Week #9 Thing #23 August 10, 2009

So I just finished watching the video on copyright and fair use. Very cute but I found it rather annoying after the first 5 minutes. However, it was succinct and explained the concepts of fair use and copyright in a very easy way.

I then checked out Creative Commons. I’m understanding it’s existence but I’m still trying to figure out how I can stress the point, or incorporate this with classroom teachers. Obviously, it’s best taught in conjunction with plagirism. Just a side note, my husband takes photographs for the California Academy of Sciences and he has seen his photos on other peoples websites without his permission! Yikes! Anyway, now that I’m familiar with Creative Commons, I see it quite often now. It’s even on this blog hosting site, WordPress.

SUMMARY OF MY THOUGHTS ON THIS TUTORIAL: I must say that I had a blast! I really, really enjoyed doing this and I’m so thankful for another teacher librarian in my district for encouraging me to to move forward with it. It has inspired me in so many ways! In fact, I’ve already done the following as a result of taking this tutorial:

1. updated and improved my library website  http://shshuskies.wordpress.com

2. made a blog especially for teachers at my school http://sheldonteachers.wordpress.com

3. designed a professional development class incorporating blogs and wikis and how they can be used in the classroom.

4. rethought and redesigned the way I use pathfinders for my classes.

I think my favorite parts of the tutorial were social bookmarking, Library Thing, and wikis. I have continued to use all three of these web 2.0 tools on a daily basis. I also really liked looking at the web 2.0 website winners. I continue to play around with everything I found on that website. I do hope that this kind of tutorial is continuously offered as the web is constantly changing. I would most definitely do it again. Not to say it was easy! But it was well worth the time and effort I put into it this summer.

Week #9 Thing #22 August 5, 2009

OK, so the World eBook Fair website is AWESOME! I couldn’t believe how many books they have for free to download. It was quicker to download Dracula than it would have been on my Kindle. And, better yet, it’s free! I did have trouble listening to some of the books, in particular Walt Whitman’s and Shakespeare’s poetry, because my Mac doesn’t have the required software to listen to them.

I was intrigued by the ebooks that are sent directly to your cell phone. Apparently, though, these do cost money.

I got a kick out of Librivox. What a cool website! I listened to parts of Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and was quite impressed. I then searched for our English department’s core novels and to my disappointment, none of them are in this website! That’s too bad since audiobooks for many classics are hard to come by and our Special Ed department could really benefit from this.

And you were right– authors of School Library Learning, the British Library Online Gallery is amazing! I just got finished listening to some early works of Jane Austen while seeing the words in her own hand. How cool is that?! Then I browsed around Leonardo’s Notebook while a narrator told me what I was looking at. Then I jumped over to Mozart’s Musical Diary and not only read about his work, seen it in his own hand, but was able to listen to it as well. This website is a gem! It did take a few tries to get my cursor to hold the pages down long enough so I could turn the pages, though. Well worth the effort!

Week #9 Thing #21 August 4, 2009

My husband is a devoted follower of many podcasts but I have not caught onto the craze of them quite yet. I have listened to a few from NPR that have been interesting. But other than that, I haven’t explored them in any detail. Until now, that is! So I went to the NPR site and browsed around their available podcasts. I decided to subscribe (sent to my Bloglines account) to All Songs Considered and to Culturtopia. Both seem very interesting! It is very easy to subscribe to RSS fees and/ or podcasts from NPR’s site. They make it very easy to navigate.

I then went to Podcast Alley and found tons of podcasts on book reviews. I was a bit overwhelmed actually. Click here to see the plethora of reviews available. Listening to some of them, I quickly found out that some are better than others!

I found some huge potential with podcasts. First of all, what a great way for students to review books they have read for SSR. It would make a great accountability tool for the teacher as part of their SSR program. But I also see it as a great learning experience for just about any research project. It would be another way to present information rather than or in conjunction with the traditional essay.

On a personal note, who needs TV anymore with all of these podcasts to listen to and all the videos to watch on YouTube?! Aside from watching Giants baseball, that is:)

Week #9 Thing #20 August 4, 2009

I love YouTube! It’s funny, though, that I often forget about it as a source of information and for entertainment.

I wanted to check out Conan the Librarian because the name intrigued me but it has been removed from YouTube due to “terms of use violoation”. Bummer. It sounded funny. March of the Librarians was a cute clip made to resemble a documentary. Complete with the somewhat monotone voice, the clip showcases the ALA convention in Seattle last year. Introducing the  Book was hilarious!! I was cracking up! I can’t wait to share this one on my Facebook page.

I started exploring on my own and specifically wanted to find tutorials for teachers about doing different features on Google. I wanted to find videos that regular teachers have created so that I could see a first hand account of how some of Google’s amazing features are directly used in the classroom. I found this one (click here) about Google Docs for the classroom teacher. Pretty cool!

Then I wanted to look at some videos about teaching information literary specifically for evaluating websites. Most of what I found were merely voice overs on a powerpoint like this one here. But I still found them interesting because of the method of delivering the information– via YouTube, which all teachers and students are familiar with.

Here’s a cool Google Tips and Tricks video that students could use:

Week #8 Thing #19 July 31, 2009

So Library Thing is fantastic! I’m loving it! I sat here at 10:56 pm and was able to add 36 books that I remembered off the top of my head. I’ve been keeping track of all the books I read since the summer of 2000. So I’m very excited to add more books to this very soon. I haven’t started writing reviews for any of my books yet, but that is my next step. It’s also fun to read what others think about my books.

