Future of Blogging

It's been quite a while since my last post.

Since then I've attended conferences that have discussed how to incorporate Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. Currently, I am attending the Cue conference in Monterey. I will be taking what I am learning here back to my school to share with the faculty. I am attending the conference with a colleague and we have already discussed ideas on what we are going to share and how we are going to share it. I look forward to creating the audio and video elements that we are going to incorporate into the presentation as examples of what can be done and how it can be done.

Many of the things that I have learned so far have been hands-on. I understand even more clearly now how students can become absorbed in creating their own media and sharing it with the world. Web 2.0 can be a great way to teach the content and technology standards and engage students in a truly interactive environment.

Classroom Learning 2.0

Participating in the School Library Learning 2.0 program over the summer was a great learning experience for me. Now CSLA has adapted the program for teachers and school administrators. Here is the link for the new program: Classroom Learning 2.0.

I am delighted to say that there are many teachers at my school whom are interested in learning how to use the web tools covered in the program. I'm very excited about all the great ideas we'll be discussing on how to incorporate them into the classroom.

I'm going to be acting as a cheerleader for the group. In the future, I'll create a blog roll for my blog with links to all of the participants blogs. I'm also happy that I'll be able to continue my own blogging adventure as part of our group learning effort.

Future Plans

Before beginning the School Library Learning 2.0 odyssey, I decided to create an email newsletter to send to the faculty. I designed it so that the teachers would be able to check out the sites I shared with them by clicking on the links in the email.
After completing the learning experience, I now feel like I have a wealth of information to share in future newsletters. I'm going to use the Del.icio.us account that I began in this program as a way of sharing all the links (and others) I'll highlight in the newsletters.
School will begin next week and I've shared the link to the School Library Learning blog with some of the teachers that have stopped by early.

Week 9 Thing 23 - The End

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Some of the discoveries I really enjoyed:
Blogging, Creating images, Exploring the world of WIKIs, Listening to Podcasts, Del.icio.us
The idea of having a blog for the library appeals to me more and more. I like the interact nature of the medium. Also, it would be a great way to incorporate student participation in the library.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This program has assisted my lifelong learning goals by providing an easy to use platform for discovering Web 2.0 tools. I’ve wanted to learn more about the features in the discoveries for quite a while but thought I would have to take a class at a school or a library to gain exposure to the tools. Now, I have a firmer foundation of Library 2.0 skills to continue to build on in my pursuit as a lifelong learner.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was surprised by the difference in the learning experience when I worked on a PC compared to Mac. I’m really a Mac person at heart so I will be looking for more tools that I can use that work hand in hand with Safari and other popular Mac features.
I'd also like to be able to share this experience with the teachers at my school. I think many of them would be interested in doing these activities and thinking about how they could use the resources in their classroom.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I joined the learning experience a bit late so I think I missed out on some of the feedback. It’s hard not to feel like you're blogging into dead air.

I would recommend that if any of the “discoveries” require specific software or system requirements that they be listed in the explanation of the task. I know it would have saved me a headache.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I would be interested in participating.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities?
At times the School Library Learning 2.0 experience was awesome, frustrating, mind-blowing, confusing, but overall rewarding.

Week 9 Thing 22 - eBooks and Audio eBooks

The World eBook Fair - good resources for eBooks and links for available audio eBooks. My attention was captured by the link to the site audiobooksforfree. I noticed however, that it is the lower quality recordings that are available for free. Anything ranked form reasonable to very goog quality has a fee attached. It would be interesting to discover what the difference in recording quality really is on this site and a comparison across sites offering audio eBooks.
Project Gutenberg was also fascinating. I prefer to read a paper version of a book but I can see accessing the electronic version if I could view it without downloading in order to answer a reference question.

Week 9 Thing 21 - Podcasts

Searching for podcasts...
I tried to find some about School Libraries but didn't find exactly what I wanted. I did find one produced by a School Library that could serve as a model if I decided to create one for my library. This podcast consists of book reviews produced by students. Interesting idea.
What I was trying to find and didn't have luck, was a podcast for news specifically about school libraries. I did find LibVibe that seems to center on public libraries but was still interesting to listen to. I added it to my Google Reader.
Hosting a podcast series in the school library would be a job for more than one person. I think it's a good idea to get the students involved. It would also be a good idea to get the involvement of the art department. More and more schools are offering classes on video and audio production. What a great opportunity for a library partnership.

ToonDoo

I was able to use ToonDoo to create a comic strip using my Mac and Safari.

Week 9 Thing 20 - YouTube Fair Use Video

I don't remember how this video originally came to my attention. I think it's a creative way to define Fair Use.

