Carrot Stick

Yahoo! Avatars

Monday, April 14, 2008

Stick 23: Final Thoughts

Thoughts
I feel much more informed about the Web 2.0 tools - not just head knowledge but also practical knowledge from hands-on experience.

I start to understand that these tools cannot be ignored. They are the tools of the future in some way, shape or form. Where before I thought I could stay oblivious to many of these tools - not any more.

Favorites
Making the blog and posting on the blog was a great experience. Making the avatar was not something I enjoyed initially but now I see its use and would probably spend more time making another one someday. YouTube is something I wasn’t all that familiar with and now see great potential for its use in an educational setting.

Connecting
I told a lot of people I was doing this “23 things” thing. Everyone was so impressed with what I was learning - and awed by the amount of time I spent participating in this tutorial.

It was good for me to be forced to join some of the social networking sites. I am by nature not needing to socialize much, but I can see its importance in keeping up professionally in this new era of Internet sharing.

Unexpected outcomes
I am amazed at the depth of activity going on on the Internet. It is truly the way people get together and share EVERYTHING! Not to keep up would be social and professional suicide.

Do differently
These have been great exercises - just too many in a short amount of time. Having this tutorial in my life has taken over everything else. How about one a month? :-)

Future participation
Yes, for sure - but see above comment!

Short description of my learning experience with the 23 things
Hooray for me, I did it! - because it was such a huge personal challenge!


I liked Meredith Farkas' ideas on her post "If I had just 15 minutes a day " to keep up...
Fifteen minutes seems doable. I can visit one of the blogs mentioned in her post.
http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2007/04/26/if-i-just-had-15-minutes-each-day/

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Stick 22: What did I learn today?

Keeping Up
I have learned many new things. They have been challenging and exciting. There have been many trials and tribulations as I have tried to learn theses new tools. I have struggled a lot – to the point of wanting to scream or cry or just give up. But so many times I just persisted and what do you know – I figured it out. Miraculously. I think I do have more confidence with new technologies and less fear, but it has come with a cost - a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

I do admit I can see educational uses for many of these tools. Yes, Web 2.0 is not a static environment. I am glad for the initial exposure to many of these tools and I hope I will use and enjoy these tools as they are continually changed and enhanced. I know I need to stay informed about what people, kids specifically, are using, talking about and asking for help with. I feel a strong desire to be a guide in their lives when it comes to using these new tools.

I RESOLVE TO KEEP ON LEARNING. I RESOLVE TO GIVE EACH NEW TOOL A CHANCE – TO SPEND THE TIME TO LEARN IT AND APPLY IT. I RESOLVE TO BE A LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST WHO IS WILLING TO TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW AND SHARE WHAT I HAVE LEARNED.

My blog will be a good place to keep “journal entries” for whatever new tool I am investigating and sharing. I definitely have the blogging part down!

Practical Ways of Keeping Up
I already had Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog in my aggregator. I have streamed several College of DuPage teleconferences on library trends. I am signed up for a Minitex webinar in May to continue learning more about Web 2.0 tools. I read School Library Journal cover to cover each month. I will keep my eyes and ears open for new opportunities to keep up…

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Thing 21: Other Social Networks

I spent some time on Gather and read each feature as the yellow tab moved across the top of the home page from one “Gather Essential” to another (i.e.. food, health, politics). I found a great lamb recipe and printed it! There is a lot going on here!

Minnesota Reader is a “groupspace” where you can “chat about what you are reading” or join the Midmorning Book Club. Maybe this summer…
I looked at some of the nature images on Minnesota Life. Nice “groupspace” to share all things Minnesota. There were a lot of members (139) in the “Back to the Basics” group – those who want to get back to the basics in everyday life. I should join to find out what that really means??

I have wondered what WebJunction is. Now I know – it’s a national online community for library staff for resources and courses. I thought it was just a Minnesota thing! I went to the Minnesota partner page and looked up the difference between Metronet and Minitex.
Metronet – “Metronet serves all types of libraries in the 7-county Twin Cities metro area. As a multitype library system Metronet does more than facilitate discussion around news and events—they actively engage librarians by advancing professional issues, highlighting best practices, and advocating for libraries.”
Minitex – “The MINITEX Library Information Network (MINITEX) is a publicly supported network of academic, public, state government, and special libraries working cooperatively to improve library service for their users. The MINITEX program is funded by the Minnesota Legislature."


Ning is an online service where you can create, customize, and share your own social network.

I joined the "23 things on a stick" group on Ning. I finally figured out how to get my avatar from Yahoo! to my picture setting in the "23 things" group. That was quite an accomplishment!
I left a comment on Randi Madisen's wall.

