Well I guess you'd have to be living in a cave to not have explored YouTube. This is one of those things (like many of the Web 2.0 applications) that make my head explode in wonder. I tried pasting a YouTube video into the blog but kept getting an error message that told me to contact support. I'm pretty sure I followed all the correct directions. I tried a couple of different videos but couldn't get any of them to work. YouTube has so much potential as a teaching tool, but of course is one of those sites that my school districts blocks--it's too bad there isn't a way to have the application without having to worry about all the inappropriate content. With that in mind, I checked out TeacherTube--found a really inspiring !mylibrary!mylife video--a feel good about being a school librarian moment. TeacherTube is good because they are working hard to flag inappropriate content, but I didn't like how the ads pop right up on the video while you are watching it.
Some of the links in the podcast instructions are old, but I did get on and explore podcastalley.com. Found a couple children's books podcasts and sent one as an RSS feed to my Goggle Reader account. Don't know that I really have time to listen--mostly it's sifting through all the possibilities to find the podcast that makes me feel like it's a technology I can't live without.
I just received 65 free eb00ks from Follett but haven't had the time or courage to download them into the catalog, so thing 22 was good place to start exploring. I had no idea that so many books were available for free online. I'm still having trouble figuring out how to manage what you download. Maybe it's my age, but I still would prefer to read text on paper to reading it on the screen. Haven't tried the Kindle thing yet and I have a little prejudice against it because it feels like being disloyal to the traditional book :)
I have really enjoyed the Web 2.0 course. I found a lot of applications that I would like to explore in more depth and picture myself becoming a more organized, thoughtful web user. I particularly enjoyed the working with images and discovering all the possibilities there. The potential for motivating students with flickr, imagechef and other tools is fantastic. Librarything and Google.docs are two applications I will definitely use again. I'm pleased that I actually completed all 23 things and feel like it really helped me get up to speed on some of the new technologies.
I just completed the PA survey, but when I click "done" I get the message "blog not found." So I'm wondering if I've done something wrong. . .hmmmmmm.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Week 8, Things 18 & 19
Once again, it's down to the wire and I really want to finish the 23 things. I've got tonight and tomorrow to beat the deadline. . .not really the way I wanted to do this when I signed up, but not much I can do about it now. Even if I don't finish, I've been pretty excited by a lot of what I've discovered.
I choose Google.docs because I was already logged into Google for the blog and didn't feel like setting up yet another account. This is probably one of the best discoveries for me so far. I needed to type up minutes for a meeting anyway, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. It was super simple to use and then I just sent the minutes to the group. If anyone sees a problem or wants to add something, they can. Very cool! There were some weird moments when I was scrolling through the document and it mashed everything together, but for the most part it served my purpose well and is definitely something I'll come back to. I know that it's purpose is different from a Wikki, but it is more along the lines of how I see myself really using Web 2.0 applications.
I guess I should have read ahead, but I already did the librarything thing back for thing number 11 when I had to pick something off the best of the web 2.0 list. I love it and have gone back to it a number of times already. Again, here's an application I can see using for long time to come.
I choose Google.docs because I was already logged into Google for the blog and didn't feel like setting up yet another account. This is probably one of the best discoveries for me so far. I needed to type up minutes for a meeting anyway, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. It was super simple to use and then I just sent the minutes to the group. If anyone sees a problem or wants to add something, they can. Very cool! There were some weird moments when I was scrolling through the document and it mashed everything together, but for the most part it served my purpose well and is definitely something I'll come back to. I know that it's purpose is different from a Wikki, but it is more along the lines of how I see myself really using Web 2.0 applications.
I guess I should have read ahead, but I already did the librarything thing back for thing number 11 when I had to pick something off the best of the web 2.0 list. I love it and have gone back to it a number of times already. Again, here's an application I can see using for long time to come.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Week 7, Things 16 & 17
I've used Wikki's sporadically over the past two years, and really like the idea of having a forum for sharing ideas on the web. Right now, our regional Access PA group uses one to post news, minutes from meetings, and other information and a study group I was part of last year tried using a Wikki to record our reflections. Haven't tried using them with students yet, but exploring the wikki's suggested here gave me some ideas to try. As with all of these tools, the more you use them, the more comfortable you become with them--but I'm struggling to find the time to use just one of them full tilt.
Having trouble with thing 17 because I don't have the invite key to log in to PA Curriculum Connections. I tried "library" like the California one requested, but that didn't do the trick. I was able to explore some of the posting without the invite key, but could add one of my own. We'll see if I hear back from the wikki administrator.
