Monday, August 4, 2008
Life after the 23 Things
Okay, it felt good to get the Things done, and I took a break for a couple of days to digest, but now I find that I have churned the information around, and am wondering what I will do next with this. Going back over my previous posts and experiences, I see a few gaps in how these things will fit together, or rather in my understanding of how they fit. I feel the need to refine, and organize this into a more cohesive set of tools for me to use. Sort of like straightening up my toolbench in the garage so that I can find and do what I need. Tools that I am currently enjoying more than I ever thought...the newsreader and del.icio.us, still, and yes, I do keep saying that. Maybe it is time to return to Technorati and Rollyo, and really wrangle them into submission. Aren't the things that were the biggest pains (and the least fun) the ones that call for a bit more attention? Also, my tags in del.icio.us are not quite satisfactory as of yet. Do I feel an OCD moment coming on?
Friday, August 1, 2008
After Thing #23
I did a Wordle on my blog up until this point. Enlightening to see in the cloud which words seem to have appeared most frequently. I must confess, there are words that probably should be more prominent. Food for thought.
Thing #23- Summarize Your Thoughts
What a journey! Although I am pleased to have completed the 23 Things, I was a little bit sad, because these activities have made me feel very intellectually lively, and I have enjoyed the process. Then, of course, I realized, it ain't over! I can keep doing this and learning more as long as I feel like it. This is another starting point, not an ending!
1. My favorite things were del.icio.ous, the newsreader, and just the introduction to blogging in general. The first two are great organizational tools, but I do love the blogging concept, and the thought that there is a global community ready to discuss. I also liked Google Docs quite a bit, and see it as a great help to me in accessing things that I am working on from anywhere, as well as a way to share forms an information with colleagues, students, and parents.
2. This program brought home to me the point that I must not allow myself to stagnate or fall into the "I've always done it this way" mentality. It is a good thing to step out of the comfort zone on occasion, otherwise, how are you going to learn. I had not realized that I was hungry in certain areas, that all of my learning has been channeled into areas in which I already have a certain degree of mastery, and that exploration is key. Take a risk.
The other thing that I learned is that if this is what today's student already knows how to use, and is comfortable with, the opportunity to connect with today's learner is there, right in front of us. We need to teach the student according to their learning styles, not our own, and technology and multi-tasking is the way that kids today operate. The concept of teaching through this multi-faceted type of communication and sharing is new to many educators, but the possibilities should not be ignored, they should be embraced. Challenging, yes, but if the student and his/her education is to be the most important thing, than these tools are essential.
3. Unexpected outcomes! I didn't expect to be this interested. I didn't expect that a lot of these things would make so much sense. I didn't expect the thrill of communication in this medium. I didn't realize that you come to recognize personalities in the postings. That one shouldn't have been a surprise, because who doesn't have particular authors or columnists that "speak to them" but it turns out the everyone has a voice. Also, I see that the possibilities are endless...very invigorating.
4. As far as improving the program, I liked the pace and the order of the program. I wasn't wild about several of the podcasts and videos, since sometimes the voices were such that it was difficult to pay attention to them. Still, I guess you have to use what you can find, and the information was usually good, barring the instances where what they told you that you would see when you investigated the site was not always what you saw. Kudos to CommonCraft; they were the best.
5. Yes, I would participate! I am just starting, and a program like this one really opened my eyes to opportunities.
6. Invigorating!
7. And I am off to post!
1. My favorite things were del.icio.ous, the newsreader, and just the introduction to blogging in general. The first two are great organizational tools, but I do love the blogging concept, and the thought that there is a global community ready to discuss. I also liked Google Docs quite a bit, and see it as a great help to me in accessing things that I am working on from anywhere, as well as a way to share forms an information with colleagues, students, and parents.
2. This program brought home to me the point that I must not allow myself to stagnate or fall into the "I've always done it this way" mentality. It is a good thing to step out of the comfort zone on occasion, otherwise, how are you going to learn. I had not realized that I was hungry in certain areas, that all of my learning has been channeled into areas in which I already have a certain degree of mastery, and that exploration is key. Take a risk.
The other thing that I learned is that if this is what today's student already knows how to use, and is comfortable with, the opportunity to connect with today's learner is there, right in front of us. We need to teach the student according to their learning styles, not our own, and technology and multi-tasking is the way that kids today operate. The concept of teaching through this multi-faceted type of communication and sharing is new to many educators, but the possibilities should not be ignored, they should be embraced. Challenging, yes, but if the student and his/her education is to be the most important thing, than these tools are essential.
3. Unexpected outcomes! I didn't expect to be this interested. I didn't expect that a lot of these things would make so much sense. I didn't expect the thrill of communication in this medium. I didn't realize that you come to recognize personalities in the postings. That one shouldn't have been a surprise, because who doesn't have particular authors or columnists that "speak to them" but it turns out the everyone has a voice. Also, I see that the possibilities are endless...very invigorating.
4. As far as improving the program, I liked the pace and the order of the program. I wasn't wild about several of the podcasts and videos, since sometimes the voices were such that it was difficult to pay attention to them. Still, I guess you have to use what you can find, and the information was usually good, barring the instances where what they told you that you would see when you investigated the site was not always what you saw. Kudos to CommonCraft; they were the best.
