Wednesday, January 9, 2008

My ipod

clipped from www.flickr.com
ipod nano 1.0.2 upgrade works
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BONUS…….Summarize….Crossing the Finish Line!!!!

Wow!!! I made it!…The Home Stretch! There is so much to learn about Web 2.0. I think I understand now….It’s all about sharing and collaborating via the web. We share photographs, movies, knowledge, collaborate on spreadsheets and other documents, blog our dreams, ideas, and inspire others. We bounce ideas off each other and “make the world pretty” with mashups and other graphics applications while we do all of this.

It’s a big shift in how we share information so learning about it is very exciting. Even copyright has started a shift from everything being only “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved” giving way to collaboration as we start to share creative wealth. That’s one of the things I enjoyed learning the most because collaborating with teachers is very important in my job as a librarian and seeing all of this emerging technology being shared by people all over the world makes more sense now. Life-long learning takes on a whole new meaning now. Keeping up with new technology truly will be a life-long quest.

I have found many of the exercises to be challenging and very time consuming. There was no way that I could do any of this during school time. I had to work at home because I’m the type of learner who has to have uninterrupted time to think and experiment. In fact, I did the majority of my exercises during Christmas break. I found this to be somewhat of a surprise because I thought I would be able to do some of the exercises during my lunchtime.

When I was first introduced to many of the websites I could not see myself using them with my students. As I progressed through each step and learned more and more, my feelings about how I could use them changed. I started to see myself forging ahead and even thinking of ways I could try blogs or wikis with my research classes.
Hopefully, my enthusiasm will be contagious and our teachers will want to learn to use some of these great tools also.

Creative Commons

This photograph is surrounded by controversy, although it was picked form Flickr's Creative Commons stock, because it was used commercially without the girl even knowing. Notice the altered image from the original.
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Thing # 23.....Creative Commons

Ok, Let's see....Creative commons=equals="some rights reserved". I think I got it! Creators allow their work to be shared and reused within reason, instead of having a copyright of "all rights reserved". Co-authorship is allowed and even encouraged.

One way that I can see using Creative Commons at school can be with art, literature, and music. In art, for example, students could begin an art work with a program such as Photoshop using an image in the Creative Commons category. The student can then alter it, substract from it, add to it, remix, and so on to make it interesting and creative. Students can use photographs and Photoshop to spice up their presentations for their research in the library. Flickr's tools can be used in the library for creating READ posters and other fun projects to promote the library and reading as well. One idea might be to select a photo of a famous person from Flickr's Creative Commons area and use a program such as Photoshop to insert the photo of a student or teacher directly into the famous person's photo.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Thing #22....Animoto

Here is my Animoto video. It is a lot of fun to create but it took longer to get the pictures and even longer for the video to develop, (about 15 minutes). I wasn't very excited about the music choices available for the video but I can download my own as long as it is a legal copy according to Animoto's instruction.
I will look forward to making additional videos with Animoto. Students will also enjoy using this program.

Thing #22.... Animoto

Just One More Book Interview

Thing #21….Podcast Search Tools

My Discovery Process:
Podcasts are similar to radio shows but now we can listen to them on a mp3 player or on the computer. My son has a MAC in which he listens to podcasts all the time via itunes.

Podcasting has just recently entered my world so I really don’t have any ideas for what I want to listen to. I have always thought of myself as more of a visual learner. However, my husband likes to listen to football news from podcasts so I decided to go to podcast.net and typed in “Texas Tech Football” in the key word search box. There were some results, but nothing that specifically said, “Texas TechFootball”. Next, I tried the key words, “story books”. …..still nothing interesting.
Next, I decided to go to podcasting.com. I typed in “Texas Tech Football” again and got over 200 possible podcasts. I decided to try “story books” and found that I had to go through yet another registration process and another e-mail retrieval from my school e-mail. I got a little frustrated because once I did all of that, something got stuck on my computer where the sound skipped like a broken record. I had to shut down my computer and start again.
Finally, I tried again and was successful. I listened to part of a podcast with the sole purpose of reading a children’s story. I can see myself using podcasting in the future….but sadly no time right now.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Thing # 20....YouTube

