Monday, July 28, 2008

Thing 5 - mash-ups

The resources listed for this activity were very cool - such an easy way to add customized art to an item. I can see using these tools for communication pieces. I think it is so important to have a mix of pictures and text in order to make something inviting to read. As I mentioned in my first post, I would like to create a school media web page. I would definitely like to use some of these tools to add some interest.

As for students, I can also see sharing some of these resources with them. Of course, I always emphasize content first. This will be even more challenging with these fun and interesting tools.

Once again, going through the activities for 23 Things has been so helpful in getting me more up-to-date on these many new resources.

Thing 4 - flickr

I had previously sent information about flickr to my school's staff and found that some of them started using it for personal photos, which was great to see. Using this this tool in school is a bit trickier since permission is needed from students and the fact that some of our students just do not like their photos posted.

For me personally, I have not yet ventured into the world of putting my photos on the web. However, the Common Craft video was inspiring - love them! I always thought that if I started using one of these sites that I would mark my photos private for safety purposes. But the Common Craft video made me think twice about making some content public and "feeling the love". It would be interesting to see what comments a photo might generate.

Anyway, this activity was good in that it has helped me to take the time to actually use this site. Not to mention the fact that I have been trying to figure out how to go forward with managing photos - yes, I still have photo albums... I have a feeling that I will be changing my ways on this one.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Thing 3 - love it!!!

I have to admit that I have not been good about reading through all the many resources available to librarians... because there are so many! When I do sit down to do research, I find all these great sites, try to write them down, mark them as favorites (I know, I should be using Del.icio.us), etc. But the results are unorganized - eek! I can't believe I just admitted that as a librarian. Anyway, RSS is an amazing way to keep track of all the good resources I find AND helps to keep me up to date.

As soon as I read Thing 3, I started to think about how I can bring this to the classroom. A few ideas I had were to use this concept periodically during our silent sustained reading time. I can work with students and have them set up their own reader. Then they then can use the computers to access their selections. This technology gives students something to work on if they are finished with a computer assignment as well. I can also see collaborating with classroom teachers in order to use readers as the basis for writing assignments (writing about content they have chosen), current events, etc.

These are just a few quick ideas. I better go check my Blogline account for more!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Thing 2 - Library 2.0

Well, better late than never... Apparently I needed to look at the blog prompts and consider time right away.


I definitely see the shift - 1.0 to 2.0 if you will. When I first started accessing the web, I was amazed by how much information was out there. But I was only an onlooker reading all the information that others had created. I knew a few people that had developed their own websites, but they knew code and were very techie. I did not think of this information in terms of something that I would be able to contribute to. That was only for "other people" to do.


Now the concept of anyone being able to add to the web is common place. You are behind the times if you don't have a blog, video on YouTube, etc. I see the 2.0 concept as much more interactive and user friendly. The web is no longer "other people". It's "us".

I also agree with the ideas presented in the video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" in that we need to rethink copyright, authorship, identity, ethics and privacy. It seems that the content creators of today are less concerned with copyright - for example, there is so much available through open source that in days of old would have been only available to users at a very high cost. As a school librarian, I am also grappling with authorship. Now that it is so easy to create content on the web, the line between authority and opinion is grayed. In going through the material for Thing 2, I was able to read the contributions of many individuals in the information profession. I consider them "authorities" since they have experience in this area. But where is the line between authority and opinion when I no longer have the safety of going to known "credible sources" that are "peer reviewed". This is a definite shake up from Library 1.0.


Another concept that struck me as I was reading through the links for Thing 2 is that technology, including the web, has gotten much more "human" as one of the writers suggested. Users can now manage and create their own content. Technology is much more plug and play. In other words, it's much more interactive. Which means as librarians, we must recognize this shift and run with these developments. We need to consider and include our users in this interactive, dynamic and increasingly changing environment. As one contributor wrote, we must have a "living, breathing tech plan".

As I begin this journey of 23 things on a stick, I am hoping to gain additional knowledge and ideas of what is already out there as well as what is on the horizon. The students at my school tend to have computers, but they don't necessarily have Internet access. So I am also hoping to keep them up to date on the many 2.0 tools out there. The last two years I have focused on technology, so we have done projects with videos, blogging, video conferencing, etc. But there is so much more. The 23 things experience will be a great way for me to take the time to learn more of these new skills so that I can share them with our staff and students.


Oh, and the time issue, it has been solved by summer vacation!

:)