Week 8, thing 19

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/NicoleL147

I thought Library Thing was and IS a great tool to use. I think it could be used by my students to create lists and to share their reading activities. I also think, besides in the librarian world that I'm accustomed to, I could use this as a personal portfolio for my reading and future reading. I have used a similar program, that being Shelfari. I think the major difference between Shelfari and Library Thing is that the Library Thing has the connection to the LOC and other librarians. Shelfari does have the access to Amazon just like Library Thing. I like how the blog shows how other librarians used Library Thing for recommendations to specific groups like the teen population. I would use it for that and to share professional development with teachers.

In the "How Libraries are using LT" it mentioned the issue a librarian was having with connecting some of the reviews and lists with the OPAC. I think that this partially resolved by some of the circulation programs that are coming popular like Follet Destiny or Alexidria. These programs have the capabilities to allow the users to write the reviews and design their own "shelves", like Library Thing and Shelfari.

Week 8, thing 18, continued...the posted Zoho document as a blog

Here is my test page of Zoho...

I	like	to
use	tables	in
a lot	of my	writing...
and	forms.	This
table format is easier	than	Google Docs.

---

Monday, October 26, 2009




I think this is way easier to navigate around than Google Docs...

Week 8, thing 18

I think the usage of these tools online will only enhance productivity. I think Zoho and Google Docs is great for students to use for any type of work, in and out of school. Prior to this activity I was only familiar with Google Docs and was just introduced to Zoho. I have to say that I found Zoho much easier to use. I did not even have to go thru the tutorial. I was able to just start clicking. I did click into the features and I liked the options available like the online note taker, planner, presenter, and word processing. I think those programs would be the most useful for my students for a few reasons but they are wrapped into one. I'm in a 47% poverty/free lunch school district so students do not have computers at home but if they do they do not work or are only for the internet. So to have a program like this availabe, I am increasing the odds that students will work on things at home. Also, for the school computer maintenance, I am pushing students to open Google Doc accounts for the same reason as listed and to maintain my computers.

As I was exploring my Zoho account I found an option to post my practice document directly to my blog so I did this. I'm going to post it as a blog. I saved the document as a draft because I wanted to be able to find it. I am also going to export the document as an HTML, which I am finding to be just as easy. I looked at Google Docs and I could not find that option. I think a major difference between Google Docs and Zoho is the fact that Google appears to focus on the collaboration aspect where Zoho is focusing on the productivity. I'm not sure if this is something that others have seen and I would be curious to find what others think.

Week 7, thing 17

Vietnam Webquest

I hope I did this right...

I've used webquests before and I think they truly aid in the student taking on their own own learning and managing their own environment. I think if the classroom is maintained and students are shown their expectations and what is the task, they would be able to accomplish their tasks. I think that their learning is at its best when they are able to control their learning and not given the busy work.

I chose this topic because last year I thought that this teacher needed a "jump start" to her project. The project dragged on for weeks, where it should have been done in approx. 2. The students could care less and the teacher could not understand why she was receiving plagiarized papers and others that were not meeting her expectations. We have begun collaborating for her project and when I saw this opportunity, I thought I would suggest to her a webquest or possibly Ning as a means to get the project jump started with the basic information and then students would be able to branchout on their own for topics and the research.

I think a wiki is great for sharing ideas and for letting people know about projects. I think that it would be great for all content areas in schools and for professional development.

Week 7, thing 17

Now when you hear the word "wiki" I'm sure all kinds of words and innuendos come to mind. I know during the last inservice where we were creating an intermediate unit website, all kinds of jokes were happening in the faculty lounge. However, I think they are great! I know that is a phrase that I'm using a lot in these blog posts but I do. I have a wiki already for my library:
http://pahslibrary09.wikispaces.com/
I use it for various purposes: library promotion is the first priority, library scheduling, a dock for information to teachers for research planning, writing tips, PSSA information, literacy strategies...all kinds of stuff there! However, I am lacking the use of the wiki that I want, which is a means of collaboration and shared resources. I am missing the crucial step and I have been trying to promote and share my wiki with teachers to use.

I liked the examples that were given in the Classroom Learning. I really liked the Library Success Wiki regarding the best practicies. This gave me a variety of links on topics that help the librarian stay in tuned with evolving technology.

I really liked all the wiki's and the fact that I could become a member of those wiki's ans share my resources with others. It is the old thought, I have an idea and you have an idea, and if were share those ideas we each have 2 ideas. I tried sharing that with my nay-sayers at my school and they still did not get that. But that is another post. : )

I attended NECC in Washington DC this summer. One thing that I really, really appreciated was the fact that most of the major sessions I attended had a wiki for that session. For example, I attended the "Library Smack-Down." It was nothing but ideas given by librarians for librarians to better use web 2.0 tools. I could have sat there all day with a pen and paper and even my word document up and typing away, but instead, every resource was documented through the wiki, which I was now a member. I can now go to that wiki and look up the resource and even post a question for the person who suggested it or to the group ingeneral. I can also post my resources with that community. Such a great idea!!!!! I would have lost the paper and I would have probably opened the word document and not know what I typed. But now I will see those resources and know the context it was given and the why. It gave me meaning to my learning at that time.

Week 6, thing 15

I feel that I understand the purpose of creative commons, fairuse, and other copyrighted issues. But I will admit that until I began the Library Science study, I did not take any of these facts into consideration. I almost had an attitude that the copyright police can come and arrest me, little old me.

