Week#9, Thing #23 CONGRATULATIONS

YAHOO!! YIPPEE!! HOORAY!! I did it, I did it. (Do you see me jumping up and down?)I am happy not that completing Libray2.0 was an arduous task but, rather, that I learned soooo much and that I didn't give up. I am very grateful to the school library learning 2.0 gang for getting the information out about this adventure and for offering it again to those of us who didn't get around to taking it last summer. Thank you, thank you. I would definitely suggest that it be offered again and that there is a sequel to the program that would allow us to spend more time on the topics. I feel like this is a survey course and now I want to get into more advanced assignments or at least spend more time developing some of the "things" I learned in this course.
What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
One of my favorite discoveries was the online applications, specifically Zoho Writer. As soon as I learned about it, I showed it to two of my staff memebers and they immediately started using it in their classes. I have been using aspects of it myself.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I am going to contiune learning about web 2.0 applications and refine my skills.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I collaborated with two teachers who are now successfully using blogs and wikis in their classes. I am going to incorporate a blog in my library web page.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I would be the first one to sign up!

How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities?
INVALUABLE. The best, most relevent professional growth class I have ever taken...and it was FREE!!!!

Week #9, Thing #22 - eBooks and Audiobooks

I spent a lot of time looking at the World EBook Fair site for FREE downloads from the Gutenberg Project. I was amazed at how much they had to offer and that many books were available in other languages besides English. Now, when patrons ask why I don't have any books on tape, I can tell them that my budget doesn't allow for it and then refer them to the Guntenbery Project web site.
I downloaded The Raven onto my iTouch. That story still gives me goosebumps!

Week #9, Thing #21 - Podcasting

I think I was the last person on earth to own an iPod. I got one as a gift a few months ago and it was worth the wait...I got an iTouch!! I absolutely love it but had not spent adequate time getting to know all of its features. This exercise motivated me to really experience the iTouch's full potential. I digressed a bit (like a whole day) from the assignment and I spent a lot of time on iTunes downloading songs from my CDs and from the iTunes site and making playlists. I listened to a lot of podcasts, subscribed to some of them and downloaded some to my iTouch. I go to the gym almost everyday and like to listen to my iTouch as I am sweating away. I downloaded podcasts (and subscribed to RSS feeds) about excerising and getting fit which I can listen to while working out...a little extra encouragement.

Two important things I learned from this exercise is that you don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts and that there are many podcast directory and finding tools from which to choose.

I read the instructions on how to record a podcast and would like to try doing that someday when I have the right equipment and something important to say!

I have included a podcast made by a library science graduate student on the importance of having students make wikis in their classes. She makes some good arguements that could be used to convince school personnel to unblock wiki making sites.

Media Literacy
http://www.podcast.net/show/19897

Week #9, Thing #20 - YouTube

Finally, I am part of the 21st century! I had never gone on to the YouTube site because of all the negative things I had heard about it (sexually related content, etc.) but it really has some good, useful information. I searched for library related sites but got an assortment of sites not necessarily related to libraries. I looked at the sites in the discovery exercises and enjoyed the library dominos and Conan. YouTube is easy to use and I read the instructions on how to upload a video. The only downside to the site is the inappropriate remarks made by viewers.

I loved the TecherTube web site and have uploaded a very powerful video about "What Teachers Make." I emailed that video to a few of my teacher friends. There were some good instructional videos like how to make better PowerPoint presentations, why students should blog, and uploading videos on TeacherTube. I subscribed to this site's RSS feed.
Teachers Make a Difference

Week #8, Thing #19 - Library Thing

I am so glad we came back to "Library Thing." I had forgotten that we explored it in a previous lesson. I had already cataloged a few of my personal books and posted them to my web. When I went back to Library Thing this time, I noticed that people had reviews on my books. I hadn't seen the reviews when I first posted the books. Very interesting how varied the reviews were. Library Thing makes cataloging and organizing a collection easy and I like that it shows the covers of the books and allows for tags. I will be putting this site to good use.
I can see using this site on my library web page as a place to announce new books entered into the library.

