Thing #23 - A Few Thoughts About the Program

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I really liked del.icio.us, Library Thing, Google Tools, podcasting, wikis, and nings. Some of the other tools like the mashups were fun but I probably won't use those on as regular a basis as I will these. The only one I didn't especially care for was Rollyo - I just thought I could use del.icio.us for the same basic purpose.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I've known for a while that my technology skills were getting a little rusty so this has forced me to update them. I think it is very important for the librarian to be a little ahead of the curve in the information world so this has been very good for me.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was happy to find the award winning blogs and web 2.0 winners. I find the web 2.0 world pretty overwhelming at times so just like in the book world, it is great that there are experts who have narrowed the field a bit.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I can't really think of anything. I think you guys have done a great job and really appreciate the opportunity to participate. I like the blogging format. I don't always like forced commenting if I don't have anything much to say but I understand the importance of it and I do like it when others comment on my blog.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
Definitely! The sad thing is that many of the 23 things may be obsolete in a year or two - we have to keep up! - I think joining a ning will help and I wouldn't have known about that if I hadn't done this!

6. 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?
Completing the 23 Things has helped me become a Twenty-First Century information specialist!

7. Now go and comment on some of the other Players' blogs.
I am on it. Thank you again. This has been a wonderful and extremely useful experience.

Thing #22 Nings

I have been a member of LM_Net and the TLC listservs forever and I think I have just discovered the web 2.0 version - NINGS! I looked at several and plan to join the High School TeacherLibrarians Group in the TeacherLibrarian Ning. It looks very active and seems to discuss the issues I am interested in. I like to follow the listservs to keep up and get new ideas, especially since this is only my second year at the high school level, but now I think I might find more information on the changes occurring in the library world by following blogs, nings, and maybe signing up for the NEXT 23 things!

I have question about the nings - do any of them have searchable archives like the listservs? I will try to dig a little more and see if can find out.

Thing #21 Podcasting

Whew, finally finished. This one required a little chocolate and resulted in a couple of closets getting cleaned out (avoidance), but I am proud of myself for FINALLY completing a PhotoStory movie. Now that I see how easy (but time consuming) it is to do and to post, I will certainly do more of these. I can see that these videos would be fantastic for generating interest in books, library programs, etc. I will be purchasing a flip video (or a similar camera) this year and I want to start doing more video projects with students and teachers.

Thing #20 You Tube and Teacher Tube

I have been searching for video on the Galveston Hurricane (the 1900 one) as an example of a typical research project for which a student or teacher might wish to include video clips.

I found several from the Weather Channel but their legal pages prohibit using without permission. Fair use might allow a small portion. Here is a clip I found that was filmed by an associate of Thomas Edison.



I don't believe You Tube is accessible in our district and appreciate the "get around" directions as this is a resource that is very valuable for our teachers and students. We have tried in the past to find what we need through Discovery Streaming or Teacher Tube and while those resources are great, they are not as extensive as You Tube. I have a feeling that after several of us have completed the 23 Things, we will be fighting for more access to these resources. Has that been the case in Spring Branch?

Thing #19 Web 2.0 Award Winners

Choose One???? There are so many great ones. Of course we have used several already in our 23 Things such as Technorati and Rollyo and I will use either PBwiki or Wikispaces next year with my teachers and I'm now totally hooked on iGoogle, GoogleDocs, Library Thing and del.icio.us. I have used several of these in my personal life such as Craigslist and YouTube and my husband is familiar with Zillow in his real estate career. I have had a great time exploring these and can see many uses, both personal and professional for several of these, but here are a couple that I would like to focus on:

WorldCat
http://www.worldcat.org/

This has now gone public and will be very useful to our patrons for finding materials in nearby libraries and for finding images, citations, etc. Unfortunately we cannot use it to download MARC records as this is forbidden in the user agreement. (and believe me I looked)!


Career Builder
www.careerbuilder.com

Added to my del.icio.us list and will add to my Rollyo list of career links for career research. I especially like the Career Advice Page

Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools

I have been playing around quite a bit with Google Docs and can see myself using these a great deal and sharing with students, especially those who come to the library trying unsuccessfully to open their Works documents with our Word software. I am still trying to download Open Office. I have created a couple of presentations, a calendar using a template (these are awesome) and a text document so far. There are also forms that can be embedded in blogs or websites so the educational uses are extensive.

Here is a quick calendar I doctored up from a Google Doc template - This would be very handy to use for library scheduling.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rjzVo11uTtdd9hqIrMsyDcA

Thing #17 - Rollyos

Another useful tool for research projects. I registered and edited an existing list of websites of books and authors by adding a couple of sites that had saved in del.icio.us.

Here is my list:

http://rollyo.com/aleboy/books_and_reading/

I have also started a list of career resources (my school is BIG on kids getting jobs when they graduate) :)


I can see this being very useful when putting together resource lists for research projects - less time wasted searching and more time actually researching. Students could also put together rollyo lists as part of the process if time allows.