5. Yes, I would participate! I am just starting, and a program like this one really opened my eyes to opportunities.
6. Invigorating!
7. And I am off to post!
Thing #22- Nings
Another cool way to interface! I spent a good deal of time with the Nings, because I am now at the point of trying to differentiate between all of the communication and sharing tools that I have discovered, attempting to figure out "why this one for this activity rather than that one?". Hmmm. It's an effective platform for discussion between like-interested people, and a wonderful way to get ideas, opinions, solutions, and even, as I see from my reading, encouragement. Different perspectives usually help me clarify my thinking when I am stumped.
I particularly like that the Nings have different discussion topics or forums going on, and that you can find them easily. I also like that when you find the right Ning, the topics are of interest, since you presumably have joined that Ning because the people seem to be interested in the same areas that you are. You can introduce a topic for discussion, rather than putting it on your blog and hoping that someone will see it and comment. It's sort of like a huge multi-blog. And of course, many of them have pictures and videos submitted by members, too.
I see this as very helpful professionally (and very informative personally, with regards to hobbies and "extra-curricular interests"). I expect to garner quite a few ideas and suggestions from the other members, and who knows, I may find that I have something to share as well.
I particularly like that the Nings have different discussion topics or forums going on, and that you can find them easily. I also like that when you find the right Ning, the topics are of interest, since you presumably have joined that Ning because the people seem to be interested in the same areas that you are. You can introduce a topic for discussion, rather than putting it on your blog and hoping that someone will see it and comment. It's sort of like a huge multi-blog. And of course, many of them have pictures and videos submitted by members, too.
I see this as very helpful professionally (and very informative personally, with regards to hobbies and "extra-curricular interests"). I expect to garner quite a few ideas and suggestions from the other members, and who knows, I may find that I have something to share as well.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thing #21- Podcasts and Vidcasts
Whew, what an ordeal, but I did it! I chose Photo Story 3, and although I guess it isn't that hard to use, the directions for specifics are not very clear. I found the music part the most frustrating...it took me a long time to figure out where to put my music to be able to download it into the product...and I still haven't figured out how to take a clip from the middle of a track, which means that all of my music starts at the beginning of the track. At any rate, it was pretty fun, but time consuming, and my end product isn't quite what I visualized, but it is the best that I can do right now. May try to tweak this one some more...if so I will post about it. Hopefully I will become quicker and more proficient with practice. So here it is...Why Is Gilbert and Sullivan So Great!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Why We Must Move With the Times
This clip illustrates Web versus Library issues in a pretty simple way.
Thing #20- YouTube and TeacherTube
Okay, my results on YouTube cracked me up. What amazed me is how much video commentary, and highly creative video commentary at that, there is to be found. I found this little plug for a summer library reading program:
There was also this college kid who was just having fun creating, which I put on my blog for kicks. You have to watch for a bit, but the video does have a point (although I really couldn't use it at school). The point that I see is that this generation is much more open to using accessible technology, to taking the ball and running with it:
On TeacherTube, I found this rockin' little marimba ensemble:
It is great to have so many resources available, and there are so many interesting and creative videos to capture the students' attention, and in the case of TeacherTube, opportunities to inspire them by other student performances and creations. The drawback would be that you still have to cull through quite a bit to find what you want, tags only get you so far, and the quality of many of the videos is not impressive. For instance, there were tons of music-related videos, but I didn't find anything when searching for opera or operatic singing. I had to search for "music" or "singing" and then the number of videos was to huge to search. I couldn't find the right keyword for what I wanted.
There was also this college kid who was just having fun creating, which I put on my blog for kicks. You have to watch for a bit, but the video does have a point (although I really couldn't use it at school). The point that I see is that this generation is much more open to using accessible technology, to taking the ball and running with it:
On TeacherTube, I found this rockin' little marimba ensemble:
It is great to have so many resources available, and there are so many interesting and creative videos to capture the students' attention, and in the case of TeacherTube, opportunities to inspire them by other student performances and creations. The drawback would be that you still have to cull through quite a bit to find what you want, tags only get you so far, and the quality of many of the videos is not impressive. For instance, there were tons of music-related videos, but I didn't find anything when searching for opera or operatic singing. I had to search for "music" or "singing" and then the number of videos was to huge to search. I couldn't find the right keyword for what I wanted.
Thing #19- Web 2.0 Awards
This is a ton of information! The useful thing about this site is that it provides resources that are deemed to be the top resources in different categories. I was pleased (not really surprised, though) that so many of the sites were tools that we have already explored.
The first place I looked was Last , which allowed me to enjoy listening to a mix of 80s music while I was exploring other places. Very enjoyable, and pretty fun to type in different band names to get a selection of music of the same genre. I had looked at Pandora a couple of years ago, and at the time, there was not a good selection of classical music, and Last seems to have a decent selection. Might be something that I could use in my music classroom, particularly since the sight offers biographical information on different artist, and some video. It would be something that I would have to use as a resource if I was looking for something in particular, and I could stumble upon something that I hadn't thought of that I could use.
MyGeneology was interesting, and I like that you could create your family tree, but it isn't really something that I could currently use professionally, I don't think. Same with Upcoming, which gave a list of upcoming events in the city. Very useful for me, but not something that I would use in class. I suppose that if we were studying something, and a performance was coming up, I could let the students know about it, but I am not sure that it would have that much impact with a lot of them (or with their parents...my students are in elementary school). Then again, you never know.