Please see my YouTube video below Thing #19. I chose the video of graceful ice skaters skating to one of my favorite songs by Ingrid Michaelson, The Way I Am. I chose this video because it shows beauty and gracefulness.
I have watched Many YouTube videos during my “Twenty Three Things” exploration.. Most of them are funny. I can’t see using it much in my job as a librarian at this point because not many are appropriate for elementary school. I’m sure there are some that could spark up a lesson.
The videos on your assignment page were very funny. I especially enjoyed the one about “from scroll to book”.
I explored some of the other sites where you can get videos with just a keyword search.
Viddler is unique because it makes it possible to edit and do lots of different things with your videos. You can search specific areas in your videos as well as tag certain clips.
We Show is an awesome site that allows you to watch all kinds of videos from the subject area you are interested in all around the world. While visiting this site, I searched for “Paris France” and had the pleasure of watching some informative videos about the famous City of Lights.
One thing I noticed about watching these online videos…They seem to be slower during the peak hours of the evening when the most people are online. I had better luck getting the videos to stream faster with less interrupted streaming during the early morning when fewer people are online. That is about the only thing I can think of that I don’t like about YouTube personally. I would not be very comfortable using it at school unless everything is carefully screened for elementary eyes and ears.

Thing # 19....Flow Charts and Mind Maps

Inspiration can be used for most of the same things as the charts and maps. However, Flowcharts online can be used as a collaborative project where several people can be working on the flow chart at the same time. Students would love that option.

With the mindmapping, I can see students collaborating together, along with the teacher by adding their own boxes and circles. It's very cool that everything can be published online. However, maybe I just don't get it, but I prefer drawing my own mind map or chart on paper since I have never experienced collaboration with someone else online.If I needed a neat and orderly one for a presentation, I can definitely see using them.

My YouTube Selection:

clipped from www.youtube.com
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Thing #18....Web 2.0 Awards List

This site is packed full of fun and helpful websites. When you start to explore it, get ready to start writing down your usernames and passwords because almost all of them require registration to fully enjoy. This site introduced me to some new friends that I think I will use a lot. My favorites are Zillow, Clipmarks, One Sentence,….. and my most favorite of all is Real Travel.
My husband and I spent a lot of time discovering Zillow, a site for seeing what houses in the entire country are worth. It uses satellite images to zero in on specific addresses. We haven’t tried it yet but we want to see if we can find addresses of famous people and look up their domain.
Clipmarks is a very exciting site that allows you to “clip” your favorite part of a website so you can have just the part of the web page you want. You have to download the program but it enables you to save images, texts and even videos from hosts like Youtube so you can send them to friends in an e-mail or even place them on myspace or your blog. The only problem I have with it is getting it to work on American Online. I could only get it to work on Internet Explorer but it sure is easy to use when you want to share something you find on the web.( Take a look above this post to see a lovely YouTube video that I used Clipmarks to add to my blog.)
I love One Sentence! It’s really just for fun but the idea behind it makes sense. People write a true story in one sentence. Some of the entries are sad but some really crack me up! When I discovered One Sentence, I ended up staying way too long and even posted a story sentence of my own. I had to wait for approval before it was published. (This site started me to thinking that this idea , (not the site) would be a great way to teach kids how to summarize.)
Out of all the websites from the Awards List, my favorite one to play with is Real Travel. My daughter is planning a trip to Paris this spring break. I looked up blogs from people who have traveled to Paris and found some very important information that might help her have a better experience while there. My husband and I are interested in traveling to Italy soon and I’m sure to find some great advice from this user friendly site. I can see high school students using this site if they are going on school sponsored trips and they wish to be better prepared by knowing what to expect with climate and customs.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Thing # 17...Online Productivity Tools (Zoho and Google Spreadsheets)

