Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Dancing librarians celebrate crossing "The Finish Line"
Watch Mesquite librarians dancing to music on their new Nanos
The Finish Line - Summary
Whew! What a trip! I've never taken a college class that was as interesting and informative as this was. I thouroughly enjoyed every step along the way.
Looking back on that cold, rainy day driving to McDonald Middle School, wishing that I didn't have to get out in that nasty weather and that I had so many things back at my school that I needed to do, I was not in a state of mind to tackle something new. To be honest, even when Mary and Debbie's opening presentation began, I found my mind wandering to other things. Once the large group broke up and we split off into small groups to begin tackling the first "Thing", I kind of panicked because everyone around me seemed to be having success right off the bat and I was struggling to get my brain wrapped around exactly what I was supposed to be doing and not knowing how to go about it. My lack of confidence was taking over but I was determined to figure that first "Thing" out. Little by little, each "Thing" was a little easier and before long, came along several of the "fun Things". With each new "Thing" my confidence grew and I became more excited, looking forward to the next "Thing". In fact, I almost became obssessed with it all and for periods of time, would neglect other facets of my life in order to tackle a new "Thing"
As far as lifelong learning goals, I would love to do some more of these types of staff development. I like the self-paced aspect of it and well as the fact that I didn't have to be at the PDC by 4:15 on "this" day of "this" week. What I really liked about it was that I didn't have to be in my "professional dress" in order to learn and share with others. I loved sitting in my pj's and slippers in my recliner with my laptop in my lap and sipping a good cup of coffee as I worked. I will be on the look-out for more opportunities like this one.
The only thing that I can think of that we could do differently to improve on the program's concept, would be to convince the district administrators to allow teachers to access all the different "Things" we did that threw up a wall (firewall that is.)
It would have been much easier and quicker to get around to different sites if we didn't have to by-pass the filter by going through all the steps involved in getting around the filter.
I most definitely would participate in any future discovery programs like the "23 Things, if any are offered.
I already have begun to practice what I have learned throughout this program. I know that if I don't use it, I'll lose it! Ha! For me, if I don't go straight home from a staff development and begin to practice and use what I have learned, it will go in a file folder in my desk and be forgotten for either a long time or even forever. My students are already enjoying using our school wiki for their reearch and are even more excited to participate in the research podcast that I have planned for the coming weeks.
One last "thing". For those of you who are still struggling to finish the "23 Things", don't get frustrated and give up. It's tough sometimes, but in the long run you will see that it's worth it when you have finally crossed "The Finish Line"! I'll be at the Finish Line, waiting for you and cheering you on to success and completion! Look for the checkered flag! Vrooooom!
Looking back on that cold, rainy day driving to McDonald Middle School, wishing that I didn't have to get out in that nasty weather and that I had so many things back at my school that I needed to do, I was not in a state of mind to tackle something new. To be honest, even when Mary and Debbie's opening presentation began, I found my mind wandering to other things. Once the large group broke up and we split off into small groups to begin tackling the first "Thing", I kind of panicked because everyone around me seemed to be having success right off the bat and I was struggling to get my brain wrapped around exactly what I was supposed to be doing and not knowing how to go about it. My lack of confidence was taking over but I was determined to figure that first "Thing" out. Little by little, each "Thing" was a little easier and before long, came along several of the "fun Things". With each new "Thing" my confidence grew and I became more excited, looking forward to the next "Thing". In fact, I almost became obssessed with it all and for periods of time, would neglect other facets of my life in order to tackle a new "Thing"
As far as lifelong learning goals, I would love to do some more of these types of staff development. I like the self-paced aspect of it and well as the fact that I didn't have to be at the PDC by 4:15 on "this" day of "this" week. What I really liked about it was that I didn't have to be in my "professional dress" in order to learn and share with others. I loved sitting in my pj's and slippers in my recliner with my laptop in my lap and sipping a good cup of coffee as I worked. I will be on the look-out for more opportunities like this one.
The only thing that I can think of that we could do differently to improve on the program's concept, would be to convince the district administrators to allow teachers to access all the different "Things" we did that threw up a wall (firewall that is.)
It would have been much easier and quicker to get around to different sites if we didn't have to by-pass the filter by going through all the steps involved in getting around the filter.
I most definitely would participate in any future discovery programs like the "23 Things, if any are offered.
I already have begun to practice what I have learned throughout this program. I know that if I don't use it, I'll lose it! Ha! For me, if I don't go straight home from a staff development and begin to practice and use what I have learned, it will go in a file folder in my desk and be forgotten for either a long time or even forever. My students are already enjoying using our school wiki for their reearch and are even more excited to participate in the research podcast that I have planned for the coming weeks.
One last "thing". For those of you who are still struggling to finish the "23 Things", don't get frustrated and give up. It's tough sometimes, but in the long run you will see that it's worth it when you have finally crossed "The Finish Line"! I'll be at the Finish Line, waiting for you and cheering you on to success and completion! Look for the checkered flag! Vrooooom!
Thing #23 Creative Commons
I had never heard of Creative Commons before we began the 23 "Things". It seems to go along with the concept of collaboration which is a big push not only in education but also the business world as well. For people who are not trying to "make a buck" on personal creations, this is the perfect way to work alongside others, helping each other out. Kind of like, "why re-invent the wheel?" Thank goodness the orginal "wheel" has been revised and improved on throughout history, so why not use the same concept when creating anything whether it is photos, music, written documents and many more things as well.
With Creative Commons people can easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want or if you want to look at it another way, with the restrictios they want to place upon it. I went to Flickr to look for some pictures with the Creative Commons license. I came across a group of pictures that had been entered into a contest to promote Creative Commons. All the pictures had the CC logo inserted into the picture. The picture that caught my eye was one of two small children in one sweatshirt, with both of their heads through the neck opening and one arm of each one coming out of each sleeve. On the front of the sweatshirt was the CC logo. What a creative picture to show what Creative Commons is all about.
