mountainlionlibrary2

#23 Week 9 Yippee!

2008-03-31T22:35:00.000-07:00

SLL2 has been a challenging learning experience that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I wish I had had more free time to play with some of the new tools I discovered here. Blogs, RMS feeds, wikis, and image generators are a few of the tools that I am already using.

I set up a wiki for the library techs in our district to use for collaborating on our district library presentation for the school board. (Tomorrow evening, in the midst of school closure discussions, so we will have quite the audience!)

As I am short on time again, I will not do this last post here the justice it deserves, but I want to be done!

Working at my own pace was great - it allowed me to delve into subjects as deeply as I wanted to, and move on when I wasn’t interested. I realized how much I don’t know about technology. On the other hand, I realized how much more I know, especially now having completed SLL2.0, than many of my co-workers. I am hoping to be able to encourage some of them to give this or Classroom Learning 2.0 a try1

Thank you all for your hard work in putting this program together.

#22 Week 9 eBooks and Audio ebooks

2008-03-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

I love audio books - well at least when I was commuting to school I did. I will still look forward to visiting the World eBook Fair from July 4th - August 4th to download my choice of free audio books! Maybe by then I will even have an iPod to play them on.

As for the Gutenberg Project - WOW! 1000s more reasons to sit in front of my computer! This is great for students when funding is close to, or nonexistent. I saw that Flatland was in the top 100 downloads - a book that I purchased last year for a math class. And several other books that have been on my reading list for years are listed. I could spend way too much time wandering on these sites!

#21 Week 9

2008-03-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

I just read an email that said this is the last week for winter2.0 fun! ack! I really want to finish this program this time.

So I have been looking at podcast sites and listening to podcasts. I saw a very interesting idea at Education Podcasts Network for elementary podcasts of 1st graders stories being read by the authors and the parents were very impressed. What a great idea!

My husband listens to a radio show regularly that is also podcast, so if he misses a show he can go download the podcast and still hear it. Technology - what wonderful stuff.

Here's the one I liked best - I found a podcast by Avi talking about his Newbery winner - Crispin. He is one of my favorite authors! I found this by doing an audio search for children's authors on yahoosearch.

#20 Week 9 YouTube

2008-03-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

There is an amazing amount of stuff on YouTube - like most of this technology, it is a bit overwhelming.
I also went to TeacherTube and watched the two most viewed videos - Pay Attention and Did You Know by Karl Fisch, two videos that carry a powerful message about learning and technology.
I am glad that I have the opportunity to complete this FREE online learning program. It is REALLY making me see how much I don't know about the world of technology, and also that the possiblities for educational use of these 2.0 technologies are mind boggling.

#19 Week 8 Library Thing

2008-02-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

Library Thing is pretty cool. I added about 15 books Ihave recently read to my bookshelf. It was interesting to see that some of my books were on LOTS of other folks bookshelves, and some of my books were only on a few peoples' shelves. I shall go back and add tags to my books (I guess that would be the cataloging aspect - duh) It will be easier after looking at tags that other folks used for my books.

I also like the suggestions for books to read based on what I have been reading. This could be great for those kids who "want another book like Harry Potter, or Hatchet," etc.

I would LOVE to put all my personal library books in Library Thing!

#18 Week 8 Online Productivity Tools

2008-01-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

Zoho is so cool! I think the word processor and spreadsheet are at least as easy to use as Excel and Word. This will be very handy, as I seem to be forever emailing files so I can access them from home or work. Zoho will also come in very handy for working on that presentation for the school board in April. We can do the ppt online! I really like this one.

#17 Week 7

2008-01-04T13:02:00.000-08:00

I visited the sandbox and added the Famous Author page. I have also created a wiki for our school district's library techs. We have been asked to do a presentation for the school board on April 1, 2008. Very timely, as with the poor state of CA's budget for next year, the district will again be looking at saving money by cutting our hours, if not positions. The wiki will let us collaborate without meeting face to face, which is hard to find time for.

After so many of these exercises I have felt so technologically illiterate. On the other hand, I am probably the only staff member at my school that has a wiki! And (I am guessing here - it would be interesting to verify this) maybe one of three that even knows what a wiki is!

#16 Week 7

2007-12-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

I'm back at this - I had hoped to finish before the conference but it didn't happen. So, for the third time, I have looked through the wikis listed, and am overwhelmed by the amount of information! I love the Subject Guides on St. Joseph County Public Library's Wiki. For my personal use, I like the idea of posting book reviews on a wiki. It would be a great way for our (elementary) school staff to share what we are reading with each other. I also really like the idea of doing an online book club, which I didn't see here but have seen mentioned other places.

Library Success has so many great ideas! I found the section titled "Selling Your Library" very timely, as I was told at the last school site council meeting that library techs would be on the chopping block next year in our district.

It's great to be able to see how other folks are using these technologies to promote literacy.

#15 Week 6

2007-09-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well I read most of the articles listed, and I am glad to have a (very!) basic idea of what Library 2.0 is all about. Technology is great, in fact it's pretty darned amazing! I think the interaction and communication between 2.0 users is way cool - it beats the daylights out of sitting in front of a computer and just reading what someone else wrote. To be able to comment, or edit, or create content is empowering. I am just not seeing much of a purpose for a lot of the new technologies in an elementary library setting. Maybe that's just because the staff at my school is older and not technologically literate. (Half of the staff cannot handle using a new email program for crying out loud!) And I am only willing to do so much as a part-time library technician...