I had heard a lot about Twitter, so I checked that out, and understand now what it is about. Nice way to keep informed about friends daily lives. Could be fun. Just an aside...the CommonCraft videos have probably been the most informative, helpful, and easy-to-understand explanations that I have seen during the 23 Things exploration. Those guys are great!
The things that will be most helpful to me in my classroom are actually things that we have already explored, at least from the proficiency level that I currently have attained: Google Docs, Flickr, Del.icio.us, PBWiki, WetPaint, YouTube, and Google Maps and such, either as resources, organizational tools, or communication and collaboration tools, both personally, professionally, and with regards to the education of my students.
I am bookmarking this site at Del.icio.us so that I can explore it more thoroughly and take advantage of the information it offers.
The first place I looked was Last , which allowed me to enjoy listening to a mix of 80s music while I was exploring other places. Very enjoyable, and pretty fun to type in different band names to get a selection of music of the same genre. I had looked at Pandora a couple of years ago, and at the time, there was not a good selection of classical music, and Last seems to have a decent selection. Might be something that I could use in my music classroom, particularly since the sight offers biographical information on different artist, and some video. It would be something that I would have to use as a resource if I was looking for something in particular, and I could stumble upon something that I hadn't thought of that I could use.
MyGeneology was interesting, and I like that you could create your family tree, but it isn't really something that I could currently use professionally, I don't think. Same with Upcoming, which gave a list of upcoming events in the city. Very useful for me, but not something that I would use in class. I suppose that if we were studying something, and a performance was coming up, I could let the students know about it, but I am not sure that it would have that much impact with a lot of them (or with their parents...my students are in elementary school). Then again, you never know.
I had heard a lot about Twitter, so I checked that out, and understand now what it is about. Nice way to keep informed about friends daily lives. Could be fun. Just an aside...the CommonCraft videos have probably been the most informative, helpful, and easy-to-understand explanations that I have seen during the 23 Things exploration. Those guys are great!
The things that will be most helpful to me in my classroom are actually things that we have already explored, at least from the proficiency level that I currently have attained: Google Docs, Flickr, Del.icio.us, PBWiki, WetPaint, YouTube, and Google Maps and such, either as resources, organizational tools, or communication and collaboration tools, both personally, professionally, and with regards to the education of my students.
I am bookmarking this site at Del.icio.us so that I can explore it more thoroughly and take advantage of the information it offers.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thrills and Flutters- Just an aside
I have enjoyed looking at Barry Bishop's Shared Items, and I must say, it is strangely thrilling when you see that one of your posts has been shared. Equally flutter-making is when someone comments on one of your posts on your blog. Wow.
I still can't seem to connect the pieces to become part of a "conversation". If I post to someone's blog, how do I know if they, or someone else, responds in kind, and if I respond to a comment that they have made, how do they know. Is that all in subscribing and checking the Google Reader? Perhaps that warrants more investigation on my part, but I could use some advice.
I still can't seem to connect the pieces to become part of a "conversation". If I post to someone's blog, how do I know if they, or someone else, responds in kind, and if I respond to a comment that they have made, how do they know. Is that all in subscribing and checking the Google Reader? Perhaps that warrants more investigation on my part, but I could use some advice.
Thing #12 Revisited
Okay, I have now posted to two blogs of interest. We'll see what happens. I didn't die from doing it, and smoke did not come from the computer, so I think that it will be okay!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thing #18- Online Productivity Tools
Hmmm. How is it that anyone would offer something like OpenOffice for free? I don't see advertising or anything. I did see that they have contributors like Novell, IBM, and Google, and some others that I do not recognize.
Anyway, I didn't download OpenOffice, since I am not really sure how much room I can spare right now on my computer. I never said that I really knew what I was doing with this machine...food for thought and for self-improvement. I did look at the things that OpenOffice has to offer. It seems that it is a free version similar to Microsoft Office, and that you can even make your documents compatible to Office. What makes it different is that you "participate" by joining the community and suggesting things to make this product more tailored to suit what the users might want. Interesting that they call it both a "product" and a "project." Witness again this global pooling and contributing. I can see that it would be great for someone who did not want to spend the money for Microsoft Office, or for the student whose parents can only afford the bare bones, not the expensive software. A good way for more students to have access to Office type software and applications.
The more I think about and explore Google Documents, the more I like it. It occurs to me that not only can I create documents either to share or to make public, but I can store things that I am working on right there online, where they will be accessible from anywhere, at anytime, from any computer, without my little USB storage thing. Heck, I wouldn't even have to have my own computer with me. Ever since I have been able to make one of my documents link properly for access from a hot link on my blog, I have been sort of excited. Banner day at Blog a la Lundquist.
Anyway, I didn't download OpenOffice, since I am not really sure how much room I can spare right now on my computer. I never said that I really knew what I was doing with this machine...food for thought and for self-improvement. I did look at the things that OpenOffice has to offer. It seems that it is a free version similar to Microsoft Office, and that you can even make your documents compatible to Office. What makes it different is that you "participate" by joining the community and suggesting things to make this product more tailored to suit what the users might want. Interesting that they call it both a "product" and a "project." Witness again this global pooling and contributing. I can see that it would be great for someone who did not want to spend the money for Microsoft Office, or for the student whose parents can only afford the bare bones, not the expensive software. A good way for more students to have access to Office type software and applications.