I started looking at some of the comments about the picture and clicked on a link. It took me to a screencast of the mother of the 8-year old in the picture, walking through the steps he needed to follow in order to make a Powerpoint about his family. You could see him clicking on buttons as he created the Powerpoint. You could hear he and his mother talking about what he needed to do. She was questioning him about the picture he was inserting it into the Powerpoint and reminded him that he needed to include a portion of text next to the picture stating where he had found the picture. She proceeded to question him about Creative Commons and he explained clearly what it meant and why he needed to do it. If an 8-year old can understand and explain it, then I know that I should be able to grasp what it's all about!
As far as how librarians would use a Creative Commons License, anything you create and state conditions on how it can be used, could share pictures for research with students, collaborating on Powerpoints for teachers to edit in creating note-taking pages for research, webquests and much more. In fact, I created a webquest on exploring the on-line catalog for orientation this year. I guess I need to go back and apply for a CC license for that since it was posted on our library website. Also, I've already created a school wiki. Shoul I get a CC license for that and the handouts I've uploaded to the wiki? If anyone out there has any answers, I would appreciate any input.
With Creative Commons people can easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want or if you want to look at it another way, with the restrictios they want to place upon it. I went to Flickr to look for some pictures with the Creative Commons license. I came across a group of pictures that had been entered into a contest to promote Creative Commons. All the pictures had the CC logo inserted into the picture. The picture that caught my eye was one of two small children in one sweatshirt, with both of their heads through the neck opening and one arm of each one coming out of each sleeve. On the front of the sweatshirt was the CC logo. What a creative picture to show what Creative Commons is all about.
I started looking at some of the comments about the picture and clicked on a link. It took me to a screencast of the mother of the 8-year old in the picture, walking through the steps he needed to follow in order to make a Powerpoint about his family. You could see him clicking on buttons as he created the Powerpoint. You could hear he and his mother talking about what he needed to do. She was questioning him about the picture he was inserting it into the Powerpoint and reminded him that he needed to include a portion of text next to the picture stating where he had found the picture. She proceeded to question him about Creative Commons and he explained clearly what it meant and why he needed to do it. If an 8-year old can understand and explain it, then I know that I should be able to grasp what it's all about!
As far as how librarians would use a Creative Commons License, anything you create and state conditions on how it can be used, could share pictures for research with students, collaborating on Powerpoints for teachers to edit in creating note-taking pages for research, webquests and much more. In fact, I created a webquest on exploring the on-line catalog for orientation this year. I guess I need to go back and apply for a CC license for that since it was posted on our library website. Also, I've already created a school wiki. Shoul I get a CC license for that and the handouts I've uploaded to the wiki? If anyone out there has any answers, I would appreciate any input.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thing #22 Animoto
Wow! This has been the most exciting, but with the least amount of effort "Thing" that I have done so far. Animoto is so easy to use. When I first created my account, I was ready for a long, detailed tutorial like so many of the other "Things" we have done. I'll have to admit I wasn't disappointed when there wasn't a tutorial. It was just kind of jump in and get your feet wet! Needless to say, I was ready to get on with this "Thing" being the next to the last one. I was already itching to get to Thing #23 to finish everything up.
However, I was in for a surprise. It was baaically 1.2.3 and you're through. They walked you through step by step and it was really very easy. I went to Flickr and found fifteen pictures of the iPod Nano. I saved them in my Flickr favorites and went back to Animoto. Then Animoto asked me if I wanted to get pictures from my computer or a website. I clicked a button, it let me choose Flickr, had me login to my Flickr account and voila! The pictures were downloaded in a matter of seconds. I had already previewed the songs available from Animoto and had decided from the Techno genre. Another click and my music was there. The last step was to simply click the 3rd button to let Animoto put my pictures into a multimedia slide show with music. They did all the hard work in the 10 minutes it took me to find a snack and finish it off. When I got back to my computer, there it was ready for me to play. One last step and it was uploaded to my blog. I didn't even have to copy an HTML code. And it automatically loads and plays when I go to my blog.
I already have plans to create a show with pictures of some of my research units and post it on my wiki. I also would like to create a show of the pictures from Chidren's Bood Week to post on our Library website. The wheels are spinning with lots of ideas for this awesome tool. I am going to check in to making a longer movie, just to see what the charges are. If it's not too expensive, it will be worth the money to be able to create some longer shows.
.
However, I was in for a surprise. It was baaically 1.2.3 and you're through. They walked you through step by step and it was really very easy. I went to Flickr and found fifteen pictures of the iPod Nano. I saved them in my Flickr favorites and went back to Animoto. Then Animoto asked me if I wanted to get pictures from my computer or a website. I clicked a button, it let me choose Flickr, had me login to my Flickr account and voila! The pictures were downloaded in a matter of seconds. I had already previewed the songs available from Animoto and had decided from the Techno genre. Another click and my music was there. The last step was to simply click the 3rd button to let Animoto put my pictures into a multimedia slide show with music. They did all the hard work in the 10 minutes it took me to find a snack and finish it off. When I got back to my computer, there it was ready for me to play. One last step and it was uploaded to my blog. I didn't even have to copy an HTML code. And it automatically loads and plays when I go to my blog.
I already have plans to create a show with pictures of some of my research units and post it on my wiki. I also would like to create a show of the pictures from Chidren's Bood Week to post on our Library website. The wheels are spinning with lots of ideas for this awesome tool. I am going to check in to making a longer movie, just to see what the charges are. If it's not too expensive, it will be worth the money to be able to create some longer shows.
.
Thing #21 Podcasts: no iPod needed
I looked at all the podcast directories listed in the Discovery Resources. I didn't find any book reiew podcasts or library news podcasts. I did topic searches with the words elementary, library, librarian, books, etc. There were pages and pages of podcasts that I didn't have time to look at. For some of them, when you opened them, there was just a list of files with various podcasts. Some were descriptive enough to be able to figure out whether or not I wanted to listen to them or not. There were a few with details listed which gave me ideas about what was specifically in the podcast. When there are thousands of podcasts in any one category, it is helpful to be able to target what you are looking for in order to save time.
