Library Star

Yippee! Thing #23

2008-09-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Go back to your thoughts/ideas about Library 2.0. Has anything changed as a result of this experience? Yes, I am far less intimidated at using the computer. I feel like I can justify my paid position as "technology coordinator" a bit more now that I have experienced so many things in the past year. I feel better able to browse sites, more adept at finding what I need and knowing what to do with it!

What were your favorite Things and discoveries? I loved finding Flickr and using the photos in fun ways. I love Library Thing. I use Google docs constantly and have shared this with my children.

How did you connect with others doing the 23 Things On a Stick? I read the finished blogs alot as I went along to learn about others' experiences. Occasionally I left a message on someone's blog.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I sort of like using the computer at home now...I can help my kids with things on it...sort of surprised them.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or content? Not sure, it seems great as it is. Maybe make each Thing a bit shorter...do each thing in more steps so that you can finish something in twenty minutes as opposed to two hours.

If we offered a 23 More Things On a Stick program like this in the future would you participate? Yes, absolutely. I really liked being able to do this at my own speed, but having a goal set for completion. Without the end time period, I wouldn't have done it on my own.

How would you describe your learning experience in one word or in one sentence, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things On a Stick learning activities to others? If I can do it, you can!

Almost done...Thing #22

2008-09-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that I began 23 Things 3/4 of a year ago. It seems to take me a long time to explore everything, but I like to thoroughly try them out. The problem is remembering it all, and remembering what is was that I liked!

I do make a pledge to continue growing in the tech area, and not giving up on it. I'll do this by looking back at 23 Things frequently. I really, really like how it is organized, how we went through things bit by bit. I want to review the things I did this year.

As far as keeping up, I did add one of the blogs into my reader. I'll try that one for awhile, check up on it, etc., then add another or whatever strikes me at the time as being somewhat relevant. It is sort of like talking on the phone to me...I don't enjoy being on it for long periods of time. I want it to be quick and to the point and then get off to do the next task. Having to read through multitudes of paragraphs about IRRELEVANT issues is a waste of time.

#21 Ning

2008-09-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed reading the discussions on Ning from librarians. I added the badge here. It is fun to do the embedding! Anyway, I saw a local librarian friend on there, and enjoyed the photos. It seems like a fun site. I think it is neat that you can start your own network like that.

I intend on visiting the other sites tomorrow.
Visit 23 Things on a Stick

Thing #20...Facebook

2008-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

My kids have been using Facebook for years, I think. So, how does it know who you want as friends? How did it know that I might want to add my husband and my daughter? That seemed weird! Anyway, I found some VERY interesting photos of my daughter. She is now my friend, i guess she had to agree to that, right? Well, I think it will be fun.

I am going to try to entice some friends of mine that are pretty computer illiterate to join Facebook. I think it would be great fun. I posted a message on my husband's Wall, and one on my own. It is a neat place to see what is going on, events, etc., to keep in touch with friends and know what they are up to. I want to get in on my high schoolmates and see what is up there. I need to get some photos also.

Thing #19...Podcasts

2008-09-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

I listened to MPR Radio podcast of Grammar Grater, because I love the written word, and also because I noticed a podcast about commas. I learned something about them! I added it to my Google Reader.

I liked podcast.com. I couldn't open podcast.net for some reason. I didn't likePodcastalley.com. Too much information on the page. Podcast.com has all the feeds listed on the right hand side of the screen. Easy to find. The Educational Podcast Directory was okay, but I didn't think it was that easy to read the actual screen. The font could be improved.

I think I will listen to the grammar podcast. I am wondering if there is a french language podcast, I would listen to that daily, as one of my goals this decade is to become fluent in French. As far as making one myself, sure, why not? I am sure that it will happen at some point.

I like that you can add any subject almost and find something both in Podcasts and in YouTube. It was a bit disconcerting not to see anything on the podcast after watching so many videos. I like the fact that people are listening to only words, though, sort of like in the old days when everyone sat around the radio and listened.

