As I blogged about in the discussion board, I loved this class. Learning 2.0 was much more than I would have expected out of this technology class. I can't believe we learned all of this new technology in such a relatively short time frame! My only regret is that, unfortunately because of time constraints, I would learn about each topic quickly but didn't have time to really explore and find ways to utilize it before having to move on. I'm hoping that 2.0 will still be available during summer and that I can come back and really take the time to develop some ideas for lesson plans that will correspond with the state curriculum. Wouldn't it be great to go into the school year with specific technology lesson plans already in place for each grade level? Hopefully, I will get the opportunity to accomplish this.
As far as Anne's class goes, I greatly appreciate learning about search engines and search engine strategies. I learned so much that I did not know about Google. The only drawback is that there were so many other search engines that I would like to have studied but of course, we couldn't get to them all. I also enjoyed the class on digital libraries as so many ideas for lessons came to me through that study. Although the wiki was frustrating at times, I still feel as though it was valuable to learn how to collaborate with each other from across the state and to have the knowledge of what it takes to create a wiki of our own. I'm actually quite proud of the one that Jullie, Brittany and I did on biographies. I feel as though we actually made a valid contribution to the ITLS site:)
Overall, I think that this class has greatly contributed to our study of technology and I will use so much of this information within my future career. Thanks Anne for a great class!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati
In a discussion post on this subject during Week 7, I believe it was Melia Fidel who pointed out what an organizational bunch that us librarians are and after this 2.0, I have come to realize that it is not only librarians that are organizational but most of the active web population. We would have to be, wouldn't we? The web is so vast that without organization, everything would be a huge mess. I was unaware of the specifics of tagging and also that services like Del.icio.us and Technorati existed to help users organize their information. The man who developed Technorati (whose name I have forgotten) is now a multi-millionaire because he recognized the need people have in their lives to organize. Such a simple concept. What a genius!
At first, I couldn't encompass how either of these sites could be used in a library/ or educational setting. It seemed like so much trouble to teach students about these services when most students would just add it to favorites on their toolbar. But then Anne had a suggestion to gear the instruction towards the teachers that you would be collaborating with and that made alot more sense being that they would have many more sites to keep track of. Before learning about these sites, I had previously constructed my own form of folksonomie- it worked like this. I would simply create a main topic folder under my favorites tab and categorize each website under specific topic folders. Old school? Maybe but available on my toolbar at all times without having to log in to another site. I find it works fine but I agree, it is good to know that these sites exist in the case that one might find use for it in the future.
I actually found alot more useful information in reading the perspectives on Library 2.0 and the futures of libraries. I even jotted down some thoughts that would be perfect to reiterate in an interview for a library position. For instance, on the subject of acquisition of technology within your library, it was suggested that a librarian should not buy technology for the sake of technology. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the school, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status. New technology should be put to the test: Does it meet the users need in a new or improved way? Does it create a useful service for pairing users together with the information they seek? When budgeting for technology, these are some questions to consider. Previously, we had an in class assignment in which we were asked what types of technology we would have available in our dream library. I remember Melia and I requesting all of the coolest technology just for the sake of having it, but not necessarily questioning how we would use it. I see how that could be a mistake budget wise. Another recommendation by Library 2.0 is to focus on using the interlibrary loan service (ILL) as much as possible and to provide access to a variety of databases where users can access information. This helps to cut down on the cost of print versions while still providing users with the most up to date information.
The Library 2.0 article really made me think about how best to "serve" my clientele - the students- and really motivated me to start questioning the ways in which I could create a technology plan that works.
At first, I couldn't encompass how either of these sites could be used in a library/ or educational setting. It seemed like so much trouble to teach students about these services when most students would just add it to favorites on their toolbar. But then Anne had a suggestion to gear the instruction towards the teachers that you would be collaborating with and that made alot more sense being that they would have many more sites to keep track of. Before learning about these sites, I had previously constructed my own form of folksonomie- it worked like this. I would simply create a main topic folder under my favorites tab and categorize each website under specific topic folders. Old school? Maybe but available on my toolbar at all times without having to log in to another site. I find it works fine but I agree, it is good to know that these sites exist in the case that one might find use for it in the future.
