I was going to say this was the end, but it's not. If I had to summarize this experience in one sentence, I would say it was an incredible journey and a hell of a ride. I enjoyed it, but along the way I experienced many frustrations and sorrows. Computer and software incompatibilities, mistakes, computer crashed, blocked sites, missing buttons, etc. The most signifucant drawback was the lack of large blocks of uninterrupted time to pursue my jpurney. I hope I never reach my destination, for the travels have been fun. I greatly enjoyed most of the journey, and I learned things beyond my wildest dreams.
I thought mashes were some of the strangest things I explored. I really had to ask myself. Well, yes, I can do this, but, why do I want to??? My most favorites were the wikis, animotos, Del.icio.us, and RSS feeds. I want to further explore many of these areas, and plan to spend part of my summer delving deeper into the mysteries, especially nings. My least favorite was the flickr site.
This program has altered my lifelong learning goals ny emphasizing that I have a need and a responsibility as an educator to try and stay abreast of technology, and to keep and open mind and keep learning. I would eagerly participate in another discovery learning activity, but there were a few times when a little more guided learning in the form of a few types or written directions would have speeded up the process. As time is one of our most precious commodities, next time plan on a guided discovery process for the more difficult technological issues. GFor example, I never could get my trading card to post properly to my blogsite.
But, I have plans to use what I learned both personally and professionally. Since teaching is in my genes, I expect to share this knowledge with many. I hope to influence my faculty and school librarian to use more technology nest year. It will be my second year in this building, and, as Dr. Bishop and Dr. Claes cautions, get to knwo your community before you make any changes. I have, and I will. It has been an unforgettable journey. Thanks for providing the experience. Personally, I think the entire class could have been the 23 things, taught as a more guided discovery experience. I would then be a much more proficient student ready to go forth and teach this technology.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Thing # 22 - Nings
I joined the Texas School Librarian Ning and explored some of their postings. They seemed to be tallking about things I was interested in and concerned about, however, I was dismayed to find that while there was a high school group, a middle school group, and even 2 Harry Potter groups, there was no elementary school librarian group. I will have to see what I can do to rectify that situation.
I have to admit, when I first heard about nings and that they were a social networking group, I was not excited about learning about them. I don't care for sites such as my space, etc. But, I was pleaseantly surprised to find that nings were focused on a specific interest. As a result, people aren't hiding behind pseudonyms and facades to protect themselves. Instead, they are genuinely interested in networking and collaborating with each other. I am going to try and start 2 new nings, one for me professionally among educational diagnosticians, and another personally specifically for canpeong and kayaking instructors. I haven't decided yet if it will be specifically for one craft (then I would need two) or even for a specific venue (whiewater as opposed to flatwater as opposed to sea kayaking).. All I know at this point is that such collaboration could be very valuable. I am looking forward to developing a ning just for Red CRoss instructors as well.
I am going to encourage my teachers to join the Ning for Teachers, but first I have to convince the district to unblock it. INterseting that the librarian site is not blocked, but the teacher one is. They are both social networking sites!
I have to admit, when I first heard about nings and that they were a social networking group, I was not excited about learning about them. I don't care for sites such as my space, etc. But, I was pleaseantly surprised to find that nings were focused on a specific interest. As a result, people aren't hiding behind pseudonyms and facades to protect themselves. Instead, they are genuinely interested in networking and collaborating with each other. I am going to try and start 2 new nings, one for me professionally among educational diagnosticians, and another personally specifically for canpeong and kayaking instructors. I haven't decided yet if it will be specifically for one craft (then I would need two) or even for a specific venue (whiewater as opposed to flatwater as opposed to sea kayaking).. All I know at this point is that such collaboration could be very valuable. I am looking forward to developing a ning just for Red CRoss instructors as well.
I am going to encourage my teachers to join the Ning for Teachers, but first I have to convince the district to unblock it. INterseting that the librarian site is not blocked, but the teacher one is. They are both social networking sites!
Thing # 21 - Podcasts, Vidcasts, and Audiobooks
I am familiar with audiobooks as I have been accessing them through a publisher who has been providing them free of charge as an attempt to boost sales of the books. I don't know id the sales actually increased, but my teachers sure enjoyed sharing the books with their students. Capstone Press provided this free service, which expired at the end of March, I believe. It presented the full color pages of the book and even read the story out loud and turned the pages upon mouse direction.