Some of the directories were easier to use because you could do a word search for whatever topic you were interested in. At least one of the directories had no searching capabilities at all. There was just an index of broad subject areas to choose from. I was looking for a directory that had some kind of advanced search where you could search by topic, but also by audience, such as elementary. I didn't come across those capabilities in any of the ones I looked at.
As far as podcasts useful for school, I thought the Educational Podcast Directory was the best because the content was directed at curriculum areas such as math, science, language arts, etc. I probably wouldn't promote the use of searching any of the other directories with my students because I did come across some objectionable podcasts on some of the other directories. For my own personal use, I will probably go back and spend some more time with those, just exploring what all is available.
I added several RSS feeds to my Bloglines account and to I-Tunes. In Bloglines I added podcasting consultant Jason Van Orden's commemtary, tips and resources feed. In I-Tunes, I added several good podcasts. They were:
Booktalks Quick and Simple
Storynory Audio Stories for Kids
SLJ's Podcasts : Tech Chickies and Test Drive
Promethean Plantet Active Tips with audio and video
SMART Board Lessons
Learning in Hand: I-Pods
I was very overwhelmed after going through Jason Van Orden's hour-long tutorial on how to podcast. This morning I was shelving a few books and Curtissa Greene, our tech facilitator came by to visit. She said she had seen my wiki. I told her that I wanted to figure out how to create a podcast on the Birth of American Democracy research wiki which my 5th grade students had finished last week. She showed me in less than 5 minutes how to use Garage Band to do it in just a few steps. I created a test podcast and posted it on my wiki. You can click on the pbwiki link on the sidebar of my blog if you are interested in how it "looks". Go to the podcast page of the wiki and click on the link to hear our "test". I plan on having some of my 5th graders share some of what they learned last week during research. I hope to have it posted by the 1st of Feburary, so check back then if you are interested.
Some of the directories were easier to use because you could do a word search for whatever topic you were interested in. At least one of the directories had no searching capabilities at all. There was just an index of broad subject areas to choose from. I was looking for a directory that had some kind of advanced search where you could search by topic, but also by audience, such as elementary. I didn't come across those capabilities in any of the ones I looked at.
As far as podcasts useful for school, I thought the Educational Podcast Directory was the best because the content was directed at curriculum areas such as math, science, language arts, etc. I probably wouldn't promote the use of searching any of the other directories with my students because I did come across some objectionable podcasts on some of the other directories. For my own personal use, I will probably go back and spend some more time with those, just exploring what all is available.
I added several RSS feeds to my Bloglines account and to I-Tunes. In Bloglines I added podcasting consultant Jason Van Orden's commemtary, tips and resources feed. In I-Tunes, I added several good podcasts. They were:
Booktalks Quick and Simple
Storynory Audio Stories for Kids
SLJ's Podcasts : Tech Chickies and Test Drive
Promethean Plantet Active Tips with audio and video
SMART Board Lessons
Learning in Hand: I-Pods
I was very overwhelmed after going through Jason Van Orden's hour-long tutorial on how to podcast. This morning I was shelving a few books and Curtissa Greene, our tech facilitator came by to visit. She said she had seen my wiki. I told her that I wanted to figure out how to create a podcast on the Birth of American Democracy research wiki which my 5th grade students had finished last week. She showed me in less than 5 minutes how to use Garage Band to do it in just a few steps. I created a test podcast and posted it on my wiki. You can click on the pbwiki link on the sidebar of my blog if you are interested in how it "looks". Go to the podcast page of the wiki and click on the link to hear our "test". I plan on having some of my 5th graders share some of what they learned last week during research. I hope to have it posted by the 1st of Feburary, so check back then if you are interested.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Thing #20 You too can YouTube
I had only been on the YouTube site once before when Mary suggested a while back to go there and type in library to see what came up. I am always getting e-mails forwarded to me by friends and family members with funny YouTube videos, but I had never searched it myself to any extent. When I started playing with it, I got so engrossed with it that I let time get away from me and I realized that I had been exploring for over two hours and had only scratched the surface of what I wanted to look at. It's another one of the Web 2.0 tools that I can see myself getting addicted to.
It was very simple to register, in case I decide to create a video and upload it. There's nothing so far that I can see about YouTube that I disliked. After signing up, I realized that I can rate videos and make comments about them. It was interesting to read some of the comments posted by others. Imbedding the HTML code on my blog was as easy as 1, 2, 3. Another thing that I discovered is that I can create playlists of favorite videos that I come across so that I get to them quickly without searching through page after page of posts. Another thing that I learned is that I can join video groups to connect with others who have the same interests as I do. One thing that I tried that I don't understand is when I clicke the browse link, I got a message that said that Outlook Web Access had disabled the link for my security. I'm not sure why this happened. Maybe someone reading this post can fill me in.
As far as features or components of the site that would be interesting applied to my library website, I really don't have any examples or ideas. I plan on going back and exploring YouTube some more after I have finised all 23 "Things". I would think that it wouldn't work in conjunction with my library website as far as the student's use at school, since YouTube is blocked by the district's filter. However, it could be a way to encourage them to use your library website at home, by sharing on the morning announcemnts that a new YouTube video link has been posted on the library website for them to look at that evening when they get home. While they're there, they might take time to explore some of our databases and become more familiar with them.