I actually found alot more useful information in reading the perspectives on Library 2.0 and the futures of libraries. I even jotted down some thoughts that would be perfect to reiterate in an interview for a library position. For instance, on the subject of acquisition of technology within your library, it was suggested that a librarian should not buy technology for the sake of technology. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the school, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status. New technology should be put to the test: Does it meet the users need in a new or improved way? Does it create a useful service for pairing users together with the information they seek? When budgeting for technology, these are some questions to consider. Previously, we had an in class assignment in which we were asked what types of technology we would have available in our dream library. I remember Melia and I requesting all of the coolest technology just for the sake of having it, but not necessarily questioning how we would use it. I see how that could be a mistake budget wise. Another recommendation by Library 2.0 is to focus on using the interlibrary loan service (ILL) as much as possible and to provide access to a variety of databases where users can access information. This helps to cut down on the cost of print versions while still providing users with the most up to date information.
The Library 2.0 article really made me think about how best to "serve" my clientele - the students- and really motivated me to start questioning the ways in which I could create a technology plan that works.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Play- online image generators
Oh yeah. I remember this assignment! The title of this blog is exactly that- we got to play that week. Online text generators are so fun and there are so many to choose from. Now I know where people get all of the cute things that they post on their myspace and facebook pages. The only thing I had trouble with was finding the html code so that I could upload an image. I went to Name-Masher @ http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/name-masher.html, which will take any two names and list the possible variations if you combined them. My favorite of mine and Dustin's name was Dustinie. I actually emailed it to all my pregnant friends that are still looking for baby names because some were really cute. Of course I had to search for the combo of every couple I knew first. Then I went to Letter James and tried to create words in the sand @ http://www.letterjames.com/start.php?mod=image-gallerybut couldn't figure out how as it wouldn't download to my computer. I think there was a subscription. After that, I tried to create a puzzle of me and Mogi @ http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/jigsaw.phpbut once again, couldn't find the html code to attach it here. I have been "playing" for the past two hours! (and could spend so much more time if I had it!)
Now, how to connect it to the library? I could certainly see using an image generator to advertise for your library, specifically using the @ your library logo we learned about in a previous reading. For actual instructional use though, I kind of come up blank. Hang on, let me think...Well to support technology and writing an assignment could be to have students create a comic strip with a comic strip generator or I did see one where you could enter a poem and it will generate into different shapes. That one might be fun to have students create and then hang up for display during a study of poetry. All in all though, a totally fun 2.0 this week!
Now, how to connect it to the library? I could certainly see using an image generator to advertise for your library, specifically using the @ your library logo we learned about in a previous reading. For actual instructional use though, I kind of come up blank. Hang on, let me think...Well to support technology and writing an assignment could be to have students create a comic strip with a comic strip generator or I did see one where you could enter a poem and it will generate into different shapes. That one might be fun to have students create and then hang up for display during a study of poetry. All in all though, a totally fun 2.0 this week!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wiki's
All of my learning 2.0 things are out of order! The reason is because for the longest time, I couldn't log in to Blogger. So I would post on Blackboard and know that eventually, I would have to come and repost here. Just so that it is known, I have done many of these 2.0 activities when they were assigned but am posting on them now. Oops.
At first, I didn't understand the concept of a Wiki. I didn't like that you could spend all this time creating a post and someone could just come along and edit it. Now that we have conducted our own class Wiki on references, I understand that there is a common Wiki etiquette that is followed. Even within our own class site, I didn't dare to edit anyone's work out of respect for what they had posted. Now I see the usefulness and how many different ways Wiki's can be used instructionally. Many people complained about the class Wiki assignment- indicating that it was too hard to format, etc. I disagree. I thought it was pretty easy if you created in Word first and then copied it in. Also it was so easy to add a hyperlink! I felt like a genius for being able to figure it out myself.