As to vidcasts and podcasts, I have marginal experience with either. I tried to download audacity to my Mac, but never got it wirking correctly. While I haven't created anything independently using Photostory, I did collaborate and contribute pictures for a nice slideshow with music detailing the Medina River Cleanup, which I am a section head for annually. I cannot take credit for its creation, but I did help in planning and contributing. Medina River Cleanup. I will pursue this more this summer, as I would like to make more presentations like this to promote my canoeing and kayaking classes to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
I think kids can learn valuable lessons if they are given assignments in which they have to collaborate with their peers to present vidcasts and podcasts. Learning comes alive and becomes personal. Many lessons are learned from this type of experience. Unfortunately, few are measurable by TAKS, so teachers have to fight to justify the teaching time to allow this sort of assignment. I will try to educate people as to its value. We are using a podcast in our final collaborative teaching assignment for this class.
As to vidcasts and podcasts, I have marginal experience with either. I tried to download audacity to my Mac, but never got it wirking correctly. While I haven't created anything independently using Photostory, I did collaborate and contribute pictures for a nice slideshow with music detailing the Medina River Cleanup, which I am a section head for annually. I cannot take credit for its creation, but I did help in planning and contributing. Medina River Cleanup. I will pursue this more this summer, as I would like to make more presentations like this to promote my canoeing and kayaking classes to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
I think kids can learn valuable lessons if they are given assignments in which they have to collaborate with their peers to present vidcasts and podcasts. Learning comes alive and becomes personal. Many lessons are learned from this type of experience. Unfortunately, few are measurable by TAKS, so teachers have to fight to justify the teaching time to allow this sort of assignment. I will try to educate people as to its value. We are using a podcast in our final collaborative teaching assignment for this class.
Thing # 20 - You Tube and Teacher Tube
Until I took this class I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a Teacher Tube. I was remotely familiar with You Tube, as many paddling conquests of waterfalls and rapids were videoed and posted to this site, but I had no idea of how to navigate through it.
I wish the school district didn't block You Tube, because there are valuable teaching videos there as well. However, I understand the difficulty of censoring the inappropriate content available there.
I love Teacher Tube. I viewed the video 3 Steps and I thought it was excellent. I'm going to show it to my principal, because I'd like our campus to move more in that direction next year. You cannot make it a goal if you first cannot conceptualize it. maybe it would help prevent such a high failure and dropout rate. Of course, we have to compete with TAKS prep time, and that seems to be sacred. But, back to the video, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to teach the 3 C's, Competition, Cooperation, and Collaboration, and we need to create a safe and creatuve learning space for our kids. Web 2.0 tools can helpus do this, as they are great at communication and collaborative tasks.
While I have little experience with streaming technologies such as United Streaming (since I don't teach) and zero experience with Zamzar, I recognoze that a picture is indeed worth a thousand words, and in turn, a video is worth a million words. Not only are they usually multisensory, they allow the poor and nonreaders to participate in the curriculum on an equal footing. Teacher Tube is an awesome tool in our teaching toolboxes. Unfortubnately, many teachers have never even seen a Teacher Tube video.
I am going to try and create a tecnology survey to give at the beginning of the next school year. Hopefully, I can get my librarian to collaborate on it.
I wish the school district didn't block You Tube, because there are valuable teaching videos there as well. However, I understand the difficulty of censoring the inappropriate content available there.
I love Teacher Tube. I viewed the video 3 Steps and I thought it was excellent. I'm going to show it to my principal, because I'd like our campus to move more in that direction next year. You cannot make it a goal if you first cannot conceptualize it. maybe it would help prevent such a high failure and dropout rate. Of course, we have to compete with TAKS prep time, and that seems to be sacred. But, back to the video, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to teach the 3 C's, Competition, Cooperation, and Collaboration, and we need to create a safe and creatuve learning space for our kids. Web 2.0 tools can helpus do this, as they are great at communication and collaborative tasks.
While I have little experience with streaming technologies such as United Streaming (since I don't teach) and zero experience with Zamzar, I recognoze that a picture is indeed worth a thousand words, and in turn, a video is worth a million words. Not only are they usually multisensory, they allow the poor and nonreaders to participate in the curriculum on an equal footing. Teacher Tube is an awesome tool in our teaching toolboxes. Unfortubnately, many teachers have never even seen a Teacher Tube video.
I am going to try and create a tecnology survey to give at the beginning of the next school year. Hopefully, I can get my librarian to collaborate on it.
Thing # 19 - Web 2.0 Awards List
When I visited the Web 2.0 Awards Site, I was immediately humbled by the knowledge thatthere are over 500 WEb 2.0 tools out there and how few I have learned, and how even fewer I have mastered, and how many more I have to learn. And now, I here, Web 3,0 stuff is already appearing. I really have a lot to learn.
