybe this could be used rather than forking out a lot of cash for the Microsoft product.
A disadvantage to using an online document creator would be that they are not as comprehensive as Office. Office has so many options and features. There is no way that these online document sites could compete.
I would say use these for simple, straight-forward documents that you would like to be able to share.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pfxzv2pm_FXH2s4seWJ9xWA
I can see several reasons that could make this advantageous over Microsoft Office. Of course the main reason being the sharing aspect. Being able to make a document "shareable" and then "editable" is super! Their tour gave many reasons for sharing rather than e-mailing a document. I will have to give some thought on how I might utilize this online document creator.
Another reason could be cost. Microsoft Office is quite expensive to for the regular public to buy. Maybe this could be used rather than forking out a lot of cash for the Microsoft product.
A disadvantage to using an online document creator would be that they are not as comprehensive as Office. Office has so many options and features. There is no way that these online document sites could compete.
I would say use these for simple, straight-forward documents that you would like to be able to share.
Thing 17
Dr. B has a Rollyo on the SBISD Library Resources Page, but I never knew exactly what it was or what to use it for. I am learning all sorts of new things.... I reinvestigated and found that it is a way to search for videos. I found an interesting TeacherTube video on a couple's visit to San Francisco. We just got back from there, so I was curious what they did while on their trip. They did some of the same things we did, of course - touristy things that all do when they go to S. F.
I created a customized Rollyo for searching for books. To be honest, I don't know if I will ever use it, but it was fun and interesting to create. Here is the link:
http://rollyo.com/talleris/ll_bit_books/
I included Amazon.com, Scholastic, a discount online book source, BookCloseouts and the public library I use. I tried a several searches and got hits with all but the public library. I am not sure why not. Did anyone else put in the URL for a public library and get positive results? Mine just says Sorry, no items found; check your spelling, etc..
I created a customized Rollyo for searching for books. To be honest, I don't know if I will ever use it, but it was fun and interesting to create. Here is the link:
http://rollyo.com/talleris/ll_bit_books/
I included Amazon.com, Scholastic, a discount online book source, BookCloseouts and the public library I use. I tried a several searches and got hits with all but the public library. I am not sure why not. Did anyone else put in the URL for a public library and get positive results? Mine just says Sorry, no items found; check your spelling, etc..
Thing 16
Wikis are not new to me. I took a class last summer and created one. The free wiki site I used wasn't very user friendly, however. I don't even remember its name! So needless to say I didn't continue to use it.
The idea I had was to promote the Lone Star books. I am going to do an reading incentive program with them this upcoming school year. I would like to make a page for each book with the book's jacket picture and review. I would then have the students post their reviews on the books. I think many of the students would like to do this.
This time I will do a little more research and find a site that is easier to use. The PBWiki site looks interesting. I didn't know you could add calendars, etc. so easily to a wiki. I might give them a try!
The idea I had was to promote the Lone Star books. I am going to do an reading incentive program with them this upcoming school year. I would like to make a page for each book with the book's jacket picture and review. I would then have the students post their reviews on the books. I think many of the students would like to do this.
This time I will do a little more research and find a site that is easier to use. The PBWiki site looks interesting. I didn't know you could add calendars, etc. so easily to a wiki. I might give them a try!
Thing 15
Library 2.0 is here folks. I believe we are on our way to 3.0. I like the analogy of our profession as librarians to a boat - we are quickly moving up river, like it or not!
The concept of the user having to "go" to a place (library) is rapidly becoming obsolete. The internet is a tool for us to share information. Why have to go to another physical place, when we have it right at our fingertips in our own home? I am all for "sharing" information - especially libraries sharing databases, catalogs, etc. However, to accomplish this businesses and/or libraries need to get rid of the "mine" attitude and see the greater good in information "for all."
Also, the idea that we need to make information easier to find or navigate rings true too. As stated, the ratio of librarians to patrons is small, therefore, we need to have the information be "user friendly" when patrons search.
The concept of the user having to "go" to a place (library) is rapidly becoming obsolete. The internet is a tool for us to share information. Why have to go to another physical place, when we have it right at our fingertips in our own home? I am all for "sharing" information - especially libraries sharing databases, catalogs, etc. However, to accomplish this businesses and/or libraries need to get rid of the "mine" attitude and see the greater good in information "for all."
Also, the idea that we need to make information easier to find or navigate rings true too. As stated, the ratio of librarians to patrons is small, therefore, we need to have the information be "user friendly" when patrons search.
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