Item 23 Summarize Your Thoughts

It feels really good to be at this point. I had my doubts at times that I would get here. I took the online survey but I don't think it ever successfully uploaded -although I did try and do so two or three times.

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I enjoyed making the trading cards and playing with the image generators. I also enjoyed using Photostory 3 to create videos. Looking at the Nings was interesting. I think reading other people's blogs so I could leave comments was the most interesting and enjoyable. It was always intriguing to see other people's take on the same 2.0 lessons. Sometimes I would wonder if we had even been at the same website because the opinions were so different from my own. It was often humbling to read other people's enthusiastic praise and numerous future plans for a tool, website, or concept that left me cold or completely eluded me.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

This program has definitely assisted me in learning about Web 2.0 technology. It provided structure and support during my learning quest. I really liked all the background information and resources that were given with each lesson. I have been pursuing information about Web 2.0 for several months now - this just provided a framework to work within. It was very helpful. I hope you will offer additional technology training - you know, the next 23 things for Web 2.0. I would absolutely be interested in taking such a course. I've always been a lifelong learner.


3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I didn't expect to find so many good resources that I can draw upon in my future pursuit of knowledge or technology training. The commoncraft tutorials are great. I love it when new concepts are presented in simple english. Finding so many other people who are attempting to learn about Web 2.0 and apply it was also heartening. Working through these lessons has given me some confidence to pursue topics that in the past might have seemed very intimidating or impossible to learn on my own.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program's format or concept?

It would have have been nice to have had a "Help Desk" to contact for those occasions when I was truly lost. You might give new users the suggestion of keeping a written journal near their computer to record the myriad of passwords, user names, web addresses, and other secret codes that seem to fill those early lessons. The same password or user name can't be used all the time and it gets complicated trying to keep up with that data. Having it all in one small notebook that I stored near my computer was a solution that helped me out.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?

Yes. I think this was a very useful and effective staff development workshop. I learned a great deal and the format in which it was presented (online at your own pace) was great. I want to thank you for offering this workshop to participants outside of your own school district. I have really enjoyed this course and I have learned a lot (even as I complained about what I couldn't master).

I really enjoyed the Region IV workshop presented by SBISD on podcasting this summer. I hope you will consider offering more hands-on courses like that. It was really helpful to learn about a topic and then use that knowledge to create products or projects that are going to be useful in the upcoming school year. It is really nice to explore new technology when you have experts present to answer questions or boost you through the places when you get stuck. I would love to see some workshops on topics like digital booktalking, setting up effective library web pages, using technology to aid students in carrying out research projects, exploring new equipment and gizmos (play-aways, smart boards, ebooks, MP3's, Kindle, etc.), integrating technology into everyday library operation and student lessons, what's new with bookclubs and other student reading groups, online audio books, and other similar topics. Workshops tailored to the age level of the student population would also be helpful. The interests and needs of elementary, middle, and high school students can be very different.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could promote 23 Things learning activities?

23 Things provides a fun, self-paced, well-researched introduction to the Web 2.0 technology skills every educator needs to become familiar with.

7. I hope these blogs don't disappear before I get the chance to look at more of them. I have really enjoyed reading all the different opinions and future plans for using this new technology.

Thing 22 - Nings

I visited the Teacher Librarian network and joined two of the library groups listed: (a.)Elementary school librarians and (b.)More things: Applying 2.0 tools. I like the concept of nings: the ability to narrow the focus of the group, the ability to easily add input and learn from others who have similar interests. I'm still working on learning how to manuever through the website (good thing its designed for people who don't have a lot of technical skills).

The Texas School Librarian Ning seemed more like a social group at first glance(rather than a professional one), but I will continue to monitor that. I am looking for input from other librarians about what has worked well for them and what hasn't worked, and not just in a technical sense. At times I have felt somewhat isolated in my position as the only librarian in the school.

This upcoming year will be my sixth year to work as a librarian. I know I can learn a lot from my fellow librarians. When I was a classroom teacher (for fifteen years), I had a lot of support, help, advice, encouragement, etc. from my peers. It was easier to meet with colleagues and share materials, experiences, triumphs and failures. I enjoy being a librarian, and I do communicate using emails and the like with other librarian friends, but it is different being the "only" librarian on the campus. I'm hoping the internet will allow more interaction and sharing amongst educators and fellow librarians.

Nings might also be used for special interest groups on campus or various committees. I suppose the school district could have nings that supported certain causes or positions. I predict that their use will increase in the near future.

How hard can it be?

Inserting links. I liked the video that this blogger posted. I'm going to try again to put in a link.