The more I think about and explore Google Documents, the more I like it. It occurs to me that not only can I create documents either to share or to make public, but I can store things that I am working on right there online, where they will be accessible from anywhere, at anytime, from any computer, without my little USB storage thing. Heck, I wouldn't even have to have my own computer with me. Ever since I have been able to make one of my documents link properly for access from a hot link on my blog, I have been sort of excited. Banner day at Blog a la Lundquist.
Thing #17- Rollyo
This wasn't as much fun. I created my searchroll with no problem, I think, but my goodness, I now have so many different lists of things...googlereader, del.icio.us, etc. and I am not really all that enchanted, with having so many strings to have to pull. At least this one doesn't update automatically! Plus, I may have done something wrong (that's the problem; I don't know), in that I put the Searchroll symbol on my blog, and the link works, but my stuff is a little box on the lift, and then the list of all of the items that would have come up with the search dominate the entire rest of the page. Plus there are so many other distractions and ads on the page. Is this just the way it is, or have I set it up wrong? I'll admit that the tool is useful, and I do think that this would be a good way to select websites for students to use, I just don't really like the layout when you click on the link.
Here's a link to my Gilbert and Sullivan Rollyo.
Here's a link to my Gilbert and Sullivan Rollyo.
Thing #16- Wikis
There are so many possibilities with the wiki. I loved the different types that I looked at...wikis for resources, with pages to include links, booklists, curriculum ideas...the possibilities are endless. The Meredith Farkas article "Using Wikis to Create Online Communities" made an interesting point about wikis being "self-organizing group behavior in action." That is pretty cool.
I am thinking that in my music class a wiki might be useful to gather information on composers that we are studying, or to collect links to sites which might be useful, that I either recommend, or that the students have found and like.
I think that I posted to the Library 2.0 Sandbox. I posted to a Sandbox somewhere!
One thing that will be hard for me is the fact that someone could come in and change what I have written. I don't mind them adding on, but I am afraid that I will dislike having my actual words edited! I know, control freak, but a girl does take ownership of their writings. This is obviously a new concept that I will have to grapple with if I want to leap into the century with great abandon!
I am thinking that in my music class a wiki might be useful to gather information on composers that we are studying, or to collect links to sites which might be useful, that I either recommend, or that the students have found and like.
I think that I posted to the Library 2.0 Sandbox. I posted to a Sandbox somewhere!
One thing that will be hard for me is the fact that someone could come in and change what I have written. I don't mind them adding on, but I am afraid that I will dislike having my actual words edited! I know, control freak, but a girl does take ownership of their writings. This is obviously a new concept that I will have to grapple with if I want to leap into the century with great abandon!
Thing #7 Revisited- Victory is mine!!
Finally, I have gotten my google document and google notebook links to go where I want. Before, it took you to the sign in, and you had to have a password. Now I am public, and the information can be viewed, not edited. Yes! Strangely satisfying.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thing #15- Library 2.0
This topic was a little unsettling, since I have spent happy, happy years in the type of library that I know, particularly enjoying the feel of the paper and the weight of the book. I then started to become rather excited. As a learner who pretty much just "went and looked up" information on whatever I wanted to find out about, I never really thought too much about barriers between the users and the information, as mentioned by Rick Anderson in "Away From the Icebergs" . It makes sense, though. There is so much available now, in so many different formats and forums, and I know that I have commented a few times previously on the difficulties in sifting through the information found in my searches during this class. Facilitating acquisition of the needed information is crucial, and is part of the current job of the librarian. What has changed is the scope of resources, as well as the ways to transmit or share the information. There are so many more possibilities and opportunities. We, as librarians and teachers, must roll with it.
Ranganathan said that the library is a growing organism, so it must grow in the area of restructuring with regards to the housing of the "collection" and the way that information is shared and tramsmitted. We are, after all, supposed to have an eye on the changing needs of the patron, with the key word in this case being "changing." This doesn't just mean acquiring or weeding books anymore, it seems.
I like the concept of pooling information and resources in terms of resource sharing networks, as well as by the patrons themselves. If our young patrons are going to become lifelong patrons, we will have to encourage and foster the skills that are impacting their future, take advantage of the technological advances which make access to so much information possible, and accept that their world and skill sets are not the same as ours was 20 years ago. Progress will happen, and we can go with it, or we can ignore it, which would be a mistake.
With all of this blogging, searching for blogs, different search engines designed for different types of searches, and the advent of a global community online, I do find certain parallels to life in the pre-radio, television, phonograph days. "Regular" people tended to clump together to discuss, create, perform, and yes, write their opinions, just because they had something to say. In a way, blogging communities, or any forums on the internet where people discuss, create, or express themselves are like huge, more accessible salons of earlier centuries, and technology and the resources it offers are just more global ways for like-minded (or non-like-minded) individuals to communicate and gather information. Oddly, some of the "de-humanizing" technology may be making us more human again. It may not be face-to-face, but it is communication, it can support collaboration. The library definitely has a place in the facilitation of these exchanges, but we have to claim our place there.
Now, I don't say that making this change will be easy for all of us. I will still fall asleep at night with a book open on my stomach. I don't know that I will always ache to get to my newsreader, email, or blog rather than lounge on the couch with real paper and cardboard in my hands. I will, after reading these perspectives, try to be more active in how all of the tools that I have been learning about fit together and work together, and be more conscious of the technological advances and opportunities, that I and my future library might be more productive and more useful.