After visiting the suggested sites on 2.o, I liked the Best Practices for Librarians Wiki and the Book Lovers Wiki could have been much better if more people would post to it. A couple of ideas that I had were to create a Book Lovers Wiki for your school library. The librarian could introduce the technology to a particular class and each student would be required to post a book review. I also think it would be a great instructional tool to have a Wiki for class homework questions. Students could post a question and anyone in the class could respond who knew the answer. That might take some maintenance though because it could fill up quickly but would allow parents who had questions to log on to discuss. I'm glad we had this introduction to Wiki's because I can certainly see ways that it will be useful to me as a librarian or teacher in the future.
At first, I didn't understand the concept of a Wiki. I didn't like that you could spend all this time creating a post and someone could just come along and edit it. Now that we have conducted our own class Wiki on references, I understand that there is a common Wiki etiquette that is followed. Even within our own class site, I didn't dare to edit anyone's work out of respect for what they had posted. Now I see the usefulness and how many different ways Wiki's can be used instructionally. Many people complained about the class Wiki assignment- indicating that it was too hard to format, etc. I disagree. I thought it was pretty easy if you created in Word first and then copied it in. Also it was so easy to add a hyperlink! I felt like a genius for being able to figure it out myself.
After visiting the suggested sites on 2.o, I liked the Best Practices for Librarians Wiki and the Book Lovers Wiki could have been much better if more people would post to it. A couple of ideas that I had were to create a Book Lovers Wiki for your school library. The librarian could introduce the technology to a particular class and each student would be required to post a book review. I also think it would be a great instructional tool to have a Wiki for class homework questions. Students could post a question and anyone in the class could respond who knew the answer. That might take some maintenance though because it could fill up quickly but would allow parents who had questions to log on to discuss. I'm glad we had this introduction to Wiki's because I can certainly see ways that it will be useful to me as a librarian or teacher in the future.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Happy Birthday Wordle
This is a tag cloud for my beautiful cousin Melissa who turned 27 (I think) on April Fools Day. Tag clouds are really easy and fun. It was the subject of our 2.0 this week and, as posted in the discussion board, I can think of alot of uses for them and even more thanks to the article from Anne's dad! I certainly will use wordle in my library or classroom in the future! I just wish I could figure out two things, how to get phrases to stay together and how to save it to my computer for my own use. I guess I will have to play with it more but what a fun way to teach a variety of subjects or to use as a design technique. I used to work for County Parks & Recreation and part of my job was to design the t-shirts for the youth programs. This would have been so helpful back then.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
www.youtube.com
I'm scared to go to YouTube.com because last weekend, I downloaded a virus that I think turned off my firewall, and despite how I try, can't turn it back on. So I am sketchy about going to MySpace or youtube or anywhere else for that matter. I have been to YouTube before however; and am surprised at how it seems that just recently people have started to praise the educational aspects of the site. I think it is a great tool to utilize in the classroom because kids easily identify with it. I did learn how to embed video, which is very exciting and incredibly easy! This is my little cousin Cassie's YouTube music video that she created to Katy Perry's Hot N Cold. It has had 29,458 views. She is 16 years old and created the whole video in one lazy afternoon (including editing, costume changes, and lip-sync sychronization). It certainly proves the technology that high school students are not only capable of, but able to utilize easily just for fun.
Web Awards-SpanishPod
Rated #3 in the education field is SpanishPod- "Que tallia es?" What size is it? - At SpanishPod you can download relevant, daily lesson podcasts to Spanish lessons! Teacher Discussion, Translations, flashcards and exercises are part of the program. At first, I was apprehensive because I feel one would need a written portion to learn a different language but, low and behold, there are also printable PDF's which would be extremely helpful to those of us visual learners. Although I have not signed up yet, as I didn't want to waste my 7 day free trial (who has time to learn spanish right now?) I will in the future. Of course I realize you may not become fluent, however, it may help to know several words or phrases that could be used in daily conversation with a student. In the time I was at this site, from the demo podcast, I learned "esse" means small (not clear on the spelling), "emme" means medium, and "elle" means large. Oh and also "burro" means dude (or donkey, if you prefer) As soon as this semester is over though, I am starting my lessons! You can too at http://spanishpod.com/
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