Thing # 18...You Tube

2008-09-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

I entered school libraries and found a video called, "Library Media Centers Rock!". It is a pretty good video for an overview of a library. It might be useful for a first day in the library class for older kids. Or not. There are probably many good ones. This one has kids of all ages.

I will have to say that I never did see the words, "About This Video", but finally figured out it was the box to the right of the video.

I watched a bunch of other library videos...some were interesting and funny. I do want to take time to look up other videos. I have been hearing about YOuTube for so long and never knew much about it. I feel so much better!

Okay, here is another uploaded video about askwhyky.org. I wanted to try embedding another one, and went to Google Videos this time. It appears that you have to live in Kentucky to use the service. It would be a good service for Minnesota to be involved in. I believe the Kentucky Public Library staffs it, and you can chat online. I may try it to see if I can chat even from Minnesota. Interesting that Google now owns YouTube.

Thing #17...ELM

2008-08-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

I am familiar with ELM, as at a technology workshop, it was discussed. I have not used it since, however, at least in the classroom. I haven't made use of it for personal needs because I usually request books from the local library, and they make requests if Interlibrary Loan is needed. I may perhaps share this with the family when they are doing reports, etc., and they may already have knowledge of it.

One thing that bugs me with the elementary section, and that bugs me in general with online encyclopedias for kids of that age, is the fact that the font is always too small to be read easily, and is not presented in an enticing way. It seems odd that childrens books have come so far in the presentation on the written page with bold headlines, nice paragraphs, etc., but that online material is so uninteresting. I have had my students use online (Grolier and others) encyclopedias for various teacher requests, but rarely find anything useful besides the images.

I did like the option to make the web page, especially as an assignment type page. I started one, but didn't put much time into it.

Thing #16...Student 2.0 Tools

2008-08-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

The RPC and the U of M assignment calculators are both really great tools for management. I will put my senior high schooler to the test this year, and have him try it when he gets an essay assignment. He has several writing classes this year. (I wonder if his teachers use this sort of tool?)

I know that it absolutely would have worked for myself in high school, because it breaks things down into steps. One of my most successful high school english classes used something like this in a pre-computer format. My teacher broke down each step and set dates for each one, and also included questions for us to go home with to answer for each part of the essay paper. It totally changed my life! It felt wonderful when she held my paper up as an example of a good essay. It was the breakdown of steps that helped me, and I never have forgotten that.

As I stated above, I shared these tools with my son and I also emailed the URL to my daughter, who is just in the first few days of her master's classes in New York City at Hunter College. She hates doing essays...we'll see what she has to say about this!

When I see these beautiful steps outlined so easily on the computer, and calculated for you, it makes my heart glow! I wish, however, that it were written in an easier to understand format for elementary students. It may work for the fifth grades that I see, but we wouldn't have time for it in the library classes that I teach. Maybe someone out there will create one for elementary ages.

Number 15

2008-08-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

Um, yeah, right. My son just dissed me...saying I had better not sign up for this...what am I looking at that for? I explained that there are libraries on Second Life. He admitted this fact, but reiterated that he didn't think it was for me. I was surprised, for some reason, that he has seen it. I guess when you are 17 and are a gamer, you would know quite a bit. I'll have to check in with him more often. Actually, I have shown him several things from 23 Things and he has used them, so yay for that.

Anyway, I am not going to try to sign up for Second Life. Our ancient computer probably would blow up or something. I don't want to take the time. I don't want to do any of the games. It does sound sort of fun, I can see myself getting involved and am interested. But the time wasted is not worth it. I want to do lesson plans at the moment, but am wanting to finish 23 Things, so I have to put in more hours on that.