Have you seen those purple bracelets? I'll change my to the other wrist now. :}

#14 Week 6

2007-09-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

I, too, search Technorati for School Library Learning 2.0 and got 1600 + hits, but went back and put quotation marks around my search terms, "School Library Learning 2.0", and got a much more manageable 201 blog posts - mostly about Thing #14. I found 14 blogs using "School Library Learning 2.0," and 45 photos, but I don't see where to search tags! In the advance search - duh. Found the same stuff again.

I can see where tagging articles, etc., would help the web live community develop networks of information on specific topics. I think I don't have the time for it right now. As with so many of these new web tools, they are very time consuming to start with.

I am hoping to take just a few web tools from School Library Learning 2.0 that I can put to use.

#13 Week 6

2007-09-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have had a delicious account since shortly after the 2006 CSLA conference where I attended a session by Allison Steinberg about Web 2.0. I really like having access to my bookmarks from any computer. This, too, is an overwhelming amount of information to manage! I really liked The Several Habits of Wildly Successful Delicious Users - VERY useful information about using delicious in a nutshell.

I can see a huge potential for researching some current or cutting edge topics, but that is not on my radar at this point. I am working on my new role as Secretary for our School Site Council, and I did not find anything about site councils in delicious!

Time to review the CSLA Toolkit...

Week 5 Thing #12

2007-09-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have clomped around several times at Rollyo and find it slow to return search results. It doesn't fit any of my immediate needs as my school is mainly focused on reading in the library program. I will inform our computer lab tech about Rollyo and send her a link to it.

For now, I need to be done with Rollyo and move on!

#11 (Week 5) Web 2.0 from awards list & Ning

2007-08-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

I have looked through the awards lists a few times, several days in between, to discover that I had already looked at the things I thought might be interesting. YourMinis was a site I looked at twice but I had to go to wikipedia to find out what a widget is... so was not impressed. I took a quick look at Google Apps, but didn't see any uses for an elementary library run by a tech. So I decided I would re-visit my account with Delicious which I set up after last year's CSLA conference and a Web 2.0 session presented by Allison ? I think it would be very useful to have my bookmarks available from home and work computers, not that I have put it to much use :}

I signed up for Ning and joined Library Technicians United last week and Teacher Librarian Ning tonight. And my brain is feeling stretched to the max, so good night!

#10 (Week 5) Online Image Generators

2007-08-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here's one sample of an image created using Dummiez Book Cover Maker 2007.

#9 (Week 4) More RSS

2007-08-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

I have spent way too much time looking at this "thing." I find it very interesting to read other library blogs and could get totally lost in that. I didn't much like Feedster - nothing I searched for seemed to get many hits. From Topix I added a feed for my home town, which is sometimes interesting, but mostly not as my home town is just mentioned in passing.

So I am moving on now... because I feel stagnated here! And I go back to work Wednesday and had hoped to be further along with 2.0.

#8 (Week 4) RSS

2007-07-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

I have spent more time on this exercise so far, and maybe can see less use for it in the (elementary) library, but more use for me, personally. This will make it much easier to keep up to date on things that are not always on my radar. For example, I added Wendelin Van Dranaen's Jog Blog, http://etrtr.blogspot.com/ (I need to find out how to link things!) to my feeds because I want to promote Exercise the Right to Read when school starts.

I can't find the "share" tab on bloglines to make my account public, so if someone could help me out, that would be great. Thanks!

#7 (Week 3) Technology

2007-07-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

Technology sure can make some things easier, but it also can eat up a lot of time playing with the different things. It's fun to play and I am glad I am doing it during the summer.

I have seen some really nice blogs with lots of great links. It almost seems like reinventing the wheel to create my own blog with useful links. I am hoping to be able to use some of this technology in the classroom as I may not be in the library in 07/08.

#6 (Week 3) Explore flikr 3rd party apps

2007-07-02T20:14:00.001-07:00

Thinking Cat
Originally uploaded by justreadit

I don't know if this counts as a mashup, but I thought the caption maker was interesting. I think students would love to see their pictures as wallpaper on library and lab computers with captions!

#5 (Week 3) Explore Flikr

2007-07-01T18:34:00.001-07:00

Well, I am finally getting back to 23 things. I managed to use my yahoo avatar as my budy icon on Flikr... posted three pictures... it was pretty user friendly. I had more trouble trying to edit out the faces in the library pic than anything else! It came out pretty ugly, but hey, it's a library picture. I REALLY appreciate being able to take this tutorial this summer!

library edited
Originally uploaded by justreadit

Here's my library photo. Forgot I was supposed to do this so had to back and set up flikr to "blog this photo." Piece of cake!

#4 (Week 2) Register blog with CSLA

2007-06-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

I am now registered with CSLA for 23 Things. I am thoroughly enjoying learning how to blog and looking forward to learning some of the other things, like flikr, and rss feeds, and ??

#3 (Week 2) Set up your own blog

2007-06-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

You are looking at my blog - yeah! I like this, it's pretty cool. I did already have an avatar set up for my yahoo account, but it was fun to go play with them some more. (The "beach librarian" may show up sometimes...) I always seem to have trouble picking screen names.

#2 (Week 1) Lifelong Learning Habits

2007-06-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

So... having just completed my multiple subject credential program in my second college career, I think I have the life long learning thing down. I am pretty good at being responsible for my own learning. What I have trouble with is using technology to my advantage. I seem to have trouble implementing what I learn. I am thinking maybe this is a goal setting problem - when I don't have a definite goal in mind, I don't put what I learn into service. I plan to use this technology in the next school year! I think it will be a great way to keep parents up to date on what is happening in their child's school library.

My first post!

2007-06-19T18:12:00.000-07:00

This is pretty exciting! I have actually wanted to do this for a long time, but just couldn't get started on my own... hmm? Probably a clue there about my learning style...