There are also some informational videos that you might share with your staff and students. In fact I came across one that explains how to hook up your I-Pod to your computer and download songs from ITunes. There was also one that I looked at that demonstrated how to search for pictures and songs on your Nano. Now I have a leg up for when I get my new Nano! Yea1
I chose the Library 2.0 Manifesto video to imbed on this post. After reading it, it pretty much summed up how I feel about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 after doing the 23 "Things". (Actually, 20 so far, but I'm on the home stretch now and can see the finish line! Yea!)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Thing #19 Go with the Flow
I looked at the flowchart Gliffy and the mind map Bubbl.us. Gliffy makes it easy to create, share and collaborate with diagrams. I thought the layouts you can create are very professional looking. There seem to be many ways to use this in a school setting. One of the examples I saw involved inserting a map of a country and over-laying a flow-chart with facts about the country. You can also insert pictures in the information boxes as well as text. This would be a great way to synthesize after finishing research. I've used Kidspiration and Inspiration with my students, but as I said the look of Gliffy is not so juvenile looking as these two pieces of software. According to the information on the website you can use it to collaborate, share and edit diagrams with others. I created a simple seating chart and used the share button. I e-mailed it to myself to see if I could edit it, but was not successful. I plan on going back to it later and play with it to see if it is editable after sharing with others. I probably need to go into the settings tools to change my settings. I tried everything I could think of, but grew tired of trying several times and not being successful.
I wasn't able to spend as much time with Bubbl.us as I would have liked. I think I'm on overload trying to finish all 23 "things" by the 1st of Feburary. It was supposed to have a lot of the same features as Gliffy. I seemed to have more trouble with Bubbl.us. I didn't find any tool bars, just a square in the middle of the page to begin with. I knew enough about Kidspiration and Inspiration to be able to create several boxes linked to each other with information inside each box. After reading some of the posts on other librarian's blogs, most of whom thought Bubbl.us was easier than Gliffy, I think I may have missed something. I do plan to go back later to explore Bubbl.us more extensively. It is advertised as being able to create mind maps, share and work with friends, embed maps in blogs or websites and e-mail mind maps to others.
I wasn't able to spend as much time with Bubbl.us as I would have liked. I think I'm on overload trying to finish all 23 "things" by the 1st of Feburary. It was supposed to have a lot of the same features as Gliffy. I seemed to have more trouble with Bubbl.us. I didn't find any tool bars, just a square in the middle of the page to begin with. I knew enough about Kidspiration and Inspiration to be able to create several boxes linked to each other with information inside each box. After reading some of the posts on other librarian's blogs, most of whom thought Bubbl.us was easier than Gliffy, I think I may have missed something. I do plan to go back later to explore Bubbl.us more extensively. It is advertised as being able to create mind maps, share and work with friends, embed maps in blogs or websites and e-mail mind maps to others.
More Discoveries
I created my wiki a day or so ago. Then I was going back in and editing it and adding to it. I came across a PowerPoint presentation that I can show to my faculty and students that explains what a wiki is and how it can be used. I plan on sharing this PowerPoint at a faculty meeting soon.
I also discovered that you can insert such things as a calendar, video and slide show into your wiki. I spent about 1 minute taking pictures of my 5th grade classes using the laptops for their research on the Birth of American Democracy. I then uploaded the pictures to Slide.com and created a slide show and inserted it into my wiki in less than 5 minutes. This is the most exciting "Thing" I have done so far! I love it! I can see myself becoming addicted. I know how I will spend a good part of my summer now.
Click on the pbwiki icon in my sidebar on the right to get to my wiki and check it out. I have also added my 5th grade Birth of American Democracy unit with links to webpages and handouts. I am in the process of working on the 1st Grade Our Heroes and Legends research unit.
I also discovered that you can insert such things as a calendar, video and slide show into your wiki. I spent about 1 minute taking pictures of my 5th grade classes using the laptops for their research on the Birth of American Democracy. I then uploaded the pictures to Slide.com and created a slide show and inserted it into my wiki in less than 5 minutes. This is the most exciting "Thing" I have done so far! I love it! I can see myself becoming addicted. I know how I will spend a good part of my summer now.
Click on the pbwiki icon in my sidebar on the right to get to my wiki and check it out. I have also added my 5th grade Birth of American Democracy unit with links to webpages and handouts. I am in the process of working on the 1st Grade Our Heroes and Legends research unit.
Discovering New Things
Today when I was on Zoho Writer, looking at the Planning Meeting document that I created and created a link to on my blog, I noticed something on the sidebar that I missed earlier when I was editing my document. If you add people to the Collaborator section, their name shows up in a box that looks like IM. You can see if the people you have added as collaborators are on-line or not. If they are on-line, you can type in a chat message and talk back and forth instantaneously about a project that you are working on together and edit the document together on the spot. It was so cool!
Thing #18 Discovering Web 2.0 tools
I tried to look at some of the tools on Web 2.0 Awards that were in categories that I hadn't explored earlier in the other 17 "Things".
One of the tools I looked into was WUFOO where you can create forms for surveys. They seemed really easy to create and simple to use. I may try to use this for communicating with my faculty to evaluate the library program in general and specifically to evaluate research units we have completed.
Judy's Book was another tool I checked out. I created an account and entered my zip code to see a list of sales, coupons and deals in the area where I live. I can save anything I want to to my favorites according to categories of shopping or specific stores.
I also looked at PANDORA. You can have your own DJ that will help discover new music according to what genre of music you like. It will continue to keep letting you know about tunes that you might enjoy.
The tool that I spent the most time with was Craig'list. I heard heard about it through my niece and daughter who are in their early 20's. My daughter had told me about finding a used sofa that was a really good deal. She is unhappy with the part-time job that she is in right now and I decided to look to see what other jobs were available. She is applying for a nursing school next fall and she would like to find a part-time job in the medical field. I had looked in the classified section of the Dallas Morning News, but all the medical jobs were for professionals. Craig'slist had a half dozen or so that are within reasonable driving distance for her. I was able to e-mail her each of the posts that I thought she might be interested in. (There's nothing like having your own personal research librarian when you're in college, is there? Ha!)
As far as ones that could be used in a library setting, WUFOO seems the most practical. I plan on looking at some of the rest of the tools on the Web 2.0 Awards site later to see other things that I might be able to use at school.