Actually, what this made me realize is that the virtual world is so much farther along than I thought it was. I really liked the idea of being able to "fly" virtually, like I do in my dreams. I like the idea of creating my own space, my own house, and possibly selling something. So, if I did sign up for Second Life, I would be realizing all the fantasies that I have had over the years from reading and imagining. It would be fun in a way. I did not know that this sort of world existed, well, I imagined it would, but would never, ever have investigated it on my own, just because I enjoy the "real" world too much and like to be outside way too much to invest my time in this. Shucks.

Okay, so I checked in with my husband and even HE knows about Second Life. He says he knows one person that uses it, and he seems to have much time on his hands, so I can see why he would use it. My hubby and I both agree that our First Life is much too much fun to invest time in this.

Thang #14

2008-08-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

The Library Thing is very cool. My sister and I both joined, so that we can share books easily and not have to go into descriptions over email or the phone. Love it. I have already found other books that I want to read, and have requested them from the local library. I am looking forward to discovering all the other options with this site.

Thang #13...Gadgets

2008-08-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

I decided to go with iGoogle, since I use Google Docs all the time now. I like this option of having all the things I usually look up, without it having to be a favorite or bookmark. I look at this stuff almost every day, so why not have it on a home page? I looked at My Yahoo and the other one, but they don't seem all that different, although I may explore them further.

I looked at the calendars, and couldn't open Kiko. I still want to see it, so will write more later about it. I still can't open it. Not sure why. Anyway, I started using MSN Calendar, since I have a Hotmail account. I think it will actually be useful to me, to help remind me of things that I now forget! So, thanks for showing me this. I will also look at the other options. SpongeCell is supposed to be slow in Firefox, which I use so that isn't really an option, you have to pay for Backpack, so forget that.

I signed up for both Ta-Da-List and Remember the Milk! I think I like the Ta-Da better. Simple lists. Remember the Milk is more detailed, too much on the page. I think it is great to have this. I won't have to see all those stupid long lists that I have on the refridgerator, plus, I won't then throw them out and forget what was on them. This is great. I will share this with others.

I tried Backpacker, and it is great, but also costs money! I have too many extras that I pay for now...computer, cell phone, etc. I definitely want to take advantage of all the free options out there. However, I can see the opportunity this provides for professional people...you could possibly get an empolyer to pay for the service. I am going to share it with my husband, who may be able to use this and get it paid for as well. I definitely know that the school district will not kick in any funds for it.

Thang #12 Social Sites

2008-08-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Newsvine looks the best to me. Didn't like Reddit at all...too hard to read, font is too light, etc. As I really try to avoid the news, I won't be looking at any of these sites, takes too much time up, and the news is depressing! I think it is much easier to look things up in the moment. I see the relevance of using this for writing reports, etc. For that matter, if I need to find multiple popular articles on a particular subject, I may use this and have an RSS feed or something going on it, but otherwise, doubtful.

I did use the BBC news to send an article to del.icio.us as suggested, on Russia and Georgia coming to a truce.

How do you think you can use these tools in your library or at home?

I would use these more at home, I suppose, but possibly for finding information for school. Not sure how popular these sights are for educators.

Thang #11

2008-08-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well, here is another thing that will take a long time, and I am not sure that I will use it that much, at least for the labeling part. I do like the ability to access the bookmarks that I have at both home and at school...it has been frustrating not to have them. So yes, that much I will like. I agree with what another blogger wrote about the labels...without consistency it may not make much sense. At this point, since I haven't signed up, it seems a waste of time. I'll get to it and try it!

I did import my bookmarks to del.icio.us. So, great, now I can access them from work as well. Yay! On researching this, I also came across a new video on RSS feeds that explains them really well. I love this guy's visuals. The teachers at work will understand it so much better when I show them now. I understand them better. I am going to review my Google Reader to see what I did before, because I haven't used it since, but may now. Oh, oh, am I becoming overly computer literate? Am I getting more addicted to this? I may need to stop now!

I shared this info with my son, a senior in H.S. and he said he has used it already. I am surprized that that. My 23-year old daughter thinks it is lame and weak!