Ranganathan said that the library is a growing organism, so it must grow in the area of restructuring with regards to the housing of the "collection" and the way that information is shared and tramsmitted. We are, after all, supposed to have an eye on the changing needs of the patron, with the key word in this case being "changing." This doesn't just mean acquiring or weeding books anymore, it seems.
I like the concept of pooling information and resources in terms of resource sharing networks, as well as by the patrons themselves. If our young patrons are going to become lifelong patrons, we will have to encourage and foster the skills that are impacting their future, take advantage of the technological advances which make access to so much information possible, and accept that their world and skill sets are not the same as ours was 20 years ago. Progress will happen, and we can go with it, or we can ignore it, which would be a mistake.
With all of this blogging, searching for blogs, different search engines designed for different types of searches, and the advent of a global community online, I do find certain parallels to life in the pre-radio, television, phonograph days. "Regular" people tended to clump together to discuss, create, perform, and yes, write their opinions, just because they had something to say. In a way, blogging communities, or any forums on the internet where people discuss, create, or express themselves are like huge, more accessible salons of earlier centuries, and technology and the resources it offers are just more global ways for like-minded (or non-like-minded) individuals to communicate and gather information. Oddly, some of the "de-humanizing" technology may be making us more human again. It may not be face-to-face, but it is communication, it can support collaboration. The library definitely has a place in the facilitation of these exchanges, but we have to claim our place there.
Now, I don't say that making this change will be easy for all of us. I will still fall asleep at night with a book open on my stomach. I don't know that I will always ache to get to my newsreader, email, or blog rather than lounge on the couch with real paper and cardboard in my hands. I will, after reading these perspectives, try to be more active in how all of the tools that I have been learning about fit together and work together, and be more conscious of the technological advances and opportunities, that I and my future library might be more productive and more useful.
Thing #14- Technorati
Okay, the force was not with me today. I stated in Thing #9 that Technorati was easy to use...I must have been smarter that day. Today, it took me forever to figure out what I was doing, especially in finding the tag search. I never did get a drop-down menu up at the top, although every article that I read (and I did search for articles to help me) said that one was supposed to be there. Anyway, I did get it figured out, but it was time consuming.
So I searched for "School Library Learning 2.0" in all of the various ways. Searching all the blogs gave a much larger selection than the tag search, and I am not sure why japanese women in bikinis came up in the tag search, particularly since I examined the tags on those articles, and "school library learning" was not there!
It was neat to browse around and look in the subject areas, and see how people tagged things. I can see how searching for tags could possibly bring more focus to your search, since a tag should (?) bring out some of the focuses of the blog. Yes, it can help me find more information, and maybe help me find information that I might not find otherwise. It also can help me keep up with current events and what people are talking about right now.
I am beginning to worry that I will not be able to keep up with examining all of the information that I am beginning to acquire. In one of the introductory tutorials, the lady said that she checks Technorati 9 times a day to see what is going on. How am I supposed to do that, and check the newsreader, etc.? Overwhelmed, I am. I am not as comfortable with the whole site as I thought I was, but I will practice more, and that may help.
Oh, I did like what Brian Pinkerton said on the video, that blogs are the voice of the people, as the internet once was, and is no longer. I also like the fact that when searching blogs, you end up becoming more in tune with the concerns of regular people, rather than just the top stories, or what the news wants to tell you.
I have not yet registered and claimed my blog; I feel very reluctant to put my real name out there. I'll post again when I get up the nerve to do it.
So I searched for "School Library Learning 2.0" in all of the various ways. Searching all the blogs gave a much larger selection than the tag search, and I am not sure why japanese women in bikinis came up in the tag search, particularly since I examined the tags on those articles, and "school library learning" was not there!
It was neat to browse around and look in the subject areas, and see how people tagged things. I can see how searching for tags could possibly bring more focus to your search, since a tag should (?) bring out some of the focuses of the blog. Yes, it can help me find more information, and maybe help me find information that I might not find otherwise. It also can help me keep up with current events and what people are talking about right now.
I am beginning to worry that I will not be able to keep up with examining all of the information that I am beginning to acquire. In one of the introductory tutorials, the lady said that she checks Technorati 9 times a day to see what is going on. How am I supposed to do that, and check the newsreader, etc.? Overwhelmed, I am. I am not as comfortable with the whole site as I thought I was, but I will practice more, and that may help.
Oh, I did like what Brian Pinkerton said on the video, that blogs are the voice of the people, as the internet once was, and is no longer. I also like the fact that when searching blogs, you end up becoming more in tune with the concerns of regular people, rather than just the top stories, or what the news wants to tell you.
I have not yet registered and claimed my blog; I feel very reluctant to put my real name out there. I'll post again when I get up the nerve to do it.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thing #13- Del.icio.us
I wish that I had known about this nearer to the start of the 23 Things, as there are several things that I would have bookmarked as I worked. I didn't put them in my favorites because I had no way of describing what they were. And this process was so easy to do!
This activity prompted me to clean out my favorites on my computer. While doing this, I appreciated the fact that I can not only tag each entry in del-icio.us, but add a description. In my favorites, I sometimes can't tell what a site is, or what type of information it contains, beyond what I have used as a title.
Furl and Ma.gnolia didn't offer as much information about their sites, so I would have been less inclined to use them, even though they many of the same type services or functions as del.icio.us. I just couldn't tell as much about them from their tutorials and information.