The whole concept of TAGS is interesting. I haven’t added tags yet, but again, that’s my next step. It’s interesting because it’s in a way, dare I say, stepping in our cataloging shoes. Out of all the online tools I’ve been learning so far during this tutorial, the whole tagging concept has pleased and baffled me all at the same time.

Week #8 Thing #18 July 31, 2009

This week’s lesson will focus on online productivity specifically using Zoho Writer. My first hurdle was finding out that Zoho does not support Safari as a web browser. I’m so faithful to Safari on my Mac at home that it feels out of the ordinary to switch over to Firefox for this activity. But, that’s OK. It’s good to get out of my comfort zone once in a while.

Anyway, I browsed around and thought I’d play with the presentation tool first. This is Zoho’s version of power point. I loved the new layouts and designs of this tool. I especially loved the fact that you can easily save your presentation if different formats like pdf. However, I found it a bit more difficult to navigate probaby because I’m trying to use it like powerpoint forgetting that it isn’t powerpoint!

Click here to view the presentation I created on Zoho Writer. I quickly created a presentation providing summaries of some of the books I’ve read this summer. I got myself more caught up in the books than I did with learning about Zoho!

I was also impressed with the amount of online tools that Zoho offers. I’m very intrigued by the program that lets a user create multiple choice tests. I also liked the organizational features including the one for keeping track of petty cash– that might be better than my yellow notepad!

Week #7 Thing #17 July 27, 2009

For this activity, I went to the “sandbox” and read much of what came up. It seems the most common frustration with wikis is the ability for anyone to edit someone else’s content. But isn’t it true that we can see the original comment, too? I need to play around with that a bit more on our district library wiki. I didn’t leave any comments in the “sandbox” but I did enjoy reading others thoughts. There were additional comments about Rollyo and it seems that others had the same frustrations as I did with it. I’m glad about that, actually!

I then went on to the California Connections wiki and really enjoyed reading what people have added. I especially like the Blogging and Avatars section. It got me thinking about the teachers I could work with that would really commit to incorporating blogs in their curriculum. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking how cool it would be to bring a class into the library, maybe as part of their library orientation, and have them all create their own blog where they could “track” their learning, so to speak. It could be used for all kinds of reasons. But I do like the idea of students having their own blog right away. It creates a new kind of ownership in their education.

Next I looked under the Photos portion and came across a comment that talked about a very cool website that allows the user to incorporate voice overs on photos. I took a look at it and it seems awesome! Click here to see the website.

Week #7 Thing #16 July 27, 2009

The first wiki I looked at was the Book Lover’s wiki put out by Princeton Public Library. I found myself quite intrigued by the book reviews wiki users submitted. I also noticed that the wiki hasn’t be used for 2 years. Then I browsed around the Library Success Best Practices Wiki. This was great fun to look at especially since it encompasses best practices from all over the nation. I also like the “wikipedia” like format. Apparently, you don’t have to be “approved” to start adding content. All you have to do is submit your email and you’re good to go. Next, I looked at a sample library wiki. Wow! How cool that would be to have a school wide wiki that all (or most) teachers could commit to using. The possibilities are endless on this concept. Then I jumped over to additional resources on wikis to look through and I really liked the definition and the uses of wikis put out by the Library Success Best Practices Wiki once again. It’s a very concise site that explains wikis very well.

Here’s a look at the wiki I created for the librarians in our district. I created it in the spring and not much has been added to it yet, but I think with renewed commitment at the beginning of the year, we will have an amazing wiki– a best practices wiki all our own!

I love the idea of wikis and I think that with the right teacher and the right technology support, they could be a wonderful collaborative tool in the classroom. I love the idea of class notes. The wiki would be perfect for this. I also think it would be a great tool for an AP class. But what I hesitate with wikis is that they are often started and then forgotten. And if you are at a school with slow internet access, wikis can become a source of frustration rather than the tool they are intended to be.

Week #6 Thing #15 July 26, 2009

First of all, while reading the assignment for this activity I was struck by the definition of Library 2.o not to mention the term, Library 2.o. The constantly changing technology is no excuse for libraries to be obsolete which is nicely stated by CSLAs statement: “and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (libraries.)” Libraries are partners and participants in technology– not merely observers.

The first reading I did was centered around defining the Librarian 2.0. Click here to read the article. The author states that embracing Library 2.0 builds a “transparent” library– one that can be accessed all the time in many different formats. I love this concept and believe it to be just as relevant to school libraries. I also love the idea that a library 2.o librarian does not use technology for the sake of coolness, but uses it based on the needs of the user with a commitment to staying up with the trends. One thing that is not mentioned in this particular article is the importance of critical thinking and critical reading. I think that in the age of web 2.0, these skills are more important than ever. And this is precisely what a teacher librarian should be addressing and teaching any web 2.o skills.

I also browsed around some of the suggested articles on Wikipedia’s entry on the Library 2.o and what I noticed immediately is that the articles are dated. All the references are dated from 2005 to 2007. Library 2.o information has surely changed since then!

Nevertheless, the concept of Library 2.o will be incorporated into my professional development classes this upcoming school year..

Week #6 Thing #14 July 26, 2009

Ok, so I just jumped into the blogosphere in a whole new way by allowing Technorati to claim this blog. We’ll see what happens with it! I also bookmarked Google’s blog as well as a few others. I actually got quite lost browsing around these blogs. There is just so much to read!

When I first browsed through technorati a few weeks ago I was overwhelmed and found it not very helpful. But now I definitely “get it” although there is still a lot going on on the technorati pages. I have also found that I definitely love reading blogs but I find them harder to weed through when I am looking for resources for students. However, blogging is so innate in our technological world that I think it is just as important and valuable to teach them how to read blogs critically.