Well, obviously this is harder than I thought. The blog I was trying to put a link to is Tigertalk2's blog. Her Thing 20 entry contains a short claymation promoting libraries. It's funny and kind of sweet. I really thought I had that inserting links figured out. Darn.

Building the Toolshed Video using Photostory 3

When all else fails, read the directions. I located some directions on a blog and I think they're actually going to work. Now if I could just figure out how to insert links...

Item 21 Podcasts and Audio Books

This is the topic that really got me interested in completing the 23 things. I wanted to learn how to make something that resembled some of the really cool online booktalks that I had seen other librarians post. One blog by a California librarian who was completing the 23 things, Hammock Reader, really caught my eye - http://hammockreader.blogspot.com/2007/12/this-is-my-voicethread-booktalks-that.html . Her VoiceThread booktalk that she created for her students' summer reading really impressed me. I wanted to learn how to make something like that for the children at my school.

I still want to learn how to do that, but I think I'm much closer to achieving that goal now that I've completed so much of this training course. The Region IV workshop on podcasting that I took in June this summer was very helpful in giving me the confidence to try PhotoStory 3 and Audacity. Having someone there to help when you got stuck, and actually completing a story and a podcast made that workshop one of the best technology workshops I've taken. Shortly after attending that workshop, I made a simple photostory showing students working in our schoolyard habitat. I did manage to upload that project below this entry.

We are building a new tool shed in our backyard this summer to replace the old one that fell to pieces. I made a Photostory about that - it's got over 65 photographs and lasts over 5 minutes. I need to pare it down. I plan to give it to our friend who did the construction job as a memento of all his hard work in the oh-so-hot Texas sun. I used video from my Flip, digital photos from a camera, and music I downloaded at one of those free music sites. That's a pretty good start for an amateur who doesn't excel in technology.

I must admit that I don't find podcasts as interesting as vodcasts. I really think you need an image (if not a moving story) to help maintain the interest and attention of your audience. I would like to get competent enough to create online booktalks for some of the books in our library. I am going to try and include a link to another librarian who makes elaborate booktalk videos (I don't aspire to anything that complex). http://naomibates.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-i-create-digital-booktrailers.html I do have a link to her school library on this blog site - the Northwest High School link. If you visit her library site, you can watch/listen to the booktalks and podcasts. I can't imagine where you find the time to create that type of website/reports. Still, perhaps a group of librarians could get together and share the booktalks they created. If you got 5 librarians together, and each librarian created 6 booktalks - when you pooled your resources each librarian would have 30 booktalks to add to their library website. That would be cool.
I'm still having trouble figuring out how to put a link in this blog entry so that readers can view other websites. It's so annoying. I think I'm doing everything that's needed to add a link, but clearly I'm not. Then at times, I'll have a link appear in my blog, and I'm not sure what it was that I did to achieve it. Here is the address for the Region IV wiki made as an aid for the class I took in June: http://region4podcasting.pbwiki.com/ . I have it as an active link two or three entries earlier in this blog.

I made the How to Steal a Dog and the Lawn Boy vodcasts at that workshop. This next address goes to a You Tube video about copyright law and the Walt Disney company. It's pretty funny, you might have already seen it - librarians should get a chuckle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUPsfYJONrU" I tried uploading my tool shed video, but I got an error message - just as well. It's a long video that needs some more editing.

Item 20 You Tube, Teacher Tube and Zamzar

I have limited enthusiasm for these resources. While there is no shortage of videos available, the quality and applicability of what is available is a limiting factor. I searched Texas librarians with You Tube and the results had little to do with that topic. Similar searches yielded less than outstanding data. I spent some time searching Teacher Tube for topics I know will be covered in the first nine weeks of school and I didn't find anything I was enthusiastic about. That's not to say that there aren't great videos in those resources, just that I sometimes have trouble finding ones that are of value to me. I looked at several videos using You Tube and found little that I would want to use in the classroom. I tend to favor using United Streaming or ordering videos that are made for specific school topics (like the Schlessinger videos). The geography video about the 50 capitals is okay but it seems like a lot of hassle to set that up for very little boon. http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=4dc94d5749d44d4c6c73

region4podcasting / FrontPage

region4podcasting / FrontPage

This is a good resource page for information about podcasting in a school setting. I attended a workshop in June at Region 4 and this is the class wiki that lists many useful sites and has some sample work to view.

