Week 5 - Thing 10.1

Checked out Image Chef to see what else they offer besides the banners, which I really like, and discovered the flower messages - neat but hard to read, the poetry - cool, but I am way beyond 15, and saw video. Now, here was something different. Here is a this little video to celebrate what we've been learning.

Week 5 - Thing 11

Checked out the short list of Web 2.0 Awards....so, so many. Often as I look at these tools, I focus on "how can this be used in school to help the teachers or students"; this time my focus was "how can this help me". Being a bit selfish right now.

I saw Pandora, which I absolutely love and use all of the time since I am cheap and am not willing to pay for Sirius radio yet. But it was only a second place winner, so I needed to find out what the winner had that Pandora did not. The name of the the winner is Last and what it has that Pandora does not is the social aspect. For example, you can connect to other listeners and what they listen to, check out concerts, videos, etc. Great features, if you are a thirty-something or less. I'll stick with Pandora.

Then, I moved onto the Health winners. Both Revolution Health and PEERtrainer are very well organized, useful and full of information. PEERtrainer's focus is on weight loss and fitness - both of which I definitely have on my "to do" list. This is a great site and I plan on using it to help me achieve my health goals this year. You can join a group with members that will encourage you on your way, keep a food diary, track calories, join in chats, peer trainers, etc. The site is very user friendly, has a logical layout, and is free!

Applications for PEERtrainer in the library would be just for providing the link for people to use. I would show it to the health teachers also to see if they would find it useful for students. Other than that, this was a selfish exploration to see what I could find for me, myself, and I.

Week 5 - Thing 10

Some of the mashup tools I already did in previous weeks using the Warholizer and the plastic bead maker. None of the others, right now, looked interesting on that site, so I moved on to the Comic Strip link.

My first attempt was the cartoon bubble. Not too difficult but instructions are rather sparse. I wanted to move the thought bubble and couldn't find out how to do that, so it is where it is. ugh - I hate that saying "It is what it is." Really? Thanks for telling me that one. I digress..

Looking around a bit more, I saw the special effects page and loved these ripples - like a hypnotic trance - so I saved the picture with the special effects, went back to the cartoon bubble and entered the text. Then, I looked around some more, being distracted every step of the way with characters like Homer, Stewie, Darth Vader, Storm Troopers... thinking I'd add one of them on the image. They distracted from the visual message - that sense of overwhelming, head-spinning, can't possibly keep up - of Web 2.0.

What I decided to add was a border, also available on the same site to the picture with the cartoon bubble and the special effects. So, this image from my digital camera, has three manipulations - the speech bubble, the special effects, and the border. I am sticking with this one. I like it.

Looking at this just gave me a thought of how to use this in the curriculum. One of my dear friends, an English teacher, is constantly looking for new ways to integrate technology into her lessons. Visual literacy is also something we feel the kids need to know. Creating an image such as this, instead of a power point (yuck) or MovieMaker (which can be bothersome) students could find or take a picture, "mash-it-up" to present their message. Technology, visual literacy, synthesis all rolled into one project. To take it even further, an accompanying essay could explain the picture to focus on great beginnings, supporting details, etc. to reinforce writing skills.

Week 4 - Thing 9

Catching up on reading magazines from the school year and found in Teacher Librarian's June journal from Esther Rosenfeld's notebook this wiki to check out. It was created by Dr. Baumbach and Dr. Lee of the University of Central Florida. The whole wiki discusses 2.0 tools and is appropriately named WebTools4U2Use. Here is the link. On the left side are lots of applications and what they are for - I only read the blog posting, and not all of that, but it really clarifies all of the uses a blog could be used for school libraries.

http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com

Checked out a variety of blogs and what is available; I am finding many blogs are like reading diaries for gossip. One blog I did check out, that lead to fame and fortune (and I know about it), is Diablo Cody's blog. Someone in show business read her blog and encouraged to write her book Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, which ultimately led to her writing Juno. Years ago when my daughter Leah (her image today) was living in Chicago she talked about her friend Brooke, who was dating her boyfriend's older brother, and how much fun they would have together. Leah shared that Brooke wasn't sure what to do with her life and was contemplating being a librarian, so Brooke and I talked a little about being a librarian. However, life took her in another direction to Minneapolis, blogging, screen writing, and now an Oscar winning screenwriter! I think she chose wisely. Not that there's anything wrong with being a librarian.