One of the tools I looked into was WUFOO where you can create forms for surveys. They seemed really easy to create and simple to use. I may try to use this for communicating with my faculty to evaluate the library program in general and specifically to evaluate research units we have completed.
Judy's Book was another tool I checked out. I created an account and entered my zip code to see a list of sales, coupons and deals in the area where I live. I can save anything I want to to my favorites according to categories of shopping or specific stores.
I also looked at PANDORA. You can have your own DJ that will help discover new music according to what genre of music you like. It will continue to keep letting you know about tunes that you might enjoy.
The tool that I spent the most time with was Craig'list. I heard heard about it through my niece and daughter who are in their early 20's. My daughter had told me about finding a used sofa that was a really good deal. She is unhappy with the part-time job that she is in right now and I decided to look to see what other jobs were available. She is applying for a nursing school next fall and she would like to find a part-time job in the medical field. I had looked in the classified section of the Dallas Morning News, but all the medical jobs were for professionals. Craig'slist had a half dozen or so that are within reasonable driving distance for her. I was able to e-mail her each of the posts that I thought she might be interested in. (There's nothing like having your own personal research librarian when you're in college, is there? Ha!)
As far as ones that could be used in a library setting, WUFOO seems the most practical. I plan on looking at some of the rest of the tools on the Web 2.0 Awards site later to see other things that I might be able to use at school.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Thing #17 Web-based applications: not just for desktops anymore
I really liked Zoho writer because you can set up collaborations with whom you can share documents with, allowing them to edit and discuss documents that you have created. I shared a document I created with Mary and Debbie, allowing them to edit the document. I also published the page as a public page to be viewed by whoever is interested in looking at it. I also liked Zoho Writer because I can save documents online and access them them anywhere and I don't have to carry my USB drive around with me. A couple of other good things about Zoho Writer are that you can export files as a Word document or text file to use inside Word and can even export files as .pdf documents or HTML.
I used several of the templates on Zoho Writer and edited them. I then saved them under my templates to be used in the future. Two of the ones that I created were a Membership Certificate to recognize my library helpers at the shelves where they work and another template for a Student ID Badge for my library helpers so they can leave the cafeteria after eating, to come to the library to work.
Another one that I created was a Student Project Assessment document so that students can share in what ways they contributed to their group's research project and what they would do differently next time working in a research group.
The other document that I created was a Team Meeting document for planning with grade levels. They can go in and add information to the document themselves as well. Here is a link to this document:
I used several of the templates on Zoho Writer and edited them. I then saved them under my templates to be used in the future. Two of the ones that I created were a Membership Certificate to recognize my library helpers at the shelves where they work and another template for a Student ID Badge for my library helpers so they can leave the cafeteria after eating, to come to the library to work.
Another one that I created was a Student Project Assessment document so that students can share in what ways they contributed to their group's research project and what they would do differently next time working in a research group.
The other document that I created was a Team Meeting document for planning with grade levels. They can go in and add information to the document themselves as well. Here is a link to this document:
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Thing #16 Add an entry to the sandbox wiki
I thought the wiki was one of the easiest to learn and use of all the "things" we have done so far. I also, think it will be one of the most useful tools as far as educational use at school, whether for student communication and input or among teachers. I liked the fact that other's can add to the wiki, sharing information and ideas for other librarians or teachers to use. This is very easy way to collaborate without having to get together for a meeting when people are so busy.
A research unit could be developed between a librarian and a team of teachers without having to meet together. A Bluebonnet Book link in your wiki could be set up for discussion among students who had read books and wanted to recommend books or even steer peers away from certain books that they weren't impressed with. Students involved in writing assignments could do it on a wiki and other students could take part in peer editing to help improve writing skills. My favorite idea is to post a research project with resources, links to webpages, questions to answer and discussion questions. Click on the link on my sidebar to see the research wiki I made.
A research unit could be developed between a librarian and a team of teachers without having to meet together. A Bluebonnet Book link in your wiki could be set up for discussion among students who had read books and wanted to recommend books or even steer peers away from certain books that they weren't impressed with. Students involved in writing assignments could do it on a wiki and other students could take part in peer editing to help improve writing skills. My favorite idea is to post a research project with resources, links to webpages, questions to answer and discussion questions. Click on the link on my sidebar to see the research wiki I made.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Thing #15 Wikis and how libraries are using them
Here are a few of things that I've discovered about using a wiki:
1. They encourage collaborative thinking and information sharing
2. They increase student thinking and participation
3. They can facilitate communication between teachers
4. Assignments can be posted such as homework, course materials, study guides and more.
5. Bibliographies of resources can be created with links to webpages
6. Teachers can post questions for students
7. Teachers and students can post to questions on a topic.
8. Parents can be given a chance to be a part of the classroom and stay up to date on news and activities.
To me, it is a great way to organize information about almost anything and can be updated regularly, quickly and easily. I like the fact that they can be set to limit who uses and edits the wiki. For writing, it seems like this would be the perfect way to do peer editing among students. To add even more flexibility, you could add a link from your wiki to your blog for comments to be added there.
I would like to start a wiki for book reviews such as Bluebonnet Books and maybe Mockingbird books as well. We have done a couple of book studies this year and it seems like a great way to share so that the group doesn't have to get together every time.
On-line journals could be incorporated. I think some kids that are reluctant writers might bloom with the chance to use a wiki for their writing.
I have already created a research wiki and have developed several pages on the Birth of American Democracy with resources, web-links and questions to be answered. I have posted some higher-level thinking questions for synthesis after the students have completed the basics on the rest of the wiki. Check it out at the Pbwiki link on the sidebar of my blog.
1. They encourage collaborative thinking and information sharing
2. They increase student thinking and participation
3. They can facilitate communication between teachers
4. Assignments can be posted such as homework, course materials, study guides and more.
5. Bibliographies of resources can be created with links to webpages
6. Teachers can post questions for students
7. Teachers and students can post to questions on a topic.
8. Parents can be given a chance to be a part of the classroom and stay up to date on news and activities.
To me, it is a great way to organize information about almost anything and can be updated regularly, quickly and easily. I like the fact that they can be set to limit who uses and edits the wiki. For writing, it seems like this would be the perfect way to do peer editing among students. To add even more flexibility, you could add a link from your wiki to your blog for comments to be added there.