I visited the other social networking sites: yelp.com, linkedin.com, mashable.com, dogster.com (and catster.com!), grouprecipes.com and the 50plus digital.com site. Take your pick!

I tried to use the EBSCO Researcher Database to find the article, “Myspace for book,” in “Publisher’s Weekly.” I couldn’t find it - I am embarrassed to say. I tried many different ways of searching for it??
I read “Building a Social Networking Environment at the Library,” by Steve Campion at the WebJunction website.
http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=17981
I like his reminder that “the social web is much richer than MySpace alone… it represents a cultural shift towards expression, collaboration, and interaction. Internet users are not satisfied with simply reading web pages. They are beginning to expect the opportunity to interact online with their bank, retailer, and (why not?) their library.”

I am impressed with the potential to involve the people in and even outside one’s library community in so many activities initiating from the library. There is time involved in the set up and the maintaining of these online forums of communication but it is becoming more and more where people “live.” Like Campion said, “The library is already a community space. Let's make the social web a new meeting room…”

The “43 Things” network looks like a good place for people to get encouragement to get going on things they keep putting off.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Thing 20: Social Networking and Libraries

I looked at both MySpace and Facebook to see how they compared. Facebook was a more simple interface with no advertising! MySpace had several flashy, colorful ads going on - just a busier interface than FaceBook. The initial interface of Facebook was a more "get down to business" and start networking page.

I joined Facebook with a short profile. I also made a library fan club for my library – “CCS Library Fan Club.” I will think about how I might be able to use that in the future. I made this “club” under the group app but now I see I could have done it under “places.” The trouble is I cannot find the “places” app??

I looked at several FaceBook applications, Books iRead and the MN Twins Fan Clubs – but did not join any at this time. I think joining up with Scrabulous players sounds fun. It is cool to see people designing their own apps.

Believe it or not, I set up my whole Facebook account and profile before I watched the "How to use Facebook" video series. Dumb. Now I know what the wall is. It's where people post notes and messages to each other - you can write on each other's wall. Like unwanted grafitti it's a good thing there is a delete button handy at the wall.

I really liked the Denver Public Library Teens profile. It was a really fun place to visit with lots of great things to join and play with. The YouTube video for last summer’s reading promotion was super cute and well done. I think I will play it for my students right before summer vacation!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Thing 19: Podcasts

I have listened to all the MEMO podcasts out of St. Cloud University. They have been a bit poor in audio quality but I have managed to understand and get something out of each one.

I listened to part of the Minnesota Public Radio podcast called “Musicheads” from April 1 ’08. They were reviewing a band called “The Kills” which I would also agreed with one of the podcast panelist was pretty poor….

Podcast Directories
I had a hard time using the Podcast.com directory. I couldn’t get the “Family” folder to open. Finally I clicked in the right place somehow and I got to choose a PetDoctor podcast. I chose one on cat care and listened for awhile. There were several minutes of commercials which was annoying.

Podcastalley.com had no directory so I didn’t stay.

When I used Yahoo Podcasts I typed in “kids and pets” and it took me to a YouTube video??

I found the Education Podcast Network easy to use. I wanted to share a podcast with my students at school this week. I found a great one at the faithcomesbyhearing.com website. I listened to Episode 140 of the Kidz Audio Bible on “Jesus enters Jerusalem.” It was fantastic!

I want to try to do a podcast with my students next week!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Thing 18: YouTube

YouTube definition: Internet video-sharing which enables a two minute clip to be viewed millions of times. YouTube is a free service that hosts videos posted by users.

I watched the three videos recommended from the list of YouTube “Award Winners from 2007.” I commented on “A vision of students” video a coupe of “things” ago.

I read Christopher Conway’s article, “YouTube and the Cultural Studies Classroom,” which was about the value video clips can serve in the educational setting (his being the university).

I certainly can see a place for using YouTube video clips in the classroom to bring in “video realia” to accompany the students’ textbooks.

I wish I could have accessed the “Seven things you should know about YouTube.” I just couldn’t get the list no matter what I clicked on!

The MakeUseOf.com website is huge with its lists, recommendation and tips. I liked the documentaries recommendations and the support that gives to using YouTube in the classroom, too.

It is cool how the public libraries are using YouTube to get people in the door and promote themselves!

Thing 17: ELM Productivity Tools

I have used and taught ELM to my students since the year it came out (1999 or 2000?). I just taught it to my 2nd-5th graders about a month ago – modeling a pretend search in a curricular area where they were currently studying (i.e. 5th grade, Civil War – battles).

Gale/InfoTrac
I managed to set an RSS feed to my Google Reader from the Student Edition of InfoTrac on the topic of “youth smoking.” I tried several times to get the Minitex instructional video to play but it just wouldn’t load.