Definitely a help on the home computer. It will be very useful for hobbies and for research. Unfortunately, most of my work-related bookmarks are on my school computer. Oh, well. Still, this will definitely make a difference at school, in organizing my resource material, as well as in finding other resources from other people. Teachers from within the school, as well as from other campuses and districts, can definitely benefit from this sharing, since different people will turn up different resources.
This activity prompted me to clean out my favorites on my computer. While doing this, I appreciated the fact that I can not only tag each entry in del-icio.us, but add a description. In my favorites, I sometimes can't tell what a site is, or what type of information it contains, beyond what I have used as a title.
Furl and Ma.gnolia didn't offer as much information about their sites, so I would have been less inclined to use them, even though they many of the same type services or functions as del.icio.us. I just couldn't tell as much about them from their tutorials and information.
Definitely a help on the home computer. It will be very useful for hobbies and for research. Unfortunately, most of my work-related bookmarks are on my school computer. Oh, well. Still, this will definitely make a difference at school, in organizing my resource material, as well as in finding other resources from other people. Teachers from within the school, as well as from other campuses and districts, can definitely benefit from this sharing, since different people will turn up different resources.
Thing #12- Posting to a blog
Halfway done with the things, and what a learning experience.
First point: In the podcast from BloggingBasics101 with regards to lurking and commenting, I liked the discussion about deleting comments. I agree that if a post contains a differing viewpoint, leave the comment on the blog; that it is conversation and self-expression...a discussion. The only things that they delete are hateful or abusive comments, or spam/trolling. I like the concept of blogging as encouraging conversation and possibly differing viewpoints. You can always learn something from someone else.
Second point: To get involved, you need to comment when you have something to say. Read carefully before you respond, but don't "wait until you know everything about something." It is part of the learning and sharing process.
CONFUSED! Okay, I have posted comments at 5 different blogs, but I have missed something in the interpretation. Am I supposed to add those blogs to my list of blogs, and how will I know if there has been a comment? Do I just go back and check and see if anybody else is posting, or what?
First point: In the podcast from BloggingBasics101 with regards to lurking and commenting, I liked the discussion about deleting comments. I agree that if a post contains a differing viewpoint, leave the comment on the blog; that it is conversation and self-expression...a discussion. The only things that they delete are hateful or abusive comments, or spam/trolling. I like the concept of blogging as encouraging conversation and possibly differing viewpoints. You can always learn something from someone else.
Second point: To get involved, you need to comment when you have something to say. Read carefully before you respond, but don't "wait until you know everything about something." It is part of the learning and sharing process.
CONFUSED! Okay, I have posted comments at 5 different blogs, but I have missed something in the interpretation. Am I supposed to add those blogs to my list of blogs, and how will I know if there has been a comment? Do I just go back and check and see if anybody else is posting, or what?
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Thing #11- LibraryThing
It was so easy to enter books. What to enter first is/was the question. I just chose a random selection of favorites to enter. The tags made a neat cross-reference, and I played with it for quite a while. Still have not decided exactly how I want to tag things, and things are not quite in the order that I want, but that takes some refining. Right off the bat there were several groups of interest. Sometimes it is hard to find people who are reading or have read and would like to discuss the same books. This makes it easy. There is a Librarians Who LibraryThing group.
This should be an interesting resource for finding recommendations for personal reading from like-tasted people, as well as another way to feel out popular books that are currently on the market. As mentioned in several postings before this one, certain "recommenders" will probably become prefered, for personal and work-related reading.
This should be an interesting resource for finding recommendations for personal reading from like-tasted people, as well as another way to feel out popular books that are currently on the market. As mentioned in several postings before this one, certain "recommenders" will probably become prefered, for personal and work-related reading.
Thing #10- Online image generators
I fiddled around with all of the different online image generators, and it was pretty time-consuming. I found that I preferred Big Huge Labs.
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
Big Huge Labs had captioning options, lots of different effects (I had already tried Mosaic Maker), including the cool Warhol silkscreen effect. It was easy to use, and easy to upload and download. Here is what I captioned:
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
Big Huge Labs had captioning options, lots of different effects (I had already tried Mosaic Maker), including the cool Warhol silkscreen effect. It was easy to use, and easy to upload and download. Here is what I captioned:
Now, I spent quite a bit of time at the Comic Strip Generator. A lot of the pictures that I came up with were not appropriate. Also, several of the comics that I tried to use simply were not there when I clicked on the thumbnail. Searching was a bit tedious as well. I did really like that the bubble was already there, and all you had to do was type in your own words, but I never came up with anything that I wanted to keep. Maybe my creativity is off today.
My biggest problem was deciding what I wanted to do, and with what graphic. Inspiration was not burning bright. I really wanted to find create something that I could use in my music classroom. I will keep working on that. Now that I am aware of so many options, perhaps I will be more on the look-out for images that I want to alter, caption, or use in the classroom to draw attention to key points, important rules and processes, or to make concepts more memorable.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Thing #9- Locating blogs and newsfeeds
Okay, this was confusing for me. I am still not sure that I have a firm grasp and understanding, and I hope that it will come with more practice. I found that the less busy the page was, the better I was able to search, examine the information, and, honestly the more interested I was in trying to use the search engine.