I would like to start a wiki for book reviews such as Bluebonnet Books and maybe Mockingbird books as well. We have done a couple of book studies this year and it seems like a great way to share so that the group doesn't have to get together every time.
On-line journals could be incorporated. I think some kids that are reluctant writers might bloom with the chance to use a wiki for their writing.
I have already created a research wiki and have developed several pages on the Birth of American Democracy with resources, web-links and questions to be answered. I have posted some higher-level thinking questions for synthesis after the students have completed the basics on the rest of the wiki. Check it out at the Pbwiki link on the sidebar of my blog.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Thing #14 Read some perspectives on Web 2.0 and the future of libraries
There were 2 articles that I found that simple enough for this "simple mind" to grab hold of that I enjoyed reading. In University of Colorado librarian, Jack Maness's article Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Libraries, he mentioned four essential elements:
1. It is user-centered
2. It provides a multi-media experience
3. It is socially rich
4. It is communally innovative
He stated that "Library 2.0 is not about searching, but finding; not about access, but sharing".
John Blyberg, Head of Technology & Digital Initiatives at Darion Library in Connecticut has an article titled 11 Reasons Why Library 2.0 Exists and Matters. In his opening he quoted Sarah Houghton, Digital Futures Manager for San Jose Public Library in California. "Library 2.0 simply means making your library's space (virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative, and driven by community needs. . . to get people back into the library by making the library relevant to what they want and need in their daily lives . . . to make the library a destination and not an afterthought". The main points in his article were:
Library 2.0 is:
1. Partially a response to a Post-Google world
2. Requires internal reorganization
3. Requires a fundamental change in a library's mission
4. Requires a fundamental change in how we handle "authority"
5. Requires technological agility
6. Challenges library orthodoxy on almost every level
7. Requires a radical change in the libraries and vendors work
8. Both enables and requires libraries to work together
9. Is actually happening
10. Is revolutionary
11. Is essential for survival/pertinence
Based on what I've read so far, to me Library 2.0 means changing the way way we do things, not only professionally, but in our personal lives as well.
From E-mails -> Chatting or IM
From Lectures / Demonstrations -> Streaming media
From e-mail groups -> Blogs, Wikis, RSS feeds
From Classification -> Tagging
From Catalogs of reliable print & electronic resources -> Catalogs of both reliable possibly not-so-reliable Web-pages, Blogs & Wikis
In spite of any draw-backs that might be pointed out about Library 2.0, as librarians we can't draw a line in the sand or dig our heels in or we will be left behind, as well as the libraries we are responsible for. We must accept change because change is good.
Who would want to go back to the old library days of thumbing through a cabinet of drawers full of cards in order to find a book I needed? Not me. Who would want to go back to the days of doing a library inventory with a list of 17,000 books that have to physically be found, hopefully in the correct number or alphabetical order, in order to document that the book is on the shelf? Not me.
I know of a librarian who retired because she didn't feel comfortable trying to implement a student computer where the students had to insert 3 1/2 floppy discs in order to play "educational games". We have come so far since those days. Thank goodness!
As librarians and libraries, we must adapt to rapid changes in the way information is accessed, used and produced. I know of churches that have resisted to changes in the styles of worship, preferring traditional over contemporary. Because it was different from the "way things have always been", their rigidity and lack of flexibility caused numbers of young people to leave their ranks and their membership to decline. Some churches have essentially "died" as a result.
The same thing can happen to libraries if we as librians don't embrace change and accept it as the world of the present and for sure, the future.
1. It is user-centered
2. It provides a multi-media experience
3. It is socially rich
4. It is communally innovative
He stated that "Library 2.0 is not about searching, but finding; not about access, but sharing".
John Blyberg, Head of Technology & Digital Initiatives at Darion Library in Connecticut has an article titled 11 Reasons Why Library 2.0 Exists and Matters. In his opening he quoted Sarah Houghton, Digital Futures Manager for San Jose Public Library in California. "Library 2.0 simply means making your library's space (virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative, and driven by community needs. . . to get people back into the library by making the library relevant to what they want and need in their daily lives . . . to make the library a destination and not an afterthought". The main points in his article were:
Library 2.0 is:
1. Partially a response to a Post-Google world
2. Requires internal reorganization
3. Requires a fundamental change in a library's mission
4. Requires a fundamental change in how we handle "authority"
5. Requires technological agility
6. Challenges library orthodoxy on almost every level
7. Requires a radical change in the libraries and vendors work
8. Both enables and requires libraries to work together
9. Is actually happening
10. Is revolutionary
11. Is essential for survival/pertinence
Based on what I've read so far, to me Library 2.0 means changing the way way we do things, not only professionally, but in our personal lives as well.
From E-mails -> Chatting or IM
From Lectures / Demonstrations -> Streaming media
From e-mail groups -> Blogs, Wikis, RSS feeds
From Classification -> Tagging
From Catalogs of reliable print & electronic resources -> Catalogs of both reliable possibly not-so-reliable Web-pages, Blogs & Wikis
In spite of any draw-backs that might be pointed out about Library 2.0, as librarians we can't draw a line in the sand or dig our heels in or we will be left behind, as well as the libraries we are responsible for. We must accept change because change is good.
Who would want to go back to the old library days of thumbing through a cabinet of drawers full of cards in order to find a book I needed? Not me. Who would want to go back to the days of doing a library inventory with a list of 17,000 books that have to physically be found, hopefully in the correct number or alphabetical order, in order to document that the book is on the shelf? Not me.
I know of a librarian who retired because she didn't feel comfortable trying to implement a student computer where the students had to insert 3 1/2 floppy discs in order to play "educational games". We have come so far since those days. Thank goodness!