I looked at the award winners in books and was pleased that I was familiar with 2 out of the top 3 sites, LibraryThing and Biblio.com. I would like to learn more about lulu, as I have always aspired to be a writer.
Similarly, I was excited to learn that I had visited 2 of the top 3 hosted wili sites as well, wetpaint and pbwiki. However, there were many categories where I had never heard of that website.
This looks like a great site to begin an exploartory trip through the websites listed ina specific area. I sure that the award winning sites have value and would be worth the time investment to explore the category of interest.
I think the Web 2.0 Awards could be used for research in a middle school, high school, and college age environment with great success. It is probably too advanced for elementary students to access indedoendently. As a librarian, I would want to have this site inmy research toolbox and probably want to bring it to the attention of my teachers as well.
I looked at the award winners in books and was pleased that I was familiar with 2 out of the top 3 sites, LibraryThing and Biblio.com. I would like to learn more about lulu, as I have always aspired to be a writer.
Similarly, I was excited to learn that I had visited 2 of the top 3 hosted wili sites as well, wetpaint and pbwiki. However, there were many categories where I had never heard of that website.
This looks like a great site to begin an exploartory trip through the websites listed ina specific area. I sure that the award winning sites have value and would be worth the time investment to explore the category of interest.
I think the Web 2.0 Awards could be used for research in a middle school, high school, and college age environment with great success. It is probably too advanced for elementary students to access indedoendently. As a librarian, I would want to have this site inmy research toolbox and probably want to bring it to the attention of my teachers as well.
Thing # 18 - Online Productivity Tools
The biggest advantage I can see with online productivity tools is the price. Free is free. Microsoft charges a fortune for their Office products. It appears that Open Office is a great and inexpensive solution to having the same tools I paid lots of money to get on my home computer. I mainly use the word processor, spread sheet, data base, and power point programs. I don't know how compatible these would be with my MacIntosh and I cannot try it since I already had Microsoft Office bought and paid for and installed. But, even those don't interface seamlessly. Formatting gets lost in the translation, and don't even get me started about how incompatible the excel programs are. So, the boast that Open Office makes for their use on multiple platforms doesn't really cover the ability of the programs to crossover from platform to platform correctly. I am suspicious of this capability, since Microsoft cannot even mange this, despite all of the resources they have available to throw at the problem. However, if you are not crossing platforms, it is probably a wonderful solution.
Open Office will allow many people who could otherwise access these office tools due to their expense the ability to have and use them. I wonder about the security of the documents, but that is a concern on any platform with any software program.
As to Google.docs, I learned about them when I was creating my first wiki. It is a wonderful site for sharing a single document that many people are working on. I think it is the ultimate collaboration Tool. I really, really like it, and will use it often, as I do a lot of collaborative work.
Open Office will allow many people who could otherwise access these office tools due to their expense the ability to have and use them. I wonder about the security of the documents, but that is a concern on any platform with any software program.
As to Google.docs, I learned about them when I was creating my first wiki. It is a wonderful site for sharing a single document that many people are working on. I think it is the ultimate collaboration Tool. I really, really like it, and will use it often, as I do a lot of collaborative work.
Thing # 17 - Sandbox
I had no idea when I started this technology class that what I learned could have such a profound effect on how I do my job and how I can improve on doing my job by using some of the Web 2.0 tools I have learned here! My giggest question is - why hadn't I heard of this before? Why aren't we disseminating this more quickly and more broadly? Why don't new teachers and librarians and those in training for such not know more about Web 2.0 technology? This is too big and too important to hide in a college class. Why isn't there a blurb about it and a link to a teaching website on the 6:00 news at least once a month. It's a shame that we have such wonderful technology that so few people actually know about. And, I'm talking educated people with multiple college degrees. This could benefit anyone who uses a computer, whether they use it at the library or at school or have their own home computer. Let spread the word. We need more national publicity about Web 2.0 and even 3.0.
I enjoyed playing in the SBISD Sandbox and reading evryone else's comments. The overwhelming reactions all seem to include amazement and excitement at learning the web 2.0 technology. I hope we can padd this on to our students as well.
I enjoyed playing in the SBISD Sandbox and reading evryone else's comments. The overwhelming reactions all seem to include amazement and excitement at learning the web 2.0 technology. I hope we can padd this on to our students as well.
Thing # 16 - Wikis
Wikis are the first thing I did in the 23 things, as I needed that knowledge for an early class assignment. I really enjoy wikis and can see many uses for them.