Go here to see my Practice Spreadsheet

This was my first time using online productivity applications.They are amazing! My daughter's personal computer at home doesn't have Microsoft Office due to the high cost to purchase it so she has to use my computer when she needs to work at home. She will love finding out about these wonderful FREE applications! They look almost like Microsoft Office, too.
You don't have to have a CD or flashdrive to save work and you can use any computer with Internet service. I tried copying and pasting some text from my blog and put it into a Zoho Writer document. It worked perfectly. Then I decided to explore Google Application and made a practice spreadsheet...(see link above this blog.)
Google spreadsheet could work great instead of having to send a paper copy for everyone to fill in, like when we have to post our reflections about a staff development session. (You wouldn't have to spend time hunting it down.) Also, I am going to share this information with teachers. It is also a great thing for kids who don't have a computer at home. They can work on a document and return to it later during the school day. (Let's hope nothing happens to the application provider!)

Thing #16...Add an entry to the sandbox wiki

I visited the sandbox and copied and pasted my comment from my blog about how wikis could be used in place of e-mail for teacher collaboration. It will be interesting to check back in a couple of weeks to see if my entry is still there. It was very easy to add to the wiki.
Right now, the only way I can think of using a wiki at school would be for a book discussion or research collaboration between librarian and teachers for research lessons. I am not yet sold on having the kids use them for doing their research because anyone can add to them and the information might not be valid or there could be inappropriate language in the content. I do think kids would love collaborating in a writing project together with a wiki. I can see them wanting to write just for the joy of getting their work read by others.

Thing # 15...Wikis and Libraries

Wikis are interesting because they are websites that can be edited by anyone. (You can make your wiki private, however.) My first experience with a wiki was with Wikipedia.
There are all kinds of possibilities for using wikis in the school library. Wikis could possibly be used for book clubs where members could keep track of meetings or special events as well as book discussion. Wikis are wonderful for creating a quick way to collaborate and share knowledge. If teachers would use them, wikis would be an easier way to collaborate with several people than is e-mail. In fact, a wiki would be a great way to do a book study instead of the weekly meeting in the library.
I've been thinking of ways teachers could use wikis and blogs. Wouldn't it be great if kids could share the following using wikis and especially blogs:
1. publish poems so other kids can read them
2. scan their artwork to share with others
3. report on their research
4. write about books
5. write about movies
6. publish thier stories
7. discuss topics to see what their classmates think about things
8. use as journals instead of paper
9. write about news events
10. share these with kids from around the world like penpals only e-pals!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

2.0 Libraries

Thing #14....Web 2.0 & Future Libraries

To me, Library 2.0 means we have to continue to change wtih not only technology...We have to constantly keep up with popculture and trends. No more grouchy librarians with long grey hair in a bun who say, "Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!" when kids want to whispher in the library. We must welcome the technical revolution with open arms. We must change with time--Just as card catalogs became computerized when some said by doing so meant that computers were taking over the world. Modern libraries are here to stay!

I happened on to the following utube video that puts perspective on what Library 2.0 means to all of us.

Thing #13....tagging and del.icio.us

A social bookmarking site is wonderful for most people but I just don't spend much time socializing on the computer other than E-mail. I do like it for being able to keep up with my bookmarks at any computer and for seeing what other people do with my subjects. At home, I use AOL "favorites" for bookmarking so using del.cio.us is a little harder since I have to open up Explorer to get to the buttons on the browser.

Del.cio.us can be used to find popular websites for just about everything. I'm not so sure that it's really the best for tagging reliable sources for research, however. After all, many people are using the same tag words but are not using reliable sources from these tags. There is just so much information here....It's a bit overwhelming. I did set up my account with del.cio.us and have set a few bookmarks that interest me. I can see older students getting more from sites like del.icio.us. In elementary school there is not enough time during research for the kids to spend time on it. However, I can see myself possibly using it to preselect sites to use in the library. For example, when I set up my del.icio.us account I found a free PowerPoint site that may come in handy.

