Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Week #8 Thing #19




I was excited to learn about LibraryThing.  I like the idea of keeping a catalog of the books I have and to share with others the books I think are noteworthy.  I also think it is a great way to explore what others are reading who have the same interests.  There seems to be a lot of facets to LibraryThing.  I took the tour and think the site would be a great way to connect with other book lovers!  LibraryThing Local seems like a great way to know what is going on in your area.  I am going to keep exploring the site - expecially the groups, talks and author chats.  I love the blog widget!  Here is my catalog for books that go along with my Coin Designer Webquest.  The books I chose were in other members' catalogs.  They ranged from 7 to 63 members.  Enjoy!

Week #8 Thing #18


I kind of went about this week's assignment a little bit backwards, but that ended up being a great thing.  I was working late last week (while watching the baseball playoffs) and I was finishing up my Webquest assignment.  I had made a rubric for the Webquest, but I didn't know how to get the rubric onto my webquest page - you couldn't attach a file, you could only post a link.  I tried a couple of things:  I saved the document in html, I saved it in pdf, and I saved it in jpeg to somehow get this document onto my page.  Nothing worked.  I asked my husband, "How do you get a document to become a link?"  He said he didn't know.  I didn't give up - I knew there had to be a way.

I remembered Google Docs as a choice for the Web 2.0 project.  I thought - that has got to work!  So, I took a quick tour of the site and then uploaded my document to it.  I clicked on the button to get the link for that document.  Yeah!  It worked.  I then tried the link (after signing out of Google) and - Uh Oh - it didn't work unless you signed into Google.  So, I went back in and figured out that I had to change the settings to be able to share with everyone.  Once I did that, and made some changes to the document, I was happy with the result!

Then, after I submitted my Webquest, I was on a roll with my assignments, so I thought I would check out Week 8's assignments.  I was so excited to read that it was about Google Docs!  The main reason I was excited was because I saw a problem and I found a way to solve it - while learning technology!  I didn't feel intimidated by the technology, but saw it as a way to accomplish the things I wanted to do.

Here is my link to my rubric for my Webquest from Google Docs.  I also checked out some of the videos for Google Sites.  I think there is definitely potential for using that as a school library media specialist.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Week #7 Thing #17

I enjoyed playing in the sandbox on the Classroom Learning 2.0 Wiki!  At first I wasn't sure what to do.  I checked out the different pages, looked at the m+m avatars - Very Cute, looked at some pages that didn't have anything on them and then posted my Webquest.  As I'm sitting here at 11:30 p.m. watching the Phillies, or I should say listening to the Phillies while I am working, I thought, I'm supposed to be playing in the sandbox, and here I am not even watching the playoffs.  So, I had an idea to ask everybody who they are cheering for.  I am hoping people will edit the wiki and play along.  I also posted a poll on this blog to see who everyone is cheering for.

I definitely see the benefits of wikis.  They are great for any type of collaboration.  I like looking at examples of wikis to get ideas for the classroom.  I also like wikis for providing help for teachers!  I think it's great when an educator comes up with a good idea and is willing to share it!  I like the idea of doing a virtual book club and having different pages of the wiki set up for characters and plot discussions!  I think the possibilities are endless.

This week my class was to create a WebQuest.  You can check them all out in the Classroom Learning 2.0 Sandbox

Week #7 Thing #16

I love the idea of wikis!  I used one for the first time in one of my classes to create a library budget.  It was great to not keep sending emails to other members in my group to discuss things and approve changes.  We just got on the wiki, edited it, and kept working.  I think wikis are such an asset to group projects.  Students can work on their project at their convienence.  It is such a time saver when everyone is busy and have tight schedules.  I think this is a great place to start when introducing technology into the classroom.
For an introduction to wikis, I enjoyed the video Wikis in Plain English.  It really shows the basics for wikis.  Many people have heard/used Wikipedia, but don't know how the true concept of wikis works.  This video provides a good introduction to those who are going to be using wikis. 
I checked out some of the wikis listed on the Classroom Learning 2.0 Week #7 Thing #16 page.  Some of the links I looked out were no longer available, however I still found some interesting wikis that I explored.
I liked: 
Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki - What an awesome way for Librarians to find out things that work for them.
AND
Teacher Librarian Wiki - I checked out the Very Cool Ideas section, Links to other wikis and New Librarians just to name a few.
I will definitely keep these as resources to use when I become a school librarian!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Week #6 Thing #15