A good place to start is with the video Wikis in Plain English. Like the rest of the Commoncraft video collection, it is a simple and effective way to explain wikis to anyone, even 10 yesr old kids. I recently used the video in an introductory lesson with resource 5th graders. Even the students with processing problems were able to comprehend the idea of a wiki and to use a wiki site that same day. I used it to encourage them to respond in writing to their reading comprehension questions and to respond in writing to their student peers writings as well. It was well-receicved by the students and their teachers, including a student teacher who knew nothing about them.
I think wikis have many uses, particularly if you need to share and modify information among a group of people. I am using it personally to help manage my canoeing and kayaking instruction program and to disseminate to and share information with my fellow instructors.
I can see teachers using it as a class resource to post assignments and share student work and accomplishments. Students could use them for reasearch projects and to collaboratively solve math problems or study for test. Librarians already use them, as evidenced by the plethora of excellent libarary wiki sites out there. I think wikis will be a very large piece of my future. I can even see a use for them to share and interpret assessments among my diagnostician coworkers.
A good place to start is with the video Wikis in Plain English. Like the rest of the Commoncraft video collection, it is a simple and effective way to explain wikis to anyone, even 10 yesr old kids. I recently used the video in an introductory lesson with resource 5th graders. Even the students with processing problems were able to comprehend the idea of a wiki and to use a wiki site that same day. I used it to encourage them to respond in writing to their reading comprehension questions and to respond in writing to their student peers writings as well. It was well-receicved by the students and their teachers, including a student teacher who knew nothing about them.
I think wikis have many uses, particularly if you need to share and modify information among a group of people. I am using it personally to help manage my canoeing and kayaking instruction program and to disseminate to and share information with my fellow instructors.
I can see teachers using it as a class resource to post assignments and share student work and accomplishments. Students could use them for reasearch projects and to collaboratively solve math problems or study for test. Librarians already use them, as evidenced by the plethora of excellent libarary wiki sites out there. I think wikis will be a very large piece of my future. I can even see a use for them to share and interpret assessments among my diagnostician coworkers.
Thing # 15 - Library Web 2.0
I visited the Digital Ethnography site and reviewed the transcript of a vision of students today. I could identify with some of what he was saying, but I found the reaction postings far more elucidating, particularly the perspectives of the foreigners to the American student's view of the classroom. Such hostility! and so many opposing viewpoints.
I hope we can someday all agree to disagree peacefully.
As to what Library 2.0 means to me, I see libraries at a threshhold of opportunity - we librarians can choose to embrace and learn the technological tools of the future, or we can fall by the wa\yside and be forgotten, like some of the dusty books moldering unread in some of the backshelves of our libraries.
I think the future role of librarians is as a facilitator and teacher of learning tools and methods used to access and manage information, not just a textbook custodian. And I am excited to be learning about it through these 23 things.
I hope we can someday all agree to disagree peacefully.
As to what Library 2.0 means to me, I see libraries at a threshhold of opportunity - we librarians can choose to embrace and learn the technological tools of the future, or we can fall by the wa\yside and be forgotten, like some of the dusty books moldering unread in some of the backshelves of our libraries.
I think the future role of librarians is as a facilitator and teacher of learning tools and methods used to access and manage information, not just a textbook custodian. And I am excited to be learning about it through these 23 things.
Thing # 14 - Technorati and tags
Technorati's video was helpful. I enjoyed reading the history on the website even more. I liked the phrase" serendipitous discovery of intersting stuff" a valid descriptor for this site. It really does make locating and organizing massive amounts of information easier.
When i searched for School Library Learning 2.0, I found the most hits from the keyword search. While the fewest results were found using a tag search, they were also the most timely. I wonder if tag searches suffer because people do not yet understand the value of and how to rtag their creations effectively. I know I knew nothing about tagging before beginning the 23 Things. Taging is very valuable, but I believe it is a skill that must be taught. I didn't find it intuitive.
As to its usefulness in the library, I can use it personally, but I see it more useful as a tool to teach others how to use to organize their learning.
When i searched for School Library Learning 2.0, I found the most hits from the keyword search. While the fewest results were found using a tag search, they were also the most timely. I wonder if tag searches suffer because people do not yet understand the value of and how to rtag their creations effectively. I know I knew nothing about tagging before beginning the 23 Things. Taging is very valuable, but I believe it is a skill that must be taught. I didn't find it intuitive.
As to its usefulness in the library, I can use it personally, but I see it more useful as a tool to teach others how to use to organize their learning.
Thing # 13 - Del.icio.us and tags
I enjoyed learning about Del.icio.us and how to use tags to help organize my bookmarks. This is one of the most useful tools I have researched so far for me. I have tons of bookmarks, and have often bemoaned the fact that I cannot always remember what is saved under what bookmark, and exactly where to find a specific piece of information that I need. Del.icio.us solves that problem. It will take me a while, but I will eventually convert many of my cryptic bookmarks by adding the appropriate and multiple tags.