Thing #12... Social Networking

Educators need to know that people are meeting on the web by sharing their interests and ideas. Trying to avoid life on the superhighway just won't happen in today's libraries. Many kids love using myspace and usually spend more time on it than they do reading books.How can we compete with that? We as librarians must keep a sense of adventure to go along with our thirst for knowledge.
While building my page on myspace.com I realized that it's not just for kids anymore. I really never thought about having a myspace page myself because I thought it was for kids and people in their early twenties. Now I see it can be a great tool for sharing photographs and news about my family to friends and family. Maybe I'll find some old friends who have moved away, (or be found.)
I really like that aspect of myspace.com
What I don't like about it is the risk of strangers seeing my personal information. I don't know why that bothers me so much....I guess I watch too many movies!
I don't know about secondary school, but I can't see using it at school due to safety issues and time restraints.
My favorite features that I used was the design elements to build a page. I can see spending lots of time playing with and creating artistically by "making the world pretty"
(Visit my personal myspace)........ myspace


My Library Thing

Thing #11....Library Thing

Library Thing makes it a breeze to keep track of my favorite books that I've read or want to read. When I need some new book suggestions what a great site! I shared the site with my daughter and she loved it also. I want to tell everyone about Library Thing!When I purchase a book from Amazon.com I usually look at the reviews and like to see what people purchase along with the book I am considering. Library Thing is so much better because everything is right there at my fingertips.
I made a personal account first but then decided to make another account to use for keeping up with books for school. I can see using Library Thing for part of the book selection process...especailly when I have to make a decision between two excellently reviewed books. There's also links to library display ideas....and did you see the gallery with favorite author photos? This could come in handy at school.
I LOVE Library Thing!!!

(See the above for My Library Thing....When you click on the pics of my selected books you will arrive at Amazon.com....hmmmmmmm!)

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Make your own clipart like this @ www.TXT2PIC.com

Thing # 10....Image Generator

These Image Generators are the most fun yet! They were the easiest of any of the assignments so far and they really can dress up a blog. It took me a little while to find all the selections to choose from but once I decided on one, the rest was super easy to do. I can see why kids love using them on their my space pages.
I wish all of the images were appropriate for school because students would really enjoy creating with them.
My first one was the READ license plate and it was very easy to get on my blog with the easy button. However, the fortune cookie was a bit more difficult to display on my blog and I had to play around with it a little. I finally discovered that there is a code that has to be copied and pasted into the blog in order for the image to show up. It was really easy once I figured it out. I am thinking of using these for my school library page.
ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more

Thing #9...Finding Feeds

Sometimes I feel like I'm having information overload! However, Cool Cat Teacher blog has the perfect funny joke to put it all in perspective for me when I start to feel overwhelmed by all of this new information: "How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time."
My favorite search tool for finding feeds is Google Blog Search. It works nearly the same as Google Search and gave me the best selections for my key words. It also gave me blogs with many images that I like to see.To find feeds it is easiest for me to think of key words pertaining to the subject I'm looking for in a blog.For example, when I type in "Poetry for Children", I get plenty of great possibilities.
Technorati was the hardest for me to use. Maybe I am just tired from working all day on my 23 things assignment or maybe I am just more familiar with Google. Technorati did not give me as many good possibilities as Google did. The things that came up on my Technorati search were not as interesting to me.
I found many useful feeds during my searching but perhaps my most useful was the Library of Congress. It has a lesson plan one and lots of other interesting and helpful feeds including teacher news and poetry information.
One of the most strange ones was Dave's Daily. It has lots of weird news stories such as information about a woman who continues to drive while her car is engulped in flames.
There are so many places to find newsfeeds but the best experience for me was with Goggle.