I have used YouTube before to find videos. I do like the site. I've been able to find a lot of videos both for teaching and personal enjoyment. I've also used it to check out the videos of people that I know.

YouTube can be seen as a template for creating online video libraries. I think that library Web sites can be made more dynamic with the use of embedded video. Librarians can create "how to" videos and post them on their site.

Another Big Bummer!

I wanted to make an image to add to one of my earlier posts and was disappointed again. I went the Comic Strip Generator site that I had used before and found that it's not compatible with my browser either. I wonder if all of these tools are only compatible with a few platforms? I checked the School Library Learning 2.0 site and didn't see anything about browswer requirements.
When I looked at the image generator site I couldn't find any section that would tell me what browsers/platforms it supports.
Now I know that if I do create a blog or wiki for my library, I'm better off just using the PC for creating and updating the content. It would be helpful to know if these tools were just for PC or if it's just the browser you use. It definitely puts everything I've learned so far in a new perspective.

Week 8 Thing 19 - LibraryThing

I created a "library" on Library Thing. The books that I added are some of my favorite nonficiton works. All of them were pretty popular shared with at least 300 people. I did find discussions about some of my favorite books. It's heartening to know that some of the books that I truly love are appreciated by others.


The books listed under "suggestions" based on the books in my library were all related to just one book on my list. Granted, my library list isn't that long, but I thought there would be at least one suggestion having to do with something else. I did try the BookSuggester tool and that was a bit more helpful in showing boks that might interest me.


When I posted earlier about the difference between blogging on a PC and Mac I believe the source of the problem is the browser I am currently using. When I connect using Safari, the "add a hyperlink" button doesn't appear at the top of the post dialog box. So, I pasted the full URL for my LibraryThing catalog. I'll change it to a hyperlink the next time I'm on a PC. As I've discovered, using these Library 2.0 tools is only effortless if you are using the correct browser. That's a pain.

My LibraryThing catalog

Week 8 Thing 18 - Zoho - online word processing

I was excited to learn about Zoho and I thought it would be a great tool. What a great idea, create word documents without having to pay for software. and share the documents online. Then I tried to use Zoho and ran into problems. I tried to create a document on Zoho and below is what I typed:

Zoho Writer is an online word processing tool.
It's not letting me change the font of the text like I can in Word.
I can't change font from Verdana
I was able to drag an emoticon into the page, but I can't get it to go where I want it.
Maybe this only works on PCs. I don't understand why it's not working.
I was able to underline, bold, italics
I can't get the special characters to go into the page either.

I was puzzled. Why couldn't I use any of the formatting tools? Thank goodness for the FAQ area of the site where I found the following:

What browsers does Zoho Writer support?

Zoho Writer supports the following browsers:
Internet Explorer 5.5+
Firefox 1.5+
Mozilla 1.4+
Netscape 7.0+
Regardless of the browser type, you must enable JavaScript for Zoho Writer to function properly.
Note: Zoho Writer works best in Internet Explorer 6.0 and Firefox 1.5+.

Eureka! I was trying to create the document using Safari. No wonder it didn't work! Zoho would not be a useful tool for me. At least I can use Microsoft Word and move from Mac to PC without a problem.

Week 7 Thing 16 and 17 - Wikis and School Libraries

"A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content." I'm so glad to finally have an actual definition for the term. Before beginning the School Library Learning 2.0 quest, I was constantly confusing wikis with blogs. I still think that they are pretty similar, but a wiki seems to be more open to the input of others.
I like the collaborative nature of a wiki. I can see having a class work to create a wiki related to a specific topic that they are studying. Wikis could be used in a library as a "fun" tool. Students could add book reviews to a library wiki as a way of sharing their favorite books with their classmates. I think that students become more engaged in their learning when it results in an actual product that they can take pride in. Using a wiki could positively impact student motivation.
I looked at some of the wikis from the list. I plan to further investigate the blogs on the list of school library blogs at Blogging libraries wiki. It's interesting to look at these blogs and see how the librarians are incorporating blogging into their library program.
I also looked at the Curriculum Connections for the School Library Learning wiki. What a rich resource! So many creative ideas! In looking at some other blogs connected to this class, I saw one where the librarian created a wiki for the teachers to use to schedule their time in the library. I think this is a very creative idea. I am curious about how the teachers actual scheudle the class time and if there would be a problem with one teacher deletint another.

Blogging on PC or Mac

All of the posts on my blog except for the ne for Week 16 Thing 15 have been done from a PC. I thought that it was interesting to post the last one from my Mac. I found that there aren't any options available for the font and color of the text. What a bummer! I wasn't aware before now that there was such a difference in the interface for Blogger between the two platforms. I'm always disappointed when the creators of video games, software, and other computer "things" don't bother to make a rich environment for both platforms.