While reaserching the site, I found a great new website called visuwords. This website gives a graphical definition of a word, and it employs many different colors, which I find attractive, and I think will also attrack my students' interests.
While reaserching the site, I found a great new website called visuwords. This website gives a graphical definition of a word, and it employs many different colors, which I find attractive, and I think will also attrack my students' interests.
Thing # 12 - Rollyo
I established a Rollyo custom search engine that was very eclectic. I started out dealing with health issues and special education, but it quickly expanded in a free for all grab to make sure I didn't leave out some search engine that could possibly be valuable to me. I'm always afraid that I didn't consider enough or didn't get all the facts. Anyway, here's the link to my
%20%20Select...My%20Rollyo%20SearchboxHealth%20SearchMac%20SearchArmchair%20Scientistrollyo.
Thing # 11 - Library Thing
I enjoyed visiting the Library Thing website, but I don't think it is very practical for me right now. I have several thousand books in my personal library, many of them reference books, and old books that are out of print. It would take an enormous amount of time to catalog all of them, and then, I doubt anyone else would want to read them anyway. I added some horse books and attempted to add an older book. While I could find the book title, the copyright dates were wrong. This appears to work best with current books, rather than old books.
What I might do in the future is establish a small list in very specific categories and list just those subjects and associated books. Something that is topical and changing, of course, such as how to besrt treat ADHD.
The best use for this is in the library is to make the users aware of the Library Thing website, so they can add their books abnd find other groups of people who appreciate reading the same types of books. As for me, I'd rather spend most of my time reading my own books, rather than cataloging them.
What I might do in the future is establish a small list in very specific categories and list just those subjects and associated books. Something that is topical and changing, of course, such as how to besrt treat ADHD.
The best use for this is in the library is to make the users aware of the Library Thing website, so they can add their books abnd find other groups of people who appreciate reading the same types of books. As for me, I'd rather spend most of my time reading my own books, rather than cataloging them.
Thing # 10 - Online Image Generators
I didn't know how easy it was to make a trading card. I had fun making cards for my friend's cats.
Inky and Casey. However, when I went to embed the cards in this document, all I got was an error message after a long delay, saying I should report it to Blogger with an assigned error code.
Inky-http://bighugelabs.com/photos/2081bbb1028abab79d5257c3e9e83f1b/deck2165123
2081bbb1028abab79d5257c3e9e83f1b/deck2165123.jpg" alt="Image hosted @ bighugelabs.com
Casey-http://bighugelabs.com/photos/2081bbb1028abab79d5257c3e9e83f1b/deck5692048
So, I moved on to comic strip generator and made a comic strip using Woody Woodpecker.
www.TXT2PIC.com with free web based tools (hundreds of image generators that run through a web broswer, no software to buy or install).'>
Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com
While it said it uploaded from my computer, I don't see it. Oh well, I will get with a friend and figure it out later.
I never knew this was so simple or so much fun. I can visualize kids making trading cards of themselves and also of historical people they are studying. What an excellent minireport. All I need is a digital camera or a scanner to take the pictures.
Inky and Casey. However, when I went to embed the cards in this document, all I got was an error message after a long delay, saying I should report it to Blogger with an assigned error code.
Inky-http://bighugelabs.com/photos/2081bbb1028abab79d5257c3e9e83f1b/deck2165123
2081bbb1028abab79d5257c3e9e83f1b/deck2165123.jpg" alt="Image hosted @ bighugelabs.com
Casey-http://bighugelabs.com/photos/2081bbb1028abab79d5257c3e9e83f1b/deck5692048
So, I moved on to comic strip generator and made a comic strip using Woody Woodpecker.
www.TXT2PIC.com with free web based tools (hundreds of image generators that run through a web broswer, no software to buy or install).'>Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com
While it said it uploaded from my computer, I don't see it. Oh well, I will get with a friend and figure it out later.
I never knew this was so simple or so much fun. I can visualize kids making trading cards of themselves and also of historical people they are studying. What an excellent minireport. All I need is a digital camera or a scanner to take the pictures.
Thing #9 - Useful Blogs and Feeds
This thing #9 learning task was educational for me. I opened Technorati and saw a picture of a seal that was a video link; when I clicked on it I was surprised to have it open in Spanish. I didn't realize that it was an international site. It is great to have a place to search for videos easily. The only one I was previously familiar with was Atomic Learning, which my school subscribes to.
