Thing #23 - Still "Getting Started"

I'm not going to say "I'm done" because I know I still have a lot to figure out and I need to go back to redo several of my postings once I better understand what I was supposed to be doing. I started this process with "very limited" technological skills and I'm exiting it with "limited" technological skills. Many of the things were too hard for me to figure out on my own which led to high levels of frustration for me. Several of them required hours of exploration time that were not readily available to me when I'm also teaching full-time during the day. It would have been better if I had done this over the summer months when I would have had more time and been less stressed when attempting to comprehend technologies new to me. Here are my responses to the questions posed in Thing #23:

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Oddly enough, I think the things I had the most difficulty with are the ones I found most interesting and potentially useful. They include TeacherTube, Podcasts, Photo Stories and Image Generator. I am definately going to keep trying until I master them because I know they will add a lot to my effectiveness as a teacher/librarian.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I realize that I need to update my technology skills to remain competitive and relevant to students in this ever-changing world. Adding these 23 Things to my personal tool kit will make me more effective and efficient as a teacher and/or librarian.
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
This program contained so many new concepts that I had never even heard of before. I was very impressed by the high level of computer literacy of the majority of my classmates. Unfortunately, that only made me feel all the more ignorant and inadequate.
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think these 23 Things would make a great in-service training for all teachers if it could be spread out over an entire school year to allow more time to comprehend, practice and master/apply each thing before moving on to the next thing.
5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I think I need to retake this first one before I attempt any others. But once I master 23 Things, I'll definately be back for more!
6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
Challenging but necessary!

Thing #22 - Nings

Already I like the part where it says "by appealing to users who want to create networks around specific interests or have limited technical skills." The posts on Texas School Librarian Ning and the Ning for Teachers seemed quite trivial to me and did not appear worthwhile. The Ning for Teachers had a promising tab for posting lesson plan ideas, but when I searched for 2nd grade lessons, there was only one lesson idea that had any potential. The format of the Teacher Librarian Ning looked like it could be worthwhile. Looking in the Elementary School Librarians Group, it appeared librarians were raising challenging questions and asking for feedback/advice from other experienced librarians (i.e. flexible vs. fixed scheduling). As long as reasonable responses are given, this would be the Ning I'd join over the other two.

Thing #21 - Podcasts and Audio Books

Well,mark me down for another failure. I thought I had downloaded PhotoStory and I printed out the instructions for "Create your first photo story", but now I can't even find the "Photo Story 3 for Windows" file on my computer. Based on my review of the background information on Podcasts and Photo Story, and in reading other teachers' postings on the subject, I can see that students would love using this technology (if only their teacher can figure out how to do it first!). These applications allow for creativity in student work and they complement diverse audio and visual learning styles. I will figure this out once I find someone to coach me through it and then I will come back and update these last lousy postings.

Thing #20 - YouTube and TeacherTube

I give up! I have explored both YouTube and TeacherTube and found lots of educational and entertaining videos but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to download them to my blog. The instructions given are like greek to me - nothing I have tried works. All I can do is copy and paste their URL's below. I think I need a private tutor to walk me through the process step-by-step so I can see it and feel it in action. Are there any volunteers out there??

p.s. As it turns out, my post would not even accept the urls I had pasted here so I had to delete them just to post this - arghhh!!!

Thing #19 - Web 2.0 Awards

I had a lot of fun looking through the videos on DailyMotion. I found a really cute one called "King Kong Suede" that has miniature downtown scene made out of cardboard boxes and toy cars and "King Kong" is a black cat that is walking through the city knocking over buildings and being shot at by toy soldiers. I have been trying to figure out how to copy it over to my blog for over an hour, obviously without success. Below is the link to it. That's the best I can do at this point. This process in not intuitive to me and I have no teenagers living with me to walk me through it. There were many videos that could stimulate student learning and creativity if they were to create their own videos on curriculum-related subjects (not King Kong - that one was just amusing to me!).