I checked out the some of the information about Creative Commons.  I really enjoyed watching the youtube video Wanna Work Together? and reading the Copyright Comic Book written by law students at Duke University.  Copyright is such an important issue - but it is very hard to understand.  I like anytime pictures or video can enhance the written word.  I am a visual learner so the content becomes so much clearer for me.

One of the articles I read about Library 2.0 was Web 2.0 Where will it take libraries?  I agreed with the author, Rick Anderson's analysis on what libraries have been and what they will need to become.  He says that in the past, libraries were the only place to get information.  But now, information is everywhere.  Libraries need to adapt to the users' needs and meet them where they are.  I already see libraries changing so much and think about all the changes that are to come.

I had never really thought about how different library catalogs are from searching on the internet.  Through this course, I am beginning to realize why people would choose the internet over the current library system for their needs.  My eyes were especially opened about this topic after reading Chapter 8 - Folksonomies and User-Based Tagging of Courtney, N. (2007). Library 2.0 and beyond.. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.  I realize that the library catalog, a traditional taxonomy, can seem rigid and "unfriendly" to a user.  On the other hand, a folksonomy (a term I had never heard before) is changeable and certainly "friendly" because it comes from the users.  The library, wthich has always boasted that it is there for the patrons, must make the patrons believe that it is something that is actually theirs.  This will only come from using the tools that users are most comfortable with.  In essence, Library 2.0 is the direction that libraries need to go.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Week #6 Thing #14

Technorati is an amazing site.  I cannot believe that they track approximately 50 million blogs!  I think I could spend all day searching this site.  I tried looking up School Library Learning 2.0 and Classroom Learning 2.0 with quotes, without quotes, in Blog Posts, in tags, and in the Blog Directory.  The results were WAY different.  This tells me that if you want to find something you may have to try several different avenues before you actually get what you want.  I enjoyed looking at the tag clouds - something I did not really "get" before reading this weeks information. 
I also explored popular blogs, searches and tags.  It was surprising to me that the most popular blogs only had about 5,000 followers.  I thought it would be much higher.  I like the idea of tagging - I think it can help find information on topics you are interested in.  One of the down sides of tagging is not providing enough tags.  Ideally, I guess bloggers should actually provide several tags instead of just one, so more people can find your content.  I like that the site also lets you set up Watchlists for your favorite tags.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Week #6 Thing #13

I love the idea of social bookmarking.  I had heard of Deli.cio.us, but I had never checked into it before.  When I was reading up on it, I first clicked on a link for a beginners guide to the site.  Unfortunately, the link did not work.  I then clicked on the link for Several habits of wildly successful Deli.cio.us users.  I was really surprised that the article was dated 2005.  I had no idea it had been around for at least 4 years!  The article was a great place to start.  I then checked out SJLibraryLearning2 Deli.cio.us account.  I played around with a couple of the tags and found 100 free Library 2.0 Webinars and Tutorials.  This was very interesting and I bookmarked it for future reference.  I also looked at some of the library tags to see what was available.  I then did some general searching and looked at some tags of personal interest.
I think using social bookmarking can be very valuable.  Specifically, I like that you can find your favorite sites regardless of what computer you are on.  While I typically use one computer, I can see this being very valuable for students in a school setting.  Also, I like the idea of researching a topic and seeing what other people have tagged under the same topic.  It can really provide paths that I might not have thought about before.