I appreciated reading the Circle of the Wise article in the Cool Cat Blog. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-create-your-circle-of-wise-how.html
It helped me organize my thinking on how best to use blogs and RSS feeds. I can see how you can easily go into information overload with too much data to manage.
I enjoted reading some of the school library blogs on suprglu, but found it to be time-consuming. Perhaps in the summer, when my resources aren't stretched so thin, I will revisit the site.
I found that the easiest method of finding data was to use the Bloglines Search Tool. http://www.bloglines.com/search
The most confusing site I investigated was Syndic8.com. It was so large and eclectic that I found it difficult to locate specific information in it. http://www.syndic8.com/
There is so much information available electronically that I am overwhelmed right now. It will be this summer before I have time to revisit thisthing #9 and master what I need to know. I think it will be worth it, but it is time-consuming and confusing right now.
I enjoyed Topix because it was news feed and seemed very professional and reliable. It was easy to use, and i immediately found lots of information about autism. http://www.topix.net/
I think reading the Blog Awards is a great way to find new sites, but still somewhat haphazard. There are so many out there it is difficult to sift the wheat from the chaff. Time.Time. There's never enough time to investigate all I would like to.
I appreciated reading the Circle of the Wise article in the Cool Cat Blog. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-create-your-circle-of-wise-how.html
It helped me organize my thinking on how best to use blogs and RSS feeds. I can see how you can easily go into information overload with too much data to manage.
I enjoted reading some of the school library blogs on suprglu, but found it to be time-consuming. Perhaps in the summer, when my resources aren't stretched so thin, I will revisit the site.
I found that the easiest method of finding data was to use the Bloglines Search Tool. http://www.bloglines.com/search
The most confusing site I investigated was Syndic8.com. It was so large and eclectic that I found it difficult to locate specific information in it. http://www.syndic8.com/
There is so much information available electronically that I am overwhelmed right now. It will be this summer before I have time to revisit thisthing #9 and master what I need to know. I think it will be worth it, but it is time-consuming and confusing right now.
I enjoyed Topix because it was news feed and seemed very professional and reliable. It was easy to use, and i immediately found lots of information about autism. http://www.topix.net/
I think reading the Blog Awards is a great way to find new sites, but still somewhat haphazard. There are so many out there it is difficult to sift the wheat from the chaff. Time.Time. There's never enough time to investigate all I would like to.
Thing # 8 - RSS Feeds
I opened an account in Google Reader and subscribed to 5 library blogs:
Librarian Philosopher
http://librarianphilosopher.edublogs.org/
A Library By Any Other Name
http://alibraryisalibrary.blogspot.com/
SBISD Ed Tech Grant
http://www.sbisd-edtech.com/blog/
Of Life, Education, E-Bay, Travel, and Books
http://guusjem.blogspot.com/
The Lily Pad Playground
http://lib2pad.blogspot.com/
I also subscribed to the science and technology feed packages as I really enjoy reading about science and technology.
I am amazed at how easy the technology is for RSS feed, and I wish I had known about it earlier. It will make keeping up with information much simpler and more time effective. I love the idea of not having to go website to website to find out what's new on a topic. The intro video was a good introduction to RSS feed. I will be adding more sites soon. I am planning on creating folders for my special education topics such as autism, learning disabilities, assessment, and emotional disturbance.
In my personal life I would like to add ones on canoeing, kayaking, horses, cats, and good books. I'm not sure that all my favorite websites are RSS friendly, but I will certainly investigate it.
I can see using this in a library to develop folders on specific topics related to the curriculum or requested by teachers.
Librarian Philosopher
http://librarianphilosopher.edublogs.org/
A Library By Any Other Name
http://alibraryisalibrary.blogspot.com/
SBISD Ed Tech Grant
http://www.sbisd-edtech.com/blog/
Of Life, Education, E-Bay, Travel, and Books
http://guusjem.blogspot.com/
The Lily Pad Playground
http://lib2pad.blogspot.com/
I also subscribed to the science and technology feed packages as I really enjoy reading about science and technology.
I am amazed at how easy the technology is for RSS feed, and I wish I had known about it earlier. It will make keeping up with information much simpler and more time effective. I love the idea of not having to go website to website to find out what's new on a topic. The intro video was a good introduction to RSS feed. I will be adding more sites soon. I am planning on creating folders for my special education topics such as autism, learning disabilities, assessment, and emotional disturbance.
In my personal life I would like to add ones on canoeing, kayaking, horses, cats, and good books. I'm not sure that all my favorite websites are RSS friendly, but I will certainly investigate it.