As librarians and libraries, we must adapt to rapid changes in the way information is accessed, used and produced. I know of churches that have resisted to changes in the styles of worship, preferring traditional over contemporary. Because it was different from the "way things have always been", their rigidity and lack of flexibility caused numbers of young people to leave their ranks and their membership to decline. Some churches have essentially "died" as a result.
The same thing can happen to libraries if we as librians don't embrace change and accept it as the world of the present and for sure, the future.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Thing #13 Tagging and social bookmarking with Del.icio.us
I looked at all the tutorials for the 3 bookmarking websites suggested. I looked at Del.icio.us first, so I went ahead and created some bookmarks for the 5th Grade research unit for the 4th six weeks on the Birth of American Democracy. I had already found the websites I wanted to use on Nettrekker and some of the other research tools on our library website. I entered them into Delicious and added tags such as Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Branches of Government, etc. You can check out my saved bookmarks on Del.icio.us, by looking at the widget in the sidebar on this blog. Now I have to figure out how my students can access the bookmarks I created. I'm at home, so I can't sit down at one of the student workstations to see if I can access my bookmarks on each student computer and add them to favorites, or if there is something else I'm going to have to do. If you have any insight, I'd love to know what my next step is.
Later I am going to go back and create accounts with FURL and Ma.gnolia to see if I like them better. I liked some of the options they offered like being able to view the whole page and highlight the parts you want emphasized and being able to filter by searching by topic or date. Other things I liked were finding out who has some of the same interests as I do and being able to copy their bookmarks and share them with people I know by e-mail or through RSS feeds.
In Ma.gnolia I liked the fact that when you do a search, you can subscribe to the results you get and new feeds for that topic are sent to your RSS feeder.
One thing that was mentioned in one of the tutorials was the ability to pick a unique tag for a specific group of people who would be able to post their findings to the shared tag. I'm wondering if something like this would work for the elementary librarians when we are trying to gather websites for research units throughout the year. It sounds like a quick and easy way of sharing information that will save time so that everyone isn't spending time trying to do the same thing, separately.
Later I am going to go back and create accounts with FURL and Ma.gnolia to see if I like them better. I liked some of the options they offered like being able to view the whole page and highlight the parts you want emphasized and being able to filter by searching by topic or date. Other things I liked were finding out who has some of the same interests as I do and being able to copy their bookmarks and share them with people I know by e-mail or through RSS feeds.
In Ma.gnolia I liked the fact that when you do a search, you can subscribe to the results you get and new feeds for that topic are sent to your RSS feeder.
One thing that was mentioned in one of the tutorials was the ability to pick a unique tag for a specific group of people who would be able to post their findings to the shared tag. I'm wondering if something like this would work for the elementary librarians when we are trying to gather websites for research units throughout the year. It sounds like a quick and easy way of sharing information that will save time so that everyone isn't spending time trying to do the same thing, separately.
Thing #12 Exploring social networking
Well, as of this "Thing", I am over half way thru the 23 "Things". Yea!!!
I set up MySpace and Facebook accounts. It was actually pretty easy. I didn't add any friends because I don't know anyone who has an account with either one, except my niece and my "going on 21" year old daughter, whose accounts are private and probably doesn't want her "meddling mother" seeing her pages! (Imagine that!)
I did do a search for library and librarians on both social networks. However, I chose not to join any of the groups. Facebook showed over 500 people to search and MySpace had a dozen or so people that fell under my search terms. The two groups that I found on MySpace were "Librarians are Cool" and "Ladies & Lads of Library Land". However, after looking at their MySpace pages, they weren't your typical Mesquite, Texas librarian types, so I didn't choose to join their groups! Ha!
I did join 4 different Ning networks. I joined Texas School Librarians, Teacher Librarian, Teachers 2.0 and of course Mesquite Librarians and Friends. Three of them let me create a network badge, so check out my side bar to link to those networks. I didn't find a badge available for Teachers 2.0. Also, I clicked on the RSS feed buttons on all 4 networks in order to add them to my Bloglines feeds, but I only had success with the best of the 4 - Mesquite Librarians and Friends.I plan on going back to the other three later to see if I can get the RSS feeds for those as well. I did customize the background, wallpaper on a couple of the Ning networks, as I feel like those will be the ones of most use to me as a librarian.
I didn't add any bells or whistles to my Facebook or MySpace sites, but later when I have finished all 23 "Things", I may go back customize those sites as well, just for fun. One thing I did include in my personal info was the name of my high school and year of graduation as well as the same for my college. It might be a way of old school friends reaching me if they don't know how to locate me. In fact, this past year, I had a high school reunion and some friends shared pictures from the reunion on Classmates.com. I created an account so I could view the pictures. To open a basic account, it's free as most others. However, I keep getting e-mails to get a different version (which there is a charge for), because various classmates are interested in contacting me. I'm not interested in paying a fee just to find out who these people are. (It's probably people that I wouldn't want any contact with anyway! Ha!)
I feel that the Ning networks are the most useful for librarians professionaly, as they keep us up-to-date on new trends and provide information relevant to our jobs.
Even though I don't see any practical uses for Facebook and MySpace in a school setting, especially for elementary children, I feel like as librarians we need to be familiar with social networking in order to know about what tools our students are using on their computers. I feel like liability could be a problem if we promote the use of these social networking sites because of privacy issues and problems with predators.
I set up MySpace and Facebook accounts. It was actually pretty easy. I didn't add any friends because I don't know anyone who has an account with either one, except my niece and my "going on 21" year old daughter, whose accounts are private and probably doesn't want her "meddling mother" seeing her pages! (Imagine that!)
I did do a search for library and librarians on both social networks. However, I chose not to join any of the groups. Facebook showed over 500 people to search and MySpace had a dozen or so people that fell under my search terms. The two groups that I found on MySpace were "Librarians are Cool" and "Ladies & Lads of Library Land". However, after looking at their MySpace pages, they weren't your typical Mesquite, Texas librarian types, so I didn't choose to join their groups! Ha!