Thing #8...RSS

I set up my Bloglines account. I am not sure that I will have time to read much from them,however.I think I will find more feeds that interest me when I have some free time to play around and discover a bit.
A couple of things that I like about RSS and newsletters is how easy and fast it is to get information about everything. There are feeds about everything from how to pick a great read-a-loud to how to protect ourselves and our students from staph infection at school. I don't have to waste time reading blogs that are old because new posts come to me instantly.
If I can think of a way to get teachers to read my blog, RSS could be instrumental in keeping them updated with library news and happenings around the district. Parents could also use it as a means for keeping updated. In my personal life, I can use RSS for notification of when new posts are added to some of my favorite blogs, such as my friend at work who keeps me updated on her pending adoption...(She and her husband are in the process of adopting a baby girl from China.)
Libraries can take advantage of this but it is 100% dependent on the Internet working. In my elementary library, there are many times when the Internet is down or unavailable,(so my teachers tell me!),and it would be very frustrating to depend on RSS for information delivery if the network is often nonavailable. However,with a reliable Internet connection, RSS/newsletters can be very helpful when current events are needed on a regular basis and in a timely manner.

Thing # 7...Goggle's not just for searching

My family is used to using Google tools for everything from Google Alerts to Google Calendars. My husband uses the alerts to keep up with football drafts, stock prices, and everything Texas Tech football. I took a workshop last year for using Picasa Web Albums but didn't really use it much because I use a couple of other programs for photo editing that I find to be more creative.
For my two Google resources, I chose a Google calendar and Google Alerts. (I can see using the alerts often just to remind me of special occations and birthdays but I am not ready to use the online calendar for my daily obligations because I just like having a hard copy in front of me everywhere I go.)

For school, I would like to try using the Google Alerts to remind me of faculty and student library helper's birthdays. Every year I make it a goal to remember these birthdays with a simple card or message but very often I forget to check my birthday calendar and I don't get the cards out in time. If I had these plugged into the Google Alert system I won't miss these important days. I will problably have the Google Alert set up at my home address a day earlier than the actual birthdates because I probably won't use it at school due to the password override needed to access the account. Actually, the best solution would be to set it up to alert my cell phone. I need to learn more about this service and figure out which alert system will work best for me at school.
I am going to also choose the Google calendar although I don't see using it in place of my hard copy calendar. I think having the calendar just for special events in the library would be very helpful.
While learning to use these Google tools, I had a very hard time getting my calendar on to my blog page. At first the calendar was so big that it didn't show all of it. I work for what seems forever trying to figure out how to get it to look right. Finally, I found out that I can select the size I want to display and once I knocked down the width, it fit properly on my page. I made the calendar public but I am not sure exactly how I will use it in my library. I did read something along my journey concerning how to get the Google Alerts delivered to my cell phone. I will work on that some more later.
Junie B trading card

Thing # 6...Flickr Mashups

Flickr mashups are awesome! There is not enough time in the day to play with all of the "toys" it has to offer. Actually, I'm living too much in the moment right now because I find myself getting off task by reading blogs I come across, watching YouTube movies, and playing with flickr mashups. I know this is what I am supposed to be doing to learn but if I am ever going to get caught up in time to win my ipod, I really need to stay focused on the assignments!

Ok, I LOVE flickr mashups! I love photography anyway and now seeing all these cool toys to play with makes it hard for me to stop playing. I can see many exciting things to use from mashups in my library program. I think the magazine and READ posters would be wonderful ways to promote reading at school. The trading cards could be fun also...especially if kids could help write them and they could be traded in the library to get kids hooked on reading the books. I made one example of a simple Junie B. trading card that could be used.

Thing#5.....flickr and Carol of Lights


Carol of Lights
Originally uploaded by whitogreen

This is the image I chose from flickr. It is a photograph of the Carol of Lights at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, my home town. The Carol of Lights is a yearly Christmas tradition which holds a special meaning to me because this is where my husband and I had our first date. If you ever get the chance to see it, it's really beautiful. Go Texas Tech!

Thing# 4....Blogs in the library

Although I feel comfortable creating blogs, I am not quite sure at this point in my learning that I would faithfully use them in my elementary library. However, I think blogs would be a great way to share with other librarians by bouncing off ideas about work to each other. I also think blogs would be an effective way to share what we learn at conferences and workshops.