Reading the RSS feeds on anything you might be remotely interested in could consume all of the time available in a day. I limited my blogs, except for recipes right now, to technology or library. I still like to hold paper in my hands for most reading or indulging in mind junk food like Star or The Enquirer every now and again. All work and no play makes me dull. Checked out Technorati, OK; checked out Syndic8, OK; checked out SuprGlu, love it! I also put the "school library learning 2.0" in Google, found 33 matches which were basically entries like this. So, I guess we are finding ourselves. We need to expand our very, small library world.

Week 4 - Thing 8

At the bottom of the page are the blogs I have subscribed to by Google Reader. This was a much easier application than Bloglines, IMHO. With the Google choices I could add the RSS to my igoogle page and locate it where I chose. Then, when I was looking to see how to add the url for public access, Blogger does it for you when you add an element to the page.

I did, however, spend too much time trying to locate the tabs like shown in the 23 Things pages. I never did find it after multiple tries, etc. That is the frustrating part of technology. It is supposed to be the easiest, most logical thing to add or do, and you can spend hours trying to find or do it. When a tech person shows you where or how to do it, it only makes you feel that less competent. sigh

Using an RSS feed on the library page would be helpful for teachers looking for current information for projects, as well as students. Thinking about it more, a wiki page would be the best option. Content can be changed and modified as needed, not the timely process it is now with the web pages provided by the district. Also, if anyone is undergoing curriculum review, it would be beneficial to gather the latest information for that department or grade level. Another neat public relations aspect would be to have feeds for the local sports, music, and/or drama productions.

Week 3 - Thing 7

I do love the digital camera and how easy it is to upload pictures into the laptop and/or Flickr. One of my goals for this week is to explore google's Picasa and see what that has to offer.

Last school year our technology integration specialist showed us VoiceThread. That application is one I really liked to record book talks. Talking about the same books to four different classes to three different teams gets old. This allowed me to show it to the students, and they could look at the books that appealed to them on their time at home as I made it accessible on the library webpage.

Another application I love is MovieMaker, although I become so obsessed with cutting music at the precise time, I drive myself crazy. Windows should fix it to be able to key in the exact time like it is in Power Point...which I really find very annoying. Speaking of that, have you seen this YouTube How NOT to Use Powerpoint. Very, very funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpjrHzgSRM

Some more technologies that I like, and need to learn to be more effective with are the new little Flip video cameras, which I just purchased for the library this year, moodle, and wiki pages.

So many applications and so little time.

Week 3 - Thing 6

Used the trading card link to create this card of my mom. Here she is!

There are numerous ways to use this in the curriculum - famous authors/artists/scientists/etc., countries/books/events.

However, what is becoming so very clear to me as I examine these tools, is that it really isn't about the tool, but what needs to be taught to students first and then modeled correctly. My friend and I have these discussions all of the time with our principal about exactly what it is that students need to learn. Can they pick up how to use these tools on their own? They could probably teach me a thing or sixty in regards to what all is out there in their world. Because, frankly, it is their world. I am a visitor in this online world that changes and expands everyday.

As I was selecting the card information, following the procedure to do it was easy enough. What gave me thought was what I wanted to write, how I should write it concisely and clearly, and without being too dramatic (although it was horrifying to see my mom in that condition - but she was the one enduring). So, even though these tools are cool, what really needs to be taught is reading, and writing, and summarizing, and thinking. Modeled for students; practiced with students; performed on their own with guidance and feedback until they feel successful.