But I have come to appreciate the use of creative commons and copyright. I think it is valuable and needed to protect a person's ideas and work.

I know that over my travels on the web I have seen a lot of altered videos and other copyrighted materials. Something that sticks in my mind is the fact that recently, as a Buffalo Bills fan, there has been a huge creation of videos placed on youtube regarding the coach and the team just stinking. The video I posted is a parody of Billy Joel's song "We didn't start the Fire." A radio station in Buffalo created the song, however, it is now news that the song was created without permission. I could not find an article to post regarding that topic.

I see Library 2.0 as a means of expanding services to a student or other type of patron. The use of the 2.0 tools will provide another means of service of information to all patrons.

Week 6 thing 14

Tags is something that people do not think is important but I can definitely find value in it. I try to tag my blogs, my bookmarks on Diigo, and my wikispace pages. I started doing that because I saw that there was a space for "tags" so I thought I had to do it. I thought up my keywords and typed them in. But I did not know if I was doing it right. Something I see as a possible issue is the fact that I was the one thinking up the tags. Someone looking for something might miss my posted information on my blog or wiki because my keywords do not match their keywords. However, after looking at the top tags for the past month on Technorati, I think I'm doing it right.

Again, I think this also has value because I will probably better remember what I did if I've associaated my own personal meaning to posts or wiki spaces.

Week 6 Thing 10

Social bookmarking...I tried explaining this to my husband and he thought it was an alternative to facebook or mspace. I then took him on a tour of his bookmarks saved on our computer. He is also a graduate student and he has an entire folder that is dedicated to his grad work. In fact I have had to email him websites and articles to his email address that he accesses from other parts of the country. So I was introduced to Diigo. Very similar to delicious. I like Diigo because of the ability to share with my groups that I have set up, I can post post-it notes to websites so I know why I bookmarked it, and I can create my own Diigo dealing with specific topics. That is similar to delicious. My favorite thing about Diigo is the post-it note.

Regarding delicious, it offers the similar features as Diigo, that is the social sharing of bookmarks, group creation, and the catagories. I like delicious format and it was very easy to navigate around. I think any of the social bookmark sites are great for the main purpose of having the access to your bookmarks. I did sign up for the RSS feed because I think that some the articles I saw listed and the entire theme of the group is great for my professional development.

I started this year with my seniors who are working on their senior research project from the beginning of the year, with an introduction of Diigo. I did not force them but some saw the value in the service and created their accounts.

Week 5, thing 11

Okay, I found something that could be more addicting than the other tools that I already use on the vast WWW. That is mothersclick.com

It is so simple to use! It starts with a search bar that you have a limited amount of characters to type. Now while you type it is searching what you want. To test this, I started typing "time to scrapbook." I came up with a list of things that have various topics: I could start a conversation with another mother who asked a similar question, I could see a poll that was created to that question, or I could see suggestions to answer that question. All of them were short and to the point. I loved it!!!! It is perfect for the mom on the go but also great for expecting moms. There are topics to click into once an account is created. With an account, you can share you search and posts on facebook or other social networks. It also shows the top topics of the day.

As for Ning, I had an account already created but it has been a social network that I've had difficulty staying on top of at this point. However, I see great value in it as a means of having the social network with those who are interested in similar topics. I already had a social connection to the ALA and another Librarian network.

I think like email, I would have another alias for my interests like scrapbooking, mother-hood, and other things. I will continue to play with it.

Week 5, thing 12

http://www.rollyo.com/pahslibrary/vietnam/

I have to admit that I found Rollyo difficult to navigate thru. I thought it was slow to upload and slow to create the final product. Having said that, I do see great value in this. I think that I could use Rollyo as a means to substitute the NetTrekker that was cut due to budget cuts. For those that do not know what NetTrekker is, it was similar to Rollyo and was very student friendly. I see this as more teacher focus because the teacher is creating the websites, where NetTrekker was a search engines that was geared for student/school use. Things were already screened for appropriateness.

I chose the topic of Vietnam because it was one of the few research topics that come into the library that has a theme base. A lot of the research that I work with is usually open topic. I think I could use rollyo by creating the some already searches for some of the topics, like explorers and authors. I would be able to eliminate the "google" issue.

Week 5, thing 10

I have always wanted this information! Oh, look at the picture prior to this post. It should be my friend's muppet again in a milk carton. I tried to post me in the frame but I could not get the picture to look right so I went back with the muppet. I think it works.

I used for the first time ImageChef. I think it is very easy to use and easy to navigate thru. I clicked into the help section and received a quick tutorial as to how to use the poetry blender and the sketchpad. I liked both of them and I think I can use them for promotional items in the library. And not to take from my thoughts a few weeks ago, I think, I think I could use this as a means to simulate those READ posters and are popular. In the classroom, I can see this being benefical for designing posters for specific topics. For example, I could see my US Government teacher finding this helpful during election season for the kids to create campaign posters. Also, I was thinking in other history classes students "posting" themselves in scenes that have historical signifcance like the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I think ImageChef does not have that type of capabilty but I know of some programs that have those means.

Since beginning this course I have shared this information with my CFF coach and a few teachers who are excellent with integrating technolgy in their classrooms. I think this will be another tool that they will find useful in education.