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4pmvw_king-kong-suede_shortfilms

Thing #18 - Online Productivity Tools

After reading all about OpenOffice, I was very impressed and interested in trying it out. Unfortunately, after trying two times and tieing up my computer for hours on end, I still can't seem to get it to download properly. I'll try to find somebody who knows more about computers than I (i.e. anyone else on this planet)and keep trying. For the record, the features I found appealing include the fact that OpenOffice works off of both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac platforms, you can transfer existing files from Microsoft Office with little problem, it offers a total package of programs for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics and databases, and it's free, so our students can take it home and work on projects from their own computers without having to invest money for licensing fees. I still don't understand how OpenOffice can offer all this for free. If I were Microsoft, I'd be looking over my shoulder right now!

Thing # 17 - Wiki Sandbox

I posted my comment to the sandbox without any problem (maybe I'm finally getting the hang of all this!!). It was reassuring to read all the other comments that shared my feelings of being overwhelmed by so many new concepts. The PB Wiki Tours and Tips videos helped further clarifiy some wiki features for me. As I stated in my Post #16, I can see using wikis in my class, or as a librarian, to encourage an open sharing of ideas and information - whether it's with students or fellow teachers.

Thing #16 - Wikis

Wikis are a great way to collaborate on projects or share information with others, whether they are in the same classroom or across the country from you. I enjoyed working on the Habitat Wiki lesson that my group did for our first presentation. It showed the potential for helping even 2nd graders organize their research information and share ideas about a topic. I looked through several of the Wiki examples on Library2Play. I especially liked the Library Bloggers Wiki. It had some interesting models for using Blogging with learners (e.g. Book Talks, Professional Experts, Librarian's reflections, etc.). I can see how Wikis could be a useful tool for a librarian to communicate/interact with her users on upcoming events, interest surveys, book talks, etc. I'll definately try this one!

Thing #15 - Web 2.0, Library 2.0 & the Future of Libraries

I read through several of the perspectives listed and the one that resonated most with me was Dr. Wendy Schultz's article on "To a Temporary Place in Time". I was intrigued by her observations that the libraries of tomorrow need to become more like "mind gyms", "idea labs", and "knowlege spas" as opposed to the old model of collections of documents and books. I agree with her that this is the direction we need to be heading, but it will take time as there are still a lot of mindsets that need changing to make this happen. The biggest one for me is to get up to speed on all these new technologies that I'm just now being exposed to via these 23 things activity. As painful as it is for me to make room in my brain for all these new concepts, I understand that it is a necessity for the library and librarian of tomorrow to meet the needs of our future customers.

Thing #14 - Technorati

I did a search on School Library Learning 2.0 as instructed and it came back with
1,424 results - everything from library design to 100 ways to use your iPod to learn and study better. I don't know if I get this tool. At this point in my technological development, blogging does not hold a lot of interest for me, so using a tool to search blogs and read other people's thoughts does not appeal to me. Using tags would certainly help narrow down your searches and pinpoint an area of interest more precisely, but with 84 million blogs out there, I'm overwhelmed. Give me time and hopefully I will come around! I really need the summer break to be able to explore all these tools at my leisure when I don't have 20 deadlines weighing me down.

Thing #13 - Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us

I love the Common Craft show on "Social Bookmarking in Plain English". It really helped me understand the rationale for using a tool like Del.icio.us. It makes sense to put all your bookmarks in a univerally accessible place, regardless of what computer you're working on or your location. I know a lot of teachers who lost all their "favorites" when we got our new laptops. Del.icio.us' sharing feature could also make the identification/gathering of useful websites easier, although with the lack of standardization of tagging criteria, one person's apple is often another's orange! The hardest part of this exercise for me was getting the "Del.icio.us" and "Tag" buttons installed on my tool bar. For some reason, it took me about three tries to get them to appear properly! Nothing worth having is ever easy!