Thang #10

2008-08-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love having my newest wiki...for travel. My daughter and I started it in May when we were preparing for a trip to Europe. We used it constantly to update thoughts on places to stay, places to go, what to bring, etc. It was so very helpful.

Email was okay for awhile, until I kept asking her the same questions over and over (which frustrates her to no end). I finally remembered that this class had gone over wikis and thought I would try it for our trip. She learned something new, and it was so helpful in getting the trip organized. We could change things as we went along, either me changing what she wrote or vice versa, and also adding to our previous information. This kept me on track, as I had recorded information that I could access from anywhere, even when on the trip overseas.

So now I am trying to think up good ways to use it for my library classes. Book reviews, yes, would be great. I think just the experience of having the students be involved is invaluable to them. They would understand what a wiki is. I didn't really get it until we used it for the trip. I think I will also start the year off with something for the staff in my school to use. I am not totally clear on how the PB wiki works because we used Zoho for the trip wiki. I am excited about this!

I edited the front page of the 23 Things wiki...

Thing #9

2008-04-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of a collaborative edit piece. I would like to use it myself, or introduce one of my computer classes to it. Being able to use an existing document is also intriguing. My son loves to write, and is planning on becoming a teacher. I don't think he has heard of this. It also may be one way that I can help him in college in a few years (if he actually asks me for help) for feedback on essays, etc. We usually do that at home, I check for mistakes, etc. or give suggestions, although he prefers to do it alone. This is a nice option, though, and he could buddy up with someone else.

What is especially neat is that it occurs in REAL time. I could help and at the same time my son could critique the help! My children are good at that! Also, there is a note-taking aside from the revisions that will record who did the correcting and why. Good for after the paper gets a grade...can't blame mom if she didn't do it, or teacher, etc.

We don't have the best computer in the world...it is now almost ten years old! It is still running, but it does occasionally freeze forever and it takes a professional to get it working again...one of the major drawbacks being the possiblity of losing files.

Google Docs would help prevent the possiblity of losing important documents, and would give me the ability to retrieve documents away from home. Very cool!

Library Fun

2008-04-03T10:29:00.001-07:00

Thing #8

2008-04-03T08:26:00.001-07:00

I liked the slide show. It helped review some of the things we have gone over so far, like RSS, flickr, blogs, etc. I can definitely see the benefit of being about to save a slide show without having to save it the conventional way. Plus, the benefit of having it safe from power surges, crashes, etc. is a definite plus. I never remember which jump drive contains what (why hasn't anyone created a great way to organize these?)

Interesting after looking at Thumbstacks and Zoho Show that Z Show says you can import a traditional PowerPoint presentation. I didn't see that at the first one. Also, you can use a chat option with Z Show.

I think it is neat in SlideShow that you can bookmark any of the slideshows, or email them, etc. to share with others. I watched a video of Italy, and emailed it to a friend.

Thing #7

2008-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Am I going to finally find out what IM is? I am so behind the times. My daughter has been using it for years, I think. I can't wait to learn how to do it, and indocrinate my friends with it so we can chat during the day. Well, probably not too much as I am at work.

For myself, getting up to date on all of these aspects makes me feel a sense of relief in a way, because I'm expected to know all about technology for my job, but I haven't had that much experience. I love 23 Things on a Stick! It has really, really helped me out. I don't feel pressured in any way, at least not the overwhelming sense I get from the too quick explanations we usually get on how to do somthing with technology. I have time to explore these things in my own way, and can refer back to the great explanations and directions. I hope that it doesn't all disappear after April 16.

Basically, IM was introduced in the early 90's as a response to people wanting to connect instantly with each other. I have some direct contact with this because my son plays games online with other guys, and they use a form of IM.

I just watched the library IM video...I can see how extremely useful this would be. Wonder if our public library offers this?

I hadn't thought about the fact that in IM there isn't a "trail" of conversation. Plus, you can instantly clarify misunderstood statements, and perhaps convey more emotion than in an email. I like that aspect. I have been misunderstood before and it was totally not my intention. I think if we had been IMing it may have not ocurred.