Zoho Blog

Week #8 - Thing #18 - Online Apps

Online applications such as Zoho or Google docs just might be the best "thing" I have learned in library 2.0 (but there have been so many it would be hard to choose)! How does anyone stay on top of all the tools available? I played with Zoho and am so excited about it I can't wait to tell my staff. Being fearful that everyone else has heard about these tools and have been using them already, I asked five teachers if they knew about them. They hadn't and are very excited about learning more. There are so many ways in which to use these tools. Students and teachers can type documents at home and open them up at school without having to email it or save it to disk. It won't matter in what program the document was created. We often have problems with students creating a document on a computer that has Word 2007 and later trying unsuccessfully to open it on a computer that has Word 2003. Other applications would be to use it for collaborating on projects, meeting agendas, and drafting proposals with other users.

 I like the toolbar in Zoho. It has just about everything and is easy to use. The other applications on Zoho (spreadsheets, meetings,presentations) were also easy to use.

I created the paragraphs above in Zoho and sent it to my blog from the Zoho site. WooHoo!!! That was fun! I'm turning into a techy!!!

Week #7, Thing #17 - Library 2.0

I loved the California Curriculum page on the wiki. I will be returning to that wiki often to get ideas and maybe some day I will be clever enough to contribute something. I posted a comment in the Sandbox. I'm not quite sure how valuable the Sandbox idea is for a library or class especially if it can't be monitored. Also not sure of what the difference between the Sandbox and the Water Cooler is. I assume the Water Cooler is for questions and the Sandbox is for comments or random thoughts. However, I thought the California School Library Association 2007 Conference wiki was a great idea! I just wished I had known about it before I went to the conference. I'll keep my eyes peeled for it next year.
The tutorials about wikis were very educational. They answered a lot of questions I had and the instructions were very clear.

Week #7, Thing #16 - Wiki

My first reaction after reading about wikis is to say, "Boy, it's a good thing I am taking this class!" I had been telling everybody how bad wikis were because they didn't come from reputable sources and to stay away from them. I always thought that the information on the wikis was mostly unreliable because anybody can put anything on it. I found out by exploring the sites in this excercise, that while it's true that anyone can submit to a wiki, their post can be edited by others who usually will correct erroneous information. There are some wikis that can only be available for editing and posting to registered members. Those types of wikis would be good for schools. I noticed that some entries on Wikipedia might have a warning at the beginning that no sources were sited and to be aware that the information contained in that particular wiki might not be authoratative.
There is a teacher at my school who is very knowledgeable about technology and really wants to incorporate it into her curriculum. I am excited to collaborate with her on using a wiki for her class. We will design a lesson plan where students will be in groups and have group projects. Each student within the group will be responsible for one part of the assignment. The students will post to the wiki adding and editing to each others. They will create study questions and discussion topics based on information from the wikis.

I would like opinions on which wiki site is good for shool lessons? I will need to get one unblocked by the district.

Week #6, Thing #15 - Library 2.0

I read the five perspectives, the Wikipedia entry and one article from the Library 2.0 Discussions. The article was written by John Blyberg, a techi from Connecticut, who believes that L2 is essential for our survival. He states that if we ignore L2, "our libraries will just become storage rooms". I think he is right on. Look at how our students communicate with each other; instant message, text message, webcams, blogs. If they are active participants in everyday life, how can we expect them to be passive in their education? They are ready and willing to collaborate in group projects via wiki's or discuss books on a blog. L2 also emphasizes how our society is becoming a global one. Whether it's teacher's collaborating with teachers, librarians with librarians or students with students, studies show that collaboration, working and communicating with peers, increases learning.