Week 6 Thing 15 - Perspectives on Web 2.0

1. Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list below. Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these.
I read all of the articles associated with the OCLC Nextspace newsletter. Although some of them were more applicable to the school library environment, none of them spoke specifically about the unique situations faced by Library Media Teachers. In his article “Away from the icebergs,” Rick Anderson cautions librarians from spending limited resources on teaching patrons how to use technology. Instead, librarians should focus on just providing them access to resources that don’t require training. This advice is not applicable to the school library environment. By the very nature of the job, school librarians are teachers. Often they are in the position of not only teaching students how to use the latest technology, but also keeping staff and faculty updated on the latest trends. Patrons of public and academic libraries who go to those libraries to access these tools must learn to use them someplace. Many are self-taught and those without home computers develop these skills in school. The school library environment is where this learning and exposure to technology begins.
The advice Michael Stephens gives in his article “Into a new world of librarianship,” is the one that I found to be most applicable to the school library environment. He gives very practical advice on how to view evolving technology in the library environment. I agree with all six of his traits of a 2.0 librarian. He states that a 2.0 librarian “…does not buy technology for the sake of technology. “ There should be a purpose behind the technology that is introduced to the library environment. The purpose is derived from the needs of the patrons.

2. Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you? What does it mean for school libraries?
Library 2.0 means that the library of today is a balance between print and electronic resources. The library collection is enhanced rather than overwhelmed by the wealth of available digital resources. Digital resources in general and those specifically characterized as Web 2.0 are selected for use in the library with the user in mind. When selecting these resources the school librarian keeps these questions in mind: How will the selected resources enhance the learning experience of the student? Is it really a useful educational tool or does is it just “cool”? Sometimes the “cool” factor cannot be overlooked, especially if it gets an otherwise disenfranchised young person involved in his or her learning.
School libraries are a place where the services provided to the patron include instruction on how to use resources. In the school library, youth learn how to search for and evaluate resources used in their life as a student. These skills provide them with the foundation they need to become discerning adult consumers of information and successful members of society outside of k-12 whether as a college student or part of the workforce.
A school librarian should be aware of emerging technologies, their popularity, and how they are being used by Tweens and Teens even if these resources are not directly available in the school library. Tweens and Teens are becoming more and more adapt in the use of technology. So, even if a school library is not in the position to incorporate all aspects of Web 2.0, the school librarian should still know about and be familiar with these tools. With this experience, the school librarian is better able to understand the role that technology takes in the lives of the students outside of school. The relevance of information literacy lessons held in the library is increased by this knowledge.

Week 6 Thing 14 Technorati & learn how tags

Using Del.icio.us showed how useful tagging is for finding relevant sites. I was able to find entries from my own blog on Technorati. When you tag you may be using multiple terms to mean the same thing - no controlled vocabulary.

I checked out the popular blog, searches and tags at Technorati. The most popular blog at the time was "Boin Boing." Looking at it, I couldn't figure out why it was so popular. Maybe I missed something.

Week 6 Thing 13 Del.icio.us and Tagging

At first I didn't really think that I would have much use for Del.icio.us. Then I thought about the email newsletter that I want to start this year. In the newsletter I will send teacher updates on what's happening in the library and links to sites that I think they would be interested in checking out. I created a Del.icio.us account to bookmark the sites that I will send them in the newsletter. If they delete the newsletter and want to go back to a site they saw there, they can connect to the Del.iocio.us account and check out all of the bookmarks in one spot.

For many assignments, students have to find appropriate print and electronic sources and then share them with the class. I think that Del.icio.us could be used as an online forum for this sharing. It would be especially useful in cases where students have to continually build on what was previously found and discussed in class.

When I used Del.icio.us I found that tagging the sites was a lot easier than I had imagined. I like that the system automatically prompted tags I had previously used and suggested other tags.

Week 5 Thing 12 - Rollyo

Rollyo was interesting to look at but not very practical for me. I found myself wasting time trying to think of what sites I would group together. Many of the sites that I wish I could group together require you to logon first, so I don't think they would work with this type of tool. Using Rollyo or a similar tool is something that I will keep in mind. I did add a Rollyo search box to my site. Maybe as I work with it some more it'll become more useful.

Week 5 Thing 11 - Web 2.0 Awards List

I joined the TeacherLibrarianNing. More discussions about SLL 2.0. I lost myself for quite some time investigating the different groups available on Ning. Pretty cool stuff! I also posted my first comment this morning. I like reading what other teacher librarians are doing; that's one of the reasons why I like the professional listservs I belong to so much. They're a great way to stay in touch with colleagues and learn what's going on in the field. The groups on TLN provide another forum for connecting with others and some are just plain fun!

