Week 9, thing 23--the final post!!!!

I am sad that this is coming to the end. I have enjoyed this journey and I think that I have grown as an educator, a librarian, and as an over-all student. I think a benefit that I had already some prior knowledge for some of the tools but I was able to play and learn some new tricks!

I think my favorite discoveries were Flickr and mashups. I did not have a lot of experience with any of these but I liked them because they were easy to navigate thru with tutorials and help links.

I think this blog/program assisted me as a life-long learner by giving some more tools in this ever changing environment. Something I think should be emphasized in this type of learning environment is the fact that this technology is ever-changing but for the better. I think a great example of this is the productivity tools. I think that the Google Docs and Zoho were great and are great tools for classrooms to subscribe to.

The Rollyo lesson was not the best tool for me. I had difficulty geting the link to work and for the page to load. I was unsure if it was because the page/creator was updating so other aspects were especially slow.

I would love to participate in a later discovery program, I would enjoy participating. I thought this was the most beneficial thing to work my way through.

My one word I would use is ever-changing.

I would love to maintain my blog! I want to be able to communicate in this forum for book reviews and other educational endeavors that I am taking people through. I'm thinking as I teach teachers certain Web 2.0 tools.

Week 9, thing 22

I see a great advantage to the use of e-books but I think this will be a technology that might be a while until it is fully caught on by the public. I asked some of my colleagues about the e-book and they did not seem thrilled about the concept. Some even said that there is something about the feel of the book in your hand and turning the pages. I agree with that because there is something about holding the book on your porch on a nice summer day. I don't know if this is where I want to talk about the kindle but I think that is a similar issue for me--the feeling of the book.

I found the website World E-book fair difficult to navigate but I can see value in it. I used the search and browse features to find classics and some contemporary titles.

I am familiar with the Gutenberg project and have used the texts in my English classroom and in my online classes.

Week 9, thing 21

WriteRead Podcast

I will say that I have not completely submersed myself in the podcast world and I can actually see great value in the podcast. Especially for some educational concepts and things like booktalks or quick concepts for possible reinforcement. I think that I can find great use to having a podcast feed so I can feed my need for whatever information I needed.

I have wanted to create a podcast on various topics like booktalks or quick technology and Web 2.0 tips for teachers.

Week 9, Thing 20

The video associated with this blog I hope is not offensive to people. But I received it through facebook and it is fascinating to me. I'm thinking of it as a public service announcement...for the parents of college students....think about how they are spending their time. Enjoy it!


I love YOUTUBE!!! My husband and I are always on it for new information, finding old episodes of shows, and for just finding cool things (beer pong video!). The quest one night was to find a Seinfeld episode and with some quick tag search terms, we found it!

I think for a librarian and for really any teacher, I think the use of Youtube is great for creating a point of a lesson, for adding to a lesson, and for even creating a front-loading technique. I used Youtube for a clip to show the trailer of To Kill a Mockingbird prior to reading the book. It is mysterious but provides a visual for characters.

I know through my own family use that I can create a playlist. Something I would love to do in the library is create a playlist dealing with book talks or author interviews. I would alredy have clips that I want to use ready.

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.