Thing #12

At first it was a little daunting to put myself out there and comment on other people's blogs. However, I found that it was kinda of empowering to be able to contribute to the conversation. I read all of the blog etiquette and dos and don'ts of blogging. All of it was mainly common sense and very helpful. I want to be sure that what I write is open and contributes to the conversation in a positive manner.

Thing #23 Overview

I learned so many new things during this experience. There were many "favorites." I really liked the Library Thing. I liked the Google reader and being able to compile my lists of blogs to follow. So many of these tools will be useful for sharing resources with other professionals.
This experience was eye-opening because it makes me realize how much there is to learn and to continue learning. I had no idea the myriad of things that were out there on Web 2.0. It will keep me searching for new things. I would be open to doing this again because I learned so much. I discovered things that I will use in my personal life as well as my professional life.
One word or sentence would be mind boggling and enlightening.

Thing #22

I explored the Teacher Librarian Ning and the School Librarians Ning. On the Teacher Librarian Ning there were groups for all areas of school libraries. This is another great place to share resources, pick brains, find solutions and brainstorm ideas. I like the idea of having a controlled social networking site. It could be used among faculty to share ideas or even with a specific classes or groups to share ideas and keep in touch indefinitely.

Thing #21 Photostory

I created a very short photostory on the Alex awards from the YALSA website. I have used Photostory before. It is very simple. I have only used music and not voice but I think adding voice would be beneficial and easy as well.

Thing #20 YouTube and Teacher Tube

For YouTube I searched 'school librarians' and found the interview with Danah Boyd at ALA conference. She is addressing the issue of the importance of school librarians utilizing social networking and providing a framework for its use in the school system since it is so heavily used by students.
For Teacher Tube, I found a video introducing Web 2.0. It is very basic but it was interesting and fast paced.
I had some difficulty posting it and just added it to my links column.

Thing #19 Web 2.0

Frappr maps let me search for 'ice cream' in Portland, Oregon and churches in Stillwater, OK. I had better luck with the ice-cream than the churches. Peer trainer will inspire me while I work out and try to lose weight. LAST will recommend music and Hairmixr shows me different hair styles. I'm sure the Apps will keep growing and soon we won't even have to leave our houses!
Professionally, educational apps included learning another language at LiveMocha and utilizing various map applications for projects. More search engines were available as well as tools for blogging. Lots of good things to use to get the more traditional out of their comfort zone.

Thing #18 Open Office

I can't believe I've been buying these products when they are available free online. I played around with several of the office products. They look remarkably similar to the "real" products and it was easy to begin using immediately. It took a few minutes to think through the saving process and exactly which format I should use. I was also impressed with the input that users have so it can have enhanced features not available with Office. It was interesting to read how they guard the integrity of the product while allowing user input.

Thing #17 Rollyo

Rollyo was very easy to use. I created search sites for planets. I browsed and simply copy and pasted which sites I wanted to include in my Rollyo search. The process was quick. It was very convenient to enter in the search critera and have the information from the desired sites only be displayed.I can see using this tool for classroom and library purposes.

Think #16 Wiki's

Another great tool! I had no idea how manageable these were. The videos made them seem very doable. I am getting a little confused though on why I'm not seeing more of these in our school district. After seeing all of these things, it's almost like we are underutilizing technology. That's another topic for another day and I know that TIME is the biggest enemy of some of these things. The sample wiki's were impressive and offered great ideas on implementation in the classroom and the library as well as for any group project.

Thing #15 Library 2.0

"Away from the Icebergs" introduced just the tip of the iceberg for libraries to become nearer to a Library 2.0 model. Print materials collections should get smaller because that reflects the circulation as online resources get bigger. Users must be educated in how best to use the resources and they need to get 'friendlier.' Online library resources need to be readily available and easily accessible from anywhere. All of this leads to "Into a world of new librarianship." Librarians have to be technosavy and must be up on new trends and techology. They must be able to evaluate resources and make decisions based on user preference. Many of the tools we've examined through 23 things would be useful to a librarian to help stay current. Especially conversations with other librarians. It's not the same library or the same clientale. It is no longer a slow-moving and stagnant area and librarians and libraries will have to change to stay relevant and useful.

Thing #14 Technorati and tags

First, I loved adding my tags to things I found. For my personal bookmarking, this helped me categorize things in ways that were relevant to me. I can see the controversy over publisher putting tags on things but again, they serve a purpose as well.
Using a social site such as Technorati helps find relevant blogs in an organized way. Looking at the popular blogs and websites was interesting because it was lots of current news and hot topics. I think this would be kind of a neat way to stay updated on trends and issues. One tool to use to stay updated anyway because it is what is important to serious bloggers.

Thing #13 Social bookmarking

Delicious bookmarking can serve many purposes in the classroom and the library.
Simply just having bookmarks that are available on-line instead of confined to one computer is a must have. Once signed up, this is a great place to be able to categorize useful websites, whether for lesson plans, graphics, or exploration. Since the bookmarks are public, students could have access to it as well. I can see how this would be useful if doing a project and resources were shared. You could set up an account specific to the resource and have everyone share their websites they found. Maybe a school could set one up for important links for the faculty. Again, there seems to be many possibilities for a site such as this!