Week #5, Thing #13 - Technorati

If ever a site needed to offer a tutorial on how to use the site, this one definitely does. Oh, wait...it does have a tutorial video but it doesn't match the Technorati page AT ALL. I kept looking at my address bar to make sure I was on the right page.I looked at Technorati a few weeks ago and got frustated because I couldn't find what I was looking for. So I tried it again, having a few more "things" under my belt, and it was even more frustrating. I searched "School Library Learning" in "blog posts" but couldn't find where to search for it "in tags" or "blog directory." I looked all over the site and couldn't find either one. I think they don't exist anymore. When I searched SLL, I did find that there were different results under blogs and posts but I couldn't figure out why. I also couldn't find out what "authority" means. I do get the idea behind the site. It would be really helpful to be able to use other people's tags when doing research. One disadvantage of tags would be if people put tags on topics that don't relate to the site.

Week #6, Thing #12 - Del.icio.us

I have used Del.icio.us for a few years now. I should say that I have been under-using it. I mainly use it so that I can access my bookmarks from any computer. After exploring this site more I can understand how valuable the tags are. I put a badge on the bottom of this page that shows my "tag cloud." I can see where this would be useful in a group research project. Students could learn from each other's tags.

Week #5, Thing #12 - Roll Your Own Rollyo

I looked at the search rolls listed on the discovery exercise. Seems having search rolls is an efficient way to find information. I explored the Reference site listed in SJLibrary's WIReD. That is a good example of how Rollyo can be used in the school library. A Rollyo search roll could be customed made with sites on a topic that a class is researching. I created an account and a search roll on school libraries. Since I am creating a web page for my library, I often refer to other school library sites to get ideas. Having all in one place will be much easier than searching for them on my bookmarks. I added the search roll to my blog page.

Week #5, Thing #11 - Explore Web 2.0

Naturally, this exercise took me much longer to do than I had planned because I couldn't just look at one site. I had to explore all of them. I went to the "short list" of Web 2.0 Award Winners and looked at every winner's site. Then I went back and concentrated on a few of them. I was so pleased to have found "feedburner." It answered my question from week #4 on how to get an RSS feed on my site. If I ever get my web based library newletter online, an RSS feed would be a greaat thing to have on the page. I also played with "Magnolia" and I didn't have any luck with it. I don't know if it was my computer or what but when I typed in a search item, it just kept searching and I finally had to stop it. I don't know why Del.icio.us wasn't on the winning list of social bookmarking. I have been using that since I first heard about it at a conference. I did join Ning and spent a lot of time on the TeacherLibraian site. I got a lot of useful information just by reading a few comments. I played the "Travel IG" game. That game could be addicting! I wonder if I will ever put the flag in the exact spot?

Week #5, Thing # 10- Online Image Generators

Magazine cover,
originally uploaded by Paperback Princess.

My magazine cover, made with fd's Flickr Toys, features a picture of Diamond Head I took while de-stressing on Waikiki beach last summer. If you click on the cover it will take you to my Flickr photos where you can read the headings in an enlarged view. I hope you will look at it in an enlarged view because it took quite awhile to come up with the clever headings and they are too small in this picture to read. Anyway to make the picture bigger on this page?

Week #4, Thing #9

Blick!! I did not like this exercise. It was all too much information for me to process. I am happy just to know what an RSS feed is! Think I'll leave it at that for now. Google Blog Search, though, was the easist to use and more on a beginner's level. I also liked fwicki which I think I got off of Topix. I checked out the Edublog award winning blogs and didn't get way they were award winning. I couldn't get Feedster to work and Syndic8.com and Technorati were confusing. The most practical way for me to use an RSS feed is to subscribe to one when I find a page that I like. But really, since I can barely keep up with my email, RSS feeds probably won't be part of my life for awhile.

Week #4, Thing #8 - RSS

I had heard about RSS before but didn't really understand what it was. I was always a little timid to click on the "subscribe" button next to an RSS tab for fear I would be innundated with junk email. Now, having explored with bloglines and after setting up my own RSS aggregator, I can see the value in them as I can stay current on topics I care about. I set up feeds for iTunes, Librarian's Internet Index, Reader's Club and Unshelved. In a perfect world where school districts didn't filter and block bloglines, this service could be of value to students by having them set up feeds for topics they may be researching. I spent quite a few hours trying to figure out how to put an RSS subscripiton button on my blog page but it just didn't work. I swear I was doing everyhing the instrtuctions told me to. I'm disappointed that I couldn't figure this out. I am going to have to revisted this "Thing."