I would be interested in discovering whether or not any school librarians have made a social networking site for his or her school. It's a captivating idea for making the library more interactive. I do wonder how it would be moderated. A blog would also provide a forum for students to respond to posts. Post their ideas on great books or sites.

I looked at some of the other sites on the Web 2.0 Awards List. I saw that Technorati also made the list. I want to learn more about podcasting so I looked at Odeo also. I think I'll have a better idea of what I could actually do with it once I reach the "things" in Week 9.

Week 5 Thing 10 - Online Image Generator

I could spend hours playing! These image generators are a lot of fun!

As you can see, I had fun with the Comic Strip Generator. I also played around with the Happy Face Generator. You can make a logo out of smiley faces! There would be too many smiley faces to use it as the header for a blog. I did use another image generator to create a new header for my blog. I may play around with different templates later on to see if something else fits better with the new header.

Whenever I create a PowerPoint presentation I spend a lot of time looking for appropriate images. These generators provide an easy way to make your own.

Week 4 Thing 9 -- In Search of Blogs

I searched for blogs related to CSLA 2.0 in Blogpulse and Google Blog Search. I found relevant results in both sources. I found blogs by other participants and by people who were commenting on the program. I checked both types of blogs and enjoyed reading those by participants who were further along in the process than I.
I took the Technorati blog finder tutorial and learned how to add a blog.
I really liked searching for local news on Topix net. I'll be stopping by there again. I've been reading mostly national and international newsfeeds so it's great to be updated on the local level also.

Week 4 Thing 8 - RSS and Newsreaders

RSS and newsreaders allow you to get updates from multiple sources in one spot. I like the convenience of going to one place (Google Reader) to get the latest news and updates from blogs. It will be something that I will continue to use in the future.

You can check out some of my shared feeds here.

Week 3 Thing 7: Technology and Teens

I checked my email this morning as I do every morning. Through some link in one email (that I haven't been able to backtrack yet) I reached a blog by Anastasia Goodstein called, "Ypulse: Media for the Next Generation." It contains an interview of Renee Hobbs one of the creators of "MyPopStudio." I was really intrigued by the article and the corresponding links. It made me think a lot about how teens are using and evaluating media outside of the classroom. It's one of the reasons I was inspired me to sign up for the School Library Learning 2.0 program. I wanted to gain more experience using available technology.

Week 3 Thing 6: Flickr fun, mashups, and 3rd party sites

Taking a more in-depth look at Flickr reveals some other tools that can be used at the site. However, for maintaining and publishing my personal photos I prefer using iPhoto. iPhoto has a very user-friendly interface and allows you to make slideshows of your photos. Flickr still looks like a good forum for public sharing of photos, I only see myself using it for professional photos, not personal ones. Although I found the curriculum connections for this "Thing" interesting, I would be more inclined to use a different program (Microsoft Publisher) in the classroom than using Flickr.
Out of the extras on the site that I looked at the one that I thought I might use again was the Flickr Color Pickr. Students may find it useful to lookup pictures that fit the parameters of a particular school assignment.

Week 3 Thing 5: Flickr

Flickr was an interesting sit to check out. I liked seeing the photos posted by others in the School Library Learning 2.0 program. Many of the libraries are beautiful and show creative displays. I also liked looking at other library pictures that weren't tagged as part of the program.

One of the pictures that I really like is from rettberg_cathy's photostream. I'm impressed by the architectural elements and how spacious the library seems. Although, if I worked there I'd probably want to stare out the windows all day. I wonder if they've ever filled up all the cubby holes on that wall with books? How many books does it take to fill a wall...?

Week 2 Thing 3: Blog

My very own blog! Setting this blog up was pretty easy. I was also able to import my avatar from Yahoo. I'm sure that many people use the same library background. I also registered my blog with the School Library Learning 2.0 team today. I can't wait to read my first comment.

Week 1 Thing 2: 7 and 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits

I do consider myself to be a lifelong learner. I have always looked for opportunities to grow both professionally and personally. The 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits provide an interesting overview of how to be a lifelong learner. I have been able to set goals for myself and work towards achieving them. So, I think that the easiest habit for me would be #1 Begin with the end in mind. I do know of specfic things, such as Wikis and Podcasts, that I would like to learn more about. The School Library Learning 2.0 program will be a great opportunity to learn more about these types of technology. The hardest habit for me would be #3 View problems as challenges. Sometimes it is difficult for me to see beyond something that is frustrating. I don't give up when I find something frustrating, I stick with it until I understand it. I just don't enjoy the frustration. But, facing challenges and overcoming them is all part of the learning process.