mediabreath

Thing 23

2008-04-09T18:22:00.001-07:00

What a great experience!
I would recommend Skype and Survey tools like SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang for 23 things part II. Fabulous tools overall even if I was familiar with many, I still learned a ton and would not have explored without the nudge.

I can't wait to share more with my staff. I want to create a 23 things for our building over the summer.

Thanks x23!

Thing 22

2008-04-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Blog about how you plan to keep up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools.

I saved the messages so I can review and pass them along to others. Sharing them with my co-workers will force me to be knowledgeable about them. The best "thing" about the things is that they are all FREE and helpful. What a great thing during tight budgets!
I'm also motivated by guilt so I'll keep the 23 things postcard on my desk to remind me to stay current.

Recommend a way to keep up that you have found useful.

Attending professional organizational conferences
Asking the kids. I've learned great things from kids as young as 4 years old and a 76 year old kid/technowizard.

First thank (THANK YOU!) and then ask CMLE and the other multi-types to do this again!!!!!!!!

Thing 21

2008-04-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

Are you a member of any online communities?

MySpace and have checked out FaceBook

Are any of these social networks appealing to you?

TeacherLibrary Ning--discussion on "Do you let students eat in the media center" food for thought (self groaning here!)

What did you find that was interesting and that you might use later?

TeacherLibrary Ning--I'll keep checking it out until I feel that I could make a real contribution.

Adding pictures and video to 23thingsonastickning was the slickest interface I have even encountered! WOWOWOWOWOW

Thing 20

2008-04-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

How are libraries using MySpace?

Book reviews, Branch events, author links--what a great idea. Meg Cabot--I did not picture here looking like that!

Did you find anything on a library's MySpace page that would be useful for your library?

Book reviews, Author pages

If you created your own MySpace page, how do you plan to use it?

We've got it blocked here. Many students have pages and one started a page for their club. I could see that as being a great way for busy students to meet. I would start small and maybe search out students for a book club. It would be an easy was to connect without having another meeting. We've had a lot of inappropriate use and legal issues with postings students make so it would be great to show how MySpace could be used in a positive light.

Thing 19

2008-04-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

1. Which podcast(s) did you listen to?
College of St. Scholastica Advanced Physiology with Dr. C. My PT husband has been reliving the Anat Phys days with his fav lecturer, Dr. C. by listening to all the podcasts. He would take the tests again if they were available. This guy is great and paints a great picture. His lecture on fat is inspiring--I'm fidgeting while I type to burn more calories. We've even downloaded his lectures on cd and listened on long trips with our kids.
2. Which of the directories did you find easiest to use?
I'd have to give podcast.com the thumbs up.
3. Has this Thing inspired you to do any podcasting yourself or to subscribe to a podcast to listen to it regularly?
I was inspired to download a under the covers podcast to enjoy later.

Thing 18

2008-04-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

* What did you like or dislike about the sites you explored?
Not the easiest search tools. Need a media person to tidy it up--tags, etc. would be great. Loved the March of the Librarians. My whole family gathered around. Wish there was a filter that would keep out the steamy side so we could have it unblocked at school. At to Remember the Milk list--spend rest of life screening YouTube. Make YouTube of my life screening YouTube.
* Why did you choose the video that you did?
Well, it was from my class and I wanted to see if it was still there.
* Can you see any ways to use video--YouTube or other sites--on your library Web site?
YouTube is great for humor. Could do a mini tour of the media center or reference web site to trick the students into learning HAAHHHA HAHHH I will do the domino books next time I'm getting a reference lecture ready.

Video from my class.

Thing 17

2008-04-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

How can these tools be applied to your everyday work?

The tools are part of my media center home page. I write long thank yous and testimony of how important they are to our media center. We rely heavily on the ELM access--
from over 70 magazine subscriptions to 10
A social studies teacher who had 5 subscriptions each to Time, US News & World Report and Newsweek now uses the online version. Wow have we saved a lot of trees and money. And the student access is sublime.

How can these tools facilitate collaboration with your colleagues?

NetLibrary has just started to get utilized. We have a few people dabbling with audiobooks

How can these tools benefit your patrons/students

All of our research projects use these. I see students use the tools without being "assigned" to use them. I'm very proud of how we utilize this system.

Thing 16

2008-04-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

How might the RPC and the Teacher Guide help you help students plan and manage research projects?

I will share this with our special education teachers who have started to work with students on using email for school as a tool to back up and transport. Now an added email reminder...couldn't hurt!

Can you think of any uses for library projects—could you use it to help manage a timeline for a project of your own?

I closely examined the materials in the video section since that is the class I teach. I found a script sheet that I like better than what I am using. I was well aware of the project, but hadn't looked at it from the teacher perspective yet only as media specialist. Another item for the remember the milk online list--next English department meeting--RPC. Especially the college level classes...