Syndic8 and Topix were hard for me to pay attention to, and I had trouble sifting through the information. Maybe I don't narrow enough. I also had trouble adding some of the things that I found...I need to educate myself in terms of terminology. Still don't have a great grasp. I don't quite understand Atomic Learning, and had a hard time figuring out what it had to offer if I was to subscribe.
Loved Technorati. It was simple to use and to navigate. I found more there and at Blogline and Edublog.
I did find useful technology in the classroom info, as well as library (technology use, book lists, currrent events, articles by other librarians). I do question how thoroughly I would be able to explore the information that will come to my reader, since each feed or blog seems to offer a lot of information. We'll have to see how that pans out. I'm afraid that if I got behind, I would never catch up.
Other tools to locate feeds and blogs: One of the best resources that I found was looking at the things on other people or organizations blogs.
Syndic8 and Topix were hard for me to pay attention to, and I had trouble sifting through the information. Maybe I don't narrow enough. I also had trouble adding some of the things that I found...I need to educate myself in terms of terminology. Still don't have a great grasp. I don't quite understand Atomic Learning, and had a hard time figuring out what it had to offer if I was to subscribe.
Loved Technorati. It was simple to use and to navigate. I found more there and at Blogline and Edublog.
I did find useful technology in the classroom info, as well as library (technology use, book lists, currrent events, articles by other librarians). I do question how thoroughly I would be able to explore the information that will come to my reader, since each feed or blog seems to offer a lot of information. We'll have to see how that pans out. I'm afraid that if I got behind, I would never catch up.
Other tools to locate feeds and blogs: One of the best resources that I found was looking at the things on other people or organizations blogs.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Pre Thing #9
Just read Cool Cat Teacher's blog about how to choose wisely. She calls it her "Circle of the Wise" and she answered what I was just wondering at the end of Thing #8. Woohoo! Maybe I'm on the right track.
Thing #8- RSS feeds
Really Simple Syndication! Who would've thought, and the name is great.
Wow! I'll say it again. Wow! I very much like the newsreader. Once you find a blog that seems to suit your needs, either for information or for pleasure, having it all together in GoogleReader is really handy. It saves you going to your favorites, checking, having no update, wishing there was an update, and then moving on to the next favorite. Love it. It saves time, and the links that the blogger provides are usually things that you are interested in, too. Stands to reason.
I did find that each blog develops a "personality". There were blogs that I looked at that did not appeal to me because of the tone, or the lack of readability. It really brings home the concept of presentation, because several of these blogs were full of helpful information. I guess it boils down to picking blogs that you need to pick, as well as picking those that you want to pick.
I also like the idea of being able to tag different blogs, so that you and others who are searching can more easily navigate the list.
For school, this would be an easy way to keep me updated on a number of things that I often have to search for, or forget to search for, or "don't have time" to search for. It would be a time saver, and I could check in, scan the articles to see if anything was what I needed, and possibly get other ideas that I hadn't expected to find. I found a blog from a music teacher who is using tons of technology, and has lots of ideas and suggestions. As far as personally, I will always enjoy being updated on the latest Green Bay Packers news, books that people of similar taste recommend, rose gardening, music news about favorite bands,and just this and that.
As far as in the library, other librarians can share their thoughts and reviews of particular books and technology suggestions are available. It's a time saver. I wonder if a librarian could gather different blogs on different subjects or areas of interest. I also wonder how very careful you would have to be...the blogger would have to be highly reputable. How would you screen the blogs?
Wow! I'll say it again. Wow! I very much like the newsreader. Once you find a blog that seems to suit your needs, either for information or for pleasure, having it all together in GoogleReader is really handy. It saves you going to your favorites, checking, having no update, wishing there was an update, and then moving on to the next favorite. Love it. It saves time, and the links that the blogger provides are usually things that you are interested in, too. Stands to reason.
I did find that each blog develops a "personality". There were blogs that I looked at that did not appeal to me because of the tone, or the lack of readability. It really brings home the concept of presentation, because several of these blogs were full of helpful information. I guess it boils down to picking blogs that you need to pick, as well as picking those that you want to pick.
I also like the idea of being able to tag different blogs, so that you and others who are searching can more easily navigate the list.
For school, this would be an easy way to keep me updated on a number of things that I often have to search for, or forget to search for, or "don't have time" to search for. It would be a time saver, and I could check in, scan the articles to see if anything was what I needed, and possibly get other ideas that I hadn't expected to find. I found a blog from a music teacher who is using tons of technology, and has lots of ideas and suggestions. As far as personally, I will always enjoy being updated on the latest Green Bay Packers news, books that people of similar taste recommend, rose gardening, music news about favorite bands,and just this and that.
As far as in the library, other librarians can share their thoughts and reviews of particular books and technology suggestions are available. It's a time saver. I wonder if a librarian could gather different blogs on different subjects or areas of interest. I also wonder how very careful you would have to be...the blogger would have to be highly reputable. How would you screen the blogs?
Thing #7- Google Cool Tools
Google Notebook was interesting, and I can see how it might be useful. You can create different notebooks for different purposes. The one that I have started would allow my students to go to the notebook and search for information on particular composers from sites that I have chosen. In my music class, I could have different notebooks featuring composers, instruments, orchestra, or any other elements that we are studying, with links in each notebook, and comments about what types of information they can find at each link.