I did join 4 different Ning networks. I joined Texas School Librarians, Teacher Librarian, Teachers 2.0 and of course Mesquite Librarians and Friends. Three of them let me create a network badge, so check out my side bar to link to those networks. I didn't find a badge available for Teachers 2.0. Also, I clicked on the RSS feed buttons on all 4 networks in order to add them to my Bloglines feeds, but I only had success with the best of the 4 - Mesquite Librarians and Friends.I plan on going back to the other three later to see if I can get the RSS feeds for those as well. I did customize the background, wallpaper on a couple of the Ning networks, as I feel like those will be the ones of most use to me as a librarian.
I didn't add any bells or whistles to my Facebook or MySpace sites, but later when I have finished all 23 "Things", I may go back customize those sites as well, just for fun. One thing I did include in my personal info was the name of my high school and year of graduation as well as the same for my college. It might be a way of old school friends reaching me if they don't know how to locate me. In fact, this past year, I had a high school reunion and some friends shared pictures from the reunion on Classmates.com. I created an account so I could view the pictures. To open a basic account, it's free as most others. However, I keep getting e-mails to get a different version (which there is a charge for), because various classmates are interested in contacting me. I'm not interested in paying a fee just to find out who these people are. (It's probably people that I wouldn't want any contact with anyway! Ha!)
I feel that the Ning networks are the most useful for librarians professionaly, as they keep us up-to-date on new trends and provide information relevant to our jobs.
Even though I don't see any practical uses for Facebook and MySpace in a school setting, especially for elementary children, I feel like as librarians we need to be familiar with social networking in order to know about what tools our students are using on their computers. I feel like liability could be a problem if we promote the use of these social networking sites because of privacy issues and problems with predators.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Thing #11 Check out LibraryThing!
Well, I finally found the "Thing" that didn't trip me up one time. I have to say, that this was the easiest of the "Things" that I have tackled so far. The registration was a breeze and then entering my books was even easier than I thought it would be. I was dreading this when I went through the tutorial, not knowing how much time it was going to take to enter the 15 or so books I chose. I had it finished in about five minutes. Hopefully I did everything right. I know that Mary said something about have a link to our LibraryThing from our blog, but when I got ready to post it, I came across a way to display the books down the side of my blog. I'm not sure if this is the way it is supposed to look. I may go back to LibraryThing later and change the size of the display for my books from medium to small to see if I like it better. Anyway, on to Thing #12! Yea!!!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Thing #10 Online Image Generators
This "Thing" has been a lot of fun. The only tool that I wasn't successful with was the Comic Strip Generator. Everytime I created the HTML code to paste into my Blog, all you could see was a little orange "X". The picture never would display. I'll go back to it later when I have time to play with it some more. I was successful with the Custom Sign Generator, the Image Chef and the Happy Face Generator. I could spend hours exploring all the fun things you could do with these tools. These three were very easy to use. I plan on using them to add some spice to my library web page. Also, when I make new Power Points, I am wondering if I can incorporate some of these things as graphics for orientation presentations for the beginning of school.
Thing #9 Finding feeds
Wow! I went a little crazy exploring all the resources and tools available to help me find news feeds and blogs. I ended up with 37 feeds and/or blogs on my Bloglines page.
I found the Google Blog Search tool one of the easiest to use because of my familiarity with Google. While there I found the Elementary Library 2.0 blog which I subscribed to, hoping to find some tips in helping me finish my 23 Things.
However, for me the Bloglines Search tool came in a close second. There I found an Austin, TX elementary librarian's blog that I really liked. I'm hoping it will be useful to me because we have the "Texas Thing" in common! Ha!
To me, the Syndic8 directory of feeds was the hardest to use and a little bit overwhelming. However, later I'm going to go back to it and work with it when I have more time.
Everytime I tried to use Feedster, it was showing that it was under construction. That's another one I plan on going back to at a later time.
I liked the Topix search tool because the layout is easy to find things quickly.
As far as useful library and technology blogs such as TechLEARNing, Blue Skunk Blog and School Library Blog, I came across several interesting ones like Elementary School Blog and a SMARTBoard lessons Podcast (I have a SMARTBoard in the library and would like to use it more as far as library lessons, research, etc.).
The most unusual thing I came across was a site called Giveaway of the Day, where you can download free licensed software daily. Each items is only available for 24 hours, so I will really have to keep close tabs and this one.
As far as different kinds of ways I found to locate newsfeeds, was looking at other people's blogs and clicking on links to news sources from their blogs. Why re-invent the wheel when someone else has already been there?
I found the Google Blog Search tool one of the easiest to use because of my familiarity with Google. While there I found the Elementary Library 2.0 blog which I subscribed to, hoping to find some tips in helping me finish my 23 Things.
However, for me the Bloglines Search tool came in a close second. There I found an Austin, TX elementary librarian's blog that I really liked. I'm hoping it will be useful to me because we have the "Texas Thing" in common! Ha!
To me, the Syndic8 directory of feeds was the hardest to use and a little bit overwhelming. However, later I'm going to go back to it and work with it when I have more time.
Everytime I tried to use Feedster, it was showing that it was under construction. That's another one I plan on going back to at a later time.
I liked the Topix search tool because the layout is easy to find things quickly.
As far as useful library and technology blogs such as TechLEARNing, Blue Skunk Blog and School Library Blog, I came across several interesting ones like Elementary School Blog and a SMARTBoard lessons Podcast (I have a SMARTBoard in the library and would like to use it more as far as library lessons, research, etc.).
The most unusual thing I came across was a site called Giveaway of the Day, where you can download free licensed software daily. Each items is only available for 24 hours, so I will really have to keep close tabs and this one.
As far as different kinds of ways I found to locate newsfeeds, was looking at other people's blogs and clicking on links to news sources from their blogs. Why re-invent the wheel when someone else has already been there?
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