Thing 15

2008-04-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

If you chose Second Life, write a blog post about your findings and thoughts on Second Life. Is there a role for Second Life in libraries?

Well I created a great name and avatar that unfortunately attracted some sketchy boy avatars. EEEEWWWW. I did enjoy flying and I thought the Info Island had some great ideas. I'm usually on the defense when it comes to most sites but I'd struggle to find enough value in this for use in our media center. I can see how the money side would be very entertaining and also the appeal of the site overall, but am struggling to make a school connection.

Thing 14

2008-04-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

How can you use LibraryThing for your library?

Great for creating collections within a collection. My reading teacher would love a high interest low reading level collection. Add thing 14 LibraryThing as thing to do. Wait add Thing 14 to Thing 13's remember the milk online to do list!

How else do you share booklists, etc. with library patrons? Would LibraryThing offer an alternative?

This is a needs improvement area for me. Yikes!
I'd also like to see my bookclub do this with book reviews so we could preview and then have lots of input when we decided which books to read.

Thing 13

2008-04-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page?

Yahoo. I've had a page there for awhile but neglected it. I designed our school webpage so it seems like its personalized for me already.
iGoogle is also great. I think these sites are wonderful for both novice users--I've helped some family members setup Yahoo pages and they would be lost without it.

Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the library or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?

I love having mapquest right there. My father does not believe in mapquest since it has my brother's house listed on the wrong side of a major freeway so I'd have to recommend a news wire to him instead.

How can the online calendars be useful to you?

I'm spoiled by a great calendar in my email but I think it could be great for my son who likes to plan out everything.

What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…?

I have so many lists that this may be helpful to have them consolidated but I'm still think the paper version is perhaps easier and so satisfying to cross off. Gosh

Did you try out Backpack? What did you think?

This is cooool. This would be a great option for a classroom for papers, calendars, etc. Or a group like scouts or youth group. Cool

Did you try any of the other tools in the list? Any good ones we should all try?

Zamzar was cool. We've use PDF converter and it is a great way to share documents

Thing 12

2008-04-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

How do you think you can use these tools in your library or at home?

They are all blocked by our filtering system. We do leave a few other news forums open like SCtimes, so we need to evaluate these sites for our K-12 sitch.

Do these tools seem to be a productivity enhancer or a productivity detractor?

I think it would depend upon your frame of reference. Saturday AM in jammies I'd likely be detracted and Monday AM I'd be productive. I'd guess students would be more likely to pull off onto the stranger stories (imho) and "hey look at this" than delve into a heavy world news story

Have you ever read a story/item as a result of seeing it on one of these sites?

Yes. I check the ratings just to see what's being read and like a lemming often check out the more popular. Weird that those things would matter!

Thing 11

2008-04-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

Great option for a teacher to setup a quick list of websites. I feel so bad when students and their teachers are struggling to type in a loooonnnnnggggg address. This would not require as much work for the teacher as making updates to a webpage so I think I know right where to start.
Being able to access bookmarks anywhere also gives us a backup since when a computer craps out we can easily re-establish network services and email but the bookmarks are usually stored locally and can be lost.
I like both options!

How can your library or media center take advantage of tagging and del.icio.us?

We could add links to established lists and also educate students on using them as well. For a large research project, del.icio.us and tagging could be the notecards media savvy students use instead of the paper 3X5....now to get the teachers to agree!

I think it is interesting to see how often an item has been saved. The libraries' use is very impressive. Dewey would be so proud! I've often commented that the Internet needs a good librarian and del.i.cious used this way is a great start!

Thing 10

2008-04-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

What did you find interesting about the wiki concept?

The number of experts that freely share their knowledge. Tres cool.

What types of applications within libraries and schools might work well with a wiki?

Classroom discussions perhaps in a classroom. In the library it would be exciting to have a wiki on book recommendations where students would be able to post their recommendations for others.

Many teachers/faculty "ban" Wikipedia as a source for student research. What do you think of the practice of limiting information by format?

I recommend prudence. I suggest that Wikipedia is a great starting point for background knowledge and to use the sources listed and check them out for further research. I also recommend Wikipedia for ready -reference answers to questions like "how many stomachs does a cow have" but caution caution caution that post-secondary schools will NOT accept wikipedia. I have students look at our schools entry and they all agree that some guy named Tom in Utah should not be the foremost authority on our school and focus only on one terrible event. We also had a very respected history teacher who used Wikipedia until he found a citation on Civil Rights that was peppered with racial slurs. Most students agree after my spiel!

Which wiki did you edit?