It took a while to figure out some of this, but here it is:
Composer Notebook
Now for the Google Documents...this is useful if I do a choir blog at school. I have posted the sign-up form for those who lose the first paper (not that that ever happens!). The next thing that I will need to figure out is how to do a sort of sidebar thing where I can post the Composer Notebook, any other useful notebooks, links, documents that might be needed, etc. This is really a lot to figure out, and it seems to take a lot of trial and error. For what it's worth, here is my Google Document:
Sawdust Singers Sign-Up Form
One problem...I can get it to link, but I can't seem to get these things to share, so when a person clicks on the link, what they get is my sign-in. Can't seem to figure this one out. Help!! I'll move on, and inspiration, or information, may strike!
It took a while to figure out some of this, but here it is:
Composer Notebook
Now for the Google Documents...this is useful if I do a choir blog at school. I have posted the sign-up form for those who lose the first paper (not that that ever happens!). The next thing that I will need to figure out is how to do a sort of sidebar thing where I can post the Composer Notebook, any other useful notebooks, links, documents that might be needed, etc. This is really a lot to figure out, and it seems to take a lot of trial and error. For what it's worth, here is my Google Document:
Sawdust Singers Sign-Up Form
One problem...I can get it to link, but I can't seem to get these things to share, so when a person clicks on the link, what they get is my sign-in. Can't seem to figure this one out. Help!! I'll move on, and inspiration, or information, may strike!
Thing #6 continued
Mosaic Maker is sort of time-consuming. A lot of back and forth work, but it is fun. Maybe with some practice I will get quicker. Here is my version of Tabbycatmusic, with my tabbycats!
Thing #6
There certainly are a lot of options. I tried the trading card. I am not really sure what I would like to do with trading cards, but it wasn't too hard to make. I do wonder, what are other people using them for. The ones that I have seen don't seem particularly useful for anything but fun...not that fun isn't useful. I will have to think about how I would use these in the classroom. I suppose that, as a music teacher, I could have different composer cards with details, or the kids could research different composer questions and make a card for that composer, including the answers to the questions. Might be fun. Here is mine...it is not particularly useful either, but I get a chuckle seeing my friend and myself...too bad we can't see that our skirts are about 4 inches too long, puddled around our feet!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Thing #5- Explore Flickr
Flickr was neat to look through, and the sharing aspect of it is very friendly. Lots more options than I have had a chance to explore. I am unsure, however, how to credit the photographer. I haven't seen any other blogs of people doing the lesson that did.Why did I choose this picture?
I love cardinals. They have one of the sweetest songs. I wish that it was as cool here in Houston as it is there in the picture (taken by Freewine at Flickr).
Thing #4- Register a Blog
I think that I have successfully registered...we'll soon find out. In the meantime, I have been working on my profile. Soooo many categories. I have to say that while I have been playing with this blog, and yes, I have been Playing, with a capital "P", I find myself becoming curious about what the next Thing will bring. Pretty cool.
Thing #3- Create a Blog
Decisions, decisions! The avatar was fun, but talk about a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear!
It really wasn't too hard to create the blog, once all of the security parameters that I have on my computer were adjusted, but that really took some time, and I had to go into the firewall settings. Now I am just slightly paranoid that scary things will happen to my computer! I will feel better about it once a few days have passed and there have been no disasters with regards to security.
Posting is much easier that I imagined. Surprise, surprise...there had to be a reason that so many people do this sort of thing. If it was that much trouble, there wouldn't be so many folks doing it. I will be interested to see how much harder it gets as we get into the details.
Forge onward!
It really wasn't too hard to create the blog, once all of the security parameters that I have on my computer were adjusted, but that really took some time, and I had to go into the firewall settings. Now I am just slightly paranoid that scary things will happen to my computer! I will feel better about it once a few days have passed and there have been no disasters with regards to security.
Posting is much easier that I imagined. Surprise, surprise...there had to be a reason that so many people do this sort of thing. If it was that much trouble, there wouldn't be so many folks doing it. I will be interested to see how much harder it gets as we get into the details.
Forge onward!
Thing #2- 7 1/2 Habits
I like the 7 1/2 habits. I never thought of it that way, but I guess that it pretty much does define the lifelong learner.
The easiest habit for me is confidence in myself as a complete, effective learner. I have never questioned that I could learn what I needed/wanted to, once I actually decided that I wanted to learn something. The big decider, I think, has been desire.
The hardest habit for me is viewing problems as challenges. That one gets me a lot...the "Argh! One more thing!" As I think about it, although I don't have a problem beginning with the end in mind, so often the end that was in mind changes as other opportunities arise. I think that realistically, since I tend to stay focused, sometimes that opportunity to change presents problems for me.
The easiest habit for me is confidence in myself as a complete, effective learner. I have never questioned that I could learn what I needed/wanted to, once I actually decided that I wanted to learn something. The big decider, I think, has been desire.
The hardest habit for me is viewing problems as challenges. That one gets me a lot...the "Argh! One more thing!" As I think about it, although I don't have a problem beginning with the end in mind, so often the end that was in mind changes as other opportunities arise. I think that realistically, since I tend to stay focused, sometimes that opportunity to change presents problems for me.
Thing #1- What is 23 Things?
This seems lilke an exciting area to explore, now that I have done some reading and looked at other people's blogs. I've always wondered about blogging and about how people managed to put "all of that stuff" on their page...now I will get to learn how it is done!
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