I can see using this in a library to develop folders on specific topics related to the curriculum or requested by teachers.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thing #7
I had no idea google had so many tools available! I will certainly use some of them soon. I had used googlearth before, but never igoogle or google alerts or google calendar. The electronic calendar is not very portable and requires electricity to update, so I think I'll just stick to my handwritten date book. (It saves energy as well).
I think igoogle is the greatest. It wasn't that many years ago that I took the classes to create our own websites through the SBISD computer classes. It was, at best an arduous tasks requiring many steps and several different types of technology. To think, that today I can start a website in 30 seconds is mindboggling.
Thing #6
I can see libraries using mashups to create photo displays pertaining to specific history events, particularly in middle school and high school environments,where the students are more independent than my elementary kids are.
Thing #6
I enjoyed learning about mashups, although I have to admit that I had never heard of the term. I always thought "monstermash" was just a song about a dance. I really felt lost with all the new jargon I learned like "crud." All this time I thought special education had the most jargon.
I can see how businesss mashups would be a great way to aggregate and display data. I'mnot so sure about the data mashup, but I can see the immediate uses for the consumer mashup.
Mappr looks like a fun application of the Flickr technology. I have always enjoyed maps and trying figure where I am. Too bad Mappr no longer takes images using Flickr, I have always enjoyed guessing where a picture was taken by its characteristics.
Thing #5
I visited the Web2.0 library at flickr.com groups to se what they had to say about web 2.0. Unfortunately, I had to wade through people's opinions to get to the facts. I don't enjoy reading pontiferous posts. But, I learned that libraries are set up to display wht flickr has been used for.
Groups are privileged people selected to share in all your flickr glory by viewing your work.
And tags are labels used to help in cataloging the pictures so that they are easier to search and locate and group.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thing # 4 - Registering My Blog
I am excited that I finally got my avatar to work. I only crashed my computer once and froze it once again while working on it. I was disappointed that I couldn't figure out how to add multiple animals to my avatar and that there was not a canoeing or river background to pick, but at least I found something outdoors-related. Maybe if I had looked in the male avatar profiles, I might have found a paddler avatar profile. I doubt it would have let me put a female figure in male clothes, though. I am emailing Vaughn triumphantly that I finally got my blog established correctly. Now, if I could only figure out how to insert an embedded link correctly I would have it made!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Thing #3 - Setting Up My Blog
I used BloggerThis will be my 3rd attempt at setting up an avatar. I hope it goes well.
Thing #2 Lifelong Learners
Lifelong Learning is something I value greatly. My mother raised me to value education and learning/knowledge as one of the few things that can never be taken from me. I was raised to be independent and self-sufficient, and obviously, lifelong learning is a key tenet of this philosophy. I value both curiosity and competence. I'm not afraid to explore and experiment with things, if I don't think it will harm anything or anyone.
I'm going to do so with the hidden link issue. After reading several different help articles on inserting various types of links, I am going to try one. I hope it works!
http://www.plcmc.org/public/learning/player.html
This is the actual link. Now I will try the hidden hotlink. Go to 7 1/2 Habits online tutorial developed by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties to access an excellent slideshow on lifelong learning and how to become a lifelong learner yourself. 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners
I really won't know if this works until I view my blog. I'm learning, though. Each time I navigate through my blog it gets easier.
Back to Thing #2, though. We were asked to select the hardest and the easiest of the habits. For me, the easiest one is #2, accepting responsibility for my own learning. I love learning, and I prefer to learn at my own pace and in my own way. I enjoy reading about the background of things in books. I prefer to view the task globally before I learn the specifics. Other habits I found easy to embrace were numbers 3 (View problems as challenges), and number 7 (teach/mentor others). I am an instructor trainer for the Red Cross and American Canoe Association. I teach other people who to become instructions. I enjoy mentoring other people and helping them learn new things and grow in the process. I am already planning how I can teach these Web 2.0 things to the teachers in our school so they can get the kids fired up about learning with the aid of technology. I want technology to be a tool, not just the end, but more like a means to an end. Attitude is important in maintaining motivation in learning. I want to instill the "I will, I can, I do" philosophy that is mentioned in the slideshow in all our of kids.
The hardest of the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners for me is # 6 (Use technology to your advantage). While my mind is very willing, my flesh is weak. I just don't yet have enough skills to be competent enough to teach these skills to others yet. But, I will. Practice will make perfect, or, at least, much improved.
I set my learning goal as "to become familiar with emerging technologies that patrons may ask about in a library or school." I can think of many applications. Now, all I need is the knowhow!