Item 19 2.0 Awards

This reminded me of the buried treasure and pirates scenario. Yes, there were some interesting and potentially useful materials buried in all these websites. I found a very nice Science Fair instructional powerpoint, but there was a lot of stuff that I have little or no use for. I signed up for Docstoc (it was free!) and I looked at zango and livemocha. I don't have time to fool with this during the school year. I only have the time now because I'm using my vacation time to explore technology. In all honesty I don't think I would use these groups as is. If someone else were to filter and sort through all this data, and then tell me exactly where the useful parts were, yes. Otherwise, it's just more than I have the time or interest to sort through.

Item 18 Online Productivity Tools

I explored Google Docs. It surprised me to realize I have been using a form of Google Docs for over two years. In HISD, librarians can select promotional copies of books and keep them for their library if they write a book review/preview. The book previews are posted online in an Excel like chart. I have posted close to eighty such reviews online using a Google account and one of the free online Google Doc services. So that's one good use for an online tool - other people can have access to the document.
I also explored the picasa program. I had 11 pictures in there that I didn't remember placing there. That was kind of interesting. I like the fact that you can embed a slideshow into your blog or some other web page. That sounds like a good feature to use at some future point. Picasa also allows for one free MB of picture storage (enough for 4,000 standard photos).
Google Docs included the Reader service (I looked over what articles had been pulled for me but online news gathering will never be my first choice). I thought the Map service was kind of fun but you can find similar products from many other sources. Of course, the price of Google Docs is very good. All teachers like FREE. I don't know that there are that many services here I would use, mostly because I'm already using some other software to do the same thing or because I don't have a real need for that service. Still, it's good to know what is out there.

Item 17 Rollyo

I don't really understand Rollyo. I selected two existing search lists to add to my page that looked interesting: Library Woes and Library Humor. I clicked on the link, and while it listed several sites that person subscribed to, it didn't take me to those sites. I must be missing something. I never never really figured out how to do the Rollyo search(and I'm not sure what I would be searching for) or how to find any results. I admit it, I am clueless. I read Infomaniac's blog that says Rollyo was easy to use and wonderful. Obviously not for everyone. I'm not sure I understand what Rollyo is or why I need it. If we got letter grades on these assignments I think I would earn an "F" on this one. I just don't get it.

Item #16 Wikis

Wikis look like a very useful tool. I fully intend to explore this option as a way of posting book reviews, and other library information. I have heard that you can protect your wiki,or limit who has access to it with passwords. I am thinking of using a wiki page as the library page on our school site. It would be good because wikis are easy to edit, seem simple to add pages and links to, and supposedly can be protected with passwords. I am going to continue looking into this... One disappointment I had with this exercise what that so many of the wiki websites had great titles and sounded really useful. Once I followed the links to the content I was somewhat underwhelmed. Still, this is a new area and I think it can only get better.

Item 15 - Library 2.0 views and visions

I enjoyed reading the varying views of what Library 2.0 shoulda/woulda/coulda become. Rick Anderson's 3 ice bergs article struck a note with me. I disagree with two of his three points. I think many of the people who are writing the technology articles are writing them without taking into account the overall population. Not everyone spends time on the computer. Not everyone has access to a computer. Many people go through their day without interacting on the internet (and they don't even miss it). Some people have no desire to become computer literate. I know that may sound amazing, but it's true. For some people this is a matter of choice, for others it might be a lack of knowledge, opportunity, life circumstances, or other situations.

I think there will always be a strong need for the "just in case" collection. Simply visiting a library to examine all the possibilities and soak up the atmosphere is a pleasure to many. Parents have been bringing their children to libraries for a long time. The tactile experience of handling a book, browsing through a collection of books upon the shelf, perusing a page, lingering to appreciate the artwork, reading a book jacket and skimming the pages, sharing a story with another, are actions many treasure. An analogy might be to say that all shopping should take place online because it's faster, more convenient, more efficient, provides more information and choices, etc. There are many people who would still prefer to go and shop in person, even if they are only window shopping!

Anderson's second ice berg I agreed with. We need to try and make the library services and resources available for patron use without the need for any additional or special training. At the very least, we need to make the services and information available in a more "user friendly" fashion. It is unrealistic to expect the library staff to be able to help each patron on an individual basis. Asking for help, waiting for help, feeling "lost" or admitting ignorance is not a pleasant experience. We need to make libraries and the technology in them simple to use and as nonthreatening as possible. Just as we have patrons who read at all different levels and with different areas of interest, our patrons have technology backgrounds that vary even more.

His third ice berg, I also dispute. The web is not the preferred medium of library users. Where in the world did that belief come from? An internet survey? I think it would be good for some of the technology experts to take a month long sabbatical from all technology gadgets - cell phones, blackberries, computers, the internet, mp3 players, video games, gps tools, etc. It might help them to balance their perspective.