Having trouble with thing 17 because I don't have the invite key to log in to PA Curriculum Connections. I tried "library" like the California one requested, but that didn't do the trick. I was able to explore some of the posting without the invite key, but could add one of my own. We'll see if I hear back from the wikki administrator.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Week 6, Things 13, 14, & 15
I created a delicious account a while ago, after learning about it at a workshop. However, I don't use it much and always forget it's there. After exploring it some more for Thing 13, I added all the cool sites I've learned about in earlier weeks (like imagechef and library thing) and I'm hoping to really start using it. My bookmarks/favorites are a mess anyway. It's kind of cool to see who else has tagged the same sites and what they have to say about them.
I spent some time with Technorati, searching it in different ways, discovering that the whole world of blogging is much bigger and more complex than I previously imagined. I read about what gives a blog "authority" according to Technorati and how to build your blog's authority. At this point, the only thing I blog about are the "things" for this course, so I'm not too worried about attracting readers to my blog--but the whole idea is rather interesting. I'm getting used to the idea of tags--as a librarian it's freeing to be able to tag posts, pictures, and other things however I want without worrying about the right way to do it. I haven't really used the tags all that much because, again and again and again it's a little overwhelming!
I spent some time with Technorati, searching it in different ways, discovering that the whole world of blogging is much bigger and more complex than I previously imagined. I read about what gives a blog "authority" according to Technorati and how to build your blog's authority. At this point, the only thing I blog about are the "things" for this course, so I'm not too worried about attracting readers to my blog--but the whole idea is rather interesting. I'm getting used to the idea of tags--as a librarian it's freeing to be able to tag posts, pictures, and other things however I want without worrying about the right way to do it. I haven't really used the tags all that much because, again and again and again it's a little overwhelming!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Week 5, Things 10, 11, & 12
I had a lot of fun playing around on imagechef. Again, endless possibilities. I used a photo of my new nephew, added a frame and speech bubble and emailed it to my brother. Very easy. Then I found an image of Abe Lincoln on the web and played with the poetry blender tool and uploaded the results here. Imagechef.com made it really easy to post it to the blog. Once more, just scratching the surface of all these cool tools.
I choose librarything.com from the web 2.0 awards list because I had recently read in SLJ about sites that allow you to keep a bookshelf. It's easy to use and there are endless possibilities. Over the years, I've tried a variety of things to keep track of books I've read, books I want to read, books I could recommend--I can see that this might be the best way. Now, I just have to remember it's there, that I have an account and that it might be useful to spend some more time building my library on it.
I created an account and played around with rollyo. I can see how it could be useful, but at this point in my web life, it's a little more than I need. It is fun to see what sites others list in their personal search tools.
I choose librarything.com from the web 2.0 awards list because I had recently read in SLJ about sites that allow you to keep a bookshelf. It's easy to use and there are endless possibilities. Over the years, I've tried a variety of things to keep track of books I've read, books I want to read, books I could recommend--I can see that this might be the best way. Now, I just have to remember it's there, that I have an account and that it might be useful to spend some more time building my library on it.
I created an account and played around with rollyo. I can see how it could be useful, but at this point in my web life, it's a little more than I need. It is fun to see what sites others list in their personal search tools.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Week 4, Things 8 & 9
I've taken a long hiatus from the Web 2.0 course and now hope I can finish on time. I got sidetracked by thing 8 when I attempted to create an account on Bloglines and kept getting a message to first respond to the email to verify my account but never got the email. Anyway, I ended up coming back to it weeks later and setting up a Google Reader account. I understand the idea, but am a little overwhelmed at the possibilities. There's so much out there, it will take some time to really focus on the useful and not get carried away adding endless feeds. Starting a new habit of checking my Google Reader page on a regular basis is probably the best way to really use the technology effectively.
I used Google Blog search to look for school library/children's books related feeds, and once again I was overwhelmed by the possibilities. I subscribed to some, including About.com's Children's books and the ALA's library advocate. Now I just have to keep up with them, determine if they are useful to me, and generally maintain my Google Reader page so that it is a valuable tool for me (instead of another place to lose myself in the endless possibilities of the web).
I used Google Blog search to look for school library/children's books related feeds, and once again I was overwhelmed by the possibilities. I subscribed to some, including About.com's Children's books and the ALA's library advocate. Now I just have to keep up with them, determine if they are useful to me, and generally maintain my Google Reader page so that it is a valuable tool for me (instead of another place to lose myself in the endless possibilities of the web).
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