Week #3, Thing #7 - Technology

I just realized that when I begin to learn something technology related, I go through a cycle of emotions. I start out excited to learn about the new technique or program or piece of equipment or whatever it is that has peaked my interest. Then I become so intent on studying and learning, I am almost obsessed and determined to master it. Soon, I am frustrated that I am spending so much time on it and not getting very far. I start to think that I should just be happy that I know what something is (flickr, RSS, wikis...) and leave it at that without ever planning to use it. Not being a quitter however, I plod on and spend more time until finally the task becomes second nature. When I became a teacher librarian four years ago, I came to a school library that didn't have a web page. I tried unsuccessfully to get students to make one, and then I looked into paying someone to do it. I soon realized that even if someone else made it, I would be the one to post to the web page and keep it updated; so I had better learn how to do it. I took a class in Dreamweaver, and thinking that I had enough of the basics, I attempted to build my page. It was not a pleasant eperience, as I didn't know enough and I had no one around to get quick answers. I took the class two more times and forced myself to keep building the page with a dog-eared Dreamweaver manual by my side. Today, it takes mere seconds to upload links, teacher assignments and images to the page. After all my hard work, I still get discouraged when I feel that not enough teachers and students are using it. But I have to think that they may be experiencing the same cyle of technology-learning frustrations that I do. Thus, I need to make sure that they get pleanty of exposure to the library web site and have lots of opportunity to explore with me by their side.

Week #3 - Thing #5 & 6 Flickr

I never knew sites like Flickr existed. Most of the technology that I am learning about recently is coming from CSLA. Thanks for the opportunity to increase my knowledge. I spent many hours exploring Flickr. I learned about tags and groups and how to share pictures. I uploaded some of my pictures to the site and had fun messing with them. Being on this site movtivated me to go back to my Shutterfly account and make some albums from pictures taken on vacation two years ago. I used the picture I took of the Statue of Liberty and placed it on Mappr and made a jigsaw puzzle out of it using FD Toys.

Statue of Liberty,
originally uploaded by Paperback Princess.

Jigsaw puzzle using fd's Flickr Toys
I uploaded this puzzle using Flickr's blogging tools.

Map of my photo of the Statue of Liberty

Week #1, Things #1 & 2 - Life Long Leaner

I had intended to sign-up for Web 2.0 when it was first offered in late spring. However, I moved to a new house in late May and it took me all summer to unpack. When I went to the Ontario convention in November, I went to every technology workshop I could hoping to get caught up with the latest educational technology. I was so excited to learn that Web 2.0 was being offered again in the winter. When I got back to work, I watched the video on Lifelong Learning, created my avatar and my blog and then waited for Dec. 2nd to come so that I could register with the class and get going. Meanwhile, I talked two teachers into setting up a blog for their classes (which took some work since none of us had done it before) and pretty soon it was winter break and I never started the Web 2.0 class. So I would say that as far as lifelong learning is concerned that the hardest thing for me to do is to "begin with the end in mind." I need to set goals, both long term and short. My goal for today is to post for week#1 & 2 and get started on 3! The easiest for me to do is to "accept responsibility for my own learning." I am an active participant in classes, search for ways to increase my knowledge and read "how-t0" books.

Week #2 Things #3 & 4 - Setting Up the Blog

Fortunately, I started out with blogger.com which seems to be the easiest blog to use for beginners. It is very user friendly and didn't take me long to get it the way I wanted. The avatar took about two days to complete because I couldn't decide what to wear! It is supposed to be an animated avatar and I can't figure out how come my crown doesn't sparkle like it does on Yahoo.