Item 14 - Technorati

I didn't find that much in Technorati to interest me. I don't want to register my blog. If I understood the video correctly, Technorati works mostly with blogs that are sent to them - that's a limited source. I looked at the most popular search results and the topics/search results didn't inspire me. Generally if I'm online I'm working on a specific task or searching for a specific piece of information. I liked del.icio.us much better.

Item 13: del.icio.us and social bookmarking

I like the concept of del.icio.us. I have so many sites bookmarked on my school computer. It's hard to remember what each title means and what all I have compiled in the list. Sometimes it's time consuming trying to locate the one address I'm searching for from a list of so many. It's also frustrating to work on another computer and not have those bookmarked sites available to use. Del. icio. us looks like a way to avoid some of those problems. I also like the tagging aspect - I have tried to organize my bookmarked sites into folders before, but deciding where to put those websites that fit into many catagories can be really frustrating. I looked at furl and ma.gnolia but they seem redundant if I'm also using del.icio.us.
One problem I encountered when searching and following other people's suggestions was finding linked addresses/webpages that came up as "not available". Still I found a couple of good presidential links (I'm thinking of the November election) and some interesting librarian related sites. We have Nettrekker as a online resource in HISD and I have found that to be a good resource for locating websites that are current and appropriate for school.

Item 12 - Blogging comments

I think the articles on commenting etiquette were very useful. I think making a positive comment is important. Everyone likes to receive some recognition for their efforts. I also liked the reference to Darth Vadar. Some things you just need to let slide. I enjoy looking at other people's blogs - I get so many good ideas from people sharing how they would use a tool or website. So many of the Library2Play bloggers are happy, positive bloggers. Do they edit their thoughts before they type? I feel like the old, crusty, crabapple when I compare some of my reactions/experiences to theirs. Still, the more I interact with the computer, the better I get with these basic technology skills. I'm a little concerned that it's already the second week in July and I'm only on item 12. I'm sooo slow.

Item 11: Library Thing

I found this site easy to use. I like just pulling up the book covers and additional information with just one or two words - very nice. I had a little more trouble copying my list of books I've been reading lately onto the blog site - but I think that's more my fault. I have very little experience working with blogs. I'm not sure how I would use this as an elementary school librarian - perhaps to offer lists/collections of books about a specific topic or theme? I do like being able to immediately link up with others who share your taste in reading - that's fun.

Item 10 - Online image generators

This was a lot of fun to play with. I made some cartoon cards http:\\comicstripsgenerator.com/
, some trading cards , and a magazine cover. Making the images is easier than figuring out how to save and and later locate them. I think students would have a lot of fun playing with these tools. I know they would enjoy using them to help demonstrate what they have learned in school. It's a very creative outlet for students to use. Coming up with just the right photograph is a challenge as well. I know this would work well with middle and high school students. It could be used with elementary school students, but it would take a lot more time and supervision by the instructor. I'm having trouble adding the hyperlinks but I did manage to finally add the pictures, so I think I will take a break and come back to this later.

Item #9 Library-related blogs

All of these sources, Technorati, School library blogs on Suprglu, and the Edublog award/winners were a little overwhelming. I read through several of the articles/blogs and while many were interesting, I didn't find just what I'm looking for yet. I went back to my RSS feed page and it was smothering to see how many articles were already added to that page. I don't like sorting through the masses to find the treasure. I don't think this will be a tool I employ with any regularity - at least not now. I guess once you find what you like and have your page tailored to meet those needs, this would be a very useful tool. I'm just not at that point yet.

Thing #8 RSS feeds

I added several news and entertainment feeds to my account. I also added some library-related blogs. I don't know how useful this will be to me right now since I didn't really find a news feed that I'm all that interested in. Same with the blogs I selected. I think if I knew how to better select what links I added I would be more likely to have use for this. I don't have a lot of free time to read things on my computer during the school day and I certainly don't go home and log on for more. I'm much more likely to watch the news on television, read the newspaper, or look at a magazine article in my free time - although I do concede that some of the blogs I have happened across are pretty interesting. Still, I don't stay online outside of work that much and I really do prefer to read the news and stories on a printed page.

Thing #7

There are certainly a lot of gadgets and tools offered by Google. I think I would most likely use the Igoogle (I started an Igoogle page) and the Google Earth. Landforms are a big part of the elementary social studies curriuculum and I often have teachers asking me for ideas or sources of landform pictures/images.