Sunday, August 9, 2009

Thing #23 Summary

Yea, I've done it!!



What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I really enjoyed blogging. I don't know if I'll keep it up, but it was fun to
do.

Most Fun:
The image generators like Dumpr, Wordle, Glogster and Big Huge Labs.
Photostory

Most Useful in my Work:
YouTube, TeacherTube, Rollyo, wikis

Most Likely to Be First Website I"ll Revisit:
Web 2.0 Award winners! There are a lot of things I still want to look at.



How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It's taken me from someone who knew very little about Web 2.0 to someone who
knows something--at least enough to get started on a few things. I think part
of my job at school is to help other teachers get started on projects they've
got in mind. I hope you keep the Library2Play webpage open and the links
working, so other teachers can use them as a guide.




Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Mainly I was surprised at how easy the end products were to send to the blog.
They've really made it easy to post neat stuff.



What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I really can't think of anything to improve this. All the links worked for me,
and the directions were clear. I had adequate time, although it was a little
surprising how much time each activity took.


If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
Sure!


How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
ENLIGHTENING


Thank you for creating the space for us to do this!

Thing #22 Ning

I had no idea what a ning was before this activity! Now I would describe it as a kind of Facebook for people with the same passion, whether profession or hobby or an off-the-wall interest. I think you have to be into social networking more than I am to really use it. I looked at the Texas School Librarian ning, and read some of the discussions, one of which was comparing it to the TLC listserv. The general consensus was that it was smaller and more personal, which made it easier to feel comfortable posting and commenting. However, there was one comment (from a respected source, in my book--Carol Simpson) on that particular discussion that pretty much sums up the way I feel: you have to be realistic and face the fact that you only have a certain amount of time to devote to reading, commenting, blogging, etc. and that it's best to choose only those items that do you the most good, and leave the rest behind. Probably, nings will be something I won't choose to devote much time to.

Thing #21 PhotoStory

Another really cool tool...and very easy to use. I had to do a little tweaking because two of my posts and videos got mixed up and out of order, but that was pretty simple to fix. Also, I was afraid I was going to be out of luck on accompanying audio because I had not brought a microphone with me on vacation, plus I am virtually voice-less at the moment due to severe laryngitis, but that was also solved by PhotoStory's program.

What can I use this for? Of course, book reviews such as the one done about The Trap, but also videos showing recent (and upcoming) library events--book fairs, story time, research papers--would be popular.

What I really want to do is get this into the hands of the elementary computer teacher right away, as well as many other teachers across the district. I think they'll love PhotoStory too.

Thing #21 PhotoStory

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Friday, August 7, 2009

Thing #20 21st Century Learners

I'm not sure how I feel about this video and the one that inspired it, the college class that we watched earlier. With their solemn, non-smiling faces, they make me feel like we're ruining their lives by teaching in the "old" style and expectig them to listen, maybe even that I'm doing young students a great disservice by reading them stories in the reading circle in the library. I should be...what? plugging in a MP3 player or a DVD of the stories? Somehow that doesn't seem to be a great advancement.

I do think teachers have to be somewhat up-to-date on new technology. (Of course, it's hard to STAY up-to-date--technology regenerates and is born anew while we're sleeping every night.) More than being completely techno-savvy, we need to have a fresh, seeking kind of attitude about new things. But to completely change teaching styles, and switch completely to Web 2.0 is also doing students a disservice. We need to show them both ways. So they're 21st century learners? Who's going to say that 20th century learners have nothing to add to that repertoire?

I keep thinking about those Star Trek scenes--I'm can't remember whether their from a movie or the TV series--where Captain Picard pulls out a book and sits in his room and reads. He's surrounded by super-advanced technology, yet still reading from a book by choice. That's what I wish for these 21st century learners--a chance to know both ways.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Thing #19 Web 2.0 Award Winners

This was fun! Who could pick our just one to look at? Not me...I tried bunches of these neat websites. I like Im Cooked, One Sentence, Care2, Picnik, Boo, and Writeboard. I think the most fun was One Sentence, and that could be used as an assignment in just about any course. I picture secondary students as having the touch of irony and sarcasm needed to make these work, but it might be interesting to see what older elementary students could do with the one sentence stories.

Writeboard also seemed useful as a tool for a a group of students or a committee who are working together on a writing project to use. It's very simple, much less detailed to use and figure out than Google Docs, so it might be a better choice in some instances.

Thing #18 Google Docs

I've just spent a frustrating hour looking back over Google Docs. A month ago I discovered this, I think while exploring Google for Thing #7, and started a document for a parent read-aloud program that we do at our school. Actually, it was a questionaire to be sent out at the end, helping us evaluate the program. The document doesn't look anything like what I'm remembering--now it's in spreadsheet form--and I can't find the original template at all. It seems like there were only a few templates at that time, and now there are hundreds, many not especially helpful. I think that's the downside of allowing the public to post their product--sometimes you get something really good, but mostly the shared goods aee of dubious value. Oh well, the occasional gem makes it all worthwhile, I suppose. (And I did see a couple of gems, to be honest.)

I haven't looked at Open Office--don't want to download it to my husband's laptop--but will when I'm on a different computer. The obvious benefit to these two programs is that you're able to access them on any computer. No more having to wait and work on something when you get to school, and no more saving to your flashdrive. The downside is having to wade through a bunch of templates that you won't ever use to find something that you can. Microsoft Word seems much easier to use, but I can remember when it seemed difficult...

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Thing #17 Rollyo

I love Rollyo! What a great idea. I can see this as being very useful to both elementary and secondary teachers who have their pet research projects or those that want to create a new project. We can continually add new websites and delete the ones that are defunct. Now, do you try to keep kids from surfing the Web and using whatever they find? How about giving them credit if they find us a good website to use in our Rollyo?

Thing #16 Wiki, wiki

The best thing about wikis is the name--I just love saying "Wiki"--

I'm actually a little familiar with wikis, or at least I thought I was. I went to a workshop a couple of years ago and immediately set up wikis for my Middle School reading clubs. I also set up a wiki for the teacher's reading club during the summer, but they didn't take to it at all. My most successful wikis have been the ones the Senior English teacher and I set up for her independent novel study groups. The students responded well to her questions and prompts, but we also wanted to see discussion among themselves. Does anyone have any ideas how to encourage more discussion to happen?

Also, the wikis I'm familiar with are all about discussion. I liked the ones I saw that were lists--like the community wiki at Ann Arbor. That seems like something I could use in the library and that students and teachers would respond to.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Thing #15 Library 2.0

I've read and read about Library 2.0, and still can't quite figure out what is being talked about, or more specifically, why it's so different from the way libraries have always been. Haven't we always responded to what the patrons wanted/needed, using whatever tools were out there? That's how school libraries are, but maybe public libraries are different. It just seems to me the tools are what are different--now there are blogs, Flickr, MySpace and Facebook, but even years ago, we were using what was new then to encourage students to become readers and literate citizens of the world.

Now, that's not to say that I'm totally up-to-speed on all this. But I think the attitude of "Let's try that" has always been there.

The best reading (in my opinion) was the article in School Library Journal from May 2006 (that long ago??) called "School Library 2.0" by Christopher Harris. It gave some concrete, real-life applications of the use of Web 2.0 in the school library setting. Very practical and useful, for school librarians. I also liked Dr. Wendy Schultz' section of the OCLC newsletter, titled "To a Temporary Place in Time..." In it, she described the new Library 2.0 as just a step in a continuum of library servies that have been offered in the past and those that will be offered in the future. Interesting to think of it all that way...