I seriously doubt if we can text message any librarians at the public library. I have used text messaging in the movie theater to contact my son.

I don't think we will pursue using IM or SMS or anything similar in the elementary school library, but it is good to know about. Again, I don't think our public library has either option. I reviewed their website and didn't see anything about it. I will ask about it next time I am there.

Thing #6

2008-04-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

When will I ever get to #7? Flickr and the other online image generators are just too much fun. I will have to have a staff inservice on some of these fun options. Also, having the students create trading cards is already being done in our art department, but not on the computer. It will be another way to show the students how to upload images. I made calendars, trading cards, mosaics, mattes, jigsaw puzzles, and looked through many, many images.

Thing #5

2008-03-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

I have explored many of the options in Flickr. I really enjoy all of them. Lots of fun. I keep forgetting to bring my personal camera to school to upload personal photos, because I usually find time to do this project there. It has been a great experience for me because I am helping with many technology projects and it just gets me that more familiar with computers.

Thing #4

2008-03-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Originally published by rcampoamor
in Flickr

This is one thing I really actually enjoy so far. I think I would put most of my computer exploring time into the photo aspects of Flickr. Loved it. Maybe because I had less trouble figuring it out. Or, maybe I am just getting the hang of using computers better.

I loved the poster option, and tried to do the drawing one that pulls up images that are similar, but couldn't figure that one out. I really like Flickr! Fun! My family will really get a kick out of this.

Thing 3

2008-03-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

It took me a long, long time to finally get around to this again. I want to keep up with this and be done by the deadline! Don't know if that will happen.

I like the idea of RSS feeds. Not sure if I totally get it yet. I just subscribed to two different areas that I am interested in. It may just add more time reading stuff on the computer, though, and I don't really want to get addicted! I spend hours once I get going. I do appreciate the idea, and am looking forward to trying it out. I'll post more once I see how it really works.

Thing #2

2008-02-12T13:38:00.001-08:00

Yes, I agree that taking the time to do these things is what I have been putting off. What I like about having "23" things organized to do puts it into a sort of its own folder for my brain. I would never have done this on my own, daunting as they seem from a distance. I would like to make another blog in the meantime just to practice it again.

So, I do think that Stephen Abram is correct in suggesting to just make time. Generally, I resist doing extra things on the computer because I get so stressed out when they get frustrating from not working at first.

One of the bloggers that responded mentioned that we shouldn't forget what libraries are for...books. I feel this way in my school library at times. All we talk about at meetings anymore are computers and technology and never our first love, reading.

What really bothers me with technology is that it has taken over the library time and budget. In our schools, we spend tremendous amounts on acquiring the physical computers, purchasing software, hiring technology people to choose the software and to manage it, hiring people to repair it and help distric employees learn it and solve problems (many, many problems). The poor libraries have no money for books. We had no budget, while the computers ate up thousands of dollars. Besides enjoying the catalog online, there is not a NEED for the computers in the library (perhaps the Smartboard is useful at times, but that, too has its limits). Is there a need in elementary school? I am one of those who questions what we think is a NEED.

First thing on a stick

2008-02-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

I am happy to finally "do" a blog. I have only read a few, my neice's blog about her European travels in the past month among them, and was impressed with what she has done with hers. So, it is nice to see that it was really easy to set up. I thought since she was a computer whiz that she must have known some sort of computer language to set hers up. Now I realize that it is no bit deal at all.

I didn't want to take much time making the avatar..I get restless with things like that, but can imagine some people take alot of time to create theirs. I don't find that fun. There is something about using the premade clothes, etc. that bothers me. But, oh well.

I did have problems importing the avatar; but I see that it actually did import even though it said there were issues, so I don't know what went on with that.

I am looking forward to learning about the other 22 items coming up. I only hope I have enough time to finish them.