I like the multimedia aspect of the ELM databases. I usually show my students an example of some multimedia on the topic at hand, such as a video or sound byte – many of which I found in Kids InfoBits.

EBSCO
I created a webpage using the “Page composer” tool and utilities. I finally learned I had to click on the “Preview” button to see what the page looked like. Pretty slick – but someone please tell me when I would use such a page??

Proquest Newsstand
O.K. I just went to Proquest and found 3 articles on “social networking” in the Washington Post in 2007 and emailed them to myself. It is interesting that Proquest is creating an html file (a web page) to be emailed.

BY THE WAY, THIS “STICK” IS HARD WORK!!

NetLibrary (eBooks)
“NetLibrary provides access to your library’s eContent collection. eContent is the digital version of books, journals, and database content. You can access your library’s eContent 24 hours a days, seven days a week.”
From the homepage of NewLibrary website, http://www.netlibrary.com.

I created an account in NetLibrary.

I did the search on the book, 101 ways to promote your web site, and used the utility to find out about branding and made a few notes for later reference. This is a very rich site for ebook information! I had never used it before.

BY THE WAY, NONE OF THE MINITEX VIDEOS LOADED!! I learned this stuff all by myself!

ELM – "Authentic, valid information at your fingertips!"

Thing 16: Student Web 2.0 Tools

I discovered the Research Project Calculator last year. I played around with it some then- created a pretend project for myself and had emails sent to remind me of due dates. I do not teach big independent research units in my K-5 program but I did inform our middle school staff and principal about it with access information. It is a wonderful tool!

So much to think about - so much to learn!

I watched the YouTube video, “A Vision of K-12 Students Today,” and I was impressed with how fast the old ways are going out and the new ways are taking over. Kids today truly are digital learners – their teachers can’t forget that and need to do their best to keep up.

The YouTube video, “(Re)Visions of Students Today” was unsettling. Kids are being educated under very different conditions today than just 5 years ago! The pace of change is so fast – the diversity in the changes is so great – and so many young people are being left behind. The comment, “I’m one of the lucky ones,” really got me. I want all kids to be the “lucky ones.”

I read the article written by Josh Catone, “The Web 2.0 Backpack.” He agrees with me that face to face learning is best, but the host of web apps available to students today can really facilitate their learning. Web apps that sub for Microsoft Office, web apps that help for note-taking, charting, researching, bookmarking and collaboration are all at students’ fingertips and are constantly “evolving in amazing ways.”

Using wikis as a study tool or note-taking tool is a fascinating concept.

I typed in a question on Yahoo! Answers, “How much Vitamin A is dangerous?” and was sent out to several good websites to find the answer. That was cool how it worked.


Comments

This “23 things on a stick” tutorial has really been a challenge for me, but have been really glad for it. I hate to say it, but I think we need one of these every year – for at least the rest of our professional lives.

I do want to help and encourage my students living in the Web 2.0 world. Something I have wanted for many years is a web-based library automation system with a homepage interface where I could post links to their school curricular needs – a “one-stop shop” page that would have many of the tools/links they would find handy for their school work.

I like the idea of encouraging the use of their friend – the library media teacher.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Thing 15: Online Games

What is Second Life (SL)?
SL is a 3-D multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) gaining popularity among educators. It is becoming a venue for online learning, collaborating, and networking.

I did not load Second Life at this time, but I did...
read Doug Johnson’s article called, “The One-Afternoon SecondLife Tour” at Education World.com and visited ISTE’s SL website but I did not join in.

What is Puzzle Pirates?
Puzzle Pirates is another massively multi-player online roleplaying game. Gamers create and customize their own pirate, collect booty and join player-run crews. In this social online world players engage in commanding fleets of warships, swordfights and card games, among endless other activities. Puzzle games are launched during these activities that can result in victories and the accruing of great fortunes to the gamer and his/her fellow pirates.

I did not create a pirate...but I did spend a lot of time navigating around the puzzlepirate.com website.

My comments on MUVE gaming
Games used to be where you sat down after dinner for a few hours and played something - with or against important people in your life. You finished the game and got up and did something else.

These new virtual games don’t end. They are played with strangers - not face to face, the old way - but with a SCREEN inbetween. They build and build on themselves into infinity and addiction, in many cases.

To what avail? for all the wasted hours and wasted creativity? Who is REALLY benefitting? I feel society is losing.

What is the Wii?
I like the Wii - it gathers people together in the same room.

The Wii is a social gaming experience using a remote and nunchuk and gaming console to play. According to the Nintendo ad, “You just don’t play Wii, you experience it.”

I went to the Official Wii Website and watched 3 videos.
One with friends enjoying wii scuba diving, one with two girls who sang and danced to boogie, and one with a couple playing Super Mario Galaxy.

Fun. I want to play!