I'm going to do so with the hidden link issue. After reading several different help articles on inserting various types of links, I am going to try one. I hope it works!
http://www.plcmc.org/public/learning/player.html
This is the actual link. Now I will try the hidden hotlink. Go to 7 1/2 Habits online tutorial developed by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties to access an excellent slideshow on lifelong learning and how to become a lifelong learner yourself. 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners
I really won't know if this works until I view my blog. I'm learning, though. Each time I navigate through my blog it gets easier.
Back to Thing #2, though. We were asked to select the hardest and the easiest of the habits. For me, the easiest one is #2, accepting responsibility for my own learning. I love learning, and I prefer to learn at my own pace and in my own way. I enjoy reading about the background of things in books. I prefer to view the task globally before I learn the specifics. Other habits I found easy to embrace were numbers 3 (View problems as challenges), and number 7 (teach/mentor others). I am an instructor trainer for the Red Cross and American Canoe Association. I teach other people who to become instructions. I enjoy mentoring other people and helping them learn new things and grow in the process. I am already planning how I can teach these Web 2.0 things to the teachers in our school so they can get the kids fired up about learning with the aid of technology. I want technology to be a tool, not just the end, but more like a means to an end. Attitude is important in maintaining motivation in learning. I want to instill the "I will, I can, I do" philosophy that is mentioned in the slideshow in all our of kids.
The hardest of the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners for me is # 6 (Use technology to your advantage). While my mind is very willing, my flesh is weak. I just don't yet have enough skills to be competent enough to teach these skills to others yet. But, I will. Practice will make perfect, or, at least, much improved.
I set my learning goal as "to become familiar with emerging technologies that patrons may ask about in a library or school." I can think of many applications. Now, all I need is the knowhow!
23 Things - #1
I enjoyed the discovery exercise on lifelong learning. In particular, the "break out of the box" metaphor is an apt way to describe lifelong learners. It describes the attitude of successful lifelong learners.
Important concepts were reinforced about how and where such learning occurs. The comment from the powerpoint "all citizens are provided with learning opportunities in numerous contexts : at work, at home, and through leisure activities" sounds eerily close t the mission statement our school, Woodview Elementary, just wrote to describe the views of our professional learning community. We are trying to develop a best practices school. Many of the concepts from the slideshow are in our mission statement.
If you haven't read or done the 23 things, you should. Go to http://library2play.blogspot.com/ to learn more about it.
Right now I am very frustrated with trying to navigate through the blog. I need a little more direction than has been provided. I am working on a MacIntosh computer, but not everything works on a Mac, and I am not always sure when it is my fault or when it is the incompatibility of the software with the platforms. For example, I could not use Safari to set up my blog. I had to use Firefox, which is notoriously difficult to navigate backwards through. I end up closing all my tabs and having to go back in and find where I was last in the history folder. It's really slow and inefficient to work that way. I think that's one reason I put off setting up my blog. Dealing with the difficulties has been very time-consuming and frustrating, and I'm a very patient person. But, why can't all of the technology sources just get along and be compatible? I'd like to know how to create a hidden link, but I cannot yet decipher the help text. Oh well, there's always next time.
I'm not sure if this will automatically post a date, so I'm including one as I bring my posting about Thing #1 to a close. I'm excited to go on and learn the other things.
Important concepts were reinforced about how and where such learning occurs. The comment from the powerpoint "all citizens are provided with learning opportunities in numerous contexts : at work, at home, and through leisure activities" sounds eerily close t the mission statement our school, Woodview Elementary, just wrote to describe the views of our professional learning community. We are trying to develop a best practices school. Many of the concepts from the slideshow are in our mission statement.
If you haven't read or done the 23 things, you should. Go to http://library2play.blogspot.com/ to learn more about it.
Right now I am very frustrated with trying to navigate through the blog. I need a little more direction than has been provided. I am working on a MacIntosh computer, but not everything works on a Mac, and I am not always sure when it is my fault or when it is the incompatibility of the software with the platforms. For example, I could not use Safari to set up my blog. I had to use Firefox, which is notoriously difficult to navigate backwards through. I end up closing all my tabs and having to go back in and find where I was last in the history folder. It's really slow and inefficient to work that way. I think that's one reason I put off setting up my blog. Dealing with the difficulties has been very time-consuming and frustrating, and I'm a very patient person. But, why can't all of the technology sources just get along and be compatible? I'd like to know how to create a hidden link, but I cannot yet decipher the help text. Oh well, there's always next time.
I'm not sure if this will automatically post a date, so I'm including one as I bring my posting about Thing #1 to a close. I'm excited to go on and learn the other things.
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