Thing #12 - Rollyo

I think this tool would be helpful for advanced web surfers who are familiar enough with all the search engines/websites pertaining to their subjects of interest, and who therefore can narrow their searches down to just those sites they feel are tried and true. These UHCL classes have just opened my eyes to the fact that there are zillions of search engines and websites out there! It'll be a while before I'm ready to start narrowing down my search engine choices. I can see, however, the value of focusing your searches using just reliable sources (once they are known). I did set up a trial searchroll for students to use when investigating insects, using some of the websites listed in my school's webpage. Customized, pre-screened, safe searchrolls for student use seem to me to be a useful application of the Rollyo tool. One concern I have about Rollyo is that when I did a search using my newly created insect searchroll, my results included several boxes of "sponsored links" that were sales pitches for various products (including used and refurbished fitness equipment!!). I don't like that!

http://rollyo.com/search.html?q=butterfly+life+cycle&sid=366437

Thing #11 - LibraryThing

I had no problems registering in LibraryThing and was able to easily enter 6 books to start my peroson library list. I can see this tool being very helpful in organinzing and expanding my personal library of children's literature. I'm always on the look out for new books to use for teaching different concepts (i.e. tall tales, environmental awareness, birds, habitats, etc.). With access to LibraryThing's BookSuggester and the Group posts of people who share my interests, I should be able to find lots of new resources for literature to support my curriculum. The only problem is that I can't find out how to access the Library Suggester option :-(

There were two groups, "Children's Literature" and "Children's Fiction", that looked like they might be good sources for my collection. I was also interested in the LibraryThing "Local" feature that lists local bookstores and upcoming literary events in the area.

I have tried copying the cover page pictures of some of my books, but so far have been unsuccessful. I'll come back to that later. Done (see side bar)!!

Thing #10 - Online Image Generators

I must admit, this Thing was fun. I looked at everyone else's posts and saw that many had tried the Trading Card, Happy Face or Comic Strip generators, so I tried ImageChef freeway sign generator (I've posted one of my creations on the sidebar of my blog). All of these image generating sites could be a fun addition to student reports, classroom posters/signs, labels for book baskets in our class library, bulletin board displays, etc. I plan to play with this more over the summer (when I'll have time to really explore all the options), so I'll be ready with fleshed out application ideas for the beginning of school next fall. Here's the link to ImageChef: http://www.imagechef.com/

Thing # 9 - Locating Blogs and News Feeds

This is all very overwhelming for me. I really haven't had a chance to look at the News Feeds I added during Thing #8, so it's hard for me to envision wanting to add more!! I went through all the recommended search tools and it's obvious there are enough choices out there to keep you glued to your computer 24 hours a day. I don't see how anyone with a full-time job and a personal life would have time to read through all the information that would be sent to you if your subscribe to more than one or two of these News Feeds. I see from reviewing other Library2Play blogs that the Google Blog Search Tool seems to be most popular, so I guess I would start with that one. I did search for SBISD as suggested on Google and saw that cool Animoto that Mike Falick made for our District. I've added his blog to my reader list! The Topix.net option seemed fairly user friendly for selecting current events news feeds. Now I've got to get back to work on writing Progress Reports for the 4th Nine weeks!

Thing #8 - RSS Feeds

I enjoyed the introductory video on Library2Play. It gave me the needed background and rationale for continuing on to subscribe to the recommended sites. The signing up and subscribing process was relatively easy, even for a computer novice like me. I had no idea what RSS was before this exercise, but now I can see that it could be a useful tool for a librarian to stay current on the latest trends and books out there in cyberspace. At this point, I don't know if I will use it for personal reasons much as I'm not one to sit in front of my computer for hours on end (hence my problem with being so far behind on completing these 23 things!). Once I've played around with it for a while, I may prove myself wrong, for I can see if the information out there is interesting and uselful, RSS could become habit forming.

Thing #7 - Google

I've had always used Google as my primary seach engine (ofcourse that was before I took Dr. Bishop's class and found out there are a zillion other search engines out there!), but I never realized Google had so much else to offer. I've been using the Google Advanced Seach feature and have found tons of great sources for my 2nd grade habitat project. It even has links to pre-made PowerPoint presentations - how cool is that? The other Google feature that I really like is Google Earth. My kids have enjoyed seeing our school from a "bird's eye view". Google Earth could have many applications for geography lessons, famous landmarks, or helping the teacher get directions to different school libraries for visiting!