CMLE's 23 things on a stick. Many cool entries. I also have a wikispace for a TIES presentation

Thing 9

2008-04-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

Which of these tools is easier for you to use?

Google docs is very user-friendly.

How do the features of each compare? Does one have features that would make you choose it over the other?

For working with others I would say Zoho just with the easy invite option. Otherwise they are both quite simple.

What would the Founding Fathers think?

I think they would first scratch under their wigs and then they'd put down their quills and help us revise.

Thing 8

2008-03-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

Slideshow using Thumbstacks.com
http://www.thumbstacks.com/p/mediabreath/thumbody+slideshow

Photos with Picture Trail

eFolio Boy do I need to update the CV.
http://lindaliebl.efoliomn2.com/index.asp

What uses do these tools have for library or personal use?

Thumbstacks for students who don't have MS Office powerpoint. We do use Open Office too. It does seem quite limited, but does have the built in web account option.

Was the tool you used easy to navigate and understand?

Yepperdo

Would you recommend it to others?

I'd recommend PictureTrail for sprucing up webpages and for perhaps for elementary photo projects.
eFolio. Perhaps Career Countdown or our Technical Writing Class should explore this option. I especially think we could make use of the 10MB of storage.
I've been remiss with this!

Do you use other sharing tools for photos, documents, or other creations that you would recommend?

Andrea Mosiac is very cool http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/

Thing 7 Communication

2008-03-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

Describe how your library uses email. Has it improved productivity?

Yes to answer questions and disseminate info to groups of people...assuming they use it! Scheduling our computer labs and projectors this way is so much more productive than the paper version.

Share your thoughts on online reference using some of the other Web 2.0 communication tools.

We had a student in a medical facility that we connected with for one class every day using Skype. We had started with Yahoo but had more success with Skype. Not much of our course work lent itself well to this situation, but it was a great morale boost for the student who is happily back in our school today!

Are you an active user of text messaging, IM, or other communication tools

I text rarely, preferrring to talk to the other person, but as my children grow up I expect I'll become more adept.

Which OPAL or MINITEX Web conference (Webinar) did you attend? How was it? What do you think o this communication tool?

NetLibrary. I've used a few audiobooks but have been limited by the I-pods. Maybe we'll have to purchase a cheapo mp3 player and download for some of our students receiving special services. Sheesh we are still in the cassette tape era in most cases, just do to having our books on tape and not being able to buy the cd version. This may be a great investment.

Thing 6 Trading Cards Image

2008-03-25T16:37:00.001-07:00

Wow--I want to use this for our faculty web pages or student all stars. Perfect timing. I'll make a few mock-ups of my co-workers (ha had mistyped cow-orkers--must have the barn theme on the mind)

Second Try--zen ish at least for me. Odd limited choices for the symbols.

The license maker is cool tool too. And so much cheaper than the real ones!

Thing 5 More Flikr

2008-03-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ok. This will grace my website so please don't tell anyone else since it will seem like it took so much longer than it did. Wow. I have used a program called Andrea Mosaic that seems to be flikr-ish but uses your own photos. so very cool

Thing 4 Flikr

2008-03-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

I've viewed others' Flikr so it was a good experience to create my own, albeit lame, set. I will add more. I especially liked the multiple pictures of the same shot. I'm doing that as soon as I get home. I also want to do a daily time lapse of snow melting.
The Flikr interface is very user friendly. I really enjoyed the tags and comments included, but less is more--definitely can see that posting every shot and not taking time to weed out and label is techno-clutter.

Thing 3

2008-03-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

RSS
We have a gentlemen in our community that has really enhanced the community web presence with his blog. My English class has posted several movies to his RSS feed and had some responses to their work from around the world and that's really a neat experience. We've had students post to YouTube but the local feed gets more feedback. We added bandwidth this year so we're finally able to view our own work!

I adore the ability to manage the subscriptions. Oh how I wish it was that easier to get dropped from other mass mailings.

I need to get more staff members involved. I have helped a science teacher connect with a feed, but there is so much out there we are missing and since it's so easy to manage the subscriptions....I need to get others on RSS ASAP!

Thing 2: Lots of EEEEE's

2008-03-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Experience. The best way for me to learn is to do it myself, make oodles of mistakes and then be available to help others.
Engagement. I'm very energetic and enjoy the hectic pace of my job. Learning something new is so exciting when I can see its value in terms of helping someone else with the new tool. After I come back from a technology conference, I spend several days connecting teachers to great new things I've found.
Empowerment. Knowledge is power. If you don't know, say it and then try to do something about it or make great friends with those who know!

Thing 1

2008-01-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

I've always like Dr. Seuss'sThing 1 more than Thing 2 